Win XP, IE 6, Outlook Express. I’ve managed to avoid spyware and viruses. I take precautions and so far all’s been good. It’s not the OS, it’s not the browser, it is the way you deal with your computer’s security. Do a bit of preventive maintenance. Get a firewall. Don’t download crap. Patch your system. Update your anti-virus daily. I tried Mozilla and Opera, both had shortcomings I’d rather not deal with.
After my husband typed in an incorrect web address (you know, adding an extra “s” to the end or something and ending up on a cyber squatter site) and got the cool web search malware on his machine last week, I switched to Firefox. He had to re-image his machine in order to clean it, since he could’ve written the world’s most deadliest’s post, including the number of programs he tried to clean it. He was on that site for mere seconds, and it completely screwed his machine.
Now, I only use IE for launch.com, since it doesn’t support Firefox. Which is stupid. I paid $36 for commercial-free radio, and I should be able to use any damn browser I want.
I don’t like everything about Firefox, and I would rather use IE, but the problem is just too severe to continue risking my entire machine.
Assuming you’re running XP…have you gone to Services and disabled the messenger service ?
OK, stupid question: How do I change my default browser? While I can start up any website from mozilla if I have it open, any clicked links from, say, a URL in an e-mail still default to IE. Can I change that?
Oh, and I agree. Prosecute the fuckers.
Just try getting Windows Critical Updates with Mozilla or Opera. Sucks, donit?
Nope.
I wish we could find a solution that would also work in Germany… 
True, but turn on the Update service in XP, and you won’t need to use IE either…
tdn - there should be a setting in Mozilla somewhere that says “make this my default browser” which you can check. If you start up IE again it’ll probably complain, but you can tell it to cock off. This should be all you need to do…
Amen Brother! [except the part about not downloading crap]
I run Win XP Pro (with all required patches), IE 6, Zone Alarm Firewall (free), AntiVir virus protection (free), Spybot (free), Adware (free), and Google Toolbar (free- popup blocker).
I update my virus software twice a week, I check for all other updates (OS, Firewall, etc.) weekly. I sweep my system with Spybot adn Adware once a week.
My computer has NEVER crashed or experienced performance problems. I never receive popups. I have had zero problems with Malware, Adware, Trojoans, etc.
A little preventive maintenance goes a long way.
Any idea where? I’ve looked for something like that already.
Ah, it seems it’s not done as one option - this page tells you how to do it.
Although I have a Linux system and a WIN XP PRO system with Mozilla, I usually use IE for day to day web browsing. I rarely get spyware, but I’m diligent in keeping it off my system. I’ve got AdAware and SpyBot Search & Destroy that I run often, but with the exception of two infections of wwwcoolsearch, I’ve been more or less free of spyware for two years. Here is what I do:
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Turn off Active X. Some web sites will give error messages when loading, but for the most part, every things works just fine.
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Disable Cookies. I use the High setting; this blocks all cookies that don’t have a Compact Privacy Policy. But even this is not enough for me. I use the edit feature to block other cookies that slip in with a CPP. If a web site puts a cookie on my system, I block it. I have a shortcut on my desktop to the cookies folder so I can check after browsing for interlopers. I don’t need cookies, I don’t like cookies, and I won’t have persistent cookies residing on my system. Unfortunately, some web sites, like eBay, require the use of cookies to utilize their services, which is why I don’t use the Block All Cookies. Many may argue that cookies are completely harmless, which may be true for the most part, but I play it safe and declare my system a No Persistent Cookie Zone.
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Block Ad Sites With the Hosts File. This could turn very technical, but there is a file call Hosts that can be used to block advertisers from loading ads on your system. What this will do is prevent your browser from calling the Ad Server and downloading the image file of the ad. You may still get a popup screen, but the screen will be blank; other ads imbedded on web pages will come up blank too. If there is a lot of interest in this, I could post technical instructions elsewhere, along with a copy of my hosts file which blocks a 100 or so sites.
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Firewall. Get one and use one. Don’t argue. I like Zone Alarm. I paid for the professional version, but there is free version available as well. There may be others just as good.
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Remove Macromedia Flash. I don’t like Flash and see little point in its use, other than displaying retarded animated ads. Okay, some web sites simply may not function at all without Flash. Unfortunately, The account maintenance screen for my ISP require Flash for access, the conards, so I wind up breaking my own no Flash rule, but if there is no pressing need for Flash, get rid of it.
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Just Say No to Real Player. I suppose this is open to debate. Not every one will agree that Real Player is spyware. But since I don’t use it, I removed it.
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Use Restricted Sites in IE. Whenever I learn about an evil hijacker site, I add it to the Restricted Sites in IE. This limits the damage (or actions) a site can do to your system. I also add sites with many pop ups, like abcnews.com, as the site will not be allowed to open pop ups when restricted. This prevents the site from sending pop ups, but you can still view the content, most of the time.
