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Since most of the posts are not answering your question at all, here are some programs which can help.

I have been fixing Windows computers for over 10 years and can suggest the following programs from personal experience. There is no guarantee that they will find all keyloggers but they will detect the progs you find by using google.

1) Spybot Search & Destroy (free) http://www.safer-networking.org/
    This is a spyware checker, cleaner. It will also find keyloggers and screen capturing software
2) Antivir (free for personal use) http://www.free-av.com/
    This is an Antivirus / malware program which I have found to kick the shit out of Norton Antivirus (Personal + Corporate) and McAfee.
3) Norton Antivirus 2008 (not free)
    This is another antivirus program, it is not as good as Antivir but it may contain different malware signatures then Antivir.
4) Adaware (free) http://www.lavasoftusa.com/
    Like Spybot but less strict, I don't use it anymore but you should run it anyway.
5) Windows Defender (free) http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx
    This one is made (purchased) by Microsoft and is actually quite good, I can highly recommend it to remove crap from a computer. This one is free and includes an "active shield"

If you run suggestions 1,2,4 and 5 above you can assume that your computer is clean. To be sure format and reload.

As for the rest, follow the advice above and end the relationship....

Maybe I'm an old stick in the mud. But I've had far, far more trouble CAUSED by most of these applications than I've seen prevented.

>Comcast btw said it's not possible for spyware or that ilk to use this much bandwidth.

Speaking as an ISP support admin, I can assure, that's absolutely not true (well, if you include botnets, which is probably 99% of the bandwidth stealing type of nasties people infect their machines with). Now, if you had a machine on the backbone, well, maybe you'd find it tough to end up on a botnet using 100 Mbits+, but the "paltry" 30 Mbits maximum most cable handles (generally the customers modems are DOCSISed to what, 6 Mbits?) wouldn't take any effort to botnet to death.

You should have taped them saying that so we could laugh at them like Verizon.

You should also run spybot and adaware SE personal on that machine. You could also play around with hijack this, but if you do one wrong move with hijack this, you'll need to re-install windows (well, someone who knows their way around windows won't... but I digress). It's probably got plenty more junk on it if you found 24 viruses. In fact, I'd probably consider getting a shop to nuke it and re-install it; after that sort of abuse windows usually becomes pretty fragile, and the PPPoE stack (needed for your new DSL) is going to be one of the first things to break.

When your F-Prot trial runs out, uninstall it and grab AVG, a free antivirus. You can do a check (and repair) of your computer without installing an anti-virus with Trend Micro's Housecall or BitDefender. Enjoy!

Symantec AV often lags behind in protection and definitions. The worst recent example that comes to mind is the spread of hacktool.rootkit (aka about a million things), which was implemented in countless malware releases. Symantec was AFAIK the only mainstream antivirus program that missed detecting it as it was installed. My flavors of choice are:
AVG Free antivirus
LavaSoft Adaware
and Spybot Search and Destroy.

Very little can get by this trifecta. When I suspect that a machine has received an infection that these three can't remove, I research the individual piece of malware on sites like CastleCops or I just Google it by process name.

I also keep archives of RootKitRevealer, peperfix.exe and HijackThis.

If anyone has any recommendations on a well-behaved, friendly security program for Windows XP that isn't in your face all the time, I'd love to hear it.

AVG anti-virus is great. http://free.grisoft.com/

It's free, it works, and it doesn't pop up stupid stuff all the time. Unless you have a virus, the only pop-up you'll see is the AVG auto-updater once a day, which automatically goes away after 30 seconds once it's finished updating AVG (or if you click the OK button.)

For a firewall, you can use the windows firewall, it works fine. It'll pop up occasionally to ask about this or that program, but it's not bothersome.

For ad-ware or malware, use Ad-aware ( http://www.lavasoftusa.com/ ) and Spybot ( http://www.safer-networking.org/ ) Don't use Spybot's Teatimer thing though, it's horribly annoying and the dialog box is mis-configured so that the buttons are difficult to read. These are manual scanners, you have to run them yourself to check for spyware.

windows defender is supposed to be okay, though I don't use it so I can't comment too much, just that I've heard it's fairly annoying, like Spybot's Teatimer.

That should cover you pretty well security-wise. This doesn't mean you can freely download things like "buckets'o'pr0n.exe" and run them without thinking about it, just that your system will be reasonably protected from the average sort of junk software or websites that you may encounter.

