Cyber Awareness Month: Spyware Removal
One of the largest threats to your PC is unwanted adware and spyware. Such programs are typically installed when other programs are installed such as Peer to Peer software, IRC or other chat programs, or free online games, screensavers, or toolbars.
Once installed, spyware can create annoying popups, change your browser settings, install unwanted toolbars, or worse- it could send spam or join a botnet. Plus, the new software often disables your PC’s ability to defend itself. It can turn off your anti-virus program and even prevent you from googling for software to remove it.
So just as important as running scheduled anti-virus sweeps, PC users should run anti-spyware sweeps.
Some of the best anti-spyware utilities are free. One of the best is Windows Defender, by Microsoft. Their homepage is here. Often this comes pre-installed with new PC’s, but it must be configured to scan your PC regularly, such as off-hours at 4 AM or so. Defender catches common malware and spyware and will monitor changes to your browser and your local hosts file, and even provides a way to reset those items to their original state if they are altered by bad software.
Another great spyware removal tool is Lavasoft’s Ad-Aware program. These guys have been fighting spyware for years now and it is one of the most thorough utilities on the net for ridding your PC of spyware. Their homepage is here. The Ad-Aware utility can also clear your internet history to prevent nosy roommates finding out what sites you have visited.
Finally, Spybot’s Search and Destroy is a great anti-spyware utility that has a great reputation for helping to defeat some of the worst spyware. The program has been recently retooled to work with Vista, and it also allows users to restore settings, block browser helper objects and remove unwanted cookies. Their homepage is here.
Finally, if you are an advanced user and comfortable editing your PC’s registry, and you need to weed out a persistent piece of spyware that keeps reinstalling itself after it is deleted, you may need to install HijackThis. TrendMicro recently bought the product, and it has the ability to point out registry settings that may have been changed by spyware or malware. Their homepage is here. HijackThis has lots of computer forums where experts help noobs to analyze and remove badware.
I am not a computer expert, but I have a friend who is. He installed both Ad-aware and Spybot and checks my registry for me. Your post confirmed my faith in him. He will be proud.
“One of the best is Windows Defender, by Microsoft”
WTF? 🙂 Did you smoke something before writing this? 🙂 This is one of the most crappy anti-spyware I’ve ever had the misfortune of installing on people’s PC…
In any case, 1 AS is never enough to rid a PC of most spyware.. I always scan PCs with at least 2 of them.. and they all detect different things..
And when AS tools can’t get rid of a particularly nasty spyware, even in safe mode, I use HiJackThis with a combination of either “Unlocker” or a “Delete on reboot” script.
Kiltak,
Its Cyber Awareness month, and the post is meant more for those that would not otherwise have an anti-spyware program as opposed to those of us with a more advanced skillset.
And I do think that Defender is robust and does a great job at preventing and cleaning most spyware. I have had lots of success at ridding PC’s using Defender.
But you are right about using multiple programs to ensure that something is not missed by another. But each of the products mentioned is pretty thorough at detecting and removing badware.