1. I recommend using http://www.mozilla.org/ Mozilla or http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/ Firefox to avoid future hijacking. If you must use Internet Explorer install http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html Spyware Blaster or Microsoft’s http://microsoft.com/spyware anti-Spyware program (recommended) to block future infections.

1. Then remove spyware using the free http://www.lavasoftusa.com/ AdAware, http://www.safer-networking.org/ Spybot S&D, and Microsoft’s http://microsoft.com/spyware anti-Spyware program. Update, scan and remove all the infections you can, then turn on the immunization feature of Spybot or the Real Time Protection and browser protection features of Microsoft’s program. This should take care of the spyware, but often is insufficient to remove browser hijackers.

1. Start by killing any viruses and trojan horses. Boot to a CD with an up-to-date antivirus and disinfect the system, please see {{CreatingAnAntivirusBootCD}} for further details. You can also use online antivirus checkers like http://housecall.antivirus.com Housecall from Trend Micro, F-Secure’s http://support.f-secure.com/enu/home/ols.shtml online scanner, or http://www.pandasoftware.com/products/activescan/ Panda’s ActiveScan.

1. Start by killing any viruses and trojan horses. Boot to a CD with an up-to-date antivirus and disinfect the system, please see {{CreatingAnAntivirusBootCD}} for further details. You can also use online antivirus checkers like http://housecall.antivirus.com Housecall from Trend Micro, http://support.f-secure.com/enu/home/ols.shtml F-Secure’sonline scanner or http://www.pandasoftware.com/products/activescan/ Panda’s ActiveScan.

Spyware is not a problem on Macintosh computers. Yet.

1. Then remove spyware using the free http://www.lavasoftusa.com/ AdAware, http://www.safer-networking.org/ Spybot S&D, and Microsoft’s http://microsoft.com/spyware anti-Spyware program. Update, scan and remove all the infections you can, then turn on the immunization feature of Spybot or the PC Guard feature of Microsoft. This should take care of the spyware, but often is insufficient to remove browser hijackers.

1. Start by killing any viruses and trojan horses. Boot to a CD with an up-to-date antivirus and disinfect the system, please see {{CreatingAnAntivirusBootCD}} for further details. You can also use online antivirus checkers like http://housecall.antivirus.com Housecall from Trend Micro and http://www.pandasoftware.com/products/activescan/ Panda’s ActiveScan.

Check out a new online service http://auditmypc.com/ AuditMyPC which offers free security tests for your firewall, popup blocker, and a spyware scan, too.

Advanced users and friends of such: Something new in a way. Have trouble getting spyware to stay gone? There’s a key inside your registry that reloads stuff back into your startup even if your clear it from your msconfig. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\MSConfig\startupreg — I’ve seen WinToolsA have keys there. If you clear the checkbox from it from MSConfig, it will constantly recheck and if your even remove it from your Run key it will reappear. If you have trouble with Spyware staying gone, look there. http://www.drcomputer.info Dr. Computer

PC Review has a great article, explaining what spyware is and how to get rid of it. http://www.pcreview.co.uk/article-7086.php Here is a link

Paul Tevis writes:

When you download the instant messenger, AIM, make sure you do not install the weatherbug. That is spyware! So, be careful to not install that.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\InternetSettings\ZoneMap\Domains\searchsquire.com * 4 on my XP machine.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=321cd7a2-6a57-4c57-a8bd-dbf62eda9671&DisplayLang=en Microsoft® Windows AntiSpyware (formerly Giant)
I downloaded & ran Microsoft® Windows AntiSpyware (Beta) just today (1–8−05)
and it immediatly found SearchSquire(some adware), which Spybot S&D, SpywareBlaster, & Ad-Aware SE never saw. SearchSquire is an Internet Explorer sidebar containing paid links that open when you use search engines. Located in : HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\InternetSettings\ZoneMap\Domains\searchsquire.com
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\InternetSettings\ZoneMap\Domains\searchsquire.com * 4 on my XP machine.

BenListening writes:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=321cd7a2-6a57-4c57-a8bd-dbf62eda9671&DisplayLang=en Microsoft® Windows AntiSpyware (formerly Giant)

BenListening writes :http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=321cd7a2-6a57-4c57-a8bd-dbf62eda9671&DisplayLang=en Microsoft® Windows AntiSpyware (formerly Giant)

When you download the instant messenger, AIM, make sure you do not install the weatherbug. That is spyware! So, be careful to not install that.

BenListening writes :
Microsoft® Windows AntiSpyware (Beta) (formerly Giant)
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=321cd7a2-6a57-4c57-a8bd-dbf62eda9671&DisplayLang=en

Paul Tevis writes:

Paul Tevis writes:
When you download the instant messenger, AIM, make sure you do not install the weatherbug. That is spyware! So, be careful to not install that.

Advanced users and friends of such: Something new in a way. Have trouble getting spyware to stay gone? There’s a key inside your registry that reloads stuff back into your startup even if your clear it from your msconfig. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\MSConfig\startupreg — I’ve seen WinToolsA have keys there. If you clear the checkbox from it from MSConfig, it will constantly recheck and if your even remove it from your Run key it will reappear. If you have trouble with Spyware staying gone, look there. http://www.drcomputer.info Dr. Computer

1. Advanced users and friends of such: Something new in a way. Have trouble getting spyware to stay gone? There’s a key inside your registry that reloads stuff back into your startup even if your clear it from your msconfig. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\MSConfig\startupreg — I’ve seen WinToolsA have keys there. If you clear the checkbox from it from MSConfig, it will constantly recheck and if your even remove it from your Run key it will reappear. If you have trouble with Spyware staying gone, look there.

