PC spyware
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- cvirus
I'm a Mac-person but we have a PC laptop in the office to proof sites. However, recently it's gotten killed with spyware and adware...even when pop-ups are disallowed in IE.
It takes forever to startup or launch an app and grinds and is just a mess. I ran Norton but even that couldn't finish after a day because it ran so slowly. Also tried SpyBlaster and a few other spyware detector freebies and some of them get "hijacked" now during the scan.
Any help? Should I just do a clean reinstall? I've heard that might not even solve things. I enabled Windows built in firewall also to no avail.
- cvirus0
spybot is one that keeps gettting hijacked...is it possible that once you're infected there's no way to cure it?
- jox0
Oh why bother. Since its just a proof machine you probably dont have all that much on it, correct? Format, install, and use firefox + ad-aware for any type of surfing and when you have to proof sites, just run them locally for IE
I'm sorry you have to go through all that...*touches PowerBook*
- mrdobolina0
hit control/alt/delete and stop any processes that are hogging up the ram. you should be able to tell who the culprit is. Then run your spyware apps.
- QBDSN0
CW Shredder for hijacked browsers. works like a charm.
- cvirus0
not much indeed. i've just heard horror stories about not being able to get rid of it even after a reinstall...i'll give it a shot and cross my fingers.
- mrdobolina0
nah, thats bullshit, a reformat will get rid of all that shit.
- k0na_an0k0
yeah. do what mrd said too. control alt delete and check the processes. anything that looks weird or foreign cancel that shit out.
- nburlington0
its not good man
- jox0
Bear in mind that Windows apps can kill memory. For instance, when you run an app that requires 200 MB ram and you close it down, you don't actually have 200 megabytes left to spare now for other apps – it kills some of it, which is why the constant reboot reboot reboot is so closely related to anything with a Microsoft logo on it.
What I'm saying is that you may not see whats hoggin all the power, it could've been a process you ran yesterday if you haven't restarted.
- cvirus0
thanks guys, this is all very helpful.
- mg330
So what are spyware programs able to do when you run a firewall?
- cvirus0
I'm pretty sure the firewall isn't configured correctly because there are pop-ups on the computer all day long.
- mrdobolina0
for future reference, use firefox as the regular browser. I realize it is a testing machine and you will need to use IE, but keep it to a minimum and you shouldnt have problems.