Renaming anti-spyware programs before running

[John Brock]

I am about to try to purge a friend's PC of adware/spyware/trojans.
I am concerned about just downloading Spybot or AdAware and trying
to run them, because if there is malware on this PC (and I suspect
there may be) then it might recognize whatever I download and
sabotage it. One possibility would be to download the program to
a remote location, rename it, then download it via FTP to the target
PC and run it under the new name. I'm pretty sure this would get
in under the radar of any malware. But are there likely to be any
problems if I do this? Do such programs care how they are named?

Also, are AdAware and Spybot adequate for finding and removing
trojans, or do I need something like TrojanHunter? Note that at
this point I have no real idea what is on the PC, but it has not
been well protected, and it has slowed down a lot recently.

 

[Pop Rivet]

I am about to try to purge a friend's PC of adware/spyware/trojans.
I am concerned about just downloading Spybot or AdAware and trying
to run them, because if there is malware on this PC (and I suspect
there may be) then it might recognize whatever I download and
sabotage it. One possibility would be to download the program to
a remote location, rename it, then download it via FTP to the target
PC and run it under the new name. I'm pretty sure this would get
in under the radar of any malware. But are there likely to be any
problems if I do this? Do such programs care how they are named?

Also, are AdAware and Spybot adequate for finding and removing
trojans, or do I need something like TrojanHunter? Note that at
this point I have no real idea what is on the PC, but it has not
been well protected, and it has slowed down a lot recently.

John,
Those programs would likely run just fine if you renamed
them, but that wouldn't do a lot to protect them from
malware that disables them because a lot of the times it
isn't the start-up executable (which is the one you could
rename) that they mess with; it's the underlying .dll's and
support files they mess with.
I don't think it's much of a problem anyway and if you
are concerned, then increasing your arsenal of malware
seekers would be the best answer. There are lots of them
discussed often on this group; I imagine if you scanned the
old posts here you'd come across lots of recommendations.
Or perhaps some kind souls will post their recommendations.
I use Adaware, Spybot, SpywareGuard, Sygate personal, and
SpyWare Blaster; they seem to do pretty well. Also, you
MUST keep them all up to date, all the time.

Good luck
Pop

 

[null]

I am about to try to purge a friend's PC of adware/spyware/trojans.
I am concerned about just downloading Spybot or AdAware and trying
to run them, because if there is malware on this PC (and I suspect
there may be) then it might recognize whatever I download and
sabotage it. One possibility would be to download the program to
a remote location, rename it, then download it via FTP to the target
PC and run it under the new name. I'm pretty sure this would get
in under the radar of any malware. But are there likely to be any
problems if I do this? Do such programs care how they are named?

Also, are AdAware and Spybot adequate for finding and removing
trojans, or do I need something like TrojanHunter? Note that at
this point I have no real idea what is on the PC, but it has not
been well protected, and it has slowed down a lot recently.

You should run a good antivirus product first. How you go about it
depends on the version of Windows involved. With Win 9X/ME you can use
DOS av scanners such as F-Prot for DOS after preparing a set of
emergency boot diskettes. With the NT based OS, it's more involved.

If the OS is XP, you might try runnjng McAfee's Stinger, though it
handles a very limited number of current malwares. Trend's Sysclean
handles far more but it's a large download. My web site has a
convenient downloader/updater for it called Sys-Up. Run in Safe mode
so that hopefully malware won't have control. Another possibility,
though it's very problematical with some malware, is to try a online
antivirus scan.


Art
http://www.epix.net/~artnpeg