SpyWare questions
 

I have some major problems with spyware, i have spybot, spy sweeper, and cws scanner, but yet i keep getting this crap that sends me straight to qwiklinks.com or something like that, it does it randomly, any body else have any ideas on what to do about my spyware problem?

Dan

do you have adaware? try that one as well and get back to us

You might want to check http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthr...hlight=spyware - this is a frequently asked question.

As a quick note, run your computer in safe mode (f8 on startup) and then run ad-aware/spybot.

if hijack-this doesn't work then use the ultimate spyware removal program there is: FDISK

Heh, you may have forgotten to mention that it will remove more than spyware. ;)

If it keeps coming back, perhaps either you have some shady software that reinstalls the spyware when you run it, or you use IE and visit shady sites. To solve the second half, Firefox is free and painless.

*yeah, I'm a Firefox fanboy, wanna make something of it?*

that was the point ;)

and like redlemon said.. switch to FireFox, your computer will thank you

Giant Antispyware
 

Try this. !!!!!!!!!!

If this does not work:
Ad-aware
Spybot
SpywareBlaster (prevention, not elimination)
Hi-jackThis
CWSchredder
Mozilla (prevention, not elimination)

Then:
Format

You can also try a virus scan or trojan sweep. Lots of spyware hide what's really happening - a trojan attack. Ctrl-Alt-Delete and check the process list for anything you don't recognize. Google it, and I can nearly guarantee you'll find a trojan. Usually Symantec or some other company has a webpage with removal instructions. The whole procedure can be much quicker than a reformat.

The last trojan I pwn3d was detectable by Ad-Aware, Spybot, and HijackThis, but none could get rid of it all. Sometimes you just have to get down in the dirt and kill the weed with your bare hands :thumbsup:

Hello,

As mentioned before, probably you're getting something loaded into memory as the computer boots thus making it very hard to remove. Therefore, start up your anti-virus/spyware removal software, update all its files, then reboot and go into safe mode. In safe mode, run them all. That should get rid of everything. If not (and it is likely it will work) it may be best to do format c:\ :)

Ok, next problem, i'm having trouble getting into safe mode, it's locking up after it gets into it, should i just say screw it and reformat? I'd rather not reformat because of the vast amount of "crap" I have on my computer.

Dan

if you can get into windows in regular mode, create backups of what you want without turning your connection on or whatever. It will still be slow but you should be able to get the most important stuff. It sounds like it's time to format.

worst case, if you're really desperate and have another partition or hdd for a temp installation, you can do that, and move what you want from your old windows disk over, and then go format/install on that.

Try checking in the task manager for unusual processes running. If you see anything unusual you can type in the process in google and find out if they are associated with spyware or not. Also if you have a firewall check to see if there are any programs that are connecting to the internet, then block the connection until you can find a solution to the problem. Remember to disable system restore, and delete any previous restore points, after you have cleaned your computer, turn system restore back on.

You could also try running msconfig (assuming you're not running Windows 2000), go to the start-ups tab, and look through there for weird stuff. You can uncheck entries and they won't load, but it's only a temporary solution; I've seen spyware recreate entries when they have been deselected.