Well folks, it's been a few days since I last posted. And, apparently, some of you are interested in SpyWare (thanks Poony and Daz!). Serisouly though, since maybe someday, some of the greater masses may actually read my ranting I thought it would be good to pass on some information about anti-spyware tools.
If you have a computer, you should have at least 1 or more of these tools in your arsenal. Yes, you could take the approach of just let it go and rebuild your computer from scratch every once in awhile. I am guilty of doing this myself but I am also very careful about the sites I visit and what I download. The average computer user will have a very infected computer (SpyWare or otherwise) within a relatively short period of time.
Before we talk tools, let's talk some strategy. This is by no means a definitive guide for removing SpyWare. There are certainly plenty of those on the Internet elsewhere so let's not reinvent the wheel.
You are taking on a risky task in cleaning this up. 95% of the time you most likely won't run into any trouble and you'll be back in a clean, functional computing environment in no time. That other 5%, well, let's just say it won't be pretty. On to the good stuff.
Strategy:
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1. Backup, backup, backup. I can't say this enough: backing up your data is crucial. This should apply long before you worry about cleaning up SpyWare but, as they say, there's no time like the present.
2. Put aside the time to do the cleanup. Don't start a cleanup when you've got 15 minutes until that big deadline or when your wife is calling you for dinner. This is going to take some time. Block off the evening, shut off the phone and prepare for the long haul. Rushing things is not going to help.
3. If you are using Windows XP, set a restore point so you can roll back if you need to. Now, many of you are probably saying, well, why would I create a restore point for an infected system? Simple, better to be able to go back to the infected state and try to cleanup again then have your system fail and be rebuilding from scratch. Got it? Good.
4. Have your OS disc(s) handy. No, you shouldn't need them but in case, you have them and won't be looking through your stacks of CDs for that one disc that you are sure you have somewhere.
5. Up your anti-virus and scan for viruses first. Some of the newest anti-virus software include some detection, basic cleanup and further protection against SOME SpyWare. Things are in flux in the industry right now, stay tuned, it will get better. For now, scan your PC for viruses and try and get rid of the obvious virus/malware infections first. Then we can worry about the SpyWare.
6. Use more than one spyware removal tool. You may run one tool and it detects tons of stuff, you select to clean it up and then everything looks great. Right? Wrong. Many times one tool will cover a wide range of items, but won't cleanup all of the SpyWare on your system. Take advantage of the other cleanup tools and check the system with them as well. Worst case you find out that there really is nothing left and you scanned your system for no reason. Oh well, an ounce of prevention right?
7. Don't get frustrated if the cleanup tool(s) won't remove a certain piece of SpyWare. These things embed themselves really, really deeply into your OS. Sometimes the only way to get rid of them is to reboot into Safe Mode and manually remove the infection. In this case you should be really familiar with the OS and have done lots of research on the net to find out what you are dealing with and the suggested way(s) of removing it manually.
8. Once the system is cleaned up, install protective software. Be proactive, watch where you surf, maybe cleanup your system more often. Take advantage of an alternative browser that isn't as popular a target as Internet Explorer is. Try
Firefox on for size. I've switched and it's the best Web browser I've ever used. In fact, I'm writing this blog entry in it!
9. Enjoy the process. You are learning something by doing this. You will know your computer better and you will know what NOT to do next time.
10. Rinse and repeat. Read the instructions again, learn to research and most of all, relax. After all, it is only a computer. Go hug your wife, play with kids, get out and do something fun. There's more to life.
Here is my list of must-have tools:
SpyWare Removal
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Ad-Aware SE - An invaluable, and free tool you can use to scan your computer for SpyWare. If you are willing to pay, there are also other versions of Ad-Aware that offer some actual proactive protection via something called AdWatch.
Spybot Search & Destroy - Yet another free tool that does an excellent scanning job on your PC. There is some additional protective functionality in the TeaTimer and Immunization options included in Spybot S&D. TeaTimer I'm up in the air about but the Immunization functionality is excellent.
Pop-up Blocking
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Google Toolbar - Yep, that's right. Google Labs came up with one of the most useful toolbars I've seen to date. It's simple to install and provides lots of great features other than pop-up blocking. One note, when you use a pop-up blocker there may be some sites that do not function like they used to. This is because, well, you guessed it, rely on popups for their sites to function properly. With the Google Toolbar you can hold the CTRL key when clicking on a link and this will allow the popup to function as designed.
Windows XP SP2 - If you use Windows XP, and you've recently upgraded to Service Pack 2 then you already have a popup blocker built-in to Internet Explorer. Believe it or not, Microsoft finally made a good call on this one. It works well but keep an eye out for the "Information Bar" which will give you instructions on what to do should something be blocked within Internet Explorer. The same notes as for Google Toolbar apply here.
SuperAdBlocker - I cannot recommend this from personal use, however, many of the smartest people I know and trust point to this tool for a powerful popup blocking solution. The ability to block popunder, floating and flying ads is included where the toolbar blockers may not work for you. The best part is that this will work with any browser on your system, not just IE. By the way, this is a pay for option. Sometimes you really do get what you pay for though.
Additional SpyWare/System Cleanup Tools
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HiJackThis - This is an invaluable tool if you are having a hard time getting those last few pieces of SpyWare cleaned up. Warning: This one is not for the faint of heart. This is a tool that requires some skill to use properly. The most important part will be consulting the forums, which is located at the link for the software I included. The users there are top-notch and will offer some great advice should you require it. A word of encouragement, it seems daunting but you can clean the majority of these nasties out of your system by yourself. Should you run into trouble, call a braver friend, have a drink and give it a go. Worst case, you are rebuilding your operating system and starting from scratch.
CrapCleaner - Nice name right? Well, the reality is that it does a pretty good job of cleaning up some of the littler tidbits on your system. Cookies, Temp Files/Folders, MRU listings, history, recent URLs, etc. Take a look, you just might like it.
IE-SPYAD / IE-SPYAD2 - Use this piece of software to add known sites containing, SpyWare, AdWare, etc. to your Internet Restricted Zones list.
Well, this wasn't meant to be quite so large but hopefully you'll find something useful in your day to day computing struggle. Technology is great, picking up after it isn't.
Cheers
-- Riker --
