# Spybot help, please **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 14, 2005, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spybot-help-please/331068 "2005-11-14T23:07:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cowgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@cowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cowgirl)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spybot-help-please/331068/1 "2005-11-14T23:07:49Z")
Spybot is failing me. It “fixed” the same 27 items every day for a while (as in, it says they’re fixed, green check mark and everything, but then finds them again the next time I run it). As of yesterday it’s fixed the same 44 problems three times in a row. AdAware always comes up clean, and I just ran CWShredder and it fixed one thing. I read the Computer Question sticky but didn’t see this particular problem addressed. I know that some of those free download programs are counterindicated with other free download programs but I don’t know which. I’m about to download AVG, will that cause a problem? Should a novice like myself get into Hijack This? I’m tentatively poking my head into the SpywareInfo forum but I got a database error, and I find you guys are usually much easier to understand than those forums. What should I do? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![kinoons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a698b9/32.png) [@kinoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kinoons)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spybot-help-please/331068/2 "2005-11-14T23:18:46Z")
Have you rebooted into safe mode and tried to remove the offending items again? If they are running in memory when spybot tries to remove them, they can “reinstall” themselves the next time you reboot. AVG is an antivurus software and is not effective with spyware. Microsoft Antispyware is freely available as a beta and is pretty good too. Another option would be writing down the names of the items found as spyware and search the internet for removal tools/directions ---
**Author:** ![cowgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@cowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cowgirl)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spybot-help-please/331068/3 "2005-11-14T23:22:17Z")
> [@kinoons](#): > > Have you rebooted into safe mode and tried to remove the offending items again? If they are running in memory when spybot tries to remove them, they can “reinstall” themselves the next time you reboot. I “check for problems” immediately after I have “fix[ed] selected problems” - are they reinstalling, or just staying put? > [@](#): > > Microsoft Antispyware is freely available as a beta and is pretty good too. Thanks! I’ll give it a shot. > [@](#): > > Another option would be writing down the names of the items found as spyware and search the internet for removal tools/directions I was hoping there would be a quicker fix, but I will do that if I must. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spybot-help-please/331068/4 "2005-11-15T02:30:26Z")
Go [here,](http://forums.spywareinfo.com/index.php?showtopic=227) read their FAQ, lurk a bit (just read a few threads to get the idea of it), then register without fear and post your problem. They WILL help you. They have helped me several times in the past, quickly and efficiently. ---
**Author:** ![Aserrann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/82dd89/32.png) [@Aserrann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aserrann)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spybot-help-please/331068/5 "2005-11-15T03:47:59Z")
[Bazooka](http://www.kephyr.com/spywarescanner/index.html) is a program that is very good at finding things, and very quick. It does not remove the adware itself, but it has a website explaining how to remove it, which may help keep your problem away for good.