Well I thought I would get this section going by giving a brief (ok, somewhat brief) overview on the best programs out there to remove spyware, adware, malware, and even viruses, and all of them are free.
Adaware SE Personal Edition 1.06 Download here
This is one that I believe most will be familiar with. The core program is updated fairly often and the definitions are updated very often.
When the program is downloaded accept everything and install. If you have a previous version installed it will ask you to remove it, I advise letting it do this. When it launches for the first time it asks you if you want to launch a full system scan, download updates, and open the help file. Uncheck both launch now and open the help file and click finish. The program will open and immediately download and install the latest updates. Click Start in the program, change the option to perform a full system scan, and start. At this point go have a smoke or cup of coffee as it can take a while.
When it is done there will be a very annoying sound, which can be quite scary you if you have your speakers up. Click next. You will see a summary screen with tabs to the right labeled “Critical Objects†“Negligible Objects†and “Scan Logâ€. Right click in the scan summary and select “Select All Objectsâ€. The negligible objects can be selected, but these are mostly cookies and some tracking done internally on your computer (recent application, Windows Media Player playlist and such). Once all the Critical Objects are selected click "Next". A window will show up asking if you want to remove a numbered amount of objects. Click OK. Depending on how infected the system is it may take a few seconds or take a couple of minutes. Once done just close out the program. If your system is heavily infected then it might make it through and/or when done it will say that there are some that could not be removed due to them being in use, and the program will ask you if you want to run Adaware at your next start up. Say yes, close down Adaware and restart your computer. Before you even get into Windows Adaware will start and scan (though it may require you to start the scan manually using the above described method). Once that scan is complete follow the steps for removal and close the program and continue on into Windows.
Spybot – Search & Destroy 1.4 Download Here
Spybot has also been around a while and gone through some good upgrades over the years. The program also has the added bonus on “Immunizing†your system. In a nutshell what this does is puts in registry entries to fool spyware into believing that it is already on your system and doesn’t install. There is also the option to integrate into IE, but honestly this is annoying and I disable it.
When downloaded and the install is started it will first ask you the language, select the one you want and click â€OKâ€. Next, accept the agreement, and if you want let it install in the default location. On the next window I un-check “Additional Languages†and “Skins to change appearanceâ€, it is ok to leave the others unchecked as well, and click “Nextâ€, and click “Next†again for the Start Menu Folder. Now the “Select Additional Tasks†window can be rather important. If you want a desktop icon and a quick launch icon leave those selected. If you don’t want to be annoyed by a window every time anything changes anything in Internet Explorer than un-check “Use Internet Explorer protection (SD Helper)â€. I really haven’t seen this do much more than annoy people. Now click “Installâ€. Once it is installed leave the “Run SpybotSD.exe†checked and click “Finishâ€.
The program will give a window saying in a nutshell that if it removes some spyware programs stuff they might not run, well since that is good check “Don’t show this message again.†And click “OKâ€.
Now you will get Spybot open and the Spybot S&D Wizard window open. Use the wizard. If you really want to you can backup the registry. I have been using this program for many years and have never had to back up the registry. If you don’t want to click “Nextâ€. You are now prompted to “Search for updatesâ€. Click on that and let it find all the updates. Once it has found all them click on “Download all available updatesâ€. This will not only download them, but install them as well. You will get an “Update Progress†Window show up during the download and install of the updates. Once that is done click “Nextâ€. Now you will have the option to immunize your system. I highly recommend this step. Click on “Immunize this systemâ€, it should not take that long. Once that is done click “Nextâ€. Go ahead and click on “Start using the programâ€.
The program should still be on the Update section. On the left hand side you will see “Search & Destroy†(“Recovery†is below it), click on it. You will now see what looks like a pair of binoculars with “Check for problems†with a magnifying glass next to it. Click on check for problems and let it scan.
Note – If the scan completes in a matter of seconds than more than likely there is something keeping it from running a scan. If this is the case the program will have to be run in Safe Mode of Windows. More about this later.
Once the scan is done it will show you a list of all the problems it found. If there is something not checked, check it. Then click on next to remove everything. Spybot can also run into the problem of trying to remove a program while it is running and asking to run at the next startup. Let it run during the next startup if Adaware isn’t already. If nothing is found then just close the program.
CWShredder Direct Download Here
This is one that some people may not know about. About the sole purpose of this program is to remove hijackers in Internet Explore, and it does a good job of it too. It has also recently been acquired by Trend Micro, which will be mentioned later.
When launched you get the standard License Agreement, agree to that. The next window gives you the options to “Scan Onlyâ€, “Check For Updatesâ€, “Create Reportâ€, and “Fix ->â€. You also have the option to have any programs it finds to the Recycle Bin instead of deleting them. I recommend leaving this un-checked. The program should be the latest so just click on “Fixâ€. When it is started it will tell you that it will shutdown any Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player windows, click “OKâ€.
This one is simple; it will scan, and automatically fix any problems. Once it is done scanning click “Nextâ€, it will give you the results of the scan, and you are done, click “Exitâ€.
Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware (Beta) Download Here
Now I know that this one has gotten some press lately because it tells you to ignore some “Spywareâ€, but you can still remove it, and it does a pretty good job.
Once you download it accept the Agreement, if you want to change where it installs go ahead, other wise click “Nextâ€, and then “Installâ€. Go ahead and check the option to launch the program.
Once in the program you will see on the left side, second from the bottom, “Spyware Definitions†with a star to the left of it. Click on that. This will open a window that will download the newest spyware definitions and make sure that the core program is the latest. Once done click “Closeâ€.
On the right side you have “Run Quick Scan Nowâ€, “Real-Time Protection†and “Advanced Toolsâ€. The Real-Time protection can actually be handy. It goes beyond just protection in Internet Explorer and offers some protections in real-time in Windows. As with the protection option in Spybot it can be a little annoying, and can confuse you on some options. For this guide I suggest leaving it off as once all the scanning and removing is done you shouldn’t need it.
Under the “Run Quick Scan Now†you will see “Scan Options†(in blue lettering) below. Click on “Scan Optionsâ€. If “Run an intelligent quick scan†is checked then select “Run a full system scan†instead. Have a check next to “Scan memory locations and running processesâ€, Scan selected drives/folders†(by default it should select all your hard drives), and “Deep scan folders…â€. Make sure “Save these options†is also checked and click on “Run Scan Nowâ€. This one can also take some time as it is scanning everything on your computer. Give it some time.
Once the scan is done you will get a Scan Results window. Close that out (You have the option “Do not display this window after a scan.â€, for convenience sake check that box), and you will have displayed anything that it found. If something is set to ignore I suggest you change it to “Remove†using the drop down menu.
Note – If you remove it it won’t work again. This is most notably true of Kazaa, even the revolution lite version.
Click next and let it remove everything.
A nice function of this program is that it can also reset all the settings in Internet Explorer. If you click on “Advanced Tools†in the upper right hand corner you will see the option “Browser Restore†under “System Toolsâ€. If you click on “Browser Restore, select “Check All†(bottom of the window with a blue check mark next to it) and click “Restore†this will set all the settings in Internet Explorer back to their default settings. A nice option because even is something is removed that changed some settings in Internet Explorer it may not change the settings back.
Housecall Free Online Virus Scanner Start Here
This is one of the best online virus scan and removal sites out there. The above link will send you to a page where it wants you to select your country. Select your country and click “Continue…â€.
Now here is where it can get tricky. If you are running Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (SP2) then you will have to allow an ActiveX control. You should see a bar drop down saying “This site might require the following ActiveX control: ‘zsxan53.cab’ from ‘Trend Micro, Inc.’, Click here to install…â€. Right-click on that and a window appears asking “Install ActiveX Control…â€. Click on that. You will now be told that the page cannot be refreshed without resending the information…, Click on Retry. You are not asked to install the “xscan53.cabâ€, click on “Installâ€
Depending on your internet speed this can take a few minutes (high speed) or a half hour or more (dial-up).
You are now selected with a window. I recommend checking “My Computer†and under the big “Scan†button is “Auto Clean†with a check button to the left. Check the “Auto Clean†box as well. Now click “Scanâ€.
A window will appear and will begin a scan of your system. This can take quite a while. If it detects any viruses in memory it will notify you and ask you to click “OK†telling you it has removed them, and then continue on with a scan of your computer.
Once it is done it will show you what, if any, viruses it has found. The default action is to delete or clean them. Personally I recommend to tell it to delete or remove them (selectable with a drop down option next to each one). Once the appropriate action for each file is selected click on “Clean†(if applicable) or “Delete†to remove any viruses detected.
Once done close out the small window and continue on.
The following is recommended only if you are comfortable working with your computer.
Now if your system is seriously infected you will want to run Adaware and Spybot in Safe Mode, Microsoft’s AntiSpyware will not run in safe mode. The reason I say this is that while Windows is in Safe Mode hardly anything is running and there is less of a chance that a piece of spyware will interfere with the scanning of Adaware or Spybot.
To enter Safe Mode you will have to hit F8 while the computer is booting (turning on) BEFORE you see the Windows loading screen, personally I just tap F8 once a second from when I turn the computer on. If done right you will be offered “Windows Advanced Options Menu†Use the arrow keys to go up to “Safe Mode†and hit enter. Hit enter again to boot into Microsoft Windows XP (Home or Professional – whatever you are running) and the next option is to click on the user name. I recommend selecting Administrator. You will then be told that “Windows is running in safe modeâ€, click “Yesâ€.
Once here run Adaware and Spybot as you normally would.
Once the scans are done restart the computer back into regular Windows.
Now, if you system is so infected that even after all this you are still getting popups (a good sign) or you are not going to the pages that you want to then about the only option is to reinstall Windows. This is not something I recommend doing unless you are very familiar with computers. There are a number of locations that you can take a computer to to have it reinstalled.
There ya go. While this isn’t totally in-depth, it is a good rundown (I think anyways) on how to clean a system and keep it clean.
Scorpiuscat
