Are you also running Spybot Search & Destroy? And a virus scan? I don't know that you need a daily virus scan, weekly should be good, as long as you have some sort of real-time protection.
And if you run Spybot 3 days in a row and always come up clean, you could probably run that one less frequently, say once a week.
Also Spy Sites is another little free program that adds thousands of known spyware sites into the restricted Zone of your browser.
With Steve's suggestions, and maybe a few others including firewall protection and common sense I believe it is possible to eliminate spyware completely.
It is a real problem all over America, worse than viruses in my opinion and harder to fight.
I am working on a friends spyware laden computer which was rendered unusable.
Even with some of the powerful tools mentioned above and unplugging the Internet connection I had a hard time. Some spyware is deeply embedded and deeply hidden.
I had to finally resort to searching for and deleting lots of registry keys. One called TVM.exe was particularly vicious and kept recreating itself all over including in msconfig and in C:Progrm Files. I finally got it by deleting registry keys while in Safe Mode!
The everyday user has a real hard time with some of this crap. Prevention seems to be the best tool right now. Norton is getting into the game too.
Today, I ran Ad-Aware, haven't updated to 1.5 yet WW, my virus software, and even did a disk cleanup, which freed up lots of space. Then I went to my yahoo.com email and downloaded some free firewalls, etc., rebooted, and came back and DSL was running a lot faster, but my "freed up" space went back down to 64%.
But DSL is running a lot faster ......and they said I would have to have 75% free space for that to happen. Hope it continues at the same speed tomorrow.
WB, it's not a matter of whether or not you NEED them, it's whether or not you WANT them.
Desktop themes are the wallpapers, backgrounds, color schemes and sounds for your computer. For example, one sound scheme is "Robotica", and the sounds that correspond to computer events will sound robotic. Events are things like opening a window, closing a window, clicking on buttons, things like that.
Most people never even know that those are available. If you want to make your puter more "fun", you might try loading them. They won't hurt your PC's performance, so no worries there.
OK. That was checked so I left it checked. Now I'm ready to do Start/Run/ and type in MSCONFIG.
Applets, hummmmmm. Couldn't find the applets from your paragraph:
quote:That will take care of many of them. For the windows controls, things like mouse controls, display controls, volume, etc., go to Control Panel and check under the various applets. Most of these have an option to run or not run in the system tray.
There was nothing after load= or run= so that section seems ok.
Thanks for that. I used to try to run Spybot, but it would come up with a list and say they were already quarantined. Then, I realized our virus software, PC-Cillian, was already running it somehow??? Anyway, thanks for the tips.
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WordWolf
When it identifies stuff, right-click on the menu of what it
found. You can then select things like "delete all" ,
which it will confirm as you proceed.
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waterbuffalo
Hummmmmmmmm. Ok--think I did that the first time and then forgot about the R clicking.
I will try that WW
--> (what is my name again?)
Are there any food to eat to improve short term memory????
Thx!
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Steve!
Good, wb!
Are you also running Spybot Search & Destroy? And a virus scan? I don't know that you need a daily virus scan, weekly should be good, as long as you have some sort of real-time protection.
And if you run Spybot 3 days in a row and always come up clean, you could probably run that one less frequently, say once a week.
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waterbuffalo
Yes, Steve, I use PC cillian virus software and spybot is included. It updates constantly. Thx!
Should I try to find those quarantined bug files and try to delete them?
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Steve!
Nope, you're all set!
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waterbuffalo
Thannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnks.
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WordWolf
BTW,
AdAware's latest version is
AdAware SE 1.5......
You will probably need to update to be really
on the cutting edge.
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igotout
Also Spy Sites is another little free program that adds thousands of known spyware sites into the restricted Zone of your browser.
With Steve's suggestions, and maybe a few others including firewall protection and common sense I believe it is possible to eliminate spyware completely.
It is a real problem all over America, worse than viruses in my opinion and harder to fight.
