Hi,
In regards to your spyware problem, you may find the following of interest.
You are correct, the gold underlining may very well be a symptom of your spyware
infection.
For the purposes of removing such software, we'll assume your computer is
completely compromised, and, therefore, we'll explore, and attempt to clean, the
most common avenues in which such programs infect your computer.
First, we'll disable third party plug-ins:
Open Internet Explorer. Click on 'Tools', 'Internet Options'. Click on the
Advanced Tab. Under the heading of 'Browsing', uncheck the box titled, 'Enable
third-party browser extension's. Click on OK. You may have to restart your
browser and/or computer.
After you have disabled the bar, you may opt to remove it using a program
called 'BHOCop'. This is a free program available from:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,270,00.asp
Unzip the program, and install it. Once installed, run it, and you will be
presented with a list of all objects found. You should then be able to remove
unfamiliar objects as desired.
After removing all such programs, you may wish to re-enable BHO's for
functionality. Some programs, such as google bar, require BHO's enabled. In the
event you wish to enable such plug-ins, simply check the box for third-party
extentions (in the same manner as you disabled them).
This is only the start. You may also have programs starting up and
bombarding your computer from start up. To detect these programs, you will need
a utility such as AdAware, which, once installed and updated, is capable of
detecting and removing junk programs.
To download AdAware, please see the following link:
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/support/download/
Once you download the program, you will need to update it so as to ensure the
latest protection. In addition, you may need to run the program several times to
remove all the debris.
In addition, download CWShredder. Think of it as a companion to AdAware- it
detects and removes programs that AdAware may have missed. They each catch what
the other may have missed. You can download CWShredder from:
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/files/cwshredder.zip
As with AdAware, be sure that you update the program before running it.
Also, realise that some programs, such as Gozilla, Gator products, may be
supported by advertising. Uninstalling such the advertising component, may
render such programs useless. Realise however, for the most part, there exist
free alternatives which are usually better, and not bundled with such invasive
programs.
Best Regards,
Altrus
| The past few days I've been having many problems (on hold
| with Microsoft right now regarding Spyware problems, but
| don't know if I'll actually get to talk to tech support
| because of the long holds). One problem is that gold
| underlining is appearing under various words on web
| pages. Anyone else having this problem? It's probably
| part of the overall issue, but thought I'd ask.
