I can’t take this shit anymore. I run the Microsoft thing, AdAware, Spybot and I STILL get popups immediately after “removing” any spyware without doing ANYTHING out of the norm. What the hell do I have to do to end it?
Install a pop up blocker like Google’s or Proxomitron.
There are several varieties of spyware that cannot be removed with AdAware or Spybot. Go to the Spyware Info forum, read the stickies, download HijackThis and post the log it creates in their forum. A volunteer will analyze your log and make recommendations.
Tuckerfan
I downloaded the Microsoft Anti Spyware Beta Version program and as you said, it did find things the others did not find. It’s a nice change to see that Microsoft has something that actually works properyl !!! Then again, it was their own lax security standards that got us into this predicament in the first place.
I have a “cookie” or something that I can’t get out of settings (view files). It’s a text file, and it’s titled: S005-01-6-28-25454785574 When I look at the properties it says it’s from “webtrendslive”. I googled the name, and it looks like this is some kind of tracker (as I suspected). Adaware never finds it on a scan, Spybot found it, and supposedly took care of it, but it’s still there, and Spybot keeps finding it. Same results after running Spybot/Adaware in safe mode. What can I do to get rid of this thing? Am I allowed to start a new thread? Some help would be much appreciated.
This week’s PC Mag Security Newsletter has useful information for all those who operate their computers in administrator mode. Their article is here.
For those who don’t want to read the article, here’s the important stuff:
Browsing the Web and Reading E-mail Safely as an Administrator
It’s written by a Softie, and is on the MS site; what more could you ask for? 
Last week, my laptop stopped connecting to the Internet. I assumed it had something to do with my downloading and then uninstalling the latest version of AOL. I e-mailed tech support, followed their suggestions, and managed to get Internet Explorer to connect with the Internet again.
This week, the same thing happened-I keep getting the message that Internet Explorer can’t open the search page. AOL won’t connect either. I’m using Roadrunner, and there’s apparently a connection. What should I try now?
No help here I’m afraid, just the opposite, I am having the same problem with a friend’s machine, it will connect to the ISP (BT) but will not open any web pages, even the ISP’s welcome page. AOL is installed and I suspect is interfering with the connection.
So this is really just a bump untill someone who knows what they are talking about sees it.
These two issues seem pretty trivial. Just give AOL a ring and they should have you back on the road.
We have an external drive that I can use on my Mac and that my girlfriend can use on her PC. (USB-2 for her, FireWire for me).
On the Mac, if I want to disconnect it, I can select the icon representing the drive and go Command-E (“Eject”) and this unmounts the drive, at which point the OS is officially oblivious to it and I can switch off the power and yank out the cables and trundle it over to her PC.
I’m totally ignorant about “mounting” and “unmounting” of volumes on a PC. Do the terms even have meaning? Do I just unplug it (assuming of course that there’s no file copy or other direct disk use taking place), or do I need to shut down first, or is there a procedure similar to the Mac’s unmounting of the drive that I should do after which point I can detach it while the PC is still up and running?
Yes. Assuming a recent version of Windows, a “Safely Remove Hardware” icon should appear in your taskbar when this drive is connected. It looks like a card accompanied by a green arrow. Doubleclick to open this thing, and click ‘Stop’ after selecting the drive. A popup message will tell you it’s “safe” to remove the drive.
On very rare occasions if you don’t do this, file handles could be lost, and not just on files on the removable drive. For example (this has happened to me), if you move (deleting the files on the drive as they are moved off) a directory containing 100 files from the removable drive to your local hard drive, then disconnect the drive without stopping it, the moved directory may suddenly vanish from your local hard drive.
A “scandisk” procedure will recover the files and directory, but you have to think to try that after a good long panicked scream. 
Cool! Yes, I see that on her computer, thanks!
What’s the procedure for activating the firewall in XP? I seem to have a nasty case of spyware, that Adaware cannot get rid of! (I’m trying to run it several times to see what works).
I downloaded SpywareBlaster, as well. Wish me luck!
How to turn on or turn off the Internet firewall in Windows XP
There are several varieties of spyware that AdAware cannot remove. Try downloading the Microsoft AntiSpyware program, and remember to update it before you run it in Safe Mode. No one spyware scanner will remove everything, and some cannot be removed with expert directions on how to dig them out manually.
I did-and it’s already enabled.
Yeah, I’m gonna have to-I have something on there that will NOT go away-I’ve run Ad-Aware several times, Spybot Search and Destroy, and I’m STILL getting all these freaking ADs, and I have no earthly idea where they came from. SOME, humorously enough, (ha!) tell me I’ve got spyware. No shit!
(Anyone ever heard of anything called “Spy Spot?”)
Thanks to AmbushBug for pointing me to the “Safely Remove Hardware” button on the taskbar.
Three related questions, all of which concern annoying dialog boxes that pop up when the drive is reattached to the PC, and whether or not there’s some way to turn them off permanently.
a) The first annoying dialog pops up as a cartoon balloon coming out of the taskbar / “Safely Remove Hardware” area. Something to the effect of “Hey, dude, you could get better performance if you hooked that USB mass storage device to the higher-speed USB 2.0 port, did you know that?” Yeah, yeah. The printer is faster when it gets to use the high-speed port, and the girlfriend prints often. The mass storage device is accessed in the wee hours of the morning by the backup software and we don’t care if it’s slow. There’s no “don’t tell me this again” checkbox on the dialog. Be nice to quit being told.
b) Next annoying dialog box says “Autoplay…” and pops up in the foreground as the PC first starts accessing the newly reconnected drive. It has a cancel button. We use it. But the dialog comes up every time the drive is reattached.
c) The final annoying dialog box is the one that comes to the foreground and says "This disk or device contains more than one type of content. What do you want Windows to do? Wanna play media files with RealPlayer? Copy pictures to a folder on my computer? View a slideshow using Microsoft Scanner and Camera Wizard? Print the PIctures? Open folder to view files? Or Take no action? We click “Take no Action” and hit the “OK” button, but it asks again the next time the damn drive is attached.
What I’d like Windows to do is quit asking questions when the drive is reattached. Just let me attach it and let my girlfriend continue working on what she’s working on and don’t interrupt her work with these dialogs.
Anyone know how to turn them off?
I have looked through that site and I wonder- does anyone know if the fixes that he suggests (unbinding) will work for XP?
A) Right click on the task bar. Choose properties.
Under the task bar tab, make sure you have a check mark beside “Hide inactive icons”. Click the customize button. Scroll through the list to “Safely remove hardware”…and select it. You will be given some choices. Try… Always hide.
B) and C) Double Click My Computer. Find the drives you want to stop the autoplay feature on. Right click them, choose properties. Go to The autoplay tab, and choose the action you want to take for each specific file. (Music files, mixed content, etc) Click apply and Ok.
Hope that helps.
I downloaded the Lavasoft. But I must have chosen the wrong thing on the screen because the software just sits there; if I “run” it I get a dialog box for “Win Zip.”
Furthermore: When I try to run Scandisk on the hard drive lately, it “sputters,” starting over again and again. I get a dialog box saying another program is running, but I’ll be damned if I can find it! :mad:
Try this link to download adaware.
What O/S are you running, dougie_monty? Scandisk is starting over and over again, because you have programs running in the background, interfering with it. Have you tried running it from safe mode?