Most of the spyware and malware can be stopped in the first place by using a browser other than ie. There have been a lot of security reports about Firefox, but it's still pretty good. So is Opera. Both are free.

NB: posting as AC to prevent whoring

I've been working in the small shop/repair business for over 5 years, and its a weekly experience to get a machine in with thousands of trojans, viruses and spy apps. In cases where a re-install may not be desirable or feasable, here's a list of the tools we use to find, isolate and eradicate hostile software.

Disclaimer: I do not work for any of these companies, nor am I been paid anything by them. I just find that these tools work. Your mileage may vary.

1: Antivirus

As most of our customers are home users, we can recomend Grisoft's AVG as the most capable and reasonably priced ':)' antivirus out there. It does a pretty good job, and the installers are kept up to date so you don't have to fudge around with d'loading on a broken box.

AVG Free

2: Anti-Spyware

No-brainer. The best two in the business. Spybot and Ad-Aware. They don't get everything, but they both do a darn good job, and can even set themselves up to run on reboot before some of the uglies get going. We leave them on the system so we can attempt to train the user towards a safer future.

Ad-Aware Personal
SpyBot S&D

3: Process Viewers

Now this gets a little harder. Neither of these tools will do the job automatically, but with care, can show you the files and processes that are the center of these little problems. Personally, I like MS/Sysinternals Process Explorer, my boss prefers PrcView. As an interesting note: You'll occasionally find a hostile that can stop certain known process viewers from starting up. Get the old 95/98 version of PrcView. They always seem to miss that one. Recording the file name of the app, rebooting to the recovery console, and going in to hand delete the app works 98% of the time.

PrcView
Process Explorer

Now, the easy route....

Get yourself one of these. USB HDD Adapter Kit from your favourite retailer, and just hook the offending HDD up to a good machine with a up to date anti-virus scanner. You will have some broken startup and registry entries left over, but they're pretty simple in comparision.

I'd normally say, Enjoy! at this juncture. But you probably won't.

Best of Luck

kgs

real player is a necessity when you want to listen to audio clips from sites such as http://www.npr.org/, but i don't hear any complaints about that one.
 
RP is not really that big of an issue provided you babysit the installation and only install what is needed to run rm streams. it's definitely not as big an issue as it was a number of years ago. the most annoying thing i find about it is when websites make you pick a specific media player, because variety IS the spice of life, but i can understand a group's choosing one format to avoid the cost of encoding across multiple formats.
 
now i just have to figure out if any of the 130 New Critical Objects Ad-Aware found on this computer were caused by Real Networks software so that I can make sure my foot isn't anywhere near my mouth...

You should check your facts before calling people shills.

Ad-Aware's free edition is called Ad-Aware Personal and updates have never stopped being free. In fact, I just tried it myself, just to make sure. Go here and see for yourself.

GriSoft (antivirus)

ZoneAlarm (firewall)

Ad-aware (anti spyware)

Windows Defender(anti spyware)

And don't forget windows solitaire!

I have seen more problems caused by Symantec's software then I could count. I feel that if you have to run Windows then any extra layers of protection that you would need can be provided by free applications online. For example: Ad-aware, Spy-Bot, AVG Anti-Virus, ZoneAlarm, and the best firewall protection, SmoothWall.

Spyware / Adware / Malware stuff is pretty easy to deal with. Check out some of this stuff: it's free, clean and won't trash your computer.
Spybot Search and Destroy.
AdAware
MS Anti-Spyware

Keeping your OS up to date definitely will help out, and being smart about what you download from who and where. Most people infect themselves, and don't know it because of all of the shady software downloads out there. A good hardware or software firewall solution is easy enough to come by for cheap or free depending on how much time and effort you want to put into it. It's up to you as a user to protect yourself so study up.

Now, who's going to be the first to crack the "But Windows is malware" joke?

You are kidding, right? It has been years since Norton Utilities did anything useful. The AV scanner and firewall let far too much through, and everything else they install is useless... The spyware scanner is a sieve used as an umbrella, the system cleanup utilities was useful on 98 but now just call software that comes with XP, crash protection takes a ton of resources and never works when you need it to, uninstall is about as successful as the regular windows uninstall routines, etc.

The only really good utilities are premium and expensive anyway, Partition Magic and Ghost. The average user will never need these, which is fortunate as the average user never buys these.

