Edk

I'm new here and I'm hoping this gets seen on account of being in the right location

Problem is my PC is clogged up, needs a clean from all the spyware I've been picking up

Can anyone recommend a good economical solution? My PC has 500mb ram 40gb HD runs XP Professional

Edk

Thanks a lot Topgun. I straightawy downloaded from the link of course. They obviously want me to Upgrade and it did look as though in order to get rid of the infections found, I WOULD need to upgrade. I left the proceedings at that point but I'll go back and see properly... Thanks again

KimW

ok, you need 3 thiings:
Spybot search and destroy-Free
Adaware prsonal- Free
Malwarebytes antimalware-shareware,can be used free but with some items disabled.

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Edk

Thanks a lot. As for Money&Power you've been very darn close to a sale! Thanks for now.

brilliantjv

I agree with the above...


Now just ad AVG version 8 (freeware) to your collection.

John M Kane

"CCleaner" and "EasyCleaner" and "Adaware"
and a weekly Defrag with "PerfectDisc"
"HiJackthis" to see if anything unusual is still hanging on.
"Spybot SearchAndDestroy" has good reviews too.
This is what keeps my wyndoze working as best as it is "capable" of

I'm likin' the Penguin more lately.
Long live Linus Torvalds
I'd like to see him and Gates in an Octagon match. Would be worth payperviewing.

jfbowles

I have tried a bunch of these programs. The best I have come across is "RegCleaner." I have been using it for quite sometime now and it does a good job with no problems thus far. Another good program to keep track of what is being added to your start up files, active tasks, etc.. is WinPatrol by Bill P Studios. They have a free version and a paid version that provides more info. It's a one time charge of around $20.00. I have been using it for years, and would not want to be without it. I'm not an affiliate, don't think he has an AFF program, I think you can find it at BillP Studios: WinPatrol or billpstudios.com It is definitely worth checking out.

Jack F Bowles
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http://collectibles.owpop.com
http://yoyos.owpop.com

KimW

Well, stop hesitating...... You will find it well worth your money,that's a promise!
After all, it is by two of the most important peopl on this forum

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Jason Dittberner

Best solution is to use a Mac.

For spyware, just use a multi-pronged approach with three different products being the sweet spot. Spybot, Adaware, and Spy Sweeper by Webroot are three solid choices.

Stay on top of your Windows Updates and make sure your virus definitions stay up-to-date on whatever antivirus product you use. AVG, Kaspersky, F-Secure, and NOD32 are great products. Most people, sadly, use Norton or MacAfee though. Too big of footprint IMO.

Registry cleaners are more to make you fell all warm and fuzzy more than anything. Most people won't notice a difference and if your registry is that hosed, you should be reinstalling your OS anyways.

Mike X.

Crap cleaner - Download CCleaner 2.11.636 - FileHippo.com

and the Yahoo Toolbar with antispy - Yahoo Toolbar with Anti Spyware - Free software downloads and reviews - CNET Download.com

All you'll ever need

EricWPM

I've used all the free programs and they all work to varying degrees. One program won't find all the problems. So using a combination of programs works best.

Since I work on the internet... I'm the designated computer guy when people have problems for all my friends and family... somehow I didn't get a vote in the matter

I've "cleaned" lots of computers and the best solution I have found so far (even beats some paid programs) is Panda ActiveScan 2.0

It's an online scanner so it's always kept up to date to fight the latest virus, malware, trojans, etc. It will ask you to sign up for a free acount. If you sign up they will disinfect most problems... otherwise if you don't signup for an account... they will just tell you what problems it found. So it's best to sign up for the free account so you can get your computer cleaned.

When you login it will give you the choice of QUICK SCAN or FULL SCAN. Obviously if you are having problems you will want to use FULL SCAN as it will scan everything (this will take awhile... especially if you have a large HD). The QUICK SCAN only scans the critical stuff of your computer operating system. This choice is good for weekly maintenance checks as it's much quicker because it's not doing the full scan.

If it finds a file that it can't clean at least it will tell you the name of the offending file and what type of intruder it is. Write the name down and do a google search to find out how to get rid of it.

Someone else mentioned CCleaner (Crap Cleaner). This is an excellent program to use BEFORE using Panda ActiveScan. It will clean out all of your temp files and other junk on your computer. It also has a registry scanner that will clean up your reg files. It does a pretty good job at that too. I like how it makes a backup file of your registry before cleaning so that if something gets messed up... you can reload an old version of your registry.

When you are already infected... these 2 programs will take care of 99% problems and get your computer running again!

Panda ActiveScan 2.0
ActiveScan 2.0 - A second opinion on the security of your PC

CCleaner
CCleaner - Home

china

Really i will recommend a good anti-virus program for you like mccafe and also check out regcure or regeasy for the registry cleaning.Most free softwares always have limitations.I ll advice you get a paid software.

cheers

Thomas11

Your Top list of anti virus is absolutely right but, i want to suggest you one more name to add in the list the name is search and destroy.I am using this anti virus software it will change your mind about other anti virus software try once and see results.

Thank You.

Bigsofty

If you wanna get critcal and want serious protection, so serious it's annoying cos the thing won't shut up, get the Comodo suite, which is freebies.

It plays nice with Avast anti-virus too, also free, so you can have both.

I used to use Zonealarm as my firewall and AVG for anti-virus but got hit with 2 viruses ("viri", to be technical) and was deeply pissed about it.

Don't bother with the single products from Comodo, just go for the suite. It's serious hard-core protection and doesn't just ask if something can access the internet, it asks if it's allowed to breathe, twitch or show any signs of life whatsoever.

Be careful with it to start with, as you can easily end up disabling something you need but once you're sure your PC is running correctly let it loose. Nothing, but nothing, gets past Comodo.

Avast is also handy, scanning stuff you're even thinking about clicking (including web pages) but is light and fast and about the only complimentary product that Comodo doesn't stomp on.

If you're installing something you have to put Comodo into installation mode, or it'll trigger every 2 seconds and drive you nuts.

For reg cleaning I use a product so crazy I won't even mention it, as you'll wreck your PC if you don't know what you're doing. For simple stuff Registry Mechanic works for me, well does after reinstalling... (Comodo killied it!)


B.

Success

I recommend RegDefence, go to their site to see the comparison chart with other registry cleaners.

For antivirus, Avira is light and free.

.

Love2Blog

These are great and free:

MalwareBytes
AVG Free anti Virus
Spyware Blaster
PC Tool Registry Cleaner

Edk

I'm downloading as I write this the first of the Commodo Suite. See how it goes...

Edk

Many many thanks to all the providers of information here

James Jewett

I had the same problem a few weeks ago. I have windows xp pro, you may be able to do the same with vista, I don't know. I have a saved folder "virus cure" which contains:
Super Antispyware, MalwareBytes Anti-Malware, SpywareBlaster, Avast antivirus ( I suppose you could replace avast with your choice of antivirus), and CCcleaner.

What I did:
1. restart pc, DO NOT CONNECT TO WEB!
2. turn off system restore, some trojans and malware will hide in here
3. run SpywareBlaster
Then
4. run Super Antispyware
Then
5. run MalwareBytes Anti-Malware
Then
6. run Avast antivirus
Then
7. run cccleaner
Then
restart pc, turn on system restore.

Worked for me,
James