I am working on a friends spyware laden computer which was rendered unusable.
Even with some of the powerful tools mentioned above and unplugging the Internet connection I had a hard time. Some spyware is deeply embedded and deeply hidden.
I had to finally resort to searching for and deleting lots of registry keys. One called TVM.exe was particularly vicious and kept recreating itself all over including in msconfig and in C:Progrm Files. I finally got it by deleting registry keys while in Safe Mode!
The everyday user has a real hard time with some of this crap. Prevention seems to be the best tool right now. Norton is getting into the game too.
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WordWolf
Remember to use Spybot's "immunization" function
which prevents some spyware from ever arriving....
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socks
DEATH to all spyware!
DIE SPYWARERS
DIE DIE DIE! Like salt on snails, only worse!!!!!
Or at least have the decency to go away, SPYWARE COMPANIES!!!!!
WB, you got it. Quarantine, delete. Bye bye bugs.
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krys
I had to do the same thing with BDE stuff...scared the pajamas off me to fiddle with the registry, but that was the only way to remove it all.
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igotout
We miss you.
You are the opposite of Spyware.
Love to your family.
John R.
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waterbuffalo
Thanks everyone for your suggestions.
Today, I ran Ad-Aware, haven't updated to 1.5 yet WW, my virus software, and even did a disk cleanup, which freed up lots of space. Then I went to my yahoo.com email and downloaded some free firewalls, etc., rebooted, and came back and DSL was running a lot faster, but my "freed up" space went back down to 64%.
But DSL is running a lot faster ......and they said I would have to have 75% free space for that to happen. Hope it continues at the same speed tomorrow.
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waterbuffalo
WW,
Just downloaded the latest LavaSoft Ad-Aware software and ran it. I had, at last count, 658 objects!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Have Mercy!
No wonder it was runnning so slow! Geeze! Thanks for the suggestion.
:)-->
Also, how do you use the Immunization Function and should I use the Smart System Scan or the Full System Scan or Other?
Thanks!
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igotout
658 damn! Not so good. Unplug yourself from the Internet while running it.
Also read my 2nd & 6th posts down on this thread about things that start up when your computer starts up.
Tips to delete unneeded startups
Again, recommended while disconnected from the Internet connection.
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waterbuffalo
THANks!!! Do I need Desktop Themes (should it be checked) under the Windows Setup Tab in Add/Remove in the Control Panel?
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Steve!
WB, it's not a matter of whether or not you NEED them, it's whether or not you WANT them.
Desktop themes are the wallpapers, backgrounds, color schemes and sounds for your computer. For example, one sound scheme is "Robotica", and the sounds that correspond to computer events will sound robotic. Events are things like opening a window, closing a window, clicking on buttons, things like that.
Most people never even know that those are available. If you want to make your puter more "fun", you might try loading them. They won't hurt your PC's performance, so no worries there.
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waterbuffalo
OK. That was checked so I left it checked. Now I'm ready to do Start/Run/ and type in MSCONFIG.
Applets, hummmmmm. Couldn't find the applets from your paragraph:
There was nothing after load= or run= so that section seems ok.
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WordWolf
You should make sure your Spybot S & D is the latest version
also-I think that's 1.3...
"Immunization" is on Spybot.
The icon menu has an icon in the middle that looks like a
corner made of bricks. Activate that and thousands of the
worst programs will never be allowed in your pc.
The current AdAware also has a few widgets, like one to
shut off Windows Messenger, which is ALWAYS a good idea.
I run both once a day.
If I'm in a hurry, I use the "smart scan", otherwise, I prefer
the full system scan.
Of course, if you don't have a competent firewall and
antivirus running and updated, you have other problems...
(Hint: nothing by Microsoft.)
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waterbuffalo
WW,
Thanks for that. I used to try to run Spybot, but it would come up with a list and say they were already quarantined. Then, I realized our virus software, PC-Cillian, was already running it somehow??? Anyway, thanks for the tips.
WB
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