remove spyware?

Question

I got a bunch of spyware. I want a free program that removes it entirely, not a program that just scans my computer. my computer's running really slow and I'm tired of it. i play wow and I lag out all the time. my pc used to be great. i'd never lag on anything.

Answer 1

This is long but VERY effective

Used with permission of NumberSix6



Step 1) DON'T PANIC! Take a deep breath and go grab a cup of your favorite beverage. This may take awhile.

Step 2) Clean up your pc. Remove programs you don't use via the Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel. In Vista, you remove programs by clicking Programs and Features in the Control Panel. If you are unsure of a particular program, you can check it against a list of offenders here: http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread....

Clean your hard drive of unnecessary files using CCleaner here: http://www.ccleaner.com/download/...

Save to your desktop, install it, then run the cleaner. Simple, yet it will free up tons of space on your hard drive. While you have the program open, run the Registry Checker as well. This will fix invalid registry entries safely. Note that you should run CCleaner for ALL accounts on your pc.

Step 3) Create a new System Restore point. Click Start>All Programs> Accessories>System Tools>System Restore. Create a restore point. Now delete all but this most recent restore point. Click Start>All Programs>Accessories> System Tools>Disk Cleanup. Click More Options tab, and then under System Restore, click Clean up. Click Yes to remove all but the most recent restore point. Click OK, click Yes, and then click OK.

Step 4) Now let's start to get rid of those nasties. Download the following programs to your Desktop. You should then install each one, but don't run them yet. Patience...patience.

Lavasoft's Ad-Aware from here: http://www.lavasoftusa.com/products/ad_a...

AVG Anti-Spyware from here:

http://www.ewido.net/en/download/...

Spybot Search and Destroy from here:

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/downl...

SUPERAntiSpyware from here:

http://www.superantispyware.com/...

I know this seems like overkill, but until someone can come up with one program that can detect everything in the wild, we need to use programs from several reputable sources.

Step 5) Use them safely. Once these programs are installed on your pc, their effectiveness may be negated by running scans normally. You need to reboot your pc into Safe Mode. Shut down your pc, wait a few seconds, then turn it back on. As your computer restarts but before Windows launches, press F8.

Use the arrow keys to highlight the Safe Mode with Networking option, which loads all of the above files and drivers and the essential services and drivers to start networking, and press Enter. If Windows launches before you can choose a safe mode, restart your computer and try again. Now it's time to start each program you installed and run scans. First, open Ad-Aware, update to the latest signatures, and run a full system scan. Delete any malware found, close the program and move on to AVG Anti-Spyware. Again, update, run complete scan, and delete the baddies. Do the same for Spybot and SuperAntiSpyware. When you are finished, restart the computer normally.

Step 6) Clean up and protect. I would recommend leaving AVG and Ad-Aware on your system, and delete the other two. These anti-spyware programs do not conflict and offer good future protection. If you happen to like the interface of the others, then by all means keep the ones you want, just so long as you have at least one solid stand-alone on your system. Uninstall the others via Add/Remove in the Control Panel.

Step 7) Not done yet. We've taken care of the spyware, but there still may be viruses and trojans lurking on your pc. If there is an anti-virus program running on your pc, shut it down. Yes, you read right, end the program. We need to run a few online scans that may conflict with the anti-virus installed. Go to Trend Micro: http://housecall.trendmicro.com/... to download and run their free online scanner. Take whatever action the scanner tells you for any virus found. Finally, do the same with the Panda Online ActiveScan : http://www.pandasoftware.com/products/ac...

Restart your computer.

Step 8) Peace at last. Make sure your anti-virus program of choice is running again and is up-to-date. If you do not have one, I suggest AVG Free Antivirus here: http://free.grisoft.com/doc/2/ or Avast 4 Home:

http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-...

Be sure you have at least one of the anti-spyware programs running, and also make sure you have a good firewall. PC Tools Firewall Plus is free and works on XP and Vista: http://www.pctools.com/firewall/... , as does WinPatrol 2007:

http://www.winpatrol.com/download.html...

This procedure will remove MOST malware. However, it may not catch some really nasty buggers. If you've followed all the steps and still believe you have something not right on your pc, you need some extra help. Go here: http://www.tomcoyote.org/hijackthis... to download a program called HijackThis. It examines certain key areas of the Registry and Hard Drive and lists their contents. Install, run and save a logfile which you may post on one of the forums listed on that same page as above. Some kind soul will then come along and examine your logfile and give you recommendations in order to wipe any remaining buggers away.

Please email me with comments, suggestions, and errors. If you like it, feel free to pass it on to other infected folks.

Source(s):

Many years of cleaning infected pc's

Answer 2

2

Answer 3

Microsoft Windows Defender



http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx

Answer 4

There are several good Free Anti-spyware/adware tool for you:

spybot search and destroy: http://www.safer-networking.org

AVG anti-spyware: http://www.grisoft.com

Top 5 anti-spywares: http://www.spywaredetectors.info



You can download and scan your computer for free.

P.S.:Make sure you have 1 or 2 antispyware on your computer and 1 antivirus and also 1 firewall.



Good luck!

Answer 5

All of these are ones that I personally use and all are free.After you install any of them,make sure you update them to get the full affect.



