Vamp's DIY to spyware removal

Vamp's DIY to spyware removal

I just finished making a post on my LiveJournal about how to remove spyware from your system. I highly recommend checking it out.

http://www.livejournal.com/users/vampyrex13/204903.html

yea, i have ad-aware and spybot:search and destroy...they are both very good programs and keep my computer running clean and fast...

my computers a piece of crap so wether i get spyware or not i have to re-install windows every couple of months

that sucks...

sure does and to add to the problems i have 56k which just sucks no matter what

how old is your computer? why do you need to reinstall windows?

about 3 years old

and i randomly get error messages every couple of months and every time i start up the pc i get another message and it wont let me start it so i just reinstall, apparently im also missing a slew of .dll files


i dont think the actual computer itself is the problem, its my copy of windows, its a "backup"(burned) copy of xp pro

ah...yeah, if you used an original disk it's likely you wouldn't have those problems.

well, its either this or nothin...guess i gota take wut i can get, till i can afford a real disc

why not just buy a cheap new pc...dell i know sells em pretty cheap for just the CPU...unless u have no money...then wait it out...

like i said im satisfied with the actual computer, i juat gotta spring out the cash for windows, which i find hard to do since it kinda comes free with the computer

thanks for the links!!!!!!!!!

I ran into problems with some customers machines recently that none of the usual tools would fix. One more addition to the toolkit should be HiJackThis

http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/

And follow their tutorial:

http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/htlogtutorial.html

I swear by it and it was the only tool that was able to remove the spyware that all the others left behind. Of course this is for the more advanced users, and it takes a lot of manual searching to get everything right. Not recommended for begginer users or people not comfortable with screwing their machines up even more. It is funny because before reading this thread I just had finished using this tool to get some nasty spyware of a machine. It was called EliteToolbar

On my personal machines I never get spyware, got to give a nice plug to Apple's OS X for that feature!

ok, i've done those steps to remove adware and spyware. but theres one program that kept downloadin into my computer. its called TSA.exe or TSL.exe
whenever i turn on the computer and log onto the internet, it automatically download it to the computer. i dunno why. i cant stop it. and no, its not porn.
i can delete it after its been downloaded. but i kept doin it over and over. its getting really annoying. can someone help me out here?

is it a dialer?

there's another spyware program Vamp forgot..Webroot Spy Sweeper. this one, so far, has been the most comprehensive program i've come across.

i have no clue what a dialer is. one is located on CProgram Files\Common Filles.
and one is in CWindows\System32.

Ah, but all my apps are free.

so's mine

Maybe I looked up the wrong one. Is this it?

http://www.webroot.com/products/spysweeper-indepth?rc=257&ac=627

ah yes, i just tried that one. it was great, it deleted files i never heard or seen before.

Alright you techies, quick question for you.

I got home yesterday from school and my computer had raped me. I just can't figure it out. So I can go on for 10-20 minutes or more depending on what I'm doing, but it seems that if my computer is starting to run more than just a few programs, my screen starts to get distorted and the computer lags up. On the screen you start seeing x by x pixels shifted to the right and others shifted to the left, and ultimately the monitor doesn't get a signal anymore.

Weird problem for me. I'd format... but I don't really want to. Dunno if this has happened to any of you. First time I've ever seen it.

yes, but you don't need to purchase it...i didn't have to, and i downloaded it from there over a month ago. the free trial is enough...despite the "30 day" limit, it's not expired on me.

Probably a registry entry. I still say do hijackthis and follow the tutorial. HiJackThis is also free, but you can donate if you really like it and find it helpful.

X

The best way to deal with spyware is to prevent it...don't download any free crap, ever, unless you know what's coming with it, and you'll never have a problem.

There's no free lunch in this world. When you download something, the people hosting the program have to pay for it somehow...

Thanks.

Spyware will install even if you're careful. I find spyware trying to install itself even if I'm not surfing the web.