How do I get unwelcome anti-virus software off my computer?

Question

I keep getting a message that my computer is "under attack by over 90 instances of spyware". And of course to get out of the screen, you have to click on their free scan box, which takes you to their website, and you have to order their software for the scan. I have tried Spybot, Housecall, and even tried the Add/Remove Software option in Windows. Nothing picks it up. How can I get it off my computer? It bumps me pout of the sire that I am on when it pops up.

Answer 1

That's just spy-wear, its nothing don't click on it or anything otherwise other things will download onto your PC that you don't need here is a really good program that you can buy that will keep your PC clean from it all:
Windows Spy Sweeper here is the link for it:
http://www.webroot.com/consumer/products...
and also
Windows Washer and the link for it:
http://www.webroot.com/consumer/products...

Now if your looking for freeware you never get everything you need on it but here are some good ideas that you can try:

Aol offers FREE protection and great software so check this out:

http://daol.aol.com/safetycenter/spyware...

OR

http://www.download.com/ad-aware-se-pers...

OR

http://www.download.com/microsoft-window...

OR

http://www.download.com/ad-aware-se-pers...

All of these that ive listed are highly recommended as far as freeware but its always best to just invest in buying a program so you get the full protection and support.
I hope that helps you out.

Answer 2

You can run antivirus and antispyware programs, but the sad fact is if you have found one virus on your computer, you probably have several. Cleaning the computer now requires you to follow these steps, because modern viruses and spyware entrench themselves in files that your computer needs in order to run: 1. Virus-check your data files (not application files-- you have installer CDs for those). 2. Back up the data files, getting them off your hard drive. 3. Get your original operating system CDs that came with your computer. 4. Boot your computer from the operating system CD. 5. Select the option that erases your hard drive and then reinstall your system software. 6. Turn on your software firewall that came with your operating system. 7. Reconnect to the internet, and download *all* Windows updates, no matter how long it takes. 8. Reinstall your application software, and update the applications as much as you can. 9. Reinstall your data files. 10. Create a limited user account on your system that does *not* have administrator access, and web surf only from this account. Yes, this is a pain in the butt. No, there is no other way. No, antivirus and antispyware programs cannot fix this problem on its own. So, what do you do in the future? 1. Never click on links you find in an e-mail. 2. Never open an e-mail attachment, ever. 3. Only download files from a reputable website that you know is on the up-and-up. 4. Never use bit-torrent and other file-sharing programs. 5. Never use an unsolicited drive-checking site. 6. Turn off all java and java scripting by default, and only enable java and java scripting for sites that you know you can trust. 7. Never read an unsolicited e-mail, and delete spam immediately. It is possible to be hacked by reading an e-mail alone. Please adhere to the 'dont's' I provided above, because you will have to repeat the cleaning steps that I listed first *every time you get infected.* Anti-spyware and anti-virus programs are good to have, but they are a second line of defense. The best way to protect your system is you, and changing your behavior. Good luck!

Answer 3

I strongly recommend you do NOT follow the previous answerer's advice on using RegEdit. The ways you can totally hose your computer with that are many and subtle. If you tried Spybot and AdAware and can't kill this thing, it's probably beyond what people answering questions on Yahoo can tell you. If you are not an expert, you should consider hiring an expert to fix the problem. Yes, it will cost you some money -- but how much of your time is this problem eating, and how much of your productivity is being lost?

When you're having it removed, ask the tech how you got this hijacker in the first place. Most of them have preferred means of spreading.

And, as someone suggested, get Firefox or Opera -- much more secure browsers.

Answer 4

I'm afraid, Jason, that you've been hit by a SmitFraud.

There's nothing that any anti-Virus can do about it because they're designed to by-pass their definitions; which you must've already understood.

It would've helped me be more specific had you mentioned the name of the thing.

Anyway, you can still remove it manually by doing a regedit.

Please do understand and agree that the advise given here does not in anyway make me liable for any damages due to your omissions and commissions.

Registry Editing is a job for professionals, not amateurs. Please follow advise carefully.

Please go to Start and click on it.

Go to Run and click on it.

In the dialog box that appears, please type in regedit and hit Enter.

In the Registry Editor Panel that opens, please click on Edit.

Move your cursor down in the drop down menu that appears and click on Find.

In the dialog box that appears, please type in the name of the program you want to find, like, for example, winantiviruspro; and hit Enter. Please look for the .exe file file and delete it. That's the most dangerous one. Also, look for and delete the .dll file. The Dynamic Link Libraries often run as programs too.

In the right hand Panel, select the values that appear with this name and delete them one by one by single left clicking on the value and then single right clicking there and choosing the option Delete and single left clicking on it.

When all the values have been deleted, go back to Edit and click on it. This time select the Find next Option and click on it. Type in the same winantiviruspro again and hit enter. Again, do what you did earlier by selecting and deleting the values that have the name on the right hand side panel; that appear.

Continue doing Find Next and deleting the values till it shows no more values to delete.

As the Trojan lodges itself in numerous places, you might have a lot of deleting to do.

When you are certain that you've deleted all the traces and values relevant to the Trojan, exit the Registry Editor and reboot.

This time, I'm sure you'll find the computer is clean and the next time you have a pesky Trojan who cannot be easily removed, you know how to manually remove it.

All the best.

Cheers.

PS,
The Registry Area is a dicey palace for amateurs to fiddle around since deleting the wrong file or folder can have disastrous results. Please exercise extreme caution

PPS,

Please remember to disable "System Restore" while you do this so that it doesn't save a copy of the SmitFraud; and enable it after the reboot, when you're sure it's all gone.

Answer 5

I had one that 4 different spyware programs could not get rid of. I finally ended up formatting my drive and starting over. If you do this, you must delete the partition and create a new one, or sometimes the item stays in the partition and you don't get rid of it.

Some of these are nasty little bugs. Good Luck!

Sue

Answer 6

Seeing the fact that you are naive enough to ask, seek professional help. Get the phone book, call a computer repair shop, and make sure you're not charged anything over 20 or 30 dollars.

Answer 7

That's happened to me, I restarted my pc then ran Lavasoft's Ad-aware Se (full scan), then Windows and Internet cleaner pro, and then did a Virus scan (I use Avast! antivirus...works good) and then a disk clean up.
You might also want to do a system restore to before you got it. And even use Registry Mechanic to finish off.
It worked for me!

Answer 8

Give up using Windows, and install Linux on your computer. Linux is immune to all viruses, malware, spyware and adware.

Go to www.distrowatch.com to find out how to get all the popular flavors of Linux...

...then do an image search for Linux screen grabs on Google.

BE COOL - GET LINUX

DC :)

Answer 9

someone has already mentioned ad-aware, which is a pretty good program (especially since it's free). if that doesn't clear it up a program called Prevx1 is really good too. you can get a free download of it. it worked for me and when others failed.

Answer 10

for starters go to start
control panel
add or remove programs
and look for the item and delete it