My computer is infected with spyware.I am really scared. I was doing research;something went terribly wrong?

Question

I put on my computer and clicked internet explore and was really scared to see a bug and a warning that Spyware has infected my computer. I recently got it after saving for a long time.Please help me if you know how

Answer 1

Chances are the warning you saw was an advertisement generated by the spyware itself. If you're not that experienced in system mainenance I would suggest a free program such as spybot. You can pick it up here:

http://www.download.com/3000-8022-10122137.html

It would also be helpful to do some googling and learn how to manage windows a little. Some spyware is easier to remove that others but usually a quick registry edit in safe mode along with removing the actual instalation files will do the trick.

Answer 2

Let me make sure I got this straight: You started IE and a window popped up saying "There may be spyware on your machine!" right?

Please be aware that there are way too many spam pop-ups that do their utmost to frighten you, in an attempt to get you to click on them (at which point they can actually put real spyware and malware and other such garbage on your machine). Could this have been one of those? The first thing that made me think of that was the fact that this happened to you right when you had started.

What I advise you do is to download and run something like "Ad-Aware" or "Spybot S&D" (S&D stands for "Search & Destroy") to find anything that is actually there, and get rid of it for you.

Also, be wary of anything that pops up off the internet to tell/warn/sell you something -- Usually they have their own "best interests" at heart -- Not yours. Be wary.

Barjesse37

Answer 3

Download Ad-Aware and run it daily. It's a FREE, fabulous program that will find, quarantine and remove spyware from your computer. I've used it for years, with great results.

http://www.lavasoftusa.com/

But yeah, sometimes, those are just ads that companies try and get you to click on. Just right click and close the windows and forget about them. If Ad-Aware is protecting you, you're all set. :)

Answer 4

becareful with system restores, if the virus/ spyware was there when it creates the restore point nothing is done.
Dont be scared, get a good virus scanner
http://www.free.grisoft.com
get a spyware detector forgive me but i dont believe in windows defender, it has missed a lof things http://www.safer-networking.org/en/mirrors/index.html picked up, that is for spybot search and destroy,

get a good firewall, there are some free ones. i hope this helps, emai me if problem persists

Answer 5

It sounds like you got some variant of the Zlob trojan. I got one of these last week, and tried a bunch of different things with little success before finally breaking down and buying a commerical grade spyware scanner. I was infected with AntiVermins and used the instructions on this website to resolve the problem:

http://remove-antivermins.com/antivermins-removal.html

Not only did this program solve my problem, but it also uncovered a bunch of other junk that was slowing down and maybe even comprimising my computer's security. It fixed them all, and now my PC is back to its old snappy self. 100% worth it!

Good luck!

Answer 6

There actually may be nothing wrong with your computer. There are a lot of software advertisers that try to scare you with ads that say "Your computer is infected" They usually want you to click on their product and install it. If you do, you are likely to regret it, especially if they say their product is free. There is very very very little on the inetnet that is free. It usually costs you your privacy.

Answer 7

depending on you operating system you have a few options. if you are running Microsoft 2000 or xp you can go to www.safety.live.com and run the full system scan. this will help out and should get rid of the stuff. after that install spybot (free) and enable live protection, this should block most stuff.

Answer 8

When you ask for help in removing a Malware infection you should give detail of what you have. It says you are infected with spyware, so what program do they want you to purchase to remove it? This is important to determine what type of Trojan that installed this adware program.

This type of Malware can be installed by a General Trojan Downloader, a Smitfraud Trojan or a Vundo Trojan. Get the idea?

I am going to give you a long answer because it will be for all three possible types of infection. Follow the instructions and you will have no problems.

If the two programs listed below and the procedure does not remove the infection, go to the two sites listed at the bottom for Smitfrauds. Use either one or both. If they do not remove it then do the VundoFix.

Download and Update Ewido (now called the AVG Antispyware). Do not run:

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

Download AdAware SE and update. Do the setup. Do not run:

http://www.filehippo.com/download_ad-aware/

AdAware SE Setup:

1. Select "use custom scanning options" then select "customize". Make sure the following options are enabled: "scan within archives," "scan active processes," "scan registry," "deep scan registry," "scan my IE favorites for banned URLs," "scan my Hosts file."

2. Select the "tweak" option. Under "scanning engine," make sure "unload recognized processes and modules during scan" is enabled. Enable "scan registry for all users instead of current users."

3. Under "cleaning engine" turn on "always try to unload modules…," "during removal unload explorer and IE if necessary," "let windows remove files in use at next restart," and "delete quarantined items after restoring."

4. Use the "select drives and folders to scan" option to ensure that your entire hard drive is scanned (if you have more than one hard drive, scan all of them (of course, do not include floppy and CD/DVD).


TEMPORARILY SHOW HIDDEN FILES AND FOLDERS.

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.

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 INTERNET EXPLORER BROWSER CACHE:

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. Select the Delete all offline content check box in the confirmation dialogue box that appears, click OK. 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 THE SCAN WITH YOUR ANTI-VIRUS OR ANTI-SPYWARE PROGRAM.


When the scan and removal are completed REBOOT COMPUTER. This will restart you in normal mode. DON'T FORGET TO RESET HIDDEN FILES AND FOLDERS.


NEW RESTORE POINT.

The RESTORE POINTS may be infected with the Malware and cannot be used.

HERE'S HOW:

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.


TO SET A NEW RESTORE POINT:

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.

NOTE: 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. It works by resetting the winsock catalogue. Click on Start, then Run and type CMD in the box. Click OK. Type "netsh winsock reset" (no quotes)into the DOS window that appears.


ADDITION INFORMATION ABOUT TROJANS:

There are Trojans that fall into the Smitfraud family. These require the use of a specialized program for removal. Here are two sites that specialize in removing these:

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

http://siri.urz.free.fr/Fix/SmitfraudFix_En.php

The procedure should fix Vundo-based Winfixer(WinAntiSpyware, WinAntiVirus, Blackworm, Amaena)problems.


Please download Atribune's VundoFix.exe (version 4.2.71 [as of 21 April '06], or later), from

http://www.atribune.org/ccount/click.php?id=4

and save it to your desktop.

Double-click VundoFix.exe to run it.

Put a check next to Run VundoFix as a task.

You will receive a message saying vundofix will close and re-open in a minute or less. Click OK Note: If VundoFix does not reopen after a minute (or two), then you should skip-over the "Run as a task" step, and continue-on to the following steps to SCAN and REMOVE.

When VundoFix re-opens, click the Scan for Vundo button.

Once it's done scanning, click the Remove Vundo button.

You will receive a prompt asking if you want to remove the files, click YES
Once you click yes, your desktop will go blank as it starts removing Vundo.

When completed, it will prompt that it will shutdown your computer, click OK.

Turn your computer back on.

Answer 9

Do a system restore. This will take your computer"back in time" to a time that it was clean. After that resart your computer, you should be good

Answer 10

Go to http://www.microsoft.com/ and download Windows Defender and install the program. When you run it, it will download the latest signature files from microsoft's website and clean your machine.