Hi Joshua,
I would suggest you start by doing a virus scan with up to date virus
software, then scan for and removing any installed spyware.
If you are in need of virus software, here are a couple to choose
from, for free.
Download the software, and in Update Manager run Update
then do a complete virus scan.
Free Offer: eTrust EZ Armor Security Suite from Computer Associates
http://www.my-etrust.com/microsoft/index.cfm
Here is a combination of utilities that works very well in the removal
of Spyware, Parasites and the like:
Ad-aware Personal Edition from Lavasoft
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/ is
a free multi spyware removal utility that scans your memory, registry
and hard drives for known spyware components and lets you remove them
safely. Ad-aware PE is does not prevent spyware from being installed.
After installing Ad-Aware and before each scan make sure to run the
update feature before scanning. For large amounts of installed
spyware and such, it may be necessary to run Ad-Aware several times to
clear them all.
Ad-aware Personal Edition finds and removes spyware and the like, it
does not prevent it.
There is no one tool that I know of that removes all known spyware.
Here is a combination that works very well. There is an update feature
in each of these utilities and it *should* be used before they are run
to keep up to date. After these utility are run, re-run them in a week
and see what they pick up.
Here are a couple more removal tools that should also be run.
CWShredder:
http://aumha.org/freeware/freeware.php#cwshred
Spybot:
http://www.safer-networking.org/
Spybot Search and Destroy is more powerful and there is a slight
chance of problems. Using WinXP create a restore point first and see
the Parasite Fight link below.
SpywareBlaster:
http://www.wilderssecurity.net/spywareblaster.html
SpywareBlaster is a preventative non-memory resident program.
Spywareblaster does not scan and clean. Instead, it sets flags (or
kill bits) in the registry to prevent the running of a specific list
of bad spyware related ActiveX controls. This includes general spyware
and malicious dialers. It also blocks a list of known spyware related
cookies in IE6.
For more information:
The Parasite Fight:
http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm
Cleaning a Pest-Infested Computer:
http://rgharper.mvps.org/cleanit.htm
If you continue to have problem I would suggest going to the Security
Forum at
http://forum.aumha.org/ for free professional assistance.
