Hi,
Considering you have found evidence of Spyware
installations, it may very well be that you have not removed
all the traces. To ensure that you've removed everything,
let's go over the following steps:
First shut down all third party objects (you can enable them
once you are finished with everything).
Open Internet Explorer, and click on Tools, Internet
Options, and then click on the Advanced Tab.
Under the 'Browsing' section, uncheck the box named, "Enable
third-party browser extensions (requires restart)".
Click on OK.
Before going any further, you'll want to download the
following programs. Don't run them yet, though! Instead,
we'll download them and install them now, and we'll reboot
into safe mode before running them.
To eliminate malware disguised as BHO's, you'll want to
download BHOCop. You can download BHOcop, here:
http://support.honour.ca/bin/bhocop.zip
Once you download the file, run the setup program, and
install the program. You may wish to make a shortcut
somewhere, or else recall where it's installed in case you
forget, or the shortcut isn't placed on your desktop.
We'll now have you download some programs which shall aid
you in the actual removal of spyware programs which may be
running (and causing these problems).
First, download AdAware. This is an excellent program which
detects and deletes spyware, and other malware programs.
AdAware is available from:
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/support/download/
After downloading and installing AdAware, *be sure to update
it*. This will ensure you are protected against the latest
threats. But don't run it yet!
Next, we'll get CWShredder. This neat program catches
variants which may have been missed by AdAware. CWShredder
is available from:
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/files/cwshredder.zip
Once again, be sure to update it to ensure the latest threat
protection, but it's not necessary to run it yet.
You'll note that, in some cases, versions of spyware are
particularly malicious - removing them can cause you to lose
your internet connection. Therefore, we'll download the next
two programs as precautionary measures. If, after running
these programs, you are unable to connect to the internet,
you may need to run these programs to fix the connection.
They are available here:
http://www.cexx.org/lspfix.htm
and
http://www.tacktech.com/pub/winsockfix/WinsockFix.zip
Directions for the last program can be found here:
http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=257
** Note: You'll only need to run these programs in the event
that removal of the evil programs causes some good
components to break. Otherwise, you can safely continue:
Don't forget to also update your antivirus definitions.
Lastly, you may find it necessary to rename your HOSTS file.
This step is used if you find yourself unable to connect to
specific sites. Instructions can be found here:
http://support.honour.ca/ldbh.solutions.php#blockers
The above procedures should help you remove these programs
and return your computer to a functional state.
After installing and updating these programs, reboot your
computer into safe mode. Instructions on rebooting into
safe-mode are available here:
http://www.pchell.com/support/safemode.shtml
Once you have entered safemode, run the programs. You may
choose to first re-scan your computer, then run BHOCop,
followed by AdAware and CWShredder.
Once all the scans are complete, restart your computer. If
you have problems connecting to the internet, you'll want to
run the two programs you downloaded for this very case,
LSPfix, and Winsock Fix.
The above measures should help you eliminate any traces of
spyware, and should bring your computer back to normal.
More information about Adware and Spyware is available here:
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
Best Regards,
Altrus
: Please adivse. My Internet Explorer 6.0 continues to hang
quite often. I
: have downloaded the Service Pack 2 for my XP Professional
OS, but this didn't
: seem to help. I have tried to "re-install" Internet
Explorer 6.0 using the
: appropriate SP1 Pack or other download/update from the
Microsoft website, but
: I am getting a weird error message:
:
: "A previous installation has pending work requiring a
reboot. You need to
: restart your computer to complete that installation before
running Internet
: Explorer Setup. Setup will now close."
:
: I have tried to reboot/restart my computer over and over,
but this message
: never changes. I have also deleted and re-downloaded this
set-up program,
: but that hasn't solved anthing either. Finally, I have
run Ad-Aware and
: McAfee VirusScan 9.0 and deleted a bunch of
spyware/trojans/other junk. The
: Internet Explorer 6.0 issues with slowness and hanging
persist.
:
: Any help would be very appreciated. Thanks!
