Spyware problem!

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PopFly

War Child
Joined
Dec 19, 2000
Messages
958
Location
Toronto, Canada
Ok, so I logged into my computer the other day and immediately a message from 'Windows Security' popped up, telling me that I have spyware loaded onto my computer and I need to download a tool to get rid of it. I immediately become suspicious that Windows is recommending a specific product, and sure enough, this 'SpyAxe' program is actually malware itself.

Ergo, I need to find a way to get this stuff off of my computer. Any tech-saavy interferencers want to help me out?
 
Before you do anything, download and try Ad-Aware SE Personal. You can get it for free at download.com. This is one of the most popular tools available! Not only can you download it at no cost, it's pretty effective! :up:
 
Ad-Aware SE Personal for cleaning out the spyware and keeping your system clean.

AVG Anti-Virus for virus detection and scanning. The last time I had a PC virus, Norton Antivirus got raped by the thing while AVG removed it with no trouble whatsoever.

A quick search on Google will snag you both

Good luck :)
 
meegannie said:
http://malwareremoval.com/plog/index.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=48&blogId=3

That may be the easiest thing to do (and to explain!). You could also try to get rid of it by downloading HijackThis and deleting the files associated with the virus, but I've found that doing that usually still requires me to clean up a few pieces afterwards.

:up: I´d recommend HijackThis, its a powerful tool. If it´s one of those power malwares writing new reg keys in Windows and you know enough to deal with the registry, download Registrar Lite. AdAware is good for checking though.. also be careful with HijackThis, there are processes you haven´t heard of that are critical for the system; so you have to find the right ones to delete.

If you need some professional advice regarding your HijackThis file, go to www.bleepingcomputer.com and post it in the forum, there´s an own section for that on http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/forum22.html

It may take a couple of days til they get back to you, but it´s for free and they know what they´re talking about.
 
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The Big 3:

1) Ad-aware
2) Spybot Search and Destroy
3) An updated antivirus program.

That's all you'll ever need.

Melon
 
melon, Spybot was great 2 years ago, but imo is super old now (also when you keep up with the newest updates) and finds zilch on my PC when I know I´m infected.
 
My "Big Three"

1) make sure Windows is up-to-date, especially with critical updates and security patches

2) use a good av program that has some sort of "auto-protect" feature. Remember, just b/c you have an AV program doesn't mean it's helping if you never update it. Update the virus defs weekly unless the program can be configured to do it for you

3) get a good spyware/adware/malware removal program. Adaware is good for free personal use. We use Webroot Spysweeper on all of our computers and have had amazing results with that, but I don't know if it's free.

Once you've got this stuff installed, run an AV scan and spyware scan (not at the same time though) in Safe Mode.

When you get rid of the bad files and have the Big Three up and running, you should be set. If you're careful about keeping the computer and software up-to-date, there's no reason for a serious attack to occur.
 
whenhiphopdrovethebigcars said:
melon, Spybot was great 2 years ago, but imo is super old now (also when you keep up with the newest updates) and finds zilch on my PC when I know I´m infected.

That's why I said "all three." All three together can successfully get rid of everything.

Now some particularly nasty spyware packages outsmart even the best spyware detector, so I've been known to manually seek and destroy spyware by looking for suspicious startup processes and services. And then I can usually seek out the files that they connect to. These particularly bad kinds, though, only tend to infect people who don't keep up on their Windows Update patches and have an out-of-date antivirus.

Melon
 
I'd make it a big five:

1. Router connection to the internet
2. Nod 32 anti-virus (small, yet powerful)
3. Microsoft Anti-Spyware
4. Windows XP firewall
5. Microsoft update
 
Zootlesque said:
Before you do anything, download and try Ad-Aware SE Personal. You can get it for free at download.com. This is one of the most popular tools available! Not only can you download it at no cost, it's pretty effective! :up:

that's what I have...its easy to use :) Ever since the little Limewire problem from September that I had I've been using it. I run it daily.

*is a bit obsessive compulsive about that and Nortons* :D
 
~BrightestStar~ said:
I have an older windows program (98) and the last time I tried to get an anti-spyware that was recommended to me, it was only for 2000 and up. Would I be able to use ad-aware?

Yes. It supports it.

Melon
 
Hey folks, thanks for the tip. I actually already had SpyBot and Ad-Aware on my computer, and Ad-Aware just recently (in the last two days) started recognizing the SpyAxe stuff as malware, so obviously someone at Lavasoft has been doing some updating. I seem to have removed all of it after an Ad-Aware sweep, except my homepage still reroutes to the SpyAxe page. Any ideas?
 
PopFly said:
Hey folks, thanks for the tip. I actually already had SpyBot and Ad-Aware on my computer, and Ad-Aware just recently (in the last two days) started recognizing the SpyAxe stuff as malware, so obviously someone at Lavasoft has been doing some updating. I seem to have removed all of it after an Ad-Aware sweep, except my homepage still reroutes to the SpyAxe page. Any ideas?

That SpyAxe thingy probably changed your homepage before you removed it. All you have to do now is change it back.
 
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