"Windows Error" pop up

[Trevor]

I am getting non stop "Windows Error" message popping up
on our screen. It says that it has detected spyware and I
should click on a link to get free software to eliminate
it. Does anybody know how to get it removed. I have
Spysweeper, Spybot and Nortin Antivirus with adware
protection but yet I can't get rid of this pain in the but
pop up.

 

[Wesley Vogel]

You might try turning on a firewall!

 

[Guest]

I get a similar messages which alternately tell me that I have Spyware and
adware intalled and telling me to go to win-fix.com or windowpatch.com. I
have Norton anti-virus with the firewall and everything else turned on. I
have run spybot and adaware, cleaned up but I still get these messages
constantly poping up. What can I do?

 

[Malke]

I get a similar messages which alternately tell me that I have Spyware
and adware intalled and telling me to go to win-fix.com or
windowpatch.com. I have Norton anti-virus with the firewall and
everything else turned on. I have run spybot and adaware, cleaned up
but I still get these messages constantly poping up. What can I do?

You both are getting ad messages. Use the SP2 IE popup stopper, but you
need to clean up your machines first. I know you've both got
anti-spyware tools, but it can take a lot of skill and patience to
clean a badly infested machine. Run through these malware removal steps
(run all scans in Safe Mode):

1) Scan in Safe Mode with current version (not earlier than 2003)
antivirus using updated definitions. Even though you both have av, make
sure you've got the most recent virus definitions and that you do a
scan in Safe Mode;

2) remove spyware with Spybot Search & Destroy
(www.safer-networking.org) and Ad-aware (www.lavasoftusa.com). These
programs are free, so use them both since they complement each other.
There is a new version of CWShredder from
http://www.intermute.com/spysubtract/cwshredder_download.html. I would
not install the other Intermute programs, however. Alternately, there
are CoolWebSearch malware removal steps at
http://www.silentrunners.org/sr_cwsremoval.html. A combination of
HijackThis and About:Buster (http://www.majorgeeks.com) works well in
removing homepage hijackers. Always read the instructions before
running a spyware removal tool. Be sure to update these programs before
running, and it is a good idea to do virus/spyware scans in Safe Mode.
Make sure you are able to see all hidden files and extensions (View tab
in Folder Options);

3) If you are running Windows ME or XP, you should disable/enable System
Restore because malware will be in the Restore Points. With ME, you
must disable System Restore completely. With XP, you can delete all but
the most recent (presumably clean) System Restore point from the More
Options section of Disk Cleanup (Run>cleanmgr).

4) make sure you've visited Windows Update and applied all security
patches. Do not install driver updates from Windows Update;

5) run a firewall. Ned has a firewall, but I don't see where Trevor
does, but I might have missed that.

Malke