Spyware removal

[klem kedidelhopper]

I have a computer that I believe must be really infected with spyware.
Is there a spyware removal program, (preferably a free one), available
to download that I can trust that won't just load more crap onto my
poor suffering machine? It has been running very very slowly and
sometimes just almost to the point oof stopping in the midst of an
operation. I have on many occaisions had to pull the plug and reboot
and it will work for a short time and then sort of hang again. It has
become really frustrating. For a time I had been getting messages
about the computer having to access more virtual memory and lately I
have been seeing messages telling me that I am seriously low on hard
drive space. At one point I was down to 37MB. The last message said it
was 11MB. I know that I am not saving anything on this machine so
SOMETHING has been apparently filling it up. If anyone can please help
me with this I would be very grateful. Lenny

 

On Tue, 30 Nov 2010 09:05:19 -0800 (PST), klem kedidelhopper
<captainvideo462009@gmail.com> wrote:

I have a computer that I believe must be really infected with spyware.
Is there a spyware removal program, (preferably a free one), available
to download that I can trust that won't just load more crap onto my
poor suffering machine? It has been running very very slowly and
sometimes just almost to the point oof stopping in the midst of an
operation. I have on many occaisions had to pull the plug and reboot
and it will work for a short time and then sort of hang again. It has
become really frustrating. For a time I had been getting messages
about the computer having to access more virtual memory and lately I
have been seeing messages telling me that I am seriously low on hard
drive space. At one point I was down to 37MB. The last message said it
was 11MB. I know that I am not saving anything on this machine so
SOMETHING has been apparently filling it up. If anyone can please help
me with this I would be very grateful. Lenny

First, disconnect from any network or dialup connections.

If the PC is running XP, right-click on "My Computer", click
"Properties", click "System Restore", and set the disk space to
minimum. After that runs, you should have some disk space available.

Start Internet Explorer, click "Tools", then "Options". Under
"Browsing history", click "Settings" and set "Disk Space" to 20.

Connect to the network/dialup.
Download the free version of Malwarebytes from
http://www.techspot.com/downloads/4716-malwarebytes-anti-malware.html

Download the free version of ZoneAlarm
http://www.zonealarm.com/security/en-us/free-upgrade-security-suite-zonealarm-firewall-search.htm

Download the free version of Avira:
http://www.avira.com/en/avira-free-antivirus

Install ZoneAlarm, Avira, and Malwarebytes.

Let these programs get any updates they needs from the network, then
disconnect from the network/dialup and let Malarebytes run - it may
take a while.

Then run a full scan of the disk with Avira - this will also take a
while.

These should clear the most common problems and ZoneAlarm will protect
your PC from new intruders.

Do keep the sotware updated - new threats come out frequently. Also
do the Microsoft updates - they are free and some of them are are
security-related.

Remember not to click on every interesting link you find - if the
offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is and is a sourceof
infection. Offers ofkeys to or free versions of expensive software
(Office, games, etc) are more likely to be bad than good - so are
naked pictures of famous people.

John

 

[JeffM]

klem kedidelhopper wrote:

that won't just load more crap onto my poor suffering machine?

http://google.com/search?q=cache:9UxCqXBJFtgJ:www.clamwin.com/content/view/197/106+in.the.works+faq+bootable.CD+faq+faq+updates+Free.Rescue.Scanners+update&strip=1

http://tinyurl.com/The-solution-is-Linux
http://www.clamwin.com/content/view/197/106/

....and while you're at it, you could INSTALL Linux
which DOES NOT download things in an armed state
--much less auto-execute that kind of crap.

 

[Baron]

klem kedidelhopper Inscribed thus:

I have a computer that I believe must be really infected with spyware.
Is there a spyware removal program, (preferably a free one), available
to download that I can trust that won't just load more crap onto my
poor suffering machine? It has been running very very slowly and
sometimes just almost to the point oof stopping in the midst of an
operation. I have on many occaisions had to pull the plug and reboot
and it will work for a short time and then sort of hang again. It has
become really frustrating. For a time I had been getting messages
about the computer having to access more virtual memory and lately I
have been seeing messages telling me that I am seriously low on hard
drive space. At one point I was down to 37MB. The last message said it
was 11MB. I know that I am not saving anything on this machine so
SOMETHING has been apparently filling it up. If anyone can please help
me with this I would be very grateful. Lenny

Nuke & Pave !

--
Best Regards:
Baron.

 

[David Farber]

klem kedidelhopper wrote:

I have a computer that I believe must be really infected with spyware.
Is there a spyware removal program, (preferably a free one), available
to download that I can trust that won't just load more crap onto my
poor suffering machine? It has been running very very slowly and
sometimes just almost to the point oof stopping in the midst of an
operation. I have on many occaisions had to pull the plug and reboot
and it will work for a short time and then sort of hang again. It has
become really frustrating. For a time I had been getting messages
about the computer having to access more virtual memory and lately I
have been seeing messages telling me that I am seriously low on hard
drive space. At one point I was down to 37MB. The last message said it
was 11MB. I know that I am not saving anything on this machine so
SOMETHING has been apparently filling it up. If anyone can please help
me with this I would be very grateful. Lenny

Hi Lenny,

Try Ccleaner. www.ccleaner.com That will help free up disk space by
deleting temporary files that are no longer necessary.

