Another spyware story. Global Finder. Could use some updated advice

[Road Rash]

First xupiter, now Global Finder. I rad Ad-aware, version 5. Nothing! I scimmed the various past SDMB posts (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/search.php?action=showresults&searchid=849200&sortby=lastpost&sortorder=descending) on a related topic. I even went to the Lavasoft message board on a posted topic (http://www.lavasoftsupport.com/index.php?showtopic=10985&hl=global+finder). They seem strangely ignorant on the subject. Typically when somehting like this happens to me, there is already a world of information.

I want to know if other dopers have had this spyware? Has the latest version of Ad-aware worked (I have found nothing yet on their web site)?

[NutWrench]

I use Spybot Search and Destroy in addition to Adaware. It seems to catch things that Adaware doesn't (and vice-versa)

http://download.com.com/3000-2144-10194058.html?tag=lst-0-1

[Road Rash]

Sounds like good advice. While scimming the previous SDMB messages on the topic, I read a post that warned against having more than one spyware detection kit on a pc, that when activated one would see the other as spyware and attempt to deactivate it.

I may ask this on the Ad-aware website, but I would like to know of some good non-corporate message board that specialize in these issues. Should be plenty of them.

[Early Out]

You should upgrade to AdAware 6.181 (still freebies), and then update to the latest signature file (the current one is dated 8/26/03). I don't think Lavasoft is still updating the signature files for version 5, so newer spyware might not get picked up.

[Road Rash]

I updated Ad-aware and ran it. Worked wonderfully for a little while. My computer speed got back to old levels, but this bugger is persistant. I still get global finder returning as my home page. I am doing research into this and I have found out that this kind of stuff is getting harder and harder to weed out. For now, I just have to run Ad-aware about twice a week to keep my PC running smoothly, but I need more.

Would it be possible, or legal, if I could put this shit into their computers that would send them to an undesired site and make them suffer a constant Hampster Dance.

[ZipperJJ]

I've run spybot and adaware on a machine and never ran into any problems. Now I just use Spybot, it does enough for me.

Spybot will tell you exactly what it's doing. If you see anything related to AdAware when it comes up with spyware, just don't let SpyBot touch it.

[Larry Mudd]

You have a variant of the CoolWebSearch trojan installed.

If it seems to be getting around Ad-Aware, try the tailor-made removal tool available here (http://www.spywareinfo.com/articles/cws/).

Approx date first sighted: August 22, 2003
Log reference: http://www.spywareinfo.com/forums/index.php?s=&act=ST&f=4&t=9933
Symptoms: Redirection to Global-Finder.com, hijack reappearing when rebooting, possible errors about a missing file 'msinfo.exe'.Direct link to removal tool (http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/files/cwshredder.zip).

[Nanoda]

Unless it sux no spyware proggy is going to nuke another. Lest they draw fire for doing what they're supposed to be preventing.

[Larry Mudd]

I think Road Rash might be thinking of the Spyware Nuker (http://download.com.com/3302-2094_4-10165749.html) debacle, in which a crap spammer company used a non-functional "demo" of a shabby implementation of a ripped off Spybot S&D dataset to deliver their own spyware.

It sabotages Adaware installs to prevent them from removing the ADW_TENGET.A trojan (http://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/virusencyclo/default5.asp?VName=ADW_TENGET.A) that it itself installs. Sleazy.

[DarrenS]

Originally posted by Road Rash
While scimming the previous SDMB messages on the topic, I read a post that warned against having more than one spyware detection kit on a pc, that when activated one would see the other as spyware and attempt to deactivate it.Maybe you're thinking of this (http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?lang=en&page=knowledgebase/faq/faq004).

[Tapioca Dextrin]

Originally posted by Road Rash
I may ask this on the Ad-aware website, but I would like to know of some good non-corporate message board that specialize in these issues. Should be plenty of them.

How about http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp/n1062267094

these folks cover exactly this issue