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Author Topic: Spyware and Viruses  (Read 3543 times)

Archon

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Spyware and Viruses
« on: July 26, 2006, 07:58:29 PM »
Does anyone know of any free anti-spyware and/or antivirus software that I could download? I am already running Spybot Search and Destroy, an AOL Safety and Security program powered by Mcaffee, and a trial copy of AVG. Still, I am getting a near constant flow of popups, most of them, ironically enough, for antivirus/anti-spyware software that you have to pay for. Any ideas?
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Faster Master St. Pastor

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Re: Spyware and Viruses
« Reply #1 on: July 26, 2006, 08:26:38 PM »
Who's your ISP? Cause I know that more and more of them are coming with free anti-virus programs bundled together now a days so you should check that. I myself know that if we wanted it we could get free Mcafee or something like that with Comcast.
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fuzzyoctopus

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Re: Spyware and Viruses
« Reply #2 on: July 26, 2006, 08:27:02 PM »
AdAware is pretty much a necessity if you're not already running it.

http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/
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Re: Spyware and Viruses
« Reply #3 on: July 26, 2006, 08:45:04 PM »
www.avast.com  Free antivirus that I think is better then norton and macafee since it's not bloated.  Don't worry about the talk of cost for the software, it's free for home users while they charge for pro use.  With that and windows defender I have never had either spyware or a virus on this pc since I got it (a little over a year ago).

Now how to get rid of that stuff.  One schedule advast to do a boot time scan (it should ask you about that the first time you install it) then after it does that restart windows and it will scan your hard drive before windows is loaded (this is important) then after windows is done restart into safe mode and run adware that fuzzy linked to.

Why your doing this is because most viruses and spyware load themselves into your computer's memory so even if you uninstall them they'll rental themselves as soon as it can.  So by running a boot time scan and running adware in safe mode (only critical software is allowed access to the memory) you're preventing the malware from reinstalling itself.
« Last Edit: July 26, 2006, 08:49:38 PM by Spriggan »
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Re: Spyware and Viruses
« Reply #4 on: July 27, 2006, 09:26:50 AM »
These are the Messenger windows with the "OK" button right?

You need to disable Windows Messenger.

Quote

To work around this issue, turn off the Messenger service. To do this, follow these steps: 1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel (or point to Settings, and then click Control Panel).  
2. Double-click Administrative Tools.  
3. Double-click Services.  
4. Double-click Messenger.  
5. In the Startup type list, click Disabled.  
6. Click Stop, and then click OK.  
Note If the Messenger service is stopped, messages from the Alerter service (notifications from your antivirus software, for example) are not transmitted. If the Messenger service is turned off, any services that explicitly depend on the Messenger service do not start, and an error message is logged in the system event log. Therefore, Microsoft recommends that you install a firewall and configure it to block NetBIOS and RPC traffic instead of turning off the Messenger service.

(MS KB article 330904)

Despite what they say there, AVG messages will still show up.

This article also claims that the latest Windows Update fixes this problem automatically, but that's a load of crap.
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Archon

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Re: Spyware and Viruses
« Reply #5 on: July 28, 2006, 08:38:48 PM »
Okay, I did both, and I still am getting popups. Not as many, but still, really annoying. I think the person who originally thought to randomly put invasive software on people's computers should be assassinated.
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Harbinger

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Re: Spyware and Viruses
« Reply #6 on: July 28, 2006, 08:54:12 PM »
It didn't help.

Er, I mean it wouldn't help. You know, if someone did it. Which they haven't. To my knowledge.
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Archon

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Re: Spyware and Viruses
« Reply #7 on: July 28, 2006, 09:18:07 PM »
I disagree. It might not undo the past, but it would make me feel a lot better. Especially if I were the assassin.
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Spriggan

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Re: Spyware and Viruses
« Reply #8 on: July 28, 2006, 09:20:37 PM »
Did you do my suggestions?
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Archon

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Re: Spyware and Viruses
« Reply #9 on: July 28, 2006, 09:23:34 PM »
Yep, yours and SE's. Now I am trying to see if I can uninstall Internet Explorer, since most of the popups seem to be coming from there, and I use Firefox anyway.
« Last Edit: July 28, 2006, 09:24:38 PM by Archon »
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Re: Spyware and Viruses
« Reply #10 on: July 28, 2006, 10:03:56 PM »
You can intall IE 7 beta and then goto it's tools section and manually turn off everything so you can check to see what's causing the popups.
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Screw it, I'm buying crayons and paper. I can imagineer my own adventures! Wheeee!

Chuck Norris is the reason Waldo is hiding.

Archon

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Re: Spyware and Viruses
« Reply #11 on: July 29, 2006, 11:26:33 PM »
Yeah, I decided that I was done with having popups like mad, so I reformatted my drives.
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MsFish

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Re: Spyware and Viruses
« Reply #12 on: July 30, 2006, 01:05:22 AM »
Archon, I miss talking to you.
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Archon

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Re: Spyware and Viruses
« Reply #13 on: July 30, 2006, 01:55:51 AM »
Agreed. I haven't been on much, as of late. My computer has been on and off, and I have been busy with other stuff. You still have my email, right?
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It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not. -Andre Gide
In the depth of winter, I finally discovered that within me there lay an invincible summer. -Albert Camus
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