My favorite antispyware/antivirus programs are:
SuperAntiSpyware
Malwarebytes
Avira

They are all free. As has already been suggested, once you get these
programs running on your pc, unplug your connection to the internet to
prevent re-infection until the scans come back clean. If you're still having
problems, then I found this site which is staffed by volunteers to be quite
helpful: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/forum22.html Follow the
directions carefully. They have experts who review your logs and then post
steps to fix your specific problem. The only drawback is that there can be a
long turnaround time (maybe 5 days) before someone gets back to you. If you
can still use your pc in the mean time, then it's worth the wait.

Good luck.
--
David Farber
Los Osos, CA

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

klem kedidelhopper wrote:

I have a computer that I believe must be really infected with spyware.
Is there a spyware removal program, (preferably a free one), available
to download that I can trust that won't just load more crap onto my
poor suffering machine? It has been running very very slowly and
sometimes just almost to the point oof stopping in the midst of an
operation. I have on many occaisions had to pull the plug and reboot
and it will work for a short time and then sort of hang again. It has
become really frustrating. For a time I had been getting messages
about the computer having to access more virtual memory and lately I
have been seeing messages telling me that I am seriously low on hard
drive space. At one point I was down to 37MB. The last message said it
was 11MB. I know that I am not saving anything on this machine so
SOMETHING has been apparently filling it up. If anyone can please help
me with this I would be very grateful. Lenny

I use these free programs:


Spybot S&D from Safer Networking.

<http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/>


Adaware from Lavasoft.

<http://www.lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_free.php>


Zonealarm free firewall:

<http://download.cnet.com/3001-10435_4-10039884.html?spi=0d0094ccbdda1de033b7cc76cb5ed4ad>


Revo Uninstaller, to remove all traces of programs you uninstall.

<http://download.cnet.com/revo-uninstaller/3000-2096_4-10687648.html>


--
For the last time: I am not a mad scientist, I'm just a very ticked off
scientist!!!

 

[mm]

On Tue, 30 Nov 2010 09:05:19 -0800 (PST), klem kedidelhopper
<captainvideo462009@gmail.com> wrote:

I have

I always liked Klem Kedidelhoppper. It's a pleasure to communicate
with you directly.

 

[Bob Villa]

On Nov 30, 11:05 am, klem kedidelhopper <captainvideo462...@gmail.com>
wrote:

I have a computer that I believe must be really infected with spyware.
Is there a spyware removal program, (preferably a free one), available
to download that I can trust that won't just load more crap onto my
poor suffering machine? It has been running very very slowly and
sometimes just almost to the point oof stopping in the midst of an
operation. I have on many occaisions had to pull the plug and reboot
and it will work for a short time and then sort of hang again. It has
become really frustrating. For a time I had  been getting messages
about the computer having to access more virtual memory and lately I
have been seeing messages telling me that I am seriously low on hard
drive space. At one point I was down to 37MB. The last message said it
was 11MB. I know that I am not saving anything on this machine so
SOMETHING has been apparently filling it up. If anyone can please help
me with this I would be very grateful. Lenny

John's reply is concise...although, I do not believe in ZoneAlarm. If
anyone feels the need of a free F/W use Comodo's. I use Window's F/W
with SandBoxie for browsing.

 

[Jim Yanik]

"David Farber" <farberbear.unspam@aol.com> wrote in
news:id40f6$3dc$1@news.eternal-september.org:

klem kedidelhopper wrote:
I have a computer that I believe must be really infected with
spyware. Is there a spyware removal program, (preferably a free one),
available to download that I can trust that won't just load more crap
onto my poor suffering machine? It has been running very very slowly
and sometimes just almost to the point oof stopping in the midst of
an operation. I have on many occaisions had to pull the plug and
reboot and it will work for a short time and then sort of hang again.
It has become really frustrating. For a time I had been getting
messages about the computer having to access more virtual memory and
lately I have been seeing messages telling me that I am seriously low
on hard drive space. At one point I was down to 37MB. The last
message said it was 11MB. I know that I am not saving anything on
this machine so SOMETHING has been apparently filling it up. If
anyone can please help me with this I would be very grateful. Lenny

Hi Lenny,

Try Ccleaner. www.ccleaner.com That will help free up disk space by
deleting temporary files that are no longer necessary.

do you know if CCleaner works on W98SE? the site doesn't mention it.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
localnet
dot com

 

[Adrian C]

On 30/11/2010 17:05, klem kedidelhopper wrote:

I have a computer that I believe must be really infected with spyware.
Is there a spyware removal program,

<snip>

Find someone you can trust to run a completely managed PC virtual
environment. Terminal Server or Citrix.

