Spyware problem / prevention

  • Thread starter Thread starter Richard Fangnail
  • Start date Start date
R

Richard Fangnail

This morning I couldn't start any programs and ctrl+alt+delete would do
nothing. I called support and they got me to run Scandisk. This fixed
the problem.

First of all, could only spyware have caused this problem?

If it was spyware, was it a particular spyware program?

I downloaded Spybot and it found many things and I fixed them but I'm
not sure if the spyware that caused the orig. problem was eliminated.
Spybot keeps a log in an awkward place.
 
 
This morning I couldn't start any programs and ctrl+alt+delete would do
nothing. I called support and they got me to run Scandisk. This fixed
the problem.

First of all, could only spyware have caused this problem?

If it was spyware, was it a particular spyware program?

I downloaded Spybot and it found many things and I fixed them but I'm
not sure if the spyware that caused the orig. problem was eliminated.
Spybot keeps a log in an awkward place.
Click to expand...

Viruses CAN delete things on your drive and leave Windows unstable, most
of them don't do anything that SCANDISK would find/fix, the problem that
scandisk found could have been from powering the computer off instead of
doing a controlled shutdown.

Spyware comes in many forms, almost virus like, but it can and often
does leave a system almost unusable.

Try a couple of these quality anti-spyware and AV products on your
system if you think there could be any remaining traces of malware.

After you install any of these applications and update them, run them in
SAFE MODE to allow them to properly clean your system.

These sites are for downloading Anti-Spyware tools, in order that I
would use them myself:

AdAwareSE can be found here:
http://www.lavasoft.de/support/download/

SpyBot Search and Destroy can be found here:
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html

HiJack can be found here:
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html

Ewido Security Suite Trial can be found here:
http://www.ewido.net/en/download/

CrapCleaner can be found at the vendors site here:
http://www.ccleaner.com/ccdownload.asp

CleanUp can be found at the vendors site here:
http://www.stevengould.org/software/cleanup/download.html
or from another reputable source:
http://www.tucows.com/get/405276_152071

The following are two links to Antivirus software in order that I would
use them:

You can also download Symantec Trial version of their Antivirus software
from here:
http://www.symantec.com/downloads/

Download AVG Personal Free edition from here:
http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2/

These are the actual vendors sites, not some unknown or authorized no-
name site. They also don't artificially increase the hits for sites that
get paid for the amount of traffic they can generate like one poster has
admitted to in this group.
 
PA said:
Checking for/Help with Hijackware
http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm
Click to expand...

Your page mentioned "You cannot run any programs" which was my problem.

But can you say that a certain piece of spyware causes a certain
problem? You can usually say that for viruses.

Because of what happened to me, I've no way of knowing for sure I
eliminated whatever caused the problem (that required chkdsk).

I fixed many things through Spybot and I'm not sure if that got it.
 
Leythos said:
Viruses CAN delete things on your drive and leave Windows unstable, most
of them don't do anything that SCANDISK would find/fix, the problem that
scandisk found could have been from powering the computer off instead of
doing a controlled shutdown.
Click to expand...

About five days ago, my computer would not shut down normally. It
froze on shutdown and I had to press and hold the power button -
however, I used and shut down the computer normally at least five times
after that! So my problem today was either spyware or a power problem.
Click to expand...
 
First of all, could only spyware have caused this problem?

No
If it was spyware, was it a particular spyware program?
Click to expand...

How would anyone know?
I downloaded Spybot and it found many things and I fixed them but I'm
not sure if the spyware that caused the orig. problem was eliminated.
Spybot keeps a log in an awkward place.
Click to expand...

Run HiJackThis. See
www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/
and post log to http://forums.spywareinfo.com/,

Stephen Howe
 
Richard said:
This morning I couldn't start any programs and ctrl+alt+delete would do
nothing. I called support and they got me to run Scandisk. This fixed
the problem.
Click to expand...

There is no scandisk in Windows XP.
 
But can you say that a certain piece of spyware causes a certain
problem?
Click to expand...

Certainly (e.g., IE homepage or Search reset, you're taken to www.
nastyXXXratedsite . com when you want to go to www. momsfamilypix . com).
 
This morning I couldn't start any programs and ctrl+alt+delete would
do nothing. I called support and they got me to run Scandisk. This
fixed the problem.

First of all, could only spyware have caused this problem?

If it was spyware, was it a particular spyware program?

I downloaded Spybot and it found many things and I fixed them but I'm
not sure if the spyware that caused the orig. problem was eliminated.
Spybot keeps a log in an awkward place.
Click to expand...

You need to make backups of all important files on removable media now.
Your drive may be failing.
-max
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Registered Linux User #393236
 
Richard said:
This morning I couldn't start any programs and ctrl+alt+delete would do
nothing. I called support and they got me to run Scandisk. This fixed
the problem.
Click to expand...

CORRECTION: I think it was chkdsk, not ScanDisk. And Chkdsk started
automatically as soon as I booted up with the OS CD.
 
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