Where do adware and spyware hide in the registry?

Question

I have Spyware Doctor to deal with them, but I am curious as to where the little suckers actually embed themselves.

Thank you all - very enlightening

Answer 1

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

This is the key you want to check. In most cases they are set to run on boot.

Answer 2

Go to http://www.sysinternals.com (recently bought out by Microsoft *sigh*) and get the software "autoruns" (under "processes and threads") - it's free and harmless - won't even install.

Run the autoruns.exe (not the autorunsc.exe console version) file, and you'll find all the startup programs, explorer and internet explorer plugins you'll need. Typically, the column in the window titled "publisher" (usually filled with "Microsoft Corporation" for windows files) will show an empty field for files that you need to investigate. Not all bad files have no publisher though, so play it by ear. If in doubt, right click the entry and select "google search" to see if anyone else is having problems with it.

I often do this to make sure no company on the net is making a donkey of me. Good luck.

Answer 3

It depends upon the programs of the spywares...! I can give a few links that offer free virus and spyware removers...! Norton, AVG , Avast are free antivirus software. Ad-aware, Ewido are free spyware removers. You can download free softwares at
http://fixit.in/antivirus.html and http://fixit.in/spywareremover.html

Answer 4

Some are hidden as app file extensions,most are in the cookiejar !