Let them worry about operating system configuration, virus updates,
windows updates, firewalls, spyware, installing applications, licensing,
data backups and restoring state.

Bin your expensive desktop and get either a thin client machine, or a
nettop. Then connect via remote desktop through your broadband, and use
the internet and desktop applications safely. You may even save
electricity by not having fast processors and spinning disk drives.

This would be the solution to getting wide community acceptance of safe
and secure computing without the stress of having to become your own
system administrator - a role that without training is almost impossible
to safely delegate to joe public.

Problem is, there are many who think the end users NEED operating
systems in their premises. A flavor of Windows or Linux, and a gazillion
different configuration options.

No, they don't...

--
Adrian C

 

[David Farber]

Jim Yanik wrote:

"David Farber" <farberbear.unspam@aol.com> wrote in
news:id40f6$3dc$1@news.eternal-september.org:

klem kedidelhopper wrote:
I have a computer that I believe must be really infected with
spyware. Is there a spyware removal program, (preferably a free
one), available to download that I can trust that won't just load
more crap onto my poor suffering machine? It has been running very
very slowly and sometimes just almost to the point oof stopping in
the midst of an operation. I have on many occaisions had to pull
the plug and reboot and it will work for a short time and then sort
of hang again. It has become really frustrating. For a time I had
been getting messages about the computer having to access more
virtual memory and lately I have been seeing messages telling me
that I am seriously low on hard drive space. At one point I was
down to 37MB. The last message said it was 11MB. I know that I am
not saving anything on this machine so SOMETHING has been
apparently filling it up. If anyone can please help me with this I
would be very grateful. Lenny

Hi Lenny,

Try Ccleaner. www.ccleaner.com That will help free up disk space by
deleting temporary files that are no longer necessary.

do you know if CCleaner works on W98SE? the site doesn't mention it.

I found this link,
http://en.utilidades-utiles.com/download-ccleaner-windows-98.php

Of course just because it's listed as a Windows 98 program on that site
doesn't mean it will install. But if it does install, I would imagine that
it would work.

Good luck,
--
David Farber
Los Osos, CA

 

[Holger]

klem kedidelhopper schrieb:

I have a computer that I believe must be really infected with spyware.

I assume, you have a Wintendo?

Is there a spyware removal program,

Yes. S0KILL.EXE runs from a DOS diskette and works fine. You will get a
completely erased hard drive, ready for the Linux, which is spyware free
by intention.

Holger

--

Alzheimer ist ganz toll. Man lernt ständig neue Leute kennen.

 

[larry moe 'n curly]

klem kedidelhopper wrote:

Is there a spyware removal program, (preferably a free one), available
to download that I can trust that won't just load more crap onto my
poor suffering machine?

It seems SuperAntiSpyware is among the most thorough: www.SuperAntiSpyware.com

Malware Bytes sometimes helps when nothing else works: www.malwarebytes.org

The free versions of the above two programs have to be run manually,
but the free versions of the programs below are meant to provide full-
time protection, although such protection often lets malware through,
and apparently occasional manual scans should be done with any
security program:

Microsoft's own Security Essentials is good: www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/

There's Avast!, which a lot of people like: www.avast.com

Avira has done well in some tests: www.avira.com

Probably the most popular free antivirus is AVG: www.free.avg.com

If you're running Windows 98, try www.OldVersion.com for older
versions of programs. I used AVG ver. 7.x with 98SE, and last year
the virus definitions were still being updated, but 8.x refused to
work with 98SE, even though 7.x kept telling me to upgrade to it.

 

[Bob Villa]

On Dec 1, 11:48 pm, "larry moe 'n curly" <larrymoencu...@my-deja.com>
wrote:

klem kedidelhopper wrote:

Is there a spyware removal program, (preferably a free one), available
to download that I can trust that won't just load more crap onto my
poor suffering machine?

It seems SuperAntiSpyware is among the most thorough:  www.SuperAntiSpyware.com

Malware Bytes sometimes helps when nothing else works:  www.malwarebytes.org

The free versions of the above two programs have to be run manually,
but the free versions of the programs below are meant to provide full-
time protection, although such protection often lets malware through,
and apparently occasional manual scans should be done with any
security program:

Microsoft's own Security Essentials is good:  www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/

There's Avast!, which a lot of people like:  www.avast.com

Avira has done well in some tests:  www.avira.com

Probably the most popular free antivirus is AVG:  www.free.avg.com

If you're running Windows 98, trywww.OldVersion.comfor older
versions of programs.  I used AVG ver. 7.x with 98SE, and last year
the virus definitions were still being updated, but 8.x refused to
work with 98SE, even though 7.x kept telling me to upgrade to it.

Maybe you could sign your posting...so we know who to credit?
(larry,moe, or curly)