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Can anyone suggest a good free anti-spyware program that will let me do more than just scan my PC? I need one that will let me delete/quarintine the programs. All the ones I find just let me scan then want me to pay for the upgrade.

Thanks in advance.

Lavasoft Ad-Aware isn't too bad. I think you can get a Zone Alarm like trial, with the basic features enabled. I know the one I have lets me scan, quarantine and delete, in any case.

Ad-aware's free version is pretty good. Spybot Search&destroy(Spybot S&D) also works.

Another recommendation for Spybot Search & Destroy. I've been using it for years and it works great.

In my opinion, the best anti-spyware programs availible are an OS reinstall, and a knowledgeable user.

RThurmont wrote:In my opinion, the best anti-spyware programs availible are an OS reinstall, and a knowledgeable user.

In my opinion, you're also a fucking idiot who doesn't realise most people are perfectly happy with WindowsXP and would quite well prefer to stay there.

The cocktail that I've been using for years, without any infections (several attempts, though, but they were summarily squashed) has been Avira AntiVir, ZoneAlarm, Lavasoft Ad-Aware, Spybot Search & Destroy and Spywareblaster.

That lot works fine together without any of them stepping on each other's toes. Spywareblaster and Spybot both preemptively vaccinate your computer against some 30k total different malware programs. Ad-Aware and Spybot allow you to remove and quarantine the stuff they find, and so does AntiVir, which in my experience is hell of a lot better than anything I've seen from some of the big names in the industry, especially when stopping infections in the intrusion stage.

All of those are free for non-commercial home use.

If you have problems that cannot be solved by either ad-aware or spybot, look up "Hijackthis".

Zixinus wrote:If you have problems that cannot be solved by either ad-aware or spybot, look up "Hijackthis".

And don't use it without knwoing precisely what you're doing. It's one of those very dangerous tools that can fuck things up in a big way if you make mistakes. Much like a chainsaw.

K, he's off on a volunteering course away from home so I downloaded the Spybot Search and Destroy program and it worked. Thanks everyone, our computer is now healthy again.

Now I keep getting these pop ups saying that I should download and run a program called Spy Locked?

How do I get rid of those? Or do I just need to download this program as well anyway?

Mrs Kendall wrote:Now I keep getting these pop ups saying that I should download and run a program called Spy Locked?

How do I get rid of those? Or do I just need to download this program as well anyway?

When does it pop up? It may be occurring only when you visit a specific website. Or it could be some sort of spyware that put itself on after you ran Spybot the first time. (I assume you downloaded the newest definitions before running it?)

General Zod wrote:

Mrs Kendall wrote:Now I keep getting these pop ups saying that I should download and run a program called Spy Locked?

How do I get rid of those? Or do I just need to download this program as well anyway?

When does it pop up? It may be occurring only when you visit a specific website. Or it could be some sort of spyware that put itself on after you ran Spybot the first time. (I assume you downloaded the newest definitions before running it?)

Yeah it does pop up when I visit different websites. but it's constantly flashing is the task bar as well.

Yes I downloaded the newest definitions before running it.

Should I just run it again just to make sure?

Mrs Kendall wrote:

General Zod wrote:

Mrs Kendall wrote:Now I keep getting these pop ups saying that I should download and run a program called Spy Locked?

How do I get rid of those? Or do I just need to download this program as well anyway?

When does it pop up? It may be occurring only when you visit a specific website. Or it could be some sort of spyware that put itself on after you ran Spybot the first time. (I assume you downloaded the newest definitions before running it?)

Yeah it does pop up when I visit different websites. but it's constantly flashing is the task bar as well.

Yes I downloaded the newest definitions before running it.

Should I just run it again just to make sure?

Try downloading something like Ad-Aware as well and run that concurrently. It's possible there may be something Spybot missed, or it could just be a cookie that's lodged in your browser and triggers a popup whenever you visit certain websites. Clearing your cookies may be all it needs.

