Need some help from computer gurus....can't get rid of adware..

[QuickWE4]

Ok, I have been using Spybot with great success over the past few months. That, coupled with my virus software and firewall have basically kept me from having any major problems.

Well, about a week ago, I went surfing and tried to find the Paris Hilton video. Yes, I was up late and bored. Wife is pregnant and moody, so I needed an outlet. Insert your jokes here....

Anyway, I went on this one site and got blasted with adware and all kinds of crap. So, I ran spybot and it removed all of it. Next, I ran my virus software and that took care of the rest of the problems (at least to my knowledge).

However, there is one piece of adware/spyware that I can't seem to remove - it just keeps coming back. It puts a link on my desktop called "Adult Links Daily". Then, it adds a toolbar to my internet explorer. And out of nowhere, it will give me a popup loaded with porn (there is no real pattern to this - it just pops up from time to time). I don't mind the porn, but it's embarrasing when your parents stop by for the holidays and you're trying to show them something on ebay and the next thing you know, you've got some naked chick riding a...well, you get the idea.

Anyway, how the hell do I remove this crap? When it gives me the popup, it seems to have www.mainentrypoint.com in the web address, but it's gone in like 5 seconds and I can't get a good look.

HELP!

Rich

 

[Topjimmy]

Try: Start/Run/MSCONFIG...Click the Startup tab and look for the offending proggie...Just click it off.

HTH - Jimmy

 

[JadeMonkeyStang]

The msconfig is a good idea. You might also want to try running lavasoft's Adaware which is similar to spybot. We use it at work with much success. Good luck.

-Jade

 

[Topjimmy]

Ad-aware is my choice for spybot deletion also. The basic program is free and free updates almost every week. I doubt it will help in this situation though, as it's only designed to stop spam. What may have helped is Pop-Up Stopper (also free).

Ad-aware

Pop-Up Stopper

Good Luck - Jimmy

 

[QuickWE4]

Tried disabling it in startup. It's smarter than that. No workie.

I'm going to rerun mcafee to see if it can get rid of it. This one is stubborn.

Rich

 

[gn85]

Chances are, whatever you have can be caught by the ad programs mentioned above. There's a chance that whatever is in your computer may have got into the registry and the reason it's hard to kill off.

WARNING Playing with the registry is dangerous!!!!!
WARNING Playing with the registry is dangerous!!!!!

With that being said, sometimes adaware will give you instructions on how to remove the problem from the registry. Read the instructions three times and if you're still not comfortable, don't mess with it. Get someone who is qualified best to handle this. I make no claims to be an expert, but that's where I've found some problems with my computer and pop-ups.

Good luck.

 

[1badTTA]

Originally posted by QuickWE4
Tried disabling it in startup. It's smarter than that. No workie.

I'm going to rerun mcafee to see if it can get rid of it. This one is stubborn.

Rich

Well there is your problem right there, it's called mcafee!!!!!!

Seriously it really does suck. Get Norton internet security and you won't need any other firewalls or popup blockers or spyware removers (once everything is gone)

I have been running it for about 2 months and haven't had a single popup window or ad or anything and don't have to hold <control> to open another window. I can even opt not to see the vendor ads on this page

 

[86gn]

Spybot 'serch and destroy' should be able if it is up to date.If not you can get a program called HIJACK THIS,It will show you what is in your regestry.First you need to make sure there is not anything in your windows add/remove programs list.

 

[turbojimmy]

Go to www.spywareinfo.com . They have removal tools and other info. You can search on the offending URLs/sites and/or symptoms and they'll tell you whatchya got and how to fix it.

Jim

 

[Chuck Leeper]

For SURE!!

Originally posted by 1badTTA
Well there is your problem right there, it's called mcafee!!!!!!

Seriously it really does suck. Get Norton internet security and you won't need any other firewalls or popup blockers or spyware removers (once everything is gone)

I have been running it for about 2 months and haven't had a single popup window or ad or anything and don't have to hold <control> to open another window. I can even opt not to see the vendor ads on this page

Our company thot that Mcafee was the "hot setup"... NOT! We spent thousands of dollars just in airfrt and ins to send our laptops to the MIS dept for reloading and cleanup.. [There were 35 of us w/ LT'S that got into problems w/ MCAfee]

It got so bad, we refused to use them until NORTON was installed.
There were then 35 useable units, and very few problems from then on...


