A thread about: viruses, spyware and whatnot

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I recently reformatted my ME machine and installed Windows XP. I was wondering if anyone in who knows about these things could help me?
I literally got reconnected to the web yesterday evening but since then I've been getting a load of pop-ups with the title "Messenger Service". Usually they say things like "Do you know your computer is infected with spyware? To get rid of it, just go to spw3.com" etc. But every so often it throws up some adult shit too.
I don't know how this could have happened since I only got back online yesterday, have installed Ad-Aware and Zone Alarm (Adaware found one problem called "alexa" which it got rid of), but they're still popping up! It's really frustrating!

Is this a known problem? How do I make it stop?

― help!, Thursday, 12 February 2004 12:35 (twenty-two years ago)

you need to get a pop up blocker. THis is what i use and it works wonderfully.

― Chris V (Chris V), Thursday, 12 February 2004 12:42 (twenty-two years ago)

Pop-up blockers are often spyware in diguise.

Here's what to do: also download Spybot S&D and a program called Hijack This. Run them both; have Spybot fix what it finds, and set it to immunize your machine, but don't have Hijack This fix anything yet, because it also lists harmless and important functions. Post your Hijack This scan log at cexx.org, and those fine folks will talk you through a cure.

― Colin Meeder (Mert), Thursday, 12 February 2004 12:46 (twenty-two years ago)

not sure if they are windows explorer pop-ups per se. They just appear out of nowhere at radnom intervals. Surely this means there's something on my comp i need to get rid of?
xpost

― help!, Thursday, 12 February 2004 12:50 (twenty-two years ago)

Yes, you're infected, but it could be one of a million things.

― Colin Meeder (Mert), Thursday, 12 February 2004 12:51 (twenty-two years ago)

Spybot S&D works wonderfully as well. and the pop up blocker i listed is not spyware.

― Chris V (Chris V), Thursday, 12 February 2004 12:53 (twenty-two years ago)

windows explorer = i meant internet explorer.

― help!, Thursday, 12 February 2004 12:54 (twenty-two years ago)

Sorry, Chris, didn't mean to imply that it was -- but lots of them are, so you have to be careful.

― Colin Meeder (Mert), Thursday, 12 February 2004 12:56 (twenty-two years ago)

True... ;)

― Chris V (Chris V), Thursday, 12 February 2004 12:57 (twenty-two years ago)

They are not popups they are Messenger Service popups here's how to get rid of them.

http://www.andyrathbone.com/tips/netsend.html

― Jarlr'mai (jarlrmai), Thursday, 12 February 2004 13:00 (twenty-two years ago)

What Jarl said, but also do what I suggested as well.

― Colin Meeder (Mert), Thursday, 12 February 2004 13:02 (twenty-two years ago)

where can i download safe versions of spybot and hijack this?

― help!, Thursday, 12 February 2004 13:03 (twenty-two years ago)

security.kolla.de for Spybot, http://www.majorgeeks.com/downloadget.php?id=3155&file=3&evp=3304750663b552982a8baee6434cfc13 for Hijack This.

― Colin Meeder (Mert), Thursday, 12 February 2004 13:08 (twenty-two years ago)

thanks everyone :-)

Doing things now!

― help!, Thursday, 12 February 2004 13:21 (twenty-two years ago)

I had a particularly nasty strain of pop-ups that came back every time I rebooted my PC. Spybot S&D wouldn't stop them. I had to go to my task manager and figure out which .exe files were causing it, usually they had weird randomly generated alphanumeric names, kill those processes, then do a quick search on the .exe file name and delete the source file before it regenerated as a process. Actually, they would regenerate so quickly that I had to do the search & delete first, then it would give me a warning window that I couldn't delete the file because it was an active process, so I would kill the process and quick click OK in the warning window to delete it. It was kinda tricky, but satisfying to physicially kill the thing like stepping on a cockroach. But there is the risk of killing off something you need by accident using this method, so be careful.

― BrianB (BrianB), Thursday, 12 February 2004 13:25 (twenty-two years ago)

It's never either/or in the battle on spyware; you need a good firewall AND the right security settings AND Ad-Aware AND Spybot S&D AND Hijack This AND access to a good anti-spyware bbs. And then you'll still get infected every couple of months.

― Colin Meeder (Mert), Thursday, 12 February 2004 13:39 (twenty-two years ago)

The problem here is that when you run NAV, Zonealarm AND Ad-Aware etc, you'll be lucky if your computer can function at all. I never know the barrier between unsafe and unusable.

― help!, Thursday, 12 February 2004 13:49 (twenty-two years ago)

That's a point you kind of have to find for yourself.

― Colin Meeder (Mert), Thursday, 12 February 2004 13:52 (twenty-two years ago)

four months pass...

okay I'm having a problem that maybe somebody could help me with. I run Spybot S&D all the time, and it never seems to locate this one pop-up that occasionally comes up when I use IE. Symptoms include:

1. the pop-up.
2. shutting down IE if I go to search anything on Google.
3. occasionally reconfiguring IE's home page to a search page with no internet address.
4. adding porn links in my IE favorites.

when I've right-clicked on the pop-up to check properties, I've gotten addresses like:

file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Owner/Local%20Settings/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/MSFT/images-crr/index_r1_c1.gif

searching on any variation of that doesn't bring up anything. And Spybot ain't helping. And I think it's fucked up my Norton Utilities, too. Any help out there?

― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 18 June 2004 05:47 (twenty-one years ago)

Sounds heaps like a virus. Two possibilities:

1. Use Firefox
2. Scan for viruses

― Lo Boob Almanac (Autumn Almanac), Friday, 18 June 2004 05:49 (twenty-one years ago)

oooooh I just got the search page again when I tried to put securit.kolla.de in the address frame. This came up: res://mshp.dll/url_error.html#security.kolla.de

Scanning for viruses doesn't work as my Norton has gone all batty. What is Firefox?

― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 18 June 2004 05:51 (twenty-one years ago)

Firefox is an alternate browser. http://mozilla.org

Seriously, I'd recommend getting a different virus thingy, it's doing stuff that's too weird to be just spyware.

― Lo Boob Almanac (Autumn Almanac), Friday, 18 June 2004 05:53 (twenty-one years ago)

oh, that firefox. Well see, I've been using Opera and Mozilla for a while, and while the virus doesn't affect them nearly as badly as IE, it still slows down a lot of functions on my machine. And I'd like IE to be fixed, not just use a work-around. Suggest any good anti-virus stuff (since my Norton is fucked?)

― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 18 June 2004 05:56 (twenty-one years ago)

Hmm. Vet? That's the only one I think of. They use Norton at work.

― Lo Boob Almanac (Autumn Almanac), Friday, 18 June 2004 05:57 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh, Vet's Australian [no idea where you are]:

http://www.vet.com.au/

― Lo Boob Almanac (Autumn Almanac), Friday, 18 June 2004 05:57 (twenty-one years ago)

America.

― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 18 June 2004 05:58 (twenty-one years ago)

Ah. Vet's probably no good then. :)

― Lo Boob Almanac (Autumn Almanac), Friday, 18 June 2004 05:59 (twenty-one years ago)

AntiVir is a goodie and free to download. it located a virus I had that Nortons hadnt detected, and got rid of it easily.

― donna (donna), Friday, 18 June 2004 06:42 (twenty-one years ago)

three months pass...

lately i've been so inundated with spyware that i gave up removing it. but now i'm scared about these dialers that i've read about. "hijack this" is too technical for me, i have a hard time committing to deleting files that i'm not 1000% sure are malicious. spybot:search and destroy isn't getting ALL the malicious stuff. what's the best freeware i can download to scan AND remove the stuff automatically, without requiring me to mess around in the registry (i've done that, reluctantly, on occasion)?

― m. (mitchlnw), Friday, 8 October 2004 18:13 (twenty-one years ago)

reformat your hardrive, never install anything ever

― kyle (akmonday), Friday, 8 October 2004 18:25 (twenty-one years ago)

go for AdAware, at Lavasoft.de

my mum called me earlier today, and i had to patiently explain to her never to install anything advertised in a pop-up ad...

― Sir Kingfish Beavis D'Azzmonch (Kingfish), Friday, 8 October 2004 18:28 (twenty-one years ago)

Also, use a firewall. I like ZoneAlarm.

― Gold Teeth II (kenan), Friday, 8 October 2004 19:04 (twenty-one years ago)

In my opinion, everyone needs three things:

Anti Virus Program
Firewall
Spyware Remover

And update all these regulary and have the firewall running constantly. I recently got my comp clean and it's great, so...here's what I use (these are all free and no trial)

Anti Virus: AVG http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2/

Firewall: Zone Alarm http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp

Spyware: Ad-Aware http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/ AND Spybot Search And Destroy http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html

― seahorse genius (seahorse genius), Saturday, 9 October 2004 22:50 (twenty-one years ago)

What's the best anti-virus program for Macs? Searching around, I only found Dr. Solomon's Virex mentioned, which is supposedly through McAfee, but their website was not helpful at all.

― Poppy (poppy), Sunday, 10 October 2004 05:19 (twenty-one years ago)

five years pass...

Which free security software do you think works best? What is your favorites?

I plan on downloading a couple programs but am having trouble choosing from a huge list

― @( * O * )@ (CaptainLorax), Saturday, 7 August 2010 21:39 (fifteen years ago)

www.apple.com/macbook/

― markers, Saturday, 7 August 2010 21:39 (fifteen years ago)

I use AVG and haven't had any problems.

― i find music confusing and annoying (Ned Trifle II), Saturday, 7 August 2010 21:43 (fifteen years ago)

I use avast! and haven't had any problems.

― StanM, Saturday, 7 August 2010 21:55 (fifteen years ago)

I guess I've decided on avsat!, zonealarm and malwarebyte's
I might switch to AVG if avast sucks

― @( * O * )@ (CaptainLorax), Saturday, 7 August 2010 21:55 (fifteen years ago)

seven years pass...

Critical flaws revealed to affect most Intel chips since 1995

Most Intel processors and some ARM chips are confirmed to be vulnerable, putting billions of devices at risk of attacks. One of the security researchers said the bugs are "going to haunt us for years."

http://www.zdnet.com/article/security-flaws-affect-every-intel-chip-since-1995-arm-processors-vulnerable

― mookieproof, Wednesday, 3 January 2018 22:46 (eight years ago)

Keep up dude we’re on the intel thread

― El Tomboto, Wednesday, 3 January 2018 22:47 (eight years ago)

i did search for exploit : /

― mookieproof, Wednesday, 3 January 2018 22:49 (eight years ago)

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