Ewido Antispyware (recently acquired by AVG) works pretty well at identifying stuff, and seems to be more effective than Spybot is at removal. Unfortunately, for deep-seated infections, you'll still need at least HijackThis (and sometimes a spyware-specific bit of removal software).

If popups are appearing even when a browser window isn't open (or IE popups appear when only Firefox is open), something is seriously wrong.

UPDATE: SpyLocked is itself a piece of spyware. If you're getting popups for it, you're already infected. There's a specialized tool to remove components of this here, but you'll have to post a HijackThis log for other things to remove (as it randomly renames its own components).

n my opinion, you're also a fucking idiot who doesn't realise most people are perfectly happy with WindowsXP and would quite well prefer to stay there.

Show me where I suggested he switch operating systems.

The use of the phrase "Operating system reinstall" implies that the existing operating system is to be reloaded, as opposed to doing a fresh install of a different OS.

So if the current computer is running WinXP, my suggestion is that he reinstall it. The only Windows OS that probably wouldn't be worth reinstalling under any circumstance would be Windows ME.

RThurmont wrote:

n my opinion, you're also a fucking idiot who doesn't realise most people are perfectly happy with WindowsXP and would quite well prefer to stay there.

Show me where I suggested he switch operating systems.

The use of the phrase "Operating system reinstall" implies that the existing operating system is to be reloaded, as opposed to doing a fresh install of a different OS.

So if the current computer is running WinXP, my suggestion is that he reinstall it. The only Windows OS that probably wouldn't be worth reinstalling under any circumstance would be Windows ME.

That's a retarded solution if the problem is minimal. It's like suggesting chopping off an arm to solve a hangnail.

If a computer has a substantial malware infestation on it, it stands to reason that said computer could be heavily compromised, and not worth the effort to clean out. Unless there is some really pressing need to keep that OS install running (for example, it has proprietary apps installed on it that you've lost the disks for, or you don't have an OEM reinstallation CD set), reinstallation is probably worthwhile.

That said, the use of some spyware cleaning apps might not be a bad idea from the standpoint of preventing further deteroriation, so that you'd have some time, and a semi-safe environment, to back up your data from.

The pop ups are only coming randomly, like if I visit this thread here, or that thread there on this very website. I don't think it has anything to do with certain websites since I haven't really been on any others tonight.

I'll just deal with the pop ups until I can talk to my husband again to see what he wants me to do with it.

Thanks again.

And as a friendly request, could we not have this thread hijacked by fighting since it's a serious enough issue for me and it's the only place I'll get answers I can trust right now since hubby is away.

RThurmont I'm not interested in re-installing the operating system unless it is absolutely needed, so you can forget about fighting your position anyway.

Mrs Kendall wrote:The pop ups are only coming randomly, like if I visit this thread here, or that thread there on this very website. I don't think it has anything to do with certain websites since I haven't really been on any others tonight.

I'd recommend giving ad-aware a shot then, or post a Hijack This! log for Ein or Ace to look over.

Ace Pace wrote:Ad-aware's free version is pretty good. Spybot Search&destroy(Spybot S&D) also works.

I would suggest that the Kendalls get both and run them one after the other.

Ford Prefect wrote:

Ace Pace wrote:Ad-aware's free version is pretty good. Spybot Search&destroy(Spybot S&D) also works.

I would suggest that the Kendalls get both and run them one after the other.

I would say it's a must. I've always found that both catch what the other doesn't.

In addition I recommend Antivirus.com (trend antivirus and antispyware) it's free

Soontir C'boath wrote:

Ford Prefect wrote:

Ace Pace wrote:Ad-aware's free version is pretty good. Spybot Search&destroy(Spybot S&D) also works.

I would suggest that the Kendalls get both and run them one after the other.

I would say it's a must. I've always found that both catch what the other doesn't.

Ok, that sounds like a good plan Links please?

I don't want to download the wrong thing and my husband is not available to walk me through it. I'm so computer illiterate.

You can get the free version of Ad-Aware Here