Whenever certain words appear on a webpage, they become links to an advertisers webpage. So far the words I have noticed are “loan”, “game”, and (ironically enough) “spyware.” I ran Spybot Search and Destroy, with the latest updates, and that still didn’t fix the problem. I then downloaded Ad-aware, with similar luck. Does anyone know how I can fix this problem manually, or at least reccomend some other good (free, preferabbly) adware removing software?
Check in Install/Uninstall for any programs you don’t recognize. That may be an actual program not recognized as spyware.
It almost sounds like you have a browser add on that recognizes certain words and links them to the ad sites. If it’s one of these programs, it may be fooling AdAware and Spybot to not report it.
Did you add any “browser enhancement” programs to your browser? To make it go faster or speed up searches?
No, no new programs installed. It seems to have pretty much installed itself as I never click “yes” to install wierd programs. It’s possible I inadvertantly allowed it to while attempting to defeat a barrage of pop-ups one day though. Still, this is very frustrating.
It obviously spyware, though it’s unclear as to why Ad-Aware and Spybot don’t notice it.
There’s software called “BHO Demon” that tells you what Browser Help Objects (BHOs) are on your web browser; it may indicate what thge problem is.
There’s also Hijackthis, which gives you a log of all running processes and important registry keys. You can look through it to see what the problem might be; once you find a odd bit of software, you can look it up through Google. If you have troubles interpreting, go to [url="http://www.spywareinfo.com"Sypwareinfo.com, register for their forums, and upload the log for analysis.
Let us know how it works out.
Thanks, RealityChuck, the BHO Demon did help. I found out it was something called “winlink” and immediatly disabled it.
I had an absolute spyware nightmare recently and it took me an entire working day to clean a single PC; the steps I took (and every single one was necessary, in my case) were:
[ol][li]Browse the list of installed applications in Control Panel>Add/remove programs - Google the name of anything that sounds dodgy and if it is, uninstall it[/li][li]Run AdAware[/li][li]Run SpyBot[/li][li]Check the programs in Start>Programs>Startup - Google the name of anything that sounds dodgy and if it is, delete the shortcut[/li][li]Run MSCONFIG, browse the programs listed in the Startup tab - Google the name of anything that sounds dodgy and if it is, uncheck it[/li][li]Run Start>Programs>Accessroies>System Tools>System Information, browse in the ‘Loaded Modules’ and ‘Startup Programs’ categories - pay particular attention to any entries from manufacturers you’re not familiar with - Google the name of anything that sounds dodgy and if it is, make a note of the file name/location and delete it (if it is a dll file, it may be necessary to RUN Regsvr32 [filename] /U before Windows will let you delete it); if Windows won’t let you unregister or delete it, try booting from a floppy and deleting it from a command prompt.[/li][/ol]
Mangetout – Hijackthis (see above) does all that (well, not 2 & 3) and can save you time in the future. Just be sure to get the latest version.