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"Wash" System Often. Get a utility that “washes” system files, especially those notorious index.dat files, on a regular basis so your system will not become a repository of your browsing habits. Windows, by default, tracks what web sites you visit and it is possible for others to review when and what pages you’ve visited. This may not qualify as spyware, per se, but I try to ensure that if any data miners go searching for my web habits, they will find very little. I use Webroot’s Window Washer, but other programs may be as good or better.
Okay, that is what I do.
A question – what’s the mechanism by which the spyware gets installed?
Does it happen automatically when you go to the site? Do you have to click on anything to give permission?
I’ve done my share of browsing and adaware doesn’t identify anything on my machine except various cookies that random sites leave behind. Have I been lucky so far?
OK, brill! Thank you!
Sadly, from what I understand, that’s still not enough to prevent Cool Web Search from installing on your machine (except maybe Zone Alarm). He had all that going except Zone Alarm, and it still ended upon his machine.
After you run CSWShredder.exe, you are offered instructions on how to keep CoolWebSearch from reinfecting your machine, either by running a particular MS update, or (apparently the preferred method) by removing the MS Java machine and replacing it with the Sun Java machine. I did this, and it seems to work just dandy.
If I understand correctly, Active X controls are what allow programs to execute when the page is opened, without a dialogue prompt if your settings are configured that way. Pyrrhonist gives some very solid advice. I’ve been trying to keep both my parent’s computers up and running for the past 4+ years and the only way I’ve been able to manage is with a combination of firewalls, multiple spyware/adware removal utilities, customized security settings, alternate browsers, and washing. On very rare emergency cases I’ve had to go in and edit the regsitry.
Hey all,
Its your friendly OP back again, feeling a little calmer, a little more collected. I spoke with my work’s resident geek who boosted my confidence in dealing directly with the registry to remove TVMedia and a few other baddies, so hopefully when I get home I can 1. remove these fuckers once and for all, and 2. switch directly over to Firefox, just like I did at work today 
I had used Mozilla in the past but I had found it clumsy and annoying when it took over my email and HTML editing functions, so I didn’t bother redownloading it when I got a new computer. But that was last year, and the spyware situation has gotten so bad, I’ll use any other alternative as long as it isn’t IE. And I actually like Firefox from what I’ve used of it today!
I hope you’re right. Someone with some clout has to stand up to this situation. Unfortunately I don’t see how the legal system could keep up with it. Spam has been a problem for years, and they just got around to doing something about it (in the US) and it hasn’t made a dent in the problem. By the time the government gets around to doing something about it, I fear the web will be so saturated with this shit it will be pointless to even go online with an IE browser.
Preaching to the choir. Like I said, I do tech support for clients that have a passing relationship with computers at best. Ferchristsake half of them are still on AOL! (They’re funeral homes for the most part, not the most techno-savvy of industries) Anyhoo, I’m the only one that’s given most of them any useful information on spyware and protecting their systems. I consider myself reasonably to well protected and I still get slammed. Part of the problem is I’m on dialup, and I rarely have the time to sit and download each and every patch that comes out. Its not an excuse, I know, and I ordered the latest Microsoft SP disk and installed it, but apparently that didn’t fix the IE problems that are letting the spyware through. So fuck Microsoft for making such a shitty product that I have to spend half my life downloading updates to it just so unscrupulous companies can’t fuck me over.
Pyrrhonist, I’d like a copy of that blocked Hosts list, if you don’t mind.
All in all, I have to say I learned a lot about how to protect myself last night while checking all this nonsense out, but a lot of it is really technical and beyond the comprehension of people like my clients, who just assume the computer is going to work the way it ought to. To really, really protect yourself, you have to spend lots of time, if not money. A lot of people can’t or don’t want to spend that kind of time just to ensure that the computer they bought last month still works the way its supposed to this month.
What I’m worried about is what happens to the other 98% of computer users who don’t realize the only way to be safe is to use a “combination of firewalls, multiple spyware/adware removal utilities, customized security settings, alternate browsers, and washing” (as XJETGIRLX aptly put it). Shit, all that stuff doesn’t come preinstalled with Windows, so why should I need it? :smack:
These bastards must perish slowly in rusty vats of boiling oil. The scent of their burning flesh shall be as perfume to my senses. I also like the chopping-off-the-balls-or-other-needed-parts idea.
Since you already have Spybot, you can do this quite easily.
Tools > Hosts file > Add Spybot S&D hosts list
Also, go to the Immunize section and check the ‘Lock Hosts file…’ radio button.
I suggest that they have to wear 200V electrodes on their genitals, sit in front of a computer infected with their crap and every time a window pops up…the switch closes.