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Hi Jak

Try AVG they have free solutions to all sorts of problems

Hilary

Nightmare Jak. Good luck with it, and hope to have you back soon.

Download and install 'superantispyware' search for it on google, take the free option, It's the same as the paid for version but you have to run it manually to scan.
once installed, make sure you update the definitions before you scan.
You'll be amazed what you find hidden away.
ALways update before scanning and scan at least twice a week.
Everyone hsould have this program on their machines, as it finds 'trojan horse' virus's and other spyware that the main anti virus programs fail to pick up.

Good luck in sorting it out, Jean! Trevor's advice sounds good - i'll have to look into it, too!
Hope to see you back very soon.

I'd advise everyone to use Firefox as a web browser, instead of internet explorer. Because it's not a Mocrosoft program, people don't try to attack it with virus's and spyware.

I use AVG too and have found it excellent. It's now second nature to check for updates each time I turn on the computer. Fingers crossed, no problems so far. Good luck with whatever solution you choose.

Be careful Gillyflower. AVG whilst being a good free product doesn't remove all the spyware that infests computers. You should also have a copy of the superantispyware program installed, you may not have any obvious problems at the moment, but some things like trojan horse virus's can hide on your machine and be triggered remotely, Then you could find you have an awful lot of problems all in one go. The program I mentioned eventually cured all the problems listed in the first post of this thread. I recommend everyone download it.

Trevor

For years, I ran Norton antivirus, but now I won’t give it houseroom. When I installed second scanner, it picked up 9 infections, one of which had been on the hard drive for three years, all of which Norton had been missing.

Tbel (Sorry I don’t know your proper name, I’ve been AWOL for a while) I downloaded the superantispyware as you suggested and ran it. My machine is less than a month old, so it picked up no threats.

I then ran lavasoft adaware, which I’ve been using for about 3 years. It picked up 27 threats, albeit mainly tracking cookies.

SASP is good. It receives excellent write-ups across the web, but like so many scanners it’s not targeted to pick up everything. The moral here is, never rely on one scanner.

I run AVG, Lavasoft, Spybot and now SASP, and between them I’m fairly well covered.

I prefer to use more than one too. Spybot for DOS attacks, and SASW for the bulk of adware, malware and spyware.
There are numerous Malware programs that both Spybot and Adaware fail to spot David, I ran them religiously and relied on them for a long time, but they have been superceded now. The free version of Spyware Doctor is very good, as it sits in the system tray contiinually protecting the machine. (even in the free version) but it's not as good as SASW. I don't doubt Adaware could have picked up tracking cookies that SASW missed, but when it comes to serious threats, SASW does more and finds more than any other single, free, antispyware program I have yet found. I use a paid version of Counterspy on my workshop pc's.
AVG, as i said is fine. But I deal with virus ridden pc's every day of my life. It's my job and I've come across many a virus and trojan on an AVG protected machine. Norton is not a favourite of mine, i prefer Nod32, Kaspersky and even Mcafee, though that too is bloated and doesn't do to well with trojans.
Most anti virus programs deal pretty poorly with spyware and it's variants. As you say a suite of different programs is required to adequately protect a modern pc.

You're obviously well up on this kind of thing. My old machine ran XP2000 (or a version thereof) and I used a registry cleaner called regscrub XP. I can't find anything similar for Vista. Do you know of anything?

Was that a free program? You have to be careful now, there are so many registry fixers out there with spyware or malware attached to it. Even some reputable ones have been crippled. There are a few reg fix programs about, I haven't used any since I moved to Vista though.

I seem to remember ccleaner was good. Though I would always recommend making a restore point after the software has sorted out any problems. Windows restore tends to missfire when reg cleaners have been run.
I'll ask around for what's the best one to use now. I don't tend to use them much, as they can create as many problems as they fix. Also be aware of the scam programs. There are a lot of them out there under the guise of a useful program.

Thanks for the advice, Trevor. I ran regscrub whenever I deleted software, to clear entries from the registry. AOL, for example, is a sod to get rid of.

Yes regscrub was a free download, and it did a good job. It automatically created a restore point every time you ran it and (touch wood) I never had any problems with it.