American Civil War Game Club (ACWGC)

My wife's computer has been hit with some spyware. She gets all kinds of popups for various spyware removers (go figure). What is the best way to get rid of this annoying spyware? Thanks.

Colonel Dale Lastowicka
1st "Adirondack" Division
XXV Corps
Army of the James
dalelast4@juno.com

Sir, go to www.lavasoft.com they have a free spyware removal program you can download. Works great.



Lt. Boyd "Bama" Denner
"Alabama Brigade"
1/3/III
ANV

Ad-aware is good, but you need more. The last time I got hit by spyware it took me several days, literally, to get it all removed. And I have been hit about 3 times with a massive hit of spyware, including adware/spyware from one that took over my desktop and wiped out all my icons, blocked right-click and just created havoc. The computer slowed to a crawl.

Right now, I use at least 5 different programs to kill and/or monitor for spyware.

1. Norton Internet Security - Not an actual "spyware" remover, but it does help.

2. Webroot Spy sweeper- http://www.webroot.com

3. Spybot Search and destroy- http://www.spybot.com

4. Spyware Doctor-http://www.pctools.com

5. Microsoft FREE Spyware/adware program - http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx

6. MY NEWEST addition is PROCESSGUARD, available at: http://www.diamondcs.com.au/

7. For an interesting look at TROJANS (this is from the PROCESSGUARD site), etc stop over and read this report at:http://www.commontology.de/andreas/win_secure_pg3.html

8. I have NOT used this one, but it is free:http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html


Overkill, maybe, but it sure beats the alternative. I use SPY Sweeper as the active program and it detects adware/spyware as it starts, this is along with the Norton program. The others I run, almost daily, to root out more that get by the others.

There is another program(s) out there called ROOTKITS or something like that which dig down into the depths of your computer to ROOT out those nasties that get by everything.

It is a battle and it is constant. As the above programs find new stuff to stop, the programmers come up with something new. It is invasive, malicious and downright time-consuming, frustrating and whatever else you want to call it. It is LIKE SPAM is to email!



<b><font color="gold">Ernie Sands
LtGen, CO XXIII Corps, AoO

President, Colonial Campaigns Club
</b></font id="gold">

Sometimes various sites or possibly emails, it is hard to tell.

<b><font color="gold">Ernie Sands
LtGen, CO XXIII Corps, AoO

President, Colonial Campaigns Club
</b></font id="gold">

The best program I've ever found is called CounterSpy. You can find it here: http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/ Click the download link and you can try it for 30 days. I ran Ad Aware and Spybot S&D first, then ran CounterSpy. It found 4 more problems, one of which was 'Boss Everywhere', a key stroke logger, in my registry. That little nasty can send everything I do to some upstanding netizen.

I bought it right away. It has an active protection mode, automatically keeps up to date recognition files (from three different sources, one of which is Microsoft) and is very simple to use.

Lt Gen Bill Braddock, 1/2/III ANV

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="3" face="book antiqua" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by wjbraddock</i>
<br />The best program I've ever found is called CounterSpy. You can find it here: http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/ Click the download link and you can try it for 30 days. I ran Ad Aware and Spybot S&D first, then ran CounterSpy. It found 4 more problems, one of which was 'Boss Everywhere', a key stroke logger, in my registry. That little nasty can send everything I do to some upstanding netizen.

I bought it right away. It has an active protection mode, automatically keeps up to date recognition files (from three different sources, one of which is Microsoft) and is very simple to use.

Lt Gen Bill Braddock, 1/2/III ANV

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

I also have CounterSpy, however, EVERY time I run CounterSpy (tried it 3 times) my SPYWARE/ADWARE seem to come pouring in! I had to buy 2 other programs to help. I uninstalled CounterSpy and do not plan on trying it again. It has good reviews, but it is not for me.

<b><font color="gold">Ernie Sands
LtGen, CO XXIII Corps, AoO

President, Colonial Campaigns Club
</b></font id="gold">

Thanks to everyone for their input. That is one of the great things about the club, the way people try to help each other out. Looks like Webroot Spysweeper did the trick. I have the free trial version for now but will purchase it before my 30 free days are up. Thanks, Ernie. Ernie, if you ever care to do battle again over in the NWC let me know.