For Antivirus, use AVG. It is solid, low-resource, and free, and people have been using it successfully for many, many years. For a firewall, you want either Kerio Personal Firewall or Zone Alarm. Either is a small, robust, and far more secure than Norton firewall. Kerio is a little more powerful, Zone Alarm is a little simpler. Both are free, and have been around for years.

No antispyware software (especially commercial applications) catches everything, so a cocktail is usually in order. The two I recommend are Ad-Aware and Spybot. They're both classics, they both take low resources and are easy to schedule, and they have different search methodologies and as such catch different types of spyware. They also don't run unless called, so they don't take up any system resources. Combined, the two catch just about everything.

I have heard good things about Counter-Spy, but with just an 85% catch rate, it is still good to run a second application along with it. Likewise, with a 20 dollar yearly service fee, it isn't "fire and forget," and I've seen far too many systems that were unprotected because the credit card on file with their software service company expired.

Take all of the above utilities. Put them on a disk. Write a very small shell script that automatically launches the installers on insertion of the disk and clicks through everything (try PTFB, which can be launched and run from the disk automatically) and adds scheduled tasks to run the software. This shouldn't take you too long. Then whenever a crapflooded machine comes into your office with an expired copy of Norton, just clean it up and pop in the disk. I can't tell you how many machines I've installed AVG, Kerio, Ad-aware, Spybot (or some variant thereof) on, and have never regretted it.

There is a lot better stuff out there. Surprisingly, a lot of it is free. And while people seem to like to pay for software because it gives them a false sense of security, they also like the fact that you can whip out a disk right there and be done in five minutes, hassle-free.

When you purchase a PC, you should have the option of installing freeware that might help you in the incessant barrage of spam, viruses, spyware, adware, bots and phishing emails. It might also help to have a short tutorial on how your PC becomes infected/compromised/used to propogate malicious code. Maybe then Windows would be a better and safer O/S?


For those who need some free help:
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/2/lng/us/tpl/v5 (AVG anti virus)
http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/prod ucts/znalm/freeDownload.jsp (Zone Alarm firewall)
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/ (Ad-Aware adware/spyware detection)
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/ (SpyBot S&D adware/spyware detection)
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?Fa milyID=321cd7a2-6a57-4c57-a8bd-dbf62eda9671&displa ylang=en (MS Anti-Spyware adware/spyware detection)

...I use Lavasoft's Ad-Aware SE Professional in combination with Spybot - Search & Destroy, they keep my PC spyware free.

1. Ad-Aware SE
2. Spybot Search & Destroy
3. SpywareBlaster
4. Microsoft Anti-Spyware
5. Some Anti-Virus Program that you like (at my work, we install Norton even though it is a resource hog, but never Norton Internet Security since it eventually always fucks a computer up)

Set your Anti-virus program to scan at least weekly, and automatically update itself, Update and sca with Ad-Aware and Spybot weekly at a minimum, and update and protect with SpywareBlaster weekly at a minimum.

It is absolutely ridiculous that a person should have to do this to keep their computer running decently. We get so many Windows machines in the shop that it isn't even funny, but thusfar, whenever we have managed to convince someone to upgrade to a MacOS X machine (Typically when their Dell, Compaq, HP, E-Machines has a motherboard failure). They have came back completely excited and astonished that they don't really have to worry about spyware and viruses so much.

My reccomendation on keeping your WIndows XP machine in top performance. Go buy a high-end Mac and run VirtualPC if it can run whatever program you NEED to run (Note: Games do not count), if you cannot run your Prorgram under VPC, buy a low-end PC and keep it off the network.

I have a few programs that atleast help a little to secure windows.

I run them when I install windows, or when I clean other people's computers.

UnPlug n' Pray
http://www.grc.com.nyud.net:8090/unpnp/unpnp.htm
DCOMbobulator
http://www.grc.com.nyud.net:8090/dcom/
Shoot The Messenger
http://www.grc.com.nyud.net:8090/stm/shootthemesse nger.htm
XP Antispy
http://www.xp-antispy.org.nyud.net:8090/
SafeXP
http://www.theorica.net.nyud.net:8090/safexp.htm
Xpy
http://xpy.whyeye.org.nyud.net:8090/
BugOFF
http://www.spywareinfo.com.nyud.net:8090/~merijn/

The above help clean up several things I find to be disconcerting in XP. Things I'd rather not be enabled.
And with the above, I have had few problems. I have actually been better off. Hence, why I recommend them.
Still, I doubt I'd want the un pc savvy or the mentally retarded using teh above and muckign with their PC so much it won't boot. So, user beware.

