Annoying-@$$ Spyware and Trojan Horses

[ChristianV]

Hey Dark Stranger, do you recommend any software I can download to get rid of bull-sh_t spyware on my computer. I'm running XP-Pro and I'm a broke bastard, so it needs to be preferrably free-ware. I've got some really ugly stuff going on. It keeps launching my Explorer window and I get a ton of pop-ups. I used Ad-Aware 6.0 but it's not fully cleaned out. ( I did download "ZoneAlarm" which serves as a basic firewall, it works pretty good)

Also are there any programs you'd recommend to safely clean my registry? Thanks a ton, you're the guru and I know you will have an answer!

oh one more question. I have an HP Pavilion, an older model (6640C) Obviously the XP I'm running isn't the original op system, consequently it runs slow as dirt. I've done a few tweaks here and there to speed it up but when I run i-tunes or try to run multiple programs it slows down. I currently have 2 sticks of 128 RAM(SDRAM PC 100) and 1 stick of 64. I heard that with older computers though there is a maximum # of RAM it can read. My question is if I replaced the 64 with another 128 would it speed up my machine at all? I suck at computers and I'm proud I even know this much! Again, if you can offer any guidance oh wise one I would definitely appreciate it. I just want to know if it would be a waste of money to buy a 128 or even a 256 RAM.

[theDarkStranger]

Alrighty,

Well first, about the spy/ad ware. I thought I covered this before. Maybe that was on another forum. Oh it was. Der. Let me go copy and past it.

Everyone get out your notepad and pencils.

Since I'm a Network Analyst, I have some knowledge on this kinda stuff and would like to share that to all the members of the best forum ever.

Applications to remove Spy/Adware:

Ad-Aware (with latest updates)
SpyBot Search & Destroy (with latest updates)
Hijack This
CWShredder
Google Toolbar

Now that we have the software listed out and links directly to them, lets talk a little about what they do and how this will help you out.

First, we will want to install the Google Toolbar. This only works on IE because FireFox/Mozilla have Pop-up Blockers built in. So We get Google Toolbar installed and it adds itself to the buttons area in the browser window. You can customs it a little but just make sure that the blocker is enabled. You can have it show you how many blocks it has done or not. This will stop the Pop-Ups.

Now that we have the actual Pop-ups from showing ont eh screen we can move on to getting rid of the Spy/Adware that cause these nasty things from happening.

Lets Install Ad-Aware and SpyBot. After installing click ont he check for updates. I'm sure there will be updates as to they are updated weekly if not daily. After updates are installed run a scan on your machine and fix all issues they find. This gets rid of the behind the scenes Spy/Adware. I usually run these applications once every other week, but if you surf the web alot then run it maybe once a week. I use both because one will catch stuff the other cannot and vis versa.

Now if you have those annoying issues where your home page change all teh time then you may want to use CWShredder. This little application looks for those CoolWebSearch Trojan Horses that change your homepage and stuff. This tool is quick and works great.

If you know what your doing then may I suggest a very powerful tool. Hijack This. This application will inform you of all files accessing the system and controling it in some manor. Now mind you this shows good and bad files, so you will have to know what to remove and what not to remove.

I hope that this little list of apps will help youall out. If you need more information or want to pick my brain about this let me know. I'm more than willing to help out. Send me a little PM.

Enjoy,

[ChristianV]

Dark Stranger,

Thanks for all of your help and information. You are TRULY a guru in my mind. I installed all of the software you listed and it found a lot of crap nested in my machine. Again, I appreciate you taking the time to help a fellow JSC fan out! ;D

oh one thing, did you have any input about the RAM question I had? Thanks man!

[torsor]

Freakin' awesome DarkStranger! I followed your instructions and not only are popups being blocked, but my DSL speed is back up to the way it was when I first bought the computer. Your tips were awesome!!!! I can't thank you enough for the links! ;D ;D ;D

[theDarkStranger]

FREAKIN' AWESOME!!!!

ChristianV<---- Glad I could help you out there. Ya I may be a guru through your eyes, but in mine I'm nothing compared to some people I know. On your RAM issue. If you add more memory you will get better performance. It will allow you to open more applications and run more tasks. Now What I would do is purchase a 256MB PC 100 RAM chip. Place it in the Slot 1 or DIMM 1 section on your SystemBoard. Then move the two 128MB in Slot 2, and 3. If you have 4 slots then move the 64MB to the 4th Slot. Otherwise just leave the 64MB out and keep it to use for testing int he future in case one of your RAM chips dies or causes you problems.

torsor<---- LOL. Ya see spy/ad ware takes over your machine. It basiclly floods your Operating System with requests out to the internet. Since Windows only has a specific amount of resources the Spy/Ad ware fill them up. Causing your machien top act slow not only ont he internet but all the time. Using these tools and getting rid of them will clear out all those nasty Ad/Spyware. Making it seems like you just got a huge speed increase. When actually all you did was kill the programs causing the problems. Let me know when your ready to send me that file to host.

OK Well if anyone has questions about this kinda stuff or anything else let em know.

Enjoy,

theDarkStranger

[alirio]

I'm glad we have a Network Analyst among us! ;D All your info and assistance is much appreciated bro...thanks again for helping eveyone one of us.

[theDarkStranger]

Sure thing... ;D

[ChristianV]

DarkStranger, awesome. I think I will go ahead and get the 256 on my next bonus check. Again, thanks for the advice! You are DA MAN.

[theDarkStranger]

ChristianV said:

DarkStranger, awesome. I think I will go ahead and get the 256 on my next bonus check. Again, thanks for the advice! You are DA MAN.

Cool..

Let me know how it goes.

[weezer]

You should also try another browser like Mozilla Firefox. I totally stopped using IE and switched to Firefox... Not as buggy as IE. ANd way faster!

[CrACk ATtaCk KiDd]

torsor said:

Freakin' awesome DarkStranger! I followed your instructions and not only are popups being blocked, but my DSL speed is back up to the way it was when I first bought the computer. Your tips were awesome!!!! I can't thank you enough for the links! ;D ;D ;D

I think Tor summed it up for me too. I followed your steps and installed all the stuff into my friends PC and his Cable Modem is running a hella lot faster. Many Thanks.

[theDarkStranger]

Awesome....

Good job CAK. Ya when you have highspeed internet and it feels like dialup.. it sucks. But when you get it corrected and it goes back to highspeed.. man what a difference.

;D

[alirio]

also I just want to throw in a great and useful site for all you dsl users.

www.dslreports.com/

all you need to know about dsl is on there... ;D
How about testing out you current dsl speeds with the free online speed tests. Check this out guys, before I knew about that site I was only getting around 50% of my dsl speed and after doing some tweaking I now dl @ around 80-90% of my advertised 3MB dsl speeds. ;D

[theDarkStranger]

There are many High-Speed testing sites. One of my favorites is www.testmyspeed.com/ which after clicking on your state it will then list a bunch of links for testing your speed.

Check it out.

I use 100% of my cable modem.
I get on average 3Mbps Download and 350kbps - 830kbps Upload.

[Madman]

can I run this stuff on my Mac darkstanger?