How do I get rid of virsuses such as spyware without purchasing software?

Question

I have two virsuses on my computer--downloader and spyware. How do I remove them?
Also, I have a very vulgar page that comes up from time to time even though I have a popup blocker on.

Answer 1

Try some of these:

Spyware, Adware, Trojans, Malware, Dialers, Popups:
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/
http://www.ewido.net/en/download/
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html
http://www.download.com/Bazooka-Adware-and-Spyware-Scanner/3000-8022-10247782.html
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/sgdownload.html
http://www.safer-networking.org/
http://www.download.com/HijackThis/3000-8022_4-10379544.html
http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/download/
Online Scanners:
http://www.webroot.com/consumer/products/spysweeper/freescan.html?
http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virusinfo/scan.aspx
http://www.pandasoftware.com/products/activescan.htm
http://www.bitdefender.com/scan8/ie.html
http://www.windowsecurity.com/trojanscan/
http://www.kaspersky.com/virusscanner
http://www.spywareguide.com/onlinescan.php
http://housecall65.trendmicro.com/
Spyware, Adware, Trojans, Malware, Dialers, Popups List:
http://www.softpedia.com/catList/104
http://www.download.com/Adware-Spyware-Removal/3150-8022_4-0.html?tag=dir
http://www.majorgeeks.com/downloads31.html
http://www.filehippo.com/software/antispyware/setarea
Antivirus:
http://www.grisoft.com/
http://www.avast.com/
http://www.free-av.com/
Antivirus Lists:
http://www.softpedia.com/catList/1
http://www.download.com/Antivirus/3150-2239_4-0.html?tag=dir
http://www.majorgeeks.com/downloads29.html
http://www.filehippo.com/software/antivirus/
Firewall:
http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp?dc=12bms&ctry=US&lang=en&lid=staticcomp_za
Firewall Lists:
http://www.softpedia.com/catList/97
http://www.download.com/Firewalls/3150-10435_4-0.html?tag=dir
http://www.majorgeeks.com/downloads34.html
http://www.filehippo.com/software/firewalls/
IP Blocker:
http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/peerguardian/pg2-050918-nt.exe?download
Browser:
http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/
Email, News, RSS:
http://www.mozilla.com/thunderbird/
System Cleaner:
http://www.ccleaner.com/
System Cleaning List:
http://www.softpedia.com/catList/98
http://www.majorgeeks.com/downloads12.html
http://www.filehippo.com/software/cleaning/
System Info:
http://www.softpedia.com/catList/92
http://www.majorgeeks.com/downloads9.html

Answer 2

Hi
Your popup has probably "allowed" itself by listing itself on your popup blockers "white list" - a list of programs that you supposedly have told it are OK to use pop ups.

There are several free programs that work well. I use Spybot and Ad Aware which do scans for finding and removing spyware.They work well but are a bit slow and require manual operation (you must remember to run the scan every so often..)

A newer program that is very good is A-Squared which will find things that the other two do not. It also has a heuristic scan which finds unknown variants simply by watching what they do and not by having a "signature" on file. Find it at: www.emsisoft.com/en/software/FREE/ it will take a while. For some reason this site continues to cut off the last word of the above site. The word starting with F is free.

As far as antivirus goes you can do an online free virus scan at Trend Micro's site. I believe that McAfee and Norton also do a free scan on their sites. The problem with those is that they must download a pile of files first and if you have a slower connection that can be a nightmare. Also you have to do it each time you do a scan.

A free virus scanner that you can download is AVG's free scanner that some pros say is as good as the retail kind. It includes a scheduler to get downloads of updates and for doing virus scans while you are away. It even includes a "resident shield" function that warns you if you accidentally click on an infected file BEFORE the virus can be activated! It allows you to create a rescue disk also which is used in the case of a severe infection that prevents your PC from even booting into Windows. Find it at: http://free.grisoft.com it too will take a while.

Hopefully, this has been of some help?

Answer 3

www.trendmicro.com

Excellent free online tool that will scan your computer for viruses, trojans and spyware. Completely free, it just has advertisements if you want your own copy of their software but you don't have to buy. It takes a long time depending on your internet connection and your computer speed so best to do it when you are gonna be busy doing other stuff for a few hours or just before bedtime.

Otherwise just go to www.download.com and search for spyware or adware and download the highest rated demo there.

Answer 4

Go to download.com. They have all manner of free anti-virus and spyware blocker. Try Spyware Blaster. It'll stop them from ever getting on your computer, not just remove it like the others. Get Ad-Aware too.

Answer 5

If you are as broke as I am, you will use these

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/mirrors/index.html
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/

If you have a viruses, see if this can help you remove them

http://housecall65.trendmicro.com/

You talked about vulgar page that comes up time to time. Till they are sued by our government, let us use the software.