Colonel Dale Lastowicka
1st "Adirondack" Division
XXV Corps
Army of the James
dalelast4@juno.com

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="3" face="book antiqua" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Ernie Sands</i>
<br /><blockquote id="quote"><font size="3" face="book antiqua" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by wjbraddock</i>
<br />The best program I've ever found is called CounterSpy. You can find it here: http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/ Click the download link and you can try it for 30 days. I ran Ad Aware and Spybot S&D first, then ran CounterSpy. It found 4 more problems, one of which was 'Boss Everywhere', a key stroke logger, in my registry. That little nasty can send everything I do to some upstanding netizen.

I bought it right away. It has an active protection mode, automatically keeps up to date recognition files (from three different sources, one of which is Microsoft) and is very simple to use.

Lt Gen Bill Braddock, 1/2/III ANV

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

I also have CounterSpy, however, EVERY time I run CounterSpy (tried it 3 times) my SPYWARE/ADWARE seem to come pouring in! I had to buy 2 other programs to help. I uninstalled CounterSpy and do not plan on trying it again. It has good reviews, but it is not for me.

<b><font color="gold">Ernie Sands
LtGen, CO XXIII Corps, AoO

President, Colonial Campaigns Club
</b></font id="gold">

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

What do you mean "come pouring in"? If you mean it is finding lots of problems, that's what it is supposed to do. What browser do you use? It sounds like you have IE with ActiveX enabled, or maybe you are allowing scripts?



Lt Gen Bill Braddock, 1/2/III ANV

With CounterSpy, it will NOT clean the Spyware/Adware, but others will. Every time I have installed Counterspy, I get hit with over 100 spyware files. At one time, I had to manually clean (before I got other anti-spy/adware programs) over 200 files from my WINNT folder and another duplicate 200 files from my System32 folder.

The last and final time I installed COUNTERSPY, it took 3 other programs to clean up all that COUNTERSPY left.

Since then, no problems with WEBROOT Spy Sweeper running, active, and scan with 3 other adware/spyware programs.

It was like CounterSpy opened a port and said: FEEDING Frenzy, come and get this computer.

One of the worst ADWARE problem was called SMARTSECURITY.

I use Netscape, not IE.

<b><font color="gold">Ernie Sands
LtGen, CO XXIII Corps, AoO

President, Colonial Campaigns Club
</b></font id="gold">

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="3" face="book antiqua" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by dalelast</i>
<br />Thanks to everyone for their input. That is one of the great things about the club, the way people try to help each other out. Looks like Webroot Spysweeper did the trick. I have the free trial version for now but will purchase it before my 30 free days are up. Thanks, Ernie. Ernie, if you ever care to do battle again over in the NWC let me know.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Glad it worked.

<b><font color="gold">Ernie Sands
LtGen, CO XXIII Corps, AoO

President, Colonial Campaigns Club
</b></font id="gold">

Like Ernie.
I have spysweeper and it works Great,+ the Nortons stuff

Major Dean Beecham.
2nd Division
Artillery Brigade
AoC.

Oddly enough the best one I have found is Micrsoft's, probably because they didn't write it. Right now its free since it is still beta but at some point I am sure there will be a charge. Link is:

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/securit ... fault.mspx


BG. Kennon Whitehead
Chatham Grays
III Corps, AoM (CSA)

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="3" face="book antiqua" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by KWhitehead</i>
<br />Oddly enough the best one I have found is Micrsoft's, probably because they didn't write it. Right now its free since it is still beta but at some point I am sure there will be a charge. Link is:

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/securit ... fault.mspx

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Yes. The Microsoft free security program is very nice and works well. However, there are some legal issues that are coming up for Microsoft, as there are some issues with the ownership of the basic program.



<b><font color="gold">Ernie Sands
LtGen, CO XXIII Corps, AoO

President, Colonial Campaigns Club
</b></font id="gold">