And to harden the IP stack, there's Harden-IT
http://www.sniff-em.com.nyud.net:8090/hardenit.sht ml

Windows Configurator can also enable/disable certain things, as above. Have not used it yet, but just found out I had it installed.
http://home.autocom.pl.nyud.net:8090/mrowka/freewa re/wd.html
And then there's also TuneXP
http://www.driverheaven.net.nyud.net:8090/dforce/
It has several other options that may make your windows experience more enjoyable, and/or safe.
And of course there's FreshUI, which you can change how windows looks and reacts.
I guess its much like TweakUI.

And because IE is a real bitch, and even opera and firefox can get bitchy at times, I always use...
The Proxomitron
The best damned thing to happen to web browsing, EVAR!
Block popups, banners, browser hijacks, flash, javascript, web bugs, tons of things. Highly configurable, great for most anything.
Never knew how I got by without it before. I never browse without it now.
http://www.proxomitron.info.nyud.net:8090/
I also have it patched to make it look nicer. Little things can do so much.
http://www.xs4all.nl.nyud.net:8090/~vsetten/prox/
And I also religiously use The Gryphen's filter pack. Haven't found a better set yet. :D
http://www.users.on.net.nyud.net:8090/~grypen/Down loads/?M=D (look for "proxofilterset####" where #### is the newest date. A self extracting file, which overwrites the config files, and sets proxomitron to start on boot.

Also first up when I install windows is a thorough Spybot Search & Destroy and Adaware cleaning.
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/
Not that there'd be anything there, already. But a good once through is nice.
Then, within Spybot I go to Immunize and help lock down my system.
I then get SpywareBlaster and do the same.
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.htm l

With the above programs (Adaware

I'm assuming you are using the 'free' versions of this software, otherwise igore the rest of this message!

Bearing in mind you are a non-commercial organization - and a worthy one - I would double check the licenses for these as far as educational and non-commercial organizational use is concerned. And perhaps a complimentary email to vendors for clarification where necessary?

SpywareBlaster looks OK for teachers.

Spybot I would confirm with author. They seem 'edu' friendly, from their tone.

AVG License is perhaps slightly ambiguous in this case. Schools are non-commercial but they are 'Organizations'.

Ad-Aware not free for educational use.

You may have omitted your firewall of choice but most of them have similar organizational clauses. I think Outpost Free may be OK.

Speaking as (not one of the few) IT guys who reads this thing, there's an interesting point to be made about Symantec. IT DOESN'T ACTUALLY CATCH VIRUSES! In the last year I can count off the top of my head where a Symantec "protected" system came in with so many viruses, some of them I swear reproduce when you kill it, so much spyware, so much malware that I had to harvest user-entered files off the system, back them up to CD-R's and wipe the system just to get it going.

I've been using the free version of AVG Antivirus (http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1) and endorsing it to my customers along with the free version of Ad-Aware (http://www.lavasoftusa.com/) to make their system work and putting Firefox (again, free) on the system regardless.

Did I mention all of this was free?

None of those systems have come back to me with viruses and spyware/malware problems. Symantec, well you need to pay them 20 bucks a year and usually end up having to buy their software yearly as well...

Let the corporations fit the bill for corporate versions of software; it's too expensive for most average Joe's to be shelling out thousands of dollars for "security".

WsFtp (~40)
PhotoImpact(80)
Quicken (30)
Spybot - Detect and Destroy (free, donated $15)
MS Access - (300 ?, needed a DB program)
MS Visual Basic ($99, not full version which costs as much as $699 IIRC)
Tiny Firewall (was free when I used it, it seems to be $49 now)

Cost I had to pay: $550 (Not including donation)

You're not really comparing like for like though; let's go through that list again...

FileZilla
The GIMP
Grisbi Personal Finance Manager (Windows & Linux)
Ad Aware
AVG AntiVirus
Services for Unix(make, GCC, etc)
OpenOffice.org Base
Windows Firewall / ZoneAlarm Personal Edition

Total Cost: 0

I would also add that these are still high quality applications - not poor quality abandonware/freeware.

