Porgrams that take over my computer

[Kim]

I keep having pop-up programs that run on my computer. I
have tried to eliminate them by running AdAware (lava soft)
and Pest Patroll (a well as keeping up with norton
antivirus), but these seem to be getting worse. The day
after I had spent hours cleingout programs, registries,
etc. Several more popup programs started the provcess over
again. The change the home page of internet explorer, jump
to pornographic pages, try to conenct of strange sites, etc.

I am wondering if it would be easiest to just completely
erase the hard disk and then to re-install windows and ther
other programs. Will this work? Do I have to set up a
startup disk, or will the disk I got when I purchased the
computer work.

Thanks

Kim

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi Kim,

Wiping and reinstalling would cure the problem, but not the cause. Poor
computing habits and slack security will allow the same thing to happen
again. Yes, your purchased WinXP CD is all that you need to do the clean
installation, just boot it, start the installer, delete the existing system
partition, create a new one from the free space, format and setup. When
completed you can reinstall all of the Windows Updates, and all of your
software.

Trouble is, as I already mentioned, if you don't address the "why this
happened", then you are likely to find yourself in the same boat.

1) Install and run Adaware from www.lavasoft.de

2) Install and run Spybot from www.safer-networking.org

3) Install and run Spyware Blaster from
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html

4) Turn on the native firewall or install a third-party one (a third party
firewall will notify you of outgoing traffic as spyware programs "phone
home", the native one won't).

http://www.kerio.com/kpf_home.html
http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/home.jsp
http://www.tinysoftware.com/home/tiny2?la=EN

5) Also check these links for helpful advice on removing garbage:
http://aumha.org/a/noads.htm
http://aumha.org/win5/a/parasite.htm
http://www.mvps.org/inetexplorer/Darnit.htm

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Windows
Windows isn't rocket science! That's my other hobby!

Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone

 

[Alex Nichol]

I am wondering if it would be easiest to just completely
erase the hard disk and then to re-install windows and ther
other programs. Will this work? Do I have to set up a
startup disk, or will the disk I got when I purchased the
computer work.

No - such things are all over these days, and will return immediately if
you go to the sites that dump them onto you. Clean up, using the tools
suggested at http://www.aumha.org/a/parasite.htm and then try to
practice Safe computing, and especially Safe surfing. And do not open
any attachments to e-mail, even from close friends, unless you have an
*independent* assurance that they are sending one. Even then, save it
and check for viruses before opening. Many viruses pretend to come from
someone that is not even using the infected machine - just in its
address book, along with you

If you *do* ever need to reinstall, the CD you got will be bootable with
no need for a startup floppy. But will probably put things back to
ex-factory state, erasing everything, so it is not to be done lightly