Spyware and computer security questions...what is enough??

drdoug99 · Post by **drdoug99** » Sat Mar 13, 2004 9:41 pm

Long story short....I am a fan of Spybot and Adaware. I recently used them on a customer's computer, but after using them, there was still some spyware left on the computer. Upon doing more research, it turns out I have to manually remove these certain spyware. (sexmaxx.com javascript) in the registry.

Why doesn't the adaware get rid of it, it has it's registry scan, but it can't get rid of that?

So in my research, I come across many more spyware tools...

Spyware blaster
spyware guard
The Cleaner

plus other spyware specific removal tools.

so my question is, how many removal tools is enough? And do I tell this customer and future customers, "you need to run 5 different programs to make sure all spyware is gone?"

Please give me some advice...what programs do you use, do I really need all these different programs? thanks for your time.

hayc59 · Post by **hayc59** » Sat Mar 13, 2004 9:57 pm

drdoug99, I feel your pain!! it has been a mystery to me also.
Give SpySweeper a whirl, pick up a lot of nasties the other two
dont find--->
http://www.webroot.com/wb/products/spysweeper/index.php
you can also give use it for free for awhile
hope it helps.....

hayc59 · Post by **hayc59** » Sat Mar 13, 2004 10:01 pm

P.S.
the ones I like and use all the times are
Ad-Aware
Spy Sweeper
SpywareBlaster 2.6.1
SpywareGuard 2.2(Java is coming up with an Updated one soon)
Have very little if no spyware other than a couple that get by

mnosteele52 · Post by **mnosteele52** » Sun Mar 14, 2004 6:19 am

They all have a different database is why. In my experience Ad Aware & SPyBot take care of 90% of what's out there, I personally like Pest Patrol as well.

Norm · Post by **Norm** » Sun Mar 14, 2004 9:30 am

I go with the prevention method rather than the removal method when dealing with my customers. It only works for those who adhere to my advice though.

1. If a window pops up you didn't call for, close it, don't click on it.
1a. If there is no close button available (cntrl/alt/del) and end the task on the IE window in question.

2. Don't download free programs and install them. Call me first and I'll advise if the program is spy free, and I'll suggest an alternative program if it is spyware.

Keep in mind that spyware removers also find "cookies". I'm not so concerned about cookies. They track you, but they don't cause any system problems. You can delete all spy cookies with the spyware removers like Adaware and SpyBot, but they'll be right back next time your out surfing again.
So what, no big deal. It's system problems I am concerned with.

I keep a hosts file with over a megabyte of spy links for my own personal PC to prevent thier cookies and popups from loading, but don't worry about customer machines since cookies are basically harmless to their systems. I will provide customers with a link to spyware info if asked.

If you google "spyware list" you will come up with a few links that provide lists of known spyware software.

Post by **YeOldeStonecat** » Sun Mar 14, 2004 1:06 pm

Also when you use Spybot or Adaware....do you update it to get the latest definitions before you run your scan?

Realize that a good percentage of "problems found" are really "oh who the heck cares" things like...cookies, or some txt file that shows the past 6 .ZIP files you unzipped, or Alexa, or your history of opened .PDF files. So just because one Spyware removal program find some another program missed....take a look at them first.

Also, similar to antivirus scans, can get better success if doing the scan in safe mode.

drdoug99 · Post by **drdoug99** » Sun Mar 14, 2004 5:37 pm

thanks for the replies..

yes, i always make sure to update the latest things.

I usually run in normal mode...but when running Adaware, it froze up on me 2 times before I successfully ran it in safe mode...so I guess I should do safe mode from now on first.

Yeah, the cookies I realize are the least of the problems....but it's still annoying to have 50 of them

on a side note, would you recommend installing WinXP Home version instead of WinME? I feel that's what I may end up doing. (they already have a copy) Their computer is still rebooting on them, (which was one of their concerns...random reboots) after about 30 minutes of web browsing...but I never experienced reboots unless I did it on purpose after about 2-3 hours of using their computer.

what can I check for that? their computer is a Dell dimension...Pentium 3, 933mhz
I didn't think to check for IRQ conflicts or anything in device manager...the spyware I was more focused on that, and since I didn't experience any reboots..I figured they should be good to go after I got done optimzing thier system.

Let's say I put XP on there. I can use Partition Magic to make a new partition to put XP on. But how would I go about transferring all their files they want to keep? Like they have Microsoft Office...but it came preinstalled, I dont think they have the actual Office CD's, so what would I do in that case? thanks for your time.

mnosteele52 · Post by **mnosteele52** » Sun Mar 14, 2004 5:56 pm

drdoug99 by all means use XP instaed of ME, it is a 1000 times more stable.

Once you install XP see if the problems go away (I bet they do).

Post by **YeOldeStonecat** » Mon Mar 15, 2004 10:35 am

Originally posted by drdoug99
Let's say I put XP on there. I can use Partition Magic to make a new partition to put XP on. But how would I go about transferring all their files they want to keep? Like they have Microsoft Office...but it came preinstalled, I dont think they have the actual Office CD's, so what would I do in that case? thanks for your time.

Well....it will be a "nailbiter" of an upgrade, but that being the case, might go for an inplace upgrade to XP....uninstall certain applications like antivirus, remote control programs like PcAnywhere, and all software you have which you have the install cd-s for, then shoot for an upgrade.

Highly recommend you get some sort of backup copy for this, like ghost existing hard drive to another hard drive..."just in case". I've seen ME upgrades get hosed more often than doing 9X upgrades.

Also recommend increasing system RAM to at least 384 megs.

stevejrc · Post by **stevejrc** » Mon Mar 15, 2004 1:33 pm

IESPYAD is also good and popular, it adds huge list of spyware sites to IE restricted sites zone. So it doesnt even need to known what spyware is currently out there, just the sites.

http://www.staff.uiuc.edu/~ehowes/resource.htm#IESPYAD

Go down to .exe download section, unzip to a folder and click on install.bat to add list (can also remove it too). Updated frequently too. It doesn't run as a process either so no resources used.