I never ran Microsoft Antispyware; it's like asking the wolf to guard the sheep. I use the following free applications instead:

Spybot Search & Destroy: http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html

Ad-Aware: http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/

One one hand, spyware is some pretty evil stuff. There are little weasel programs I've spent quite a bit of time trying to get out of systems.

On the other hand, I get paid to do that. I just did one small company with 5 computers that was literally shut down because they couldn't do anything on their systems. Spyware is a problem on just about every single "joe average" computer that I have seen lately. The problem, of course, is going to get worse as long as Windows continues to allow users to run with privileged access by default.

I don't feel like going into a Microsoft rant - I'm sure it would be preaching to the choir anyway. I would like to share effective tools in my warchest for cleaning out spyware -

Ad-Aware - My favorite anti-spyware program right now. Gets about 95% of baddies.

HiJack This! - Cleans up anything that Ad-Aware may have left behind. It scans all startup regkeys, services, and BHO IE extension keys and lets you select which ones to nuke. BE CAREFUL, it lists both the good and the bad. If you don't know what a process is, google for it before you remove its key.

There are many other useful tools on this download page as well, like LSPFix. This program will fix the mess left by programs that mess with your TCP stack, such as New Net, whos manual removal can disable your Internet access completely.

Pocket KillBox - You know those processes that come back from the dead after you kill them? Can't delete the EXE because it's locked in both normal and safe modes? Pocket Killbox is what you need. If it can't delete the file outright, it can temporarily end the Explorer task and try it that way. If that doesn't work, it can use Windows' replace-on-reboot function to swap the EXE with a dummy file on the next reboot. Very handy for getting rid of the most nefarious of processes.

Spyware Blaster - Pre-emptive spyware prevention. The interesting thing about this program is that it doesn't remain resident in memory. Instead, it writes files and regkeys to your system that prevent the spyware from installing. Adding and removing protection can be done in one click.

I have never relied on a single software package to keep my computer virus/spyware/adware/whatever free. I use three products. AVG anti-virus is running right now and it updates at least once a day and does a scan every morning at 3am. Also through the course of the day I run Adaware http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/ which is free for personal use. Also installed on my computer is SpyBot S&D http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html another freebie.

Between these three products and routine updates from windows update and only using Firefox, I honestly cannot remember the last time I had a problem with adware etc. I find it rather disturbing that people put their trust in one single software package to keep their systems clean. Is it not good practice to keep backups in multiple locations? Why then would we not have redundant measures for cleaning a system? Other than the anti-virus running in the background these programs use system resources only when loaded and running. Otherwise they sit on my hard drive and take up a fraction of a fraction of my total space.

Perhaps because they feel there are too many people out there...misappropriating...their content?

That makes perfect sense if you sell CDs and DVDs, but not if you sell computers. Take Dell. They don't create intellectual property, they create tools to use it. Their products are valuable because of their versatility, and voluntarily integrating DRM serves to reduce that versatility.

Shareware authors, who used to release fully functional versions of their applications, no longer do so, even though that change in tactics may have reduced their income (IANASWA).

I would argue that the best software sold under the shareware concept is still uncrippled, except possibly for a nag screen. At the moment, I have no shareware installed except for mIRC and WinRAR. Both are uncrippled except for nag screens, and I've purchased both of them. WinZip is another great example of this.

I would argue that the cream-of-the-crop shareware has morphed not into crippleware or adware, but an evolution of the shareware concept I'm going to call "personalware." Examples of this genre are Ad-Aware, ZoneAlarm, Sygate Personal Firewall, AVG Free, and much more. Each of these programs comes with a license that says "feel free to download and install me, but for personal use only. If you're a business, pony up." You can tell that these programs are polished and that a lot of work went into them. The missing features in these free versions are so minor that most businesses could do without them, if they were so inclined to cheat. The companies behind these products seem to be in good shape, if the fact that their web sites are still up is any indication.

You now have to put money in the box to get a newspaper, whereas before, you could just take one and then deposit your money. That additional machinery contributes to the extra cost of your newspaper.

And yet, these boxes still have a relatively lightweight door that could be forced open without too much trouble, and a design that permits a dishonest person to easily take more than one copy. If we were to "DRM-ize" these boxes, they would be more like a soda machine: you put in your credit card and one copy of a newspaper (printed on special fast-fading paper to ensure you don't share it with somebody else) rolls out.