Advanced users and friends of such: Something new in a way. Have trouble getting spyware to stay gone? There’s a key inside your registry that reloads stuff back into your startup even if your clear it from your msconfig. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\MSConfig\startupreg — I’ve seen WinToolsA have keys there. If you clear the checkbox from it from MSConfig, it will constantly recheck and if your even remove it from your Run key it will reappear. If you have trouble with Spyware staying gone, look there.

1. Start by killing any viruses and trojan horses. Boot to a CD with an up-to-date antivirus and disinfect the system. [We need a tutorial on {{CreatingAnAntivirusBootCD}}]. You can also use online antivirus checkers like http://housecall.antivirus.com Housecall from Trend Micro and http://www.pandasoftware.com/products/activescan/ Panda’s ActiveScan.

1. Start by killing any viruses and trojan horses by pooping on the floor. Boot to a CD with an up-to-date antivirus and disinfect the system. [We need a tutorial on {{CreatingAnAntivirusBootCD}}]. You can also use online antivirus checkers like http://housecall.antivirus.com Housecall from Trend Micro and http://www.pandasoftware.com/products/activescan/ Panda’s ActiveScan.

1. Start by killing any viruses and trojan horses. Boot to a CD with an up-to-date antivirus and disinfect the system. [We need a tutorial on {{CreatingAnAntivirusBootCD}}]. You can also use online antivirus checkers like http://housecall.antivirus.com Housecall from Trend Micro and http://www.pandasoftware.com/products/activescan/ Panda’s ActiveScan.

Spyware is not a problem on Macintosh computers. Yet.

PC Review has a great article, explaining what spyware is and how to get rid of it. http://www.pcreview.co.uk/article-7086.php Here is a link

1. Start by killing any viruses and trojan horses. Boot to a CD with an up-to-date antivirus and disinfect the system. [We need a tutorial on CreatingAnAntivirusBootCD]. You can also use online antivirus checkers like http://housecall.antivirus.com Housecall from Trend Micro and http://www.pandasoftware.com/products/activescan/ Panda’s ActiveScan.

1. I recommend using http://www.mozilla.org/ Mozilla or http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/ Firefox to avoid future hijacking. If you must use Internet Explorer install http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html Spyware Blaster to block future infections. Better yet, follow Steve Gibson’s instructions for UsingInternetExplorerSafely.

Wikipedia:Spyware Spyware is any program that hides on your system with the intent of collecting marketing information about you and your surfing habits, and/or displaying pop-ads on your screen. Spyware is currently the most annoying problem on the Internet, and in my experience, the single most common cause of unreliability and slowdowns on Windows machines.

1. I recommend using http://www.mozilla.org/ Mozilla or http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/ Firefox to avoid future hijacking. If you must use Internet Explorer install http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html Spyware Blaster to block future infections.

Spyware is not a problem on Macintosh computers. Yet.

1. Read up on browser hijackers at http://www.spywareinfo.com/articles/hijacked/ SpywareInfo.com. You may need to use a dedicated tool. Start with http://www.spychecker.com/program/hijackthis.html Hijack This to figure out the name of the infection. Common hijackers include http://www.spysweeper.com/remove-coolwebsearch.html Cool Web Search and http://www.180searchassistant.com/uninstall.html 180 search Assistant. For a list of all the known Browser Hijacking programs and removal tools visit http://sysinfo.org/bholist.php Sysinfo.org. Searching Google can also be useful in finding removal help.

1. I recommend using http://www.mozilla.org/ Mozilla or http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/ Firefox to avoid future hijacking. If you must use Internet Explorer install http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html Spyware Blaster to block future infections.

1. Start by killing any viruses and trojan horses. Boot to a CD with an up-to-date antivirus and disinfect the system. [We need a tutorial on creating an anti-virus boot CD]. You can also use online antivirus checkers like http://housecall.antivirus.com Housecall from Trend Micro and http://www.pandasoftware.com/products/activescan/ Panda’s ActiveScan.

1. Start by killing any viruses and trojan horses. Boot to a CD with an up-to-date antivirus and disinfect the system. [We need a tutorial on creating an anti-virus boot CD). You can also use online antivirus checkers like http://housecall.antivirus.com Housecall from Trend Micro and http://www.pandasoftware.com/products/activescan/ Panda’s ActiveScan.
2. Then remove spyware using the free http://www.lavasoftusa.com/ AdAware and http://www.safer-networking.org/ Spybot S&D. Update both, scan and remove all the infections you can, then turn on the immunization feature of Spybot. This should take care of the spyware, but often is insufficient to remove browser hijackers.
3. Read up on browser hijackers at http://www.spywareinfo.com/articles/hijacked/ SpywareInfo.com. You may need to use a dedicated tool. Start with http://www.spychecker.com/program/hijackthis.html Hijack This to figure out the name of the infection. Removal varies for each hijacker. Search Google for the name and you’ll find manual removal instructions online. Common hijackers include CoolWebSearch, Windows Search Assistant
4. I recommend using http://www.mozilla.org/ Mozilla or http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/ Firefox to avoid future hijacking. If you must use Internet Explorer install http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html Spyware Blaster to block future infections.