The Power of Helping Others

[Hotrod]

I did the big no no last week.. clicked on a file to dl of video codec to watch some stupid video on line.  Well I was slammed with the worst case of spyware I ever came across.  I spent a week reading forums and trying numerous things to remove it.  all my effort removed it .but it returned in less than a few hours every time taking over my pc.

I then went to the spybot search and destroy forum and posted the following help topic.

http://forums.spybot.info/showthread.php?t=19545

These guys gain nothing but the joy of helping others.  check out the thread

[Bucktail]

Ummmm....I didn't understand one thing in that thread.

Anyway, congratulations...I guess...right?

-Bob

[IrishAyes]

Wow, thems some big strings of info there.   

[Hotrod]

They are lists of processes that are embedded into you registry..   you need and expert to be able to identify them and know where else they reside so you can remove them.

yea it took over all my free time last week trying to get rid of them.  these guys helped me in a few hours

[ped579]

Glad your problem is corrected.  I feel lucky I have a built in troubleshooter in the family.  So far he has been able to undo some pretty hefty spyware removal for me in the past.  He links to my computer and with a few key strokes finds the problem and gets rid of it.

Its nice having a computer troubleshooter that has State Dept. credentials working on your system.

[mboy]

Yep,their are a lot of good places out there for this kind of stuff.

Since it is part of what I do for a living (my side business, which I have to advertise more locally) is made up of mostly that. I run a tight ship at my Co. so I don't have to deal with those types of issues at work too to often, just clients.

[Luna Sea 5]

what would we do with computers.

[IrishAyes]

Hey Mboy, advertising here can't get any more local.   
You have 750 members who may need computer help at one time or another.  Plus all of their friends and relatives. 

[mboy]

Local as in my town and neighboring, but may be able to offer remote services with Goto My PC or something similar

[Hotrod]

You don't need got to my pc ..  widows does all that.  just need the client to send you an invite.

[mboy]

But if they have a hardware firewall/router, then that the ports have to be opened to be able to connect. Not so with a browser based setup like live meeting, webdemo, etc.

Those use port 80 which is what your broswer uses, so that port traverses the traffic by default (otherwise, you would never be able to browse).

[Hotrod]

Right.. and getting them to open the ports would be a tough one..

[mboy]

Most don't even know what a port is.

They think it is something where ships dock  and sailors get drunk

[IrishAyes]

Well, ISN'T IT!?!?!?!    

[mboy]

Only the good ports

[Capt Craig]

WOW!! I tried to follow these posts but all this computer stuff is way over my head.   

[pktaske]

When you get nailed with spyware or malware, it's a killer. Those nifty little removers you can download  really solve only the simplest problems. You have to use a bunch of stuff and still know where to go in and delete all that crap from your HD, registry, etc. The guys on the forums like HR found are godsends. They helped me out on several occasions after my 3 yr old goes crazy on the 'net clicking on anything that moves.

[ped579]

OUCH

[Hotrod]

If you don't have SD  it's a must.  it's the best free scanner out there. 

After you run it for the first time you immunize your PC.  then if anything ever changes in the registry and anywhere it alerts you.  If you didn't just make a change you can block it.

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html

One thing , It's not good to run more than 1  they will attack each other.

[mboy]

It's not good to run more then 1 real time scanning software (anti virus or ant siyware) at the same time. It is a VERRRY good idea to run 2 or more manual anti spyware scanners as no single 1 finds all the spyware (not even Spybot).

I would also use adaware free in addition to spybot.

Update (this is very important, you must make sure these proggies are up to date or they do not work) and run them 2-3xs per week and you will be fine.

Here is a document I wrote several years back (and haven't updated) on general home user PC security.