Are you Ellis Dee?
I found one this morning that defeated Spybot, Adaware and Hijack This. After about 3 hours, I finally established that I had to delete a registry key (after mucking around with the security permissions) under winlogon before I could even begin to remove it–it was set up in such a way that all virus/adware scanners picked it up as system software. Amazing how inventive these bastards are. I can’t believe this sort of thing is legal.
- shakes head in disbelief The prize is in the mail. It could even boot with that load?
Here’s the kicker - it was a 450 MHz system.
(Granted, a significant portion of that 1600 were simply cookies. But it did have Gator, Bonzai Buddy, at least one auto-dialer, a couple of “search” tools, among others.)
[sub]Er, was that me, by any chance?[/sub]
Whoopsie. If it was me, I aplopogise if it rogered your computer. It’s worked a charm for me. Ran it just 20 minutes ago in fact (after stupidly installing a divx codec full of spyware)
Please don’t look at me like that. You’re scaring me.
It’s deplorable the number of protection programs we have to use in order to browse the internet! In addition to a virus checker, I use Yahoo’s pop-up blocker, PestPatrol to trap cookies, Ad-aware and Spybot S&D. I keep my internet security to medium high.
I’ve never had a problem with Ad-aware - of course, I went through every file before deleting them - and the first time I ran Ad-aware, I also had over 200 parasites, which is why I use so much protection now. I have to admit that since I’ve been using the pop-up blocker and PestPatrol, I have not contracted any spy or adware. However, another factor may be that my son, with whom I shared a computer previously, no longer uses my computer - he has one of his own.
Even he does not encounter so many problems anymore and he hasn’t installed the protections I have. He uses McAfee virus scanner (which catches things other than viruses, which Norton does not), ad-aware, and keeps his internet security to medium high or high.
IMHO, keeping your internet security to a high setting allows safer browsing. Things won’t download automatically, which they sometimes do at a medium setting. Instead, you’ll get popups asking if you want to install.
There is a new trend these days - you get a popup wanting to install something and when you click “no” it tells you that you must install “so-and-so” in order to view the page. It’s a lie. You’ll get the pop-up 2-3 times and finally it will go away. Frankly, I feel I don’t need to visit sites that try to force feed me popup ads and insist I install software I don’t want.
The internet is fast becoming more frustrating than it is informative and useful. I do hope we get some legislation soon to combat this nonsense.
And don’t let me get started on e-mail spam…
I am back online as of 10 minutes ago. I still have much configuring to do, so I won’t be posting for a little bit.
Thanks for the replies…I tried many of the tips but nothing worked.
CWS (CoolWebSearch) is one of the few maleware programs that cannot be removed by Ad-aware. I battled this demon spawn on my GF’s machine 2 days ago (and reponded to a thread about it in GQ). It’s an interesting bitch in that it creates random DLL files if you delete it (Ad-aware can find the DLL file but cannot remove the auto-replication program).
I’ve never heard of Ad-aware problems and I’ve ran in on several dozen machines. I admit though, since I don’t use Winsock, I didn’t realize it had issues with it.
And I too never really use Ad-aware and/or anti-virus programs. Like safe sex, I practise safe computer clicking. I also use a router that deflects a lot of attacks.
Well you’ll just have to excuse me while I go on recommending it to people. Considering all the experience I’ve had with AdAware to date, I think the problem here is more likely to be a faulty keyboard attachment than an evil plot by AdAware to ruin the Internet experience for unwary consumers.
I’ve been using the software for a long time now and on many computers, and I have recommended it to many friends, family members and strangers on this very board, and this is the first time I’ve heard of such a problem occuring. It’s a shame it had to be you, but I think you’ll find this is the exception rather than the rule.
My uncle’s system (used primarily by his 12-year-old daughter) had over 2200 pieces of spyware on it, according to AdAware. Had to run it 6 times to get everything cleaned off.
Damn thing was a 2.5 ghz P4 with 512 MB RAM, and would take 40 seconds to open IE.
I installed Mozilla for them, put the IE skin on it, redirected the IE graphic on the desktop to point to Mozilla, and left it. I haven’t heard a complaint since.
