esme

ok ....so i'm having 2 problems.

1. pop-ups won't stop, even though i have my pop blocker working
2. when i'm on a web page there are several words that are linked (green) if i accidentally click on one it'll take me to a pop up!

any suggestions??

__________________
-Esme .....

"There is no remedy for love but to love more."

DarkFury

Sounds like you got a spyware/adaware problem there.

Personally, I use Adaware 6 and Spybot Search and Destroy... however if it really has a good foothold on ya, you might wanna consider a reformat.

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kgsilvas

Spybot ought to get it.

esme

we already used ad-aware se and it helped a bit, but not completely.

can you pls provide a link where i can get spybot??

thnx!!

DarkFury

Here ya go...

http://www.download.com/Spybot-Searc...ml?tag=lst-0-1

esme

THANK YOU!!

esme

ok guys ....so this is what the spybot found:

webnexus-1 entry
mirar-11
hotsearchbar-14
adware.webext-1
abetterinternet-25
abetterinternet.aurora-1177
elitum.elitebar-2
advertising.com-1
avenuea,inc.-1
doubleclick-1
fastclick-1
hitbox-3
mediaplex-1
zeno-4

mechmike0034

XP?

Get Windows Defender, which should not only remove the offending spyware but should provide some "real-time" protection form re-occurrence.

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/secu...e/default.mspx

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esme

yup xp .....all this starting happening after the assistant installed some 'firefox' program ? on my computer!

sizemic1

Tell your assistant to stop trying to hit the "Bullseye" for the free Plasma TV's

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esme

so all of the linked words went away now ....but i'll be doing this one today because the pop ups are still there! couldn't get rid of those yesterday

gwilks98

Adaware 6 is outdated. You may want to upgrade to Adaware SE.

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DarkFury

I said 6, but I meant SE.. Just a slip of the type. I use SE myself.

esme

so far i've done spyware, windows defender .....aside from the 1st, which was adaware SE ......all of the linked (green) words are gone!! most of the popups are gone as well .....i'm still getting a few here and there ......there was something that WF found but couldn't get rid of ....i'll post the name later 'cause i forgot ......


thanks to everyone for their help!!!

DarkFury

Ultimately, a reformat would clean everything....

Then use Norton Ghost to back your system up so that if this ever happens again, you'll have a "clean copy" of your setup to come back to.

Honestly, NG is a lifesaver for me.

deeman

If possible, do a thorough scan of your system from the safe mode. Most OS's will let you choose to boot into safemode if you continue to press F8 right after you turn on your PC.

The benefit of this is that many malware programs load and can protect themselves once Windows is loaded - it's kind of like nailing them in thier sleep. This should help quite a bit.

Also, do your virus scans in Safe Mode too.

Mike

Dem0072

*cough*
FIREFOX

DarkFury

Umm.. I don't think it's quite that serious yet?

mechmike0034

How will this rid malware from the currently infected system?

Nothing against FF, but it won't FIX anything by and of itself.

gwilks98

Security through obscurity is not really security. As more and more people go to firefox, they're going to find problems with it.

esme

i'm still getting pop ups and they usually only come up here and msn .....weird. anyhoo, i'll be trying the above later today!

thanks guys ....your help has been great

nhbilly

Spyware Doctor is pretty good but it will cost you


http://www.pctools.com/spyware-doctor/

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esme

in that case .... i'll be happy w/those few pop ups

Thesifer

You should get Hijack this.. Get a log.. And find one of the forums that deals with ridding of spyware.. (there are plenty) They will take your log and tell you exactly what to do .. depending on the spyware you caught.

__________________

zero2dash

esme - try booting into Safe Mode and rescanning with all of the antispyware apps you have; a lot of times I've found stuff hiding that was only removed in Safe Mode.

(If you don't know how - when you boot your computer, keep hitting F8 until the screen comes up with a lot of options and choose 'Safe Mode' at the top. Scan everything, and then just reboot like normal.)

Spyware Doctor has a free version but it doesn't provide realtime protection; it only provides on-demand scanning (like the free version of Ad-Aware).

Also keep in mind - a lot of sites have wised up with popups and the sites now load the popup *after* the page finishes loading, which will bypass pretty much every popup blocker out there. Popup blockers by nature are trained to stop popups while a page is loading, but not afterwards - since most windows that pop up afterwards are those that the web surfer *wants* to see.

esme

so i just tried doing safemode, BUT when i try to log in it's not accepting my password

these popups are driving me crazy, they're slowing down my computer so much ...... ......and yes, Z2D they come up after the page loads, which makes it slower because the damn things wait until the popup comes up

DarkFury

Why do you need a password to get into safemode? Did you set an administrative password when you first got your computer?

If not, you should be able to bypass putting in a password... just click the administrator button and proceed.


Worst case scenario... reformat the PC and get rid of all that nasty spyware... then do a fresh re-install with all your protections up before you go surfing the web. I bet your PC will run really fast after that.

esme

so i used adaware & windows def. and this is what came up: (( BTW, IN SAFE MODE! ))

AdAware - a bunch of tracking cookies & begin2search

WD - begin2search, elite media, bit locker & safer surfing

ray

Sometimes this takes a while to complete, but it's free and may pick up items spyware/viruses are blocking your programs from detecting.

http://www.trendmicro.com/hc_intro/default.asp