I'm kind of getting of track, so I'm going to stop here, but I just wanted to point out that in each of these instances, putting further restrictions on the product doesn't translate into more revenues.

to your point, however, some % of that 58% are likely deleting cookies when e.g. AdAware or Yahoo! antispy is telling them to clean up this "tracking info."

Regardless, it's a Good Thing users are doing this.

Run Ad-Aware

Run Spybot

fight ticket for parking meter that expired while you went through the windows routine at the atm

Rinse

Reboot

Repeat

Get cash?

or... install Spyware guard, http://www.wilderssecurity.com/spywareguard.html which blocks the spyware, and teach them to use Ad-aware http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/ on a regular basis.

We've looked hard at the nature of this problem, and made a decision that this anti-spyware capability will become something that's available at no additional charge for Windows users
--Bill Gates

Yes, its called AdAware and SpyBot S&D. Free spyware killing tools on Windows has little to do with MS putting one out for free.

Try this one.

When cleaning a PC I tend to use Spybot, AdAware, Startup.exe (don't know where this comes from) and Hijack this.

I'm sure if you have a read through the rest of the comments you will find some other useful stuff, but these four are golden. Especially if you have a legit copy of AdAware Pro with AdWatch in.
AdWatch can cause confusion for (l)users, being another box that pops up for them to think about, but on your system it is the canine's testicles.

* Note:
There is a huge collection of Spyware tools hosted @ MajorGeeks.com, where I downloaded AdAware from.

Lavasoft's Ad-Aware -- the freeware version is all you need for scanning purposes, but the professional version comes with Ad-Watch (popup and spyware blocker).

Spybot Search & Destroy -- another good (and free) spyware scanner that also "immunizes" Internet Explorer from certain well-known spyware and browser hacks.

Javacool Spyware Blaster -- another free spy-fighter that protects Internet Explorer from any malicious ActiveX code. You can also block Flash ads if you choose.

Antivirus app of your choice -- any free anti-virus app should do the trick, but if you already have Norton or McAfee you're in great shape.

If you have XP SP2 -- with SP2 installed, set the popup blocker to its highest blocking setting, and just hold Ctrl any time your surfing requires a popup.

Your #5 is completely full of crap and wrong. Spywareblaster, Spybot S&D and Adaware SE are all excellent apps to deal with spyware, and if you are running a compatible version of Windows, add in Microsoft Anti-Spyware (beta).

As for can't get spyware off of a computer. LOL LOL LOL I do this EVERY SINGLE DAY and it is not only NOT that difficult using the tools I mentioned, but some other additions generally stop it.

1) Clean at LEAST these temp files regularly:
C:\Windows\Temp C:\Temporary Internet Files
C:\Documents and Setings\-usernmae-\Local Settings\Temp
C:\Documents and Setings\-usernmae-\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files

2) Turn OFF Virus Re^H^H^H^H^H System Restore and delete the _Restore directory

3) Use Firefox instead of Internet Explorer

And for even better success in keeping spyware off of your computer (again for the non-technical) use a Mac...

...but there's already plenty of free alternatives out there. Also, just stop using Internet Explorer. That move right there will cut down at least 90% of all spyware/adware.

actually, true:

Samba

Ad Aware

(saw the window, had to go through it ;)

http://www.free-av.com/
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html

• Firefox
• Thunderbird
• Outpost Firewall
• Cygwin
• The GIMP
• Spybot
• adAware
• Trillian
• Google Desktop Search
• SETI@home
• iTunes

Ad Aware should remove most of the spyware, but there's a lot of stuff that digs itself so far into the system that it's nearly impossible to clean. I also recommend "Hijack This", although it will not remove anything it will give you a list of all running process, then with the help of google, you can disable anything that shouldn't be running. Also be sure to use "msconfig" to disable any processes that try to start at boot time that may be malware (again google is your friend).

Of course when this is all done run a complete virus scan, I use the free version of AVG and haven't had any problems. And also be sure to get all the windows updates.

Last thing to be aware of is that some of this malware will corrupt system files and whatnot and a full reinstall may have to be done anyway, but I always recommend that as a last resort when fixing someone elses machine because there is always something that they forgot to backup and it's you they're going to call to try and find it.

Ad Aware: http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/
Hijack This: http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/

You can continue to use free applications to do the work for you.