My $.02 worth...

HAPPY HOLIDAYZ

 

[QuickWE4]

I'm using Macafee because Norton simply brought my machine to a dead stop. Personally, I do like Norston's stuff better, but for some reason, I just could not get their internet security/virus package to run smoothly on my machine.

It's definitely screwed up my registry. The problem is this:

I found instructions to remove it from my registry manually but ALAS! None of the lines that the program were supposed to create in my registry are there. It's almost like there's a fragment of the program laying around in some file on my computer and it keeps reappearing.

I am starting to loathe the internet. It's like you can't even surf for porn anymore without having massive amounts of spyware loaded on your computer.

It was pretty funny, however, when the wife was surfing for something having to do with Yoga or something and these insane porn pop-ups starting appearing all over the place. I got a chuckle from that

Rich

 

[turbojimmy]

Originally posted by QuickWE4
I'm using Macafee because Norton simply brought my machine to a dead stop. Personally, I do like Norston's stuff better, but for some reason, I just could not get their internet security/virus package to run smoothly on my machine.

It's definitely screwed up my registry. The problem is this:

I found instructions to remove it from my registry manually but ALAS! None of the lines that the program were supposed to create in my registry are there. It's almost like there's a fragment of the program laying around in some file on my computer and it keeps reappearing.

I am starting to loathe the internet. It's like you can't even surf for porn anymore without having massive amounts of spyware loaded on your computer.

It was pretty funny, however, when the wife was surfing for something having to do with Yoga or something and these insane porn pop-ups starting appearing all over the place. I got a chuckle from that

Rich

I had similar problems with Norton on my Dell and switched to McAffee, which was worse. After upgrading to XP from Win98, Norton seems to run flawlessly.

My new Dell laptop has McAffee loaded on it from the factory so I'm just living with it. Just got McAffee SpamKiller and, despite the reviews, it works great.

On your adware/spyware problem: the programs are pretty adept at hiding themselves and some also know when they are trying to be removed by popular software. I had one that Norton would find as adware, but when I went to delete it Norton couldn't find it. I had to seek it out in the registry and the hard drive in order to get rid of it.

It is probably loading itself at startup which can only happen in a couple of places. Check the files being loaded in your registry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, Software, Microsoft, Windows, Current Version, "Run". Do the same under HKEY_CURRENT_USER.

You can really f'up your machine by messing with the registry, though, so be careful.

Jim

 

[gnXfan]

Check and see what your homepage is set to. Had a friend with the same issue - it had changed their homepage to a porn site with plenty of 'pop ups'.

 

[Tim Riecks 6]

I had some problems a while back while checking out some crack/warez/mp3 sites. My homepage got changed so I reset it. Next time I started my computerand went online the homepage had been reset again. Finally found out to do the MSCONFIG deal and found that there was something that loaded at startup that edited the registry keys for my homepage and also the search keys under Microsoft Internet Explorer. As soon as I saw "regedit" in the line on the startup I knew it couldn't be good, so I disabled it. I can't remember how I completely got it out of the startup so I wouldn't have to disable anything, but I did it. Lots of looking around and some playing with the registry. PITA, but a learning experience.
The net can definitely be a dangerous place for your computer. Just the other night I was going to some sites like above since I know what to do if anything like that happens again. McAfee took care of some viruses/worms that whomever tried to place on my machine. McAfee came with my Dell so I'm using it, and I've already got Norton Anti Virus 2004 ready to go in when I get around to it.
Good luck.

 

[JadeMonkeyStang]

Might want to try running your removal tools from safe mode as well. Some of the more stubborn things are near impossible to get rid of under normal windows but will come right off in safe mode. Half the time I just run adaware in safe mode from the start to save myself the hassle.

-Jade

 

[BJM]

Is any of this avoidable in the first place by altering the security settings in InternetExplorer? I try to lock things down until it makes surfing a pain and then back off until thigs seem use-able. Does this really help me?