Okay, so whenever I restart my PC, my homepage and other settings change.
I’ve updated my firewall, ran virus scans and basic clean up utilities, all current, but to no avail.
It also seems like there is an app running that tries to block me from resetting my homepage and other preferences under control panel. My PC will freeze when trying to get to them…but eventually come around - very bizzare.
Overall, my PC seems pretty clean, but I am frustrated. Any good apps, free stuff out there?
Searching the SDMB for this type of advice was not helpful (although I know this has been covered). Search terms return lots of virus and popup help.
Honestly, I don’t feel like pumping 60 bucks into some app that only might fit my needs. Hate to bug you guys with a nuisance issue, but I’ve got a neighbor who I want to impress with yer knowledge of all things.
I know this is sounding like a stuck record here on the SDMB but it’s good advice (orwked for me) - Download Adaware and spybot (two seperate programs) update both before you run them. They should get rid of the parasites (as I like to call them) from your computer.
I will go and find the link for spybot, as when you search ‘spybot’ in google you tend to get a lot of similar but inferior products…
When my computer was taken over by demons (it kept changing my homepage to Space-Search) the solution came when I stopped using Explorer and went to Firebird. The problem stopped immediately and has never come back.
I doubt it. Adaware and spybot don’t interact directly with your internet connection (unless you have them set on the mode that scans all the time, which is unnecesary IMO. Just run them once a week) they just scan your computer for the stuff.
I could be wrong and you should wait for a more informed answer (I don’t run antivirus software, but I do use windows’ built in firewall) but I can’t see the two apps getting ‘in the way of’ your antivirus software or vice-versa.
That’s most likely because the browser hijacker changes values in your registry that deal only with IE (HKEY_CURRENT_USER-Software-Microsoft-Internet Explorer).
And I remembered something else I should add, I highly recomend subscribing to the LangaList. It’s a newsletter written by Fred Langa (he also writes articles for informationweek.com). The Standard Edition is free and is a great source of information, that’s where I learned about Ad-Aware and Spybot, as well as some other useful information.
After running Spybot, AdAware, & CWShredder, I highly reccomend switching your browser from Internet Explorer to a more secure one like Firefox/Mozilla or Opera. Since I switched my relatives from IE to Firefox, they have gone from hundreds of pieces of spyware when I come and do a cleaning to less than a dozen, all of the nearly harmless tracking cookie variety. Also, both Firefox and Opera offer features like built-in pop-up blocking, and once you start using the tabbed browsing, going back to a browser that doesn’t have it(I think IE is the only current browser lacking it actually ) is almost painful.
) is almost painful.