I use a free crapware blocker (Adaware) and a couple of very simple registry utilities that prevent anyone from setting a registry key without my permission. Not at all bulletproof, but it works for me.

Spybot
Adaware

Oh, and Linux.

Has anyone forgotten the all important drone??

Is microsoft attacking the spammers because the spammers are using their drones?

If in agreement:

Download: http://www.tucows.com/preview/213160.html Sygate Personal Firewall, http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/ Adaware free, http://www.mozilla.org/ Mozilla Firefox.

Goto IE
Set a fake proxy server in Tools -> Options -> Connections -> Lan settings
So you never use IE again, even accidentally, or with kids messing around.

Just put in fake as the address and 8080 (or whatever) as the port, simple.

Install Adaware, Run adaware but don't commence searching, kill explorer.exe from the task manager, keep taskmanager open and now commence searching with Adaware.

Goto the Applications tab and click on New Task, enter into the box *Shudder* "explorer.exe".

Install Sygate's free firewall, Sygate Personal Firewall, Most secure there is out there, no bloated crap that Norton pushes.

Install Firefox and Thunderbird.

None of this software asks you for ANYTHING...

Don't forget to eventually BUY a subscription virus tool though.

In the alternative that you're a cheap ass you can use http://www.free-av.com/.

It isn't perfect software but virus protection is a must, no matter what you do or how weak it is.

There, and not one penny spent, nearly complete protection.

The main reason why I'm doing this is because one person whom does this means one thousand less potential spam emails out there..my own little spam attack..

Come on guy's!! Mod me up!

Err, Wash, rinse and repeat =)

Download: http://www.tucows.com/preview/213160.html Sygate Personal Firewall, http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/ Adaware free, http://www.mozilla.org/ Mozilla Firefox.

Goto IE
Set a fake proxy server in Tools -> Options -> Connections -> Lan settings
So you never use IE again, even accidentally, or with kids messing around.

Just put in fake as the address and 8080 (or whatever) as the port, simple.

Install Adaware, Run adaware but don't commence searching, kill explorer.exe from the task manager, keep taskmanager open and now commence searching with Adaware.

Goto the Applications tab and click on New Task, enter into the box *Shudder* "explorer.exe".

Install Sygate's free firewall, Sygate Personal Firewall, Most secure there is out there, no bloated crap that Norton pushes.

Install Firefox and Thunderbird.

Err, Wash, rinse and repeat =)

You're right, the set of spyware tools tested is not among the best or even popular ones.

He should have tested these:

* Ad-Aware from Lavasoft
* Pest Patrol from Computer Associates
* Spy Sweeper from Webroot Software
* McAfee AntiSpyware from Network Associates
* Spyware Blaster from Javacool software

Check this out for a *real* review: http://spywarewarrior.com/asw-test-guide.htm

How to help prevent spam/viruses. Most of this information is common knowlege for the IT savy but can be a good cluestick for the relatives.
FireFox http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/ is a web browser that is much more secure then Internet Explorer. I have been using it for many
months now, it is very stable and has a small fraction of the security problems found in IE.
Ad-Aware http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/ is a spyware finding and removal tool. This is one of the best anti-spy ware programs available and should be run at least twice a week.
Spy-Bot http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html is an excellent compliment to AdAware and should be run also twice a week. The combination of both Adaware and SpyBot make for great security.
Trend Micro http://housecall.antivirus.com/housecall/start_cor p.asp has a free online virus scanner that I run once a week. It has found viruses that Norton did not detect.
Microsoft's windows update http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/ should be
checked often to patch your operating system. I would suggest you install the updates.
Zone Alarm http://www.zonealarm.com/store/content/company/zap _za_grid.jsp If you do not have a Firewall router at home or are using dialup. Make sure you have some sort of firewall running on your machine. This one is pretty good and free.

Here is a mini guide I wrote up on how to prevent from getting spam.
1. Do not give out your work email address to anyone not work related. Do not give it out to relatives.
2. Do not use your primary email address to sign up for things online, use a email from hotmail or gmail.
3. DO not use your work/primary email to post on message boards or USENET unless they are closed and protected forums.
4. Do not sign up for free giveaways, even if they are work related.
5. Do *NOT* forward jokes or other such emails. Discourage people from forwarding them to you. These emails hold a massive list of email addresses and will eventually end up in the hands of spammers.
6. Do *NOT* reply to any spam asking to be removed or to "unsubscribe." It just guarantees that you will get more spam as you have confirmed it is a
valid account.
7. Do not buy anything form a spam email. This only encourages the practice.
8. If you get spam in Outlook, go to "File", then "Work Offline" and then delete the email messages. Selecting the email message for deleting opens
it, this can cause a virus to be downloaded or download pictures that have unique tag. With the unique image tag, a spammer can tell when you
opened the email and that your account is valid. By using the "Work Offline" mode, no images will be opened.

