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How many times do i have to run Spyware.
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I seem to have picked up some spyware from somewhere possibly torrent or p2p sites.
I have the latest versions of Adaware and spybot and micrososft defender.
I also have mcafee and AVG software up to date.
I have run the anti virus products and no virus have been found but i run spyware,find lots of them and then get rid,i then reboot and run spyware again,then the software finds more spyware so i delete that.
It has stopped all playback of music and i get no sound.
Can someone help me!!
i am spending hours trying to fix this to no avail.
Is this because there may be spyware in the boot system,if so do i run spyware after pressing F8 as soon as i turn on the system,and go into safe mode(im sorry for the long winded post but i am at the end of my tether,two full nights trying to rid the system of spyware).I only run the software one at a time so no lagging.
Please, any help will be gratefully received
I have the latest versions of Adaware and spybot and micrososft defender.
I also have mcafee and AVG software up to date.
I have run the anti virus products and no virus have been found but i run spyware,find lots of them and then get rid,i then reboot and run spyware again,then the software finds more spyware so i delete that.
It has stopped all playback of music and i get no sound.
Can someone help me!!
i am spending hours trying to fix this to no avail.
Is this because there may be spyware in the boot system,if so do i run spyware after pressing F8 as soon as i turn on the system,and go into safe mode(im sorry for the long winded post but i am at the end of my tether,two full nights trying to rid the system of spyware).I only run the software one at a time so no lagging.
Please, any help will be gratefully received
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1/ If you are running a version of Windows that uses System Restore then turn that off before scanning. On XP for example right click on My Computer and select Properties. Click on the System Restore tab and tick the "Turn off System Restore" box. Doing so will delete all the system restore points - so only do this if you are 1,000,000% certain you don't need this facility at the moment. The reason for this is that some nasties hide themselves in System Restore knowing many AV and Anti-Spyware products can't find them in there!
2/ As you suggested boot into Safe Mode and do a full system scan with every thing you've got. Safe Mode doesn't load everything that normal mode does so might avoid loading some malicious code, giving your scan a better chance of finding and getting rid of it.
Once you have scanned and cleaned out as much as you can re-boot in normal mode and you can turn System Restore back on if you wish.
A couple of other programs you might want to download.
CCleaner clears out all the detritus lurking around your hard drive. It can help get rid of temporary files and other c**p (what do you think the first C stands for
Ewido is a pretty good anti-spyware app (now associated with AVG which you already have). Let it do a full scan and it will do a pretty thorough clear out job. Though it can take a while in my experience
highly recommend this software(best thing symantec ever did IMHO). You then create an image of your OS when it's
free of malware/spyware/trojans etc.etc and restore the image back to when your OS was stable if you should encounter problems.
Point of note when restoring from a Ghost image.
If you've installed new software, changed any files, written any new letters, added anything new to your hard drives AT ALL restoring will remove all those changes.
Hence it is a good idea, if you use such software, to make a new image (ghost) every day - or even more often.
A better, more reliable solution, is to do incremental backups. Which means any new information can be appended incrementally to any major restore.
The problem with incremental backups is that you can run out of disk space, if you regularly delete unnecessary files. During restore, deleted files may be restored, but they are not automatically deleted again. Changed files will be changed, howeve (think about what a restore does, and you'll cotton on to what I mean).
I will probably go bald from all the hair pulling i have been doing.
chas smash .... almost undoubtedly your troubles - both original and repeating - come from the fact you use P2P file sharing.
If you want to spring clean your system use Ccleaner and Ewido, as suggested by chrisjr above, and run through the steps in this handy little guide on a regular basis ...
http://www.help2go.com/Tutorials/Protect_Your_PC/Get_Rid_of_Spyware%2C_Adware%2C_and_Web_Browser_Hijackers.html
To help keep your system free of malware ...
1. don't use P2P but, if you must, then be VERY careful what you download
2. install these free programs and keep them up to date ...
http://www.help2go.com/Tutorials/Protect_Your_PC/Avoid_Web_Browser_Hijackers.html
Hope it heps.
If you are still plagued by problems scan your system with HijackThis and post the resulting logfile report to this thread for more speciific removal/repair instructions.
R.
If you are using Ad Aware and Spy Bot S&D they should tell you what they've found. I use both of these and they get me out of a lot of trouble. However, I have found that on occasion I've had some that have re-occured again and again on reboot. Unfortunately there are many places in your system that can cause this.
They most obvious being the registry's startup keys (N.B. don't play around with the registry unless you know what you are doing). I've often found stuff lurking in here under nicely disguised names.
Also, when you reboot, do you run any software before trying a scan again?
P2P programs such as Kazaa are full of spyware (yes I know they say they are free from them, but trust me, they certainly aren't). I would suggest that you switch to Bit Torrent if you must use P2P. Takes a bit more learning but easy enough to get the hang of and the software such as Azureus is open source with no spyware.
I don't want to overload this forum, but if you keep having problems after cleaning and rebooting, post back and I'll post some other bits that might help (again, if you know which spyware it is, let us know - always helps).
It better than most.