iden364

AVG and Spybot are doing the work, they do detect spyware and delete it, but how can it be blocked? I have to delete spyware every single day.
I also noticed now that my computer is going slower.

 

Mark

A major problem with windows is its tolerance for taking a beat down! Windows is prob just knackered from the spyware, sounds like a fresh install is in order, do you have the windows cd that came with your comp?

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iden364

No, but I can get it. So what your saying is redownload the windows xp software and back up my stuff?

Mark

Yeah, Keep what you need, back it up on a pen drive or cd, then re-install xp, clean, and before you put your files back onto the pc, put an up-to-date anti virus software on it, even a trial of norton, or mcafee a known good one, and then with that installed transfer your files back on, that way anything still lurking in your personal files will be caught when you try and get it back on. If ya have any questions i'll be around to help ya!

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iden364

Thanks for your help. I'll give it a shoot, i'll let you know how it went. Thanks.

joshening

don't mistaken viruses for what can be spyware.
spyware is less threatening than viruses.

Acadian

Unfortunately you can't escape Spyware, Adware and Malware - even going to msn.ca will drop spyware on your system. Some are malicious (changing system settings) while others are simply created to track your browsing habits, peek at the documents that you open, keystroke logging (keyloggers), etc.

Your best bet is a multi-forced approach. Running a good anti-virus program is good for catching and deleting/quarantining viruses but for spyware and adware you should install atleast 2 or 3 of the top brands on your system as some will catch ones that others will miss.

Currently, I run Window's Defender (free from Microsoft w/free updates), AVG (which you already have), Ad-Aware (pro version) and Spyware Doctor (pro version).

There are also anti-Trojan applications that you can get as well since these Spyware programs will normally not detect trojans, which can morph and hide very well. Installing one of these apps is a good idea, and run the scan, along with your other scans, atleast once a week (or setup to do auto scans during the night).

If your system is slow then you can try a disk cleanup with a program such as Glary Utilities (do a Google search - they have a free version) which will cleanup your old registry keys and delete ones that are no longer valid (you'd be amazed at how many reg keys you have that go nowhere), recover hard drive space to delete temp files (much more thorough that using the Windows XP tool for this which does not get everything), scan your Start Up to make sure nothing is wrong there and also does a Spyware scan - all built into one program.

Also make sure that you have a good Firewall running: Norton's firewall is like a wet paper bag so discard that - anyone with even the wimpiest code can punch through it with their eyes closed. Currently, I use a firewall called Jetico (free and fairly non-technical).

I should mention that I scrapped Norton a long time ago as it was just full of holes. Currently, I use BitDefender for my anti-virus protection (there is a version that comes with a firewall and one without). There are a few other good firewalls/anti-virus programs out there that are far better than Norton and McAfee so shop around.

If none of that helps then you are best taking the route that Mark advised: backup, reformat and re-install XP, with your anti-virus and firewall being the first things to install after XP is done.

Hope that helps and let us know how you make out.

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lavy

you can upload the suspicious file to virusupload and they have it scanned for u with almost any AV and after u got the result each av has, you know which 1 to use to remove the bastard.