If you have time, you should read these..
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,978170,00.asp
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&defl=en&q=define:Adware&sa=X&oi=glossary_definition&ct=title

I am learning that people who have money are armed with these tools for a virus/adware/spyare free a computing
a. anti-virus
b. anti-adware
c. anti-spyware

untill there is the law that an operating system must be able to protect its operators from those things, we should remain confused.

see ya!

Answer 6

The free programs are OK but I would suggest going to the store and purchasing PC CILLAN it is the best virus protector out there and really isn't your expensive computer worth a paying a little money to protect it?

Answer 7

Trojan Removal Procedure.

Malware is a general word for all form of Viruses, Spyware etc. This procedure works for all Malware. Replace the Ewido program with the appropriate program.

You might be unable to access the Internet after removing the Malware so you will need to run LSPfix or Winsockxpfix (as appropriate). Download one and save to desktop, run it later.

LSPfix: all Windows OS except 95.

http://www.cexx.org/lspfix.htm

Winsock XP Fix: Windows XP only.

http://www.spychecker.com/program/winsockxpfix.html



Download and Update Ewido:

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


-- If you have problems updating see here:

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

Once the updates are installed do the following:



Let's get cleaning

Part 1

• Temporarily show hidden files.

For Windows XP:

1.
Click Start, and then click Control Panel.

2.
Click Appearance and Themes, and then click Folder Options.

3.
On the View tab, under Hidden files and folders, click "Show hidden files and folders", and clear(uncheck) the "Hide protected operating system files" check box.



For older systems:

1.
Double-click My Computer, click View, and then click Folder Options.

2.
On the View tab, under "Hidden files and folders", click "Show hidden files and folders", and clear (uncheck) the "Hide protected operating system files" check box.


IMPORTANT: Files are hidden by Windows for a very good reason. It is not wise to experiment with these files. Unfortunately, to successfully remove modern spyware we must turn this protection off temporarily. Please turn the protection back on when you have finished cleaning your system.


Empty your Internet Explorer cache and your other temporary file folders:

1.
On the Internet Explorer Tools menu, click Internet Options.

2.
On the General tab, in the Temporary Internet Files section, click the Delete Files button. This will delete all the files that are currently stored in your cache.

3.
Select the Delete all offline content check box in the confirmation dialogue box that appears, click OK.

4.
Click OK again.

Restart in Safe Mode:

To do this you need to hold down or repeatedly tap the F8 key while the computer is booting (when the computer is displaying a black screen with white text). When the boot menu appears, use your keyboard arrows to select "Safe Mode."

Safe Mode can look quite ugly. The color may look bad, and all of your desktop icons will be very large. This is normal.



Start Scan and let Ewido scan the PC


When the scan and removal are completed REBOOT COMPUTER. This will restart you in normal mode.

If you are unable to access the Internet after removing Malware you will need to run LSPfix or Winsockxpfix (as appropriate).


If you are using Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) and are unable to access the Internet after removing Malware, there is a command that may fix the problem, removing the need to run Winsockxpfix. It works by resetting the winsock catalogue. Click on Start, then Run and type CMD in the dialogue box that appears. Click OK. Type "netsh winsock reset" (no quotes)into the DOS window that appears.


The last steps

If you are running Windows XP or Windows ME, and your computer has been successfully cleaned of Malware, there is one more thing that needs to be done.

Delete any old restore points and then create a new restore one. The old ones may, of course, be infected with the Malware and cannot be used.

First, start and then stop the Restore Service. This is done differently depending on what operating system you are running.

Windows XP:

1.
Click Start, and then click Control Panel.

2.
Click Performance and Maintenance, click System, and then click on the System Restore tab.

3.
Select the Turn Off System Restore check box, click Apply, then restart your computer.

4.
Return to the System Restore Tab and turn System Restore back on.


Windows ME:

1.
Click Start, click Control Panel, click System.

2.
Click Performance, click File System, and then click Troubleshooting.

3.
Enable the option Disable System Restore, click Apply then restart your computer.

4.
Return to the Troubleshooting tab and turn System Restore back on.


To set a manual restore point complete the following steps:

1.
Click the Start button.

2.
Point to Programs, then navigate to Accessories, then System Tools, then click System Restore.

3.
Choose Create a restore point, and then click Next.

4.
In the Restore point description box, type a name for your restore point, and then click Next.

5.
Click OK.


Now I recommend you read this site:

http://www.internetinspiration.co.uk/computer_privacy_and_security.htm

Answer 8

You can get AVG which is a free virus protector at http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1

You can get SpyBot a free ad remover tool at http://www-spybot.net/

You have been hijacked with the vulgar page... Spybot might take care of it.. or do a search on hijacked in Google to find the fix.

Answer 9

Click start, run, type in"msconfig". Click startup , then click off the spywares. Then put securety on medium. Yahoo toolbar has free spyware.

Answer 10

I recommend superantispyware. It will remove any and all spyware. It is VERY effective and it is free.