I am a complete technophobe. My pc keeps telling me I have spyware. I have norton antivirus and a zone alarm firewall. Can someone give me some simple instructions on how to get rid of it and how to stop it happening again? Thanks peeps x
Adaware is probably the most common software to do this with.
IIRC there's a link to it in the "Free virus guard and firewall" thread up there ^^^^^^^^
Dear Redbird
Try downloading Ad - aware. I use it all the time and so do a lot og others. It's at
Regards
LC
Ad Aware as Easy quite rightly says - and get SpyBot too!
................or up above here as well ^^^^^^^^^
:cheers: lc. Saves her sifting through 4 or 5 pages of techno-shite (tm Jags)
try
i've used adaware and spybot found loads it had missed but probably a very old version.
neil x x x ;-)
Spybot:
Ad-aware:
Use both regularly (daily is good if you use porn sites)
Hi jandp - I think you may be right that it is just an advert - but my pc does seem to be doing some strange things - going really slow and sometimes just disconnecting from the internet so I think that might have something to do with it. So do I need adware AND spybot?
Just adaware should do the trick.. (use the link given by JQL : ), however if you're getting popups / adverts saying you've got spyware with just the option to click "ok" then thats a different problem. To get rid of those errors you can disable your messenger service this is a little bit tricky and it depends on your version of windows but try this :
1 Go to Start, then Run and type in Click Ok
2. Scroll to Messenger, select it, right click it and choose Properties.
3. Under startup choose "Disabled", then choose Stop.
4. When stopped, click Ok.
If your PC is disconnecting and reconnecting to the internet the situation could be real bad and you could have a virus.. adaware will probably not detect this.. do you have any virus protection on your PC? If not try running an online virus scan by this link :
(and follow the links for "scan my pc")
Hope this helps. TC x
Spybot also includes a program called Tea Timer. What it does is monitor sensitive parts of the Registry and inform you if they are being modified. This will catch thing like rogue dialers as well as Trojans etc.
If you use a dial up Internet connection install Spybot and make sure Tea Timer is switched on. If not don't be surprised by a bill (yes, you read that correctly)from BT for Rogue Dialler Premium Rate calls.
A 92 year old Pensioner about 2 miles from me has just been stung and he's had to sell all his computer kit to pay the bill. Another person about 25 miles away got hit with a £2500 BT Bill.
Ad-aware by itself is not enough
I bought a copy of Spyware Killer from the post office for a fiver and have had no problems with Spyware since
Ok so now I've installed spybot which found 162 problems OMG. I also followed the advice of disabling the message thingy in the start menu. I have tried to install adware but the link is not working. But NOW my flipping mouse is having a mind of its own. It isn't moving about properly and won't click on things. Is this a separate problem? Help
ive just downloaded spyware doctor and im very impressed with it. worth a try
I tried rebooting. No change. How do you make sure tea timer is switched on?
Have just down loaded spybot. Hadn't even heard of it before. Saves the blokey in the shop having that not again look on his nothing wrong with running before you can walk.
i told you i was a complete technophobe. just been reading about cookies. do i clear the whole lot? how do i know which ones to delete?
Click on 'tools' at the top of any Internet Explorer page , including this one , then click on internet options. A box will appear , click on Delete Files and Delete Cookies. You cannot delete anything important by using this method
regards
Cops
have you installed MSN Plus by chance? After I installed this my PC went beserk, telling me about a spyware problem, I thus installed it and have had no problem since.
I have Norton Internet Security installed and have not run any unknown executables etc (I should know what they're liek coz I work in IT !!!!)
Thanks to everyone for your help. Hopefully I'm sorted now. Only thing I'm not sure how to do is that tea timer thingy. I really didn't realise I needed to have all this stuff so thanks a million!
What do you need to know about Tea Timer?
Tea Timer puts a little icon (looks a bit like a form with a small padlock on the left) in the System Tray.
Basically Tea Timer checks to see if important parts of the Registry have been changed.
If you are installing a new piece of software then you will want to allow it to change the Registry.
If, on the other hand, you are surfing the 'Net and Tea Timer pops up a warning, the chances are that it is a Rogue Dialer (or similar nasty) and you will want to Deny the change.
Tea timer is included in Version 1.3 . When installing 1.3 it gives you the choice to install (or not) teatimer when u are installing the main prog.
Well I've now deleted all my cookies. I just went on a website recently I haven't used for a while and it says cookies are not enabled. Can anyone tell me what I need to do?