Download Grisoft AVG 7.5 Anti-Virus,Anti-Malware.(free)



AVG is a collection of anti-virus protection tools that gives you full protection against viruses, worms, Trojans and malware. AVG provides you with all that you need to be completely protected: including a tool for scanning your hard drive and e-mail, as well as a real-time shield to prevent infections.

Top Features



» Provides automatic update functionality

» Its a reliable anti-virus scanning engine

» Provides free Virus Updates for life

» Options to define file name extensions

» Real time protection with resident shield, email scanning

http://free.grisoft.com/doc/5390/lng/us/...













Spybot - Search & Destroy detects and removes spyware, a relatively new kind of threat not yet covered by common anti-virus applications. Spyware silently tracks your surfing behaviour to create a marketing profile for you that is transmitted without your knowledge to the compilers and sold to advertising companies. If you see new toolbars in your Internet Explorer that you haven't intentionally installed, if your browser crashes inexplicably, or if your home page has been "hijacked" (or changed without your knowledge), your computer is most probably infected with spyware. Even if you don't see the symptoms, your computer may be infected, because more and more spyware is emerging. Spybot-S&D is free.

http://www.spybot.info/



SUPERAntiSpyware is the most thorough scanner on the market. Our Multi-Dimensional Scanning and Process Interrogation Technology will detect spyware that other products miss! SUPERAntiSpyware will remove ALL the Spyware, NOT just the easy ones.Easily remove over 100,000 pests such as SmitFraud, Vundo, WinFixer, SpyAxe, SpyFalcon, WinAntiVirus, AntiVermins and thousands more!



http://superantispyware.com/



Yahoo toolbar offers FREE anti-spyware:

Scan your computer for potentially destructive programs.

Review suspicious-looking programs.

Remove the programs you don't want. Keep the ones you do.



http://new.toolbar.yahoo.com/toolbar/features/norton/



PC Tools Firewall Plus

http://www.pctools.com/firewall/





Here is another free anti-virus-

PC Tools AntiVirus Free Edition feature highlights

Protects your PC as you are working, surfing and playing

Detects, quarantines, disinfects and destroys Viruses, Trojans and Worms

OnGuard™ protects your computer against threats in real-time



Automatically checks for frequent updates against the latest threats.

http://www.pctools.com/free-antivirus/



*Never install more than one anti-virus on your PC, as they may conflict with each other. On the other hand, its always good to install more than one anti-spyware.



* You will probably recieve several answer to you question. Whoever helped you the most,please come back and give that person Best Answer.

Answer 6

You can try Spybot Search and Destroy or Adaware. They are both free programs that you can use to search and clean spyware files.

Answer 7

System Mechanic 7 is one of the best spyware removal programs. PLUS you get it all FREE for a month!



http://www.iolo.com/sm/7/std/

Answer 8

Try using spybot search and destroy. Its a free program, but not sure how effective it is. I actually have and use spynomore. It costs $20, but is very effective.

Answer 9

Download and install the free version of A-Squared and run a deep scan i kid you not this will solve your problems and in my opinion it is the very best Trojan remover there is.

Answer 10

Down load SpyBot Search and Destroy!!

Answer 11

right this is my simple 4 step plan to get your pc running like a charm its so simple and COVERS all areas (the things most likely to slow down you pc)



ok firstly go 2 www.bullguard.com





install this >>>>>> (it may say you have to uninstall current versions of anti viruse if it does then please do so) >>>>> updat it >>>>> do a full system scann with it as



it will remove all virsus NO matter how big or small



then



go 2 www.download.com



and in the search box type zonealarm pro



install this >>>>update it >>>>> then scan with it



as this should remove the nasty adware bugs causing these pop ups



then go to http://www.tune-up.com/products/tuneup-u...



install it >>>>>> update it >>>>> then



do each tab going in order one by one skipping out the (analize and customiz option as you can do this later)



this program will fix all errors in your pc so it is working at optimal performance



then once done click on start>>>>>> control panel .>> then click system >>>>> then look for the text that says ram



as this will tell you how much ram you have if it says you have over 500mb then disrigard the rest of the text below but if it says you have under 500mb (eg 345mb or even lower) thn PLEASE read on





if you have below 500mb then basicly you need more as your computer uses ram for everything every file you open every program you open and the more ram you have the faster it will do the requested task



so if you have less then 500mb



go to www.crucial.com



and use there online scanner this will tell you what type of ram you have and need once you know this buy more ram off them



then once you have the ram find out how to install it from me or the net or shop





hope i could help

Answer 12

check out

http://sumiram2006.googlepages.com/combatproblems

It not only gives complete solutions but also offers

free downloads of effective softwares which can detect

and eliminate all spy ware /virus /ad ware /Trojans completely.

Answer 13

Spybot Search and Destroy will take care of the problem you have.

Answer 14

See detailed answer in the link below

Answer 15

there are the best way to remove spyware from your computer. it is very useful. for more information, please visit, http://wisecleaner.com/think-tank-content-4.html

Answer 16

SUPERAntispware

http://www.superantispyware.com/downloadfile.html?productid=SUPERANTISPYWAREFREE