You can find these links at my site http://www.friendsglobal.com/

file sharing

game, specifically the only one your girlfriend/mother/mother in law probably cares about.
more games
games

Of course, this is kind of silly, because if you're worried about saving money you're not playing games on a PC or a Mac. "Let's see, I can buy a whole Playstation 2 with a couple of nice games for $200, or I can buy a new video card for for $200 so I can play Doom 3". PC's are excellent gaming platforms, but they are nowhere near as cost effective as any of the console systems. The games, especially when new, cost about the same (if the PC version isn't a little more expensive). It's almost cheaper to have one each of the "big three" consoles than try to keep PC hardware up to spec for playing the newest video games over any given 5 year span. PC's are also nice, open systems, so for online gaming you get access to the wide world of cheaters, where console games at least have some semblance of sofware control. PC games will look nicer, and probably be a little more of a rich experience, but as far as cost-effective, a PC is really far down.

The Windows PC can't do this, at least without buying expensive software. GarageBand comes with a new Mac, and this is also bundled into a new Mac. The ability to painlessly sync my phone and my computer's contact list is pretty valuable. And I can run most other software too, because I've got X11.

Now, admittedly there are lots of things you can't get to work on a Mac. this isn't available, neither is this, or this, or this. As a side effect, neither this nor this is available on the Mac. So, ya know, you're right, there's a lot of stuff that is much harder to do on my Mac than on my Windows PC, like being a Spambot and reporting my personal information to advertisers.

Why not use somthing like Ad-Watch, which comes bundled in the Plus and Professional versions of Ad-Aware? That would certainly save a lot of heartache.

I don't use it on my machine only because when windows pop up out of nowhere telling me I absolutely need to download something, I know I don't. But I wouldn't trust hundreds to thousands of employees of a company to know the same.

You can lock the startup sections of your registry, block possible and actual browser hijack attempts, block suspicious processes, lock executable file associations, block malicious cookies, block pop-ups, and uses the all new CSI technology to protect you from unknown variants as well.

I have a Mac. My mum has a Mac. I have a Wintel box, but's got Win95 installed, and I generally vacuum out the dustbunnies before booting it. My mum hears tales of woe from her bridge-playing cronies about 'worms' and 'viruses' and 'my computer broke, and I have a man in once a month to clean it up, how about you', and after two years still doesn't quite understand what's going on well enough to have developed MacOSX smugness.

[1] Installing *on* Windows? Generally by the time I get called in, any machine I get to see is so smashed by viruses, worms, spyware, descents into DLL hell and so on, that the fastest way to clean it up is to back up, wipe, and reinstall. Sometimes I add a bigger hard disc.
(Tip: Ma/Pa has probably lost their Windows CD key. I found you can get these back using Belarc Advisor, http://www.belarc.com/ -- but this won't help unless Ma/Pa still has the original CDs.]

[2] Ad-Aware SE is my favourite spyware killer -- http://www.lavasoftusa.com/

I also generally nag about keeping antivirus software up-to-date, and also point out how many ways their USB ADSL modem can stop working; far better to fit an ethernet card if necessary, and get a combined modem/router/hub/hardware firewall. But I'm usually flogging a dead horse by this point.

I've seen a lot of people mention AdAware and Spybot, but I figured I'd throw a couple other recommendations in. For the computers we get in at work, we use a combination of

Autoruns (Kind of like MSConfig on crack)
HiJack This
and some other scanner, usually Ad-Aware or SpySweeper.

SpySweeper makes for some impressive numbers, but it's unclear to me why these numbers are any higher than what other software detects. Maybe it counts too many cookies.

The trick is to only use software from trusted vendors such as TrojanHunter or Ad-aware

• Spybot - Search and Destroy
• Ad-Aware SE Personal
• SpywareBlaster

No need to limit yourself to just one, either - run all three!

Solution: stick to vendors that can be trusted. Use Spybot and Ad-Aware.