Originally posted by Audiboy:
You may want to try these three things. . .
1. Download Spybot Search and Destroy(it's free and you can get it at download.com, it works wonders)
2. Also download and run Adaware (you can get it from lavasoft.com, it too is free)
3. Finally download a program called hijack this and go to a website called techguy.org. It is a forum, so you have to register and then look into how to run hijack this. The guys over there are super friendly and will give you a step by step for running and removing things on hijack this because this program is pretty serious and if you remove the wrong thing you can mess up your computer.

Also what antivirus are you running cause you could have a virus?



Do all that, but also you can post it [hijackthis log] here and people (like me) can help ya out on what to change.

Good advice on Spybot S&D and Ad-Aware, but also go a step further and get Microsoft Antispyware.

The Microsoft one has a real time spyware/adware scanner and also protects from stuff like toolbars that install w/o you knowing. Last night, the Microsoft one cleaned 15(!!!) spyware programs off the Dell I just got. After that the address bar was missing in Explorer, so I right clicked to add that back on... the Microsoft one asked me to "allow" or "deny" this action in case it was adware/spyware doing it.

Anyhow... you deal with adware/spyware the same as with viruses. Use at least 2-3 different programs to knock them out.

Also, posting your Hijackthis log goes like this:

Open the program, it will say something about you need to know what you're doing before fixing anything b/c this can screw up your Windows. After that click "Scan" in the lower left hand, after that comes up, click "Save Log" in the same spot and save it to some place you can easily access it (like the desktop). Then open that log file and copy/paste it to wherever you're asking for help...

Another thing... if you use the restore function of a newer computer, you will just be re-installing all the adware/spyware that comes from the factory. This is true for HP/Compaq, Toshiba, Dell, Gateway, Emachines, and probly all the generic ones. More expensive ones like IBM probly don't put all this extra crap on there.

My ideal computer from the factory is one with a blank hard drive and a real Windows install disk (or no OS at all...).

Last edited by Kane; 04/20/05 04:34 PM.
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