Dubious And Annoying Anti Spyware

[mazakman]

I'll try to make this short.

 

My wife had the day off yesterday and went on MSN gaming zone to download some stupid trial game, she likes these type of games which I don't.

 

After the said game was installed she started to get spyware warnings and some kind of programs that have embedded themselves into the system. She knows better than to install any spyware programs before consulting me so her intention were good but naive.

 

One program is called Spywarestrike which when removed will come back after rebooting.

There are also 2 (shield type) icons that have appeared on my desktop. One is "Online Security Guide" (http://securitylist.net/) and the other is "Security Troubleshootong" (http://testsecurityonline.com/).

There are no availlable ways to remove these besides manually deleting them to the recycle bin after which they will reappear when the system is rebooted.

 

There is also an annoying little message that appears from the toolbar and can't be shut down permenently, it just keeps reappearing. It will also open up a browser window if you move the mouse over the toolbar icon. Here are the contents of the message:

 

"Your computer is infected!

 

Dangerous infection was detected on your PC

The system will now download and install most efficient antimalware program to prevent data loss and your private information theft.

Click here to protect your computer from the biggest malware threats."

 

I ran Adaware, Spybot and AVG antuvirus which had cleaned a few things but failed to remove these annoying, unwanted and reappearing messages and desktop icons.

 

Unfortunately the computer has been running well for the past few months so I have neglected creating any system restore points at regular intervals. Upon starting system restore the only restore point that is availlable is one for last night at 5:59 pm and all prior restore points have dissappeared.

 

There is another alert that has just appeared but I won't go into detail at this time.

 

If there is no way to remove these annoying turds I'll do a low level format of the harddirve and just reinstall everything, but I would really like to keep that as the last option.

 

PS: I won't tolerate mean remarks about the wife so if you don't have anything positive to share, simply refrain from posting in this thread.

 

Thanks in advance.

[Hushplz]

Download Ms Anti Spyware and run a full scan of that

 

Then download Hijackthis and post your log on here .

[Nerm]

First do all your windows updates and do a full update of all your av and spyware programs. Download MS Anti-Spyware. Then restart your computer and go into safe mode. Then while in safe mode run spybot S&D, Adaware SE, and then your AV program in that order. Then after that restart the computer into regular mode. Then run Spybot S&D again, then run Adaware SE again, then run MS Anti-Spyware, then run your AV again. And then when you have done all that run hijackthis and post your log here.

[Hushplz]

First do all your windows updates and do a full update of all your av and spyware programs. Download MS Anti-Spyware. Then restart your computer and go into safe mode. Then while in safe mode run spybot S&D, Adaware SE, and then your AV program in that order. Then after that restart the computer into regular mode. Then run Spybot S&D again, then run Adaware SE again, then run MS Anti-Spyware, then run your AV again. And then when you have done all that run hijackthis and post your log here.

 

A little bit extreme isn't it?

[SMeeD]

^Its either that or a manual cleaning in the registry, its worth it. The registry is no fun.

[LK71]

I wish they would outlaw that way of advertising.I heard they are going to start doing the banner ads on cell phones when you first turn them on.We are getttin owned!

[Guest Raven65]

Do you have system restore on? If you do Shut it off. Delete the programs, reboot. See if they come back. If they don't then you can turn on system restore again. Personally I don't keep it on.

[DevilMB3017]

Also, give safe a mode a shot. That normally will kill of anything running.

[fire_storm]

Turn off system restore if you have it running. If that does not work you can always formate and re-install.

[Ste]

BitchPlz: I would have suggested Hijackthis also. But Bigred won't let anyone give advice on how to us that program and fix problems with it. You would have to IM or PM him to find out his reasoning.

[Guest FxXP]

I'll give you an explanation for it, and this is coming from shop techs which both bigred and I are. That program DOES have the ability to track down Trojans, Spyware, Rootkits and the like. HOWEVER, when you combine someone that is not antiquated with startup programs and registry entries with that particular program, a Windows installation can be severly corrupted. Bigred and I won't debate it. We don't care if someone here knows how to run it and can provide advice, bad advice can still be given out and we could be held liable. It's a no-no in that regard.

 

Seeing that it's mazakman though that has the issue, it's all kosher.

Edited January 19, 2006 by FxXP

[Hushplz]

I'll give you an explanation for it, and this is coming from shop techs which both bigred and I are. That program DOES have the ability to track down Trojans, Spyware, Rootkits and the like. HOWEVER, when you combine someone that is not antiquated with startup programs and registry entries with that particular program, a Windows installation can be severly corrupted. Bigred and I won't debate it. We don't care if someone here knows how to run it and can provide advice, bad advice can still be given out and we could be held liable. It's a no-no in that regard.

 

Seeing that it's mazakman though that has the issue, it's all kosher.

 

Fair point i never thought of it that way