Computer Works Central

Spyware Information

Spyware - "Hidden software that gathers information about a computer user without the user's knowledge or informed consent, and then transmits this information to an external entity. This also includes Malware products which perform the delivery of unrequested advertising (Pop-ups in particular), re-routing page requests to illegally claim commercial site referral fees, and installing stealth phone dialers."

Rogue/Suspect Anti-Spyware Products & Web Sites - The Spyware removal market is being flooded with bogus Spyware scanners, some even closely resemble Ad-aware and Spybot. These programs can produce false positives, leave actual and uninstalling any other Spyware Scanners you may have tried. Use the links here if you are not sure what you have.


SPYWARE CLEANING
The following free scanners will remove 99% of known Spyware. Ad-aware, Spybot - Search and Destroy and Microsoft AntiSpyware should be updated weekly. CCleaner (cleaner button - windows tab only) should always be run first to save on scanning time. Tough to remove Spyware requires a more thorough scan in Safe Mode.

CCleaner - Download - Home Page
CCleaner (Crap Cleaner) removes unused and temporary files from your system, including cleaning the registry.

Instructions - Go to the "Windows" tab and select "Run Cleaner". Next select the "Applications" tab and select "Run Cleaner". Finally select the "Issues" button and select "Scan for Issues" when it finishes scanning select "Fix Selected Issues", then "Fix All Selected Issues".

CWShredder 2.x - Download - Download (Alt) - Home Page
CoolWebSearch is one of the worst Spyware infections. The latest variants use a Hidden DLL that is installed by taking over the file system's data stream and stealthing the DLL file. Some AntiVirus programs will detect and clean it from memory but as soon as your system is rebooted and another Internet connection made, it will reinstall itself. CWShredder 2.x removes this variant.

Instructions - Download, close all web browsers and run, select "I AGREE", "Fix" and "OK". After it is finished select "Next" to see if you were infected. Run CWShredder again to confirm all known variants of CoolWebSearch have been removed.

Ad-aware SE - Download - Home Page - Forums (Team Lavasoft)
Application to scan and remove Spyware, Adware, hijackers and other malicious software.

Instructions - Install, Update and Run. Select "Start", "Perform Full System Scan", "Next" and Remove all Spyware items it finds. To select all items for removal right-click on any of the found items and left-click "Select All". Tough to remove Spyware requires a more thorough scan. Reboot your computer into safe mode by pressing the F8 key down during boot up and selecting "Safe Mode" from the Windows Advanced Options menu. In safe mode do another Ad-aware scan and remove the remaining Spyware infections.

Spybot - Search and Destroy - Download - Home Page - Forums
Application to scan and remove Spyware, Adware, hijackers and other malicious software.

Instructions - Install Spybot (Do not install the Teatimer), select "Update", "Search For Updates", check the box next to each update and then select "Download Updates" Then select "Search and Destroy", "Check for problems" and after scanning is complete "Fix selected problems". Tough to remove Spyware requires a more thorough scan. Reboot your computer into safe mode by pressing the F8 key down during boot up and selecting "Safe Mode" from the Windows Advanced Options menu. In safe mode do another Spybot scan and remove the remaining Spyware infections.

Update - Spybot by default now ignores certain products such as New.Net and Sidestep for no good reason. New.Net compromises the WinSock stack by routing all your DNS queries through the NewDotNet.DLL. To enable detection go to "Settings", "Ignore products", "All products" Tab, right click on "Product", left-click on "Deselect all". Then run another scan.

Microsoft AntiSpyware - Download - Home Page - Forums
Security technology that helps protect Windows users from Spyware and other potentially unwanted software.

Instructions - Install, go to "File", "Check for updates...", after it is done updating select "Close". Then select "Spyware Scan", "Scan Options", select "Full System Scan" then "Scan Now". Tough to remove Spyware requires a more thorough scan. Reboot your computer into safe mode by pressing the F8 key down during boot up and selecting "Safe Mode" from the Windows Advanced Options menu. In safe mode do another AntiSpyware scan and remove the remaining Spyware infections. Microsoft AntiSpyware also includes Real Time Spyware Protection, if you wish to disable this for performance reasons, go to "Real-time Protection" and deactivate all three agents.

Clean and Infected File Sharing Programs - Microsoft AntiSpyware will detect numerous Peer to Peer programs as Spyware. If you are 100% positive you are using a non Spyware infected file sharing program select ignore on these entries. Use this list to be sure.


SPYWARE IDENTIFICATION
The following is a Spyware Database that will let those interested search and learn more about the Spyware identified by the above scanners. This is not a required step. If you are not interested continue on to Spyware Protection.