Off topic-I need help from the computer gods...

[South East Rocket]

Spyware?

We took the computer in and these guys told us they deleted lots of "spyware"
1) what does spyware do?
2) how can you prevent it?
3) How do you delete it?

[JeffD]

it sends info from your computer about what you do to commercial sites.  no bad things only annoying.  go to  www.adaware.com they have a free utility.

[glenn9171]

Adaware is very good.  As far as preventing spyware, just stop surfing the net.  That is the only way.

Just run Adaware once a week.  It takes about 2 or 3 minutes on my 3/4 full 40GB harddrive.  AMD Athlon 1700+ processor.

[miket]

I find spybot much better than adaware.

[TheGoodGuy]

spyware comes of differnet forms..

cookies is the least harmless, but it does keep track of stuff. Cookies are essential, like your password to this site is saved in cookies (its not saved int it, but its a code that the server recognises).

The next is stuff like gator that actually tracks and servers ad's to you regarding the site your surfing.. Bonzai buddy is also a spyware of kinds.

Then you have brillian digital, which would illegally use your computer's processor for doing the companies homework.

I use adaware, and spybot (www.webattack.com) and i make sure i know what i am installing.

[bbanjo]

Speaking of digital nastiness, did anyone else get the msblast worm? If so I can walk you through getting rid of it. I think that my wife opened an email with it attached and gave it to our machine.

Symptoms included (for us):

Inability to right-click, includine copy paste

Could not Ctrl Alt Delete to get to task manager (2000 Pro)

Secondary links within sites would not work

Could not close my DSL connection without rebooting

[ScottWV]

There was a recent article about Spyware and how to prevent/remove it in a recent PCWorld, don't remember which month though    It was a decent article.

They listed Spybot as their fave pic, they all had highs and lows as to what they do and do not remove.

[klimber]

My job is network support.   I set up a test PC and filled it full of spyware and all kinds of nasties and ghosted it.


Ran ad-aware, took care of most but not all.

ghosted

ran Spyt-bot, took care of most not all

ghosted again

ran both, took care of everything, together they do the job Spybot got rid of rd32.exe which is a killer if you have had it.

we tried some others but those two in combination ran well, they can detect each others quaritine folder but that's OK

anyways,

there is stuff you can purchase but the two i mentioned are free!

that is my testing experiences with it!

[tricked500]

adaware or spybot they both work great I use both  see witch one you like the most and use that!!! run them about once a week


Tricked500

[kyzee]

Anbody care to inform us what are the common tell tale signs on the task manager if these spyware are running?

[Casimir]

Anbody care to inform us what are the common tell tale signs on the task manager if these spyware are running?

The easiest way is to download one of the aforementioned products and let them tell you.

Basically there will be tasks in the task manager you can't identify. If I see something I don't recognize on a user's computer, I do a google on it, that usually points to whether or not it's spyware. Other signs are bookmarks/favorites that you didn't add. New programs listed in your Start menu or on the desktop.

To avoid spyware, check sites like downloads.com before installing new software and read the comments. Actually read the agreements you are clicking through when you install. If a webpage offers to install something, DON'T. Check it out first, is it something you really want?

Don't forget folks, spyware removers are like virus checkers, keep the definitions up to date.