I’ve been using Ad Aware for ages with no problem.
I did , however, recently develope a problem with Nero cd burner. It’s refuses to run, saying that the Nero executable has been modified, possibley by a virus.
I downloaded a freeware virus killer, ran it, and now have several more exe’s that refuse to run. Worse still, the virus killer cleared out my System Restore calander, so I can’t even put things back to how they were.
Who’s the jerk, me or the guy who wrote the free virus software I ran?
That’s right, me!
That’s standard operating procedure for virus removal, though I am not aware of any AV programs that disable system restore for you. But all of the major programs (Norton, Mcafee, AVG, etc.) instruct WInXP & ME users to disable System Restore (which deletes all the save points) before attempting to remove a virus with the scanner. The reason is, Windows will not let AV programs modify files in the Restore folder, but viruses are usually copied there within the restore points. The only way to clean them is to delete them.
Your brother sounds a lot like my sister. Last summer I cleaned her computer for her (somewhere in the neighborhood of 700 pieces) and told her what she’d been doing wrong and how to avoid having this happen in the future. Within a week her system was back to pre-Ad-Aware status and she told me she couldn’t run Ad-Aware because she doesn’t get computer stuff.
I just don’t understand what’s so hard about watching what boxes you click.
My dad recently decided that her desktop was trashed (regular antivirus software wasn’t finding the stuff, natch, and he wouldn’t listen to me about needing different software to deal with the problem because he is the computer guru in the house, dammit!). He just bought her a shiny new laptop to take off to college, complete with every bell and whistle you can imagine…I almost cry when I think of the damage being done to that poor machine even as I type.
Dingdingdingdingdingding! Winner! 
Absolutely. Fucking[sup]1[/sup]. Brilliant.
1 - This is the Pit, yeah?
Woohoo, everything’s all configured now, and my machine is humming along smoothly. Such a joy.
Let me begin by saying that my original rant was venting steam at my computer shitting the bed and the amount of time and effort I knew was going to be involved in fixing it. The moment I first ran Ad Aware was also the moment my machine shit the bed, so that’s why I targetted Ad Aware in my rant. I do plan on re-downloading and running Ad Aware in the near future. I just didn’t want to have to do what I ended up having to do. But here’s my story:
My machine was Windows 95. Ad Aware didn’t warn me about any issues with my operating system, and I stupidly assumed that meant it didn’t have any issues. I maintained Windows 95 to be able to test for backward-compatibility with software I write and the installation routines that go with it. Hopefully I won’t need to support any older OS’s in the future.
I spent 7 hours trying to undo what Ad Aware did, to no avail. IE crashed and burned after loading a single page, so I could read your replies but not respond. I tried everything suggested to no avail.
I then spent about 15 hours backing up everything I cared about. It took that long because I had to use floppies. shudder 100+ megs moved off the machine with floppies.
Then I got Windows XP and installed it. It was painless, and I have to say I love XP now that I’ve seen it. However, the total install and setup time approached 8 hours.
So here I am, 3 weeks later and 30 hours lighter, but I got an OS upgrade out of the deal.
Ad Aware didn’t cause the problem, but it damn sure was a catalyst for it. The fact that Ad Aware gave me no warning or indication that it might cause a problem made it worthy of a pitting.
I would have liked having access to the internet during the NFL draft, seeing as how my beloved Giants were heavy in the mix, but life goes on.
Well, if you’re running XP on the same machine you had 95 on, I have to wonder how long you’ll be loving it…
-Joe
Just wanted to chime in… Adware destroyed my internet capabilities as well. My computer geek/expert roommate spent a few days trying to fix it. We had to wipe my whole computer and then reinstall… but since I had a crappy Compaq alot of stuff wouldn’t work after the reinstall. Adware can blow me for starting a terrible chain reaction. That’s right blow me Adware!
If you keep downloading spyware-infested crapware (peer-2-peer music sharing programs, free games, free utilities, free task bars) it is going to happen again. When it does, try Winsockfix or WinsockXPfix (for winXP machines) before you reinstall windows, it much less frustrating.
I guess you didn’t read many of the replies to the OP.