A good thread about spyware...From Anandtech forums.
(Going to the original post will furnish live links to the programs mentioned)
forums.anandtech.com
What is Spyware? Well, in the words of Patrick Kolla, "In easy terms, spyware is software that transmits personally identifiable information from your computer to some place in the internet without your special knowledge."
What is Adware? Again, in the words of Mr. Kolla, "Adware is also often a side-effect of spyware, as both monitor you for a sole purpose – delivering you advertisement that is especially tailored to your habits."
Both can harm you computer in various ways, such as annoying popups (that appear even after you disable windows messenger service), browser hijacking, strange slowdowns, etc.
How can I check my system and remove spyware/adware from my computer? Please perform the following steps to clean your computer of spyware, adware and other hijacks. All programs listed are freeware, save adaware and spywareblaster which is free only for personal use and spywareblaster is also free for educational use.
Note: This guide assumes you are running Internet Explorer 6 sp1 with all updates. You need the Visual Basic 6 runtime libraries to run some of these programs. Most systems already have this, but should you get an error about MSVBVM60.DLL missing, get the libraries from Microsoft.
The most popular files are available in their original form (i.e. you can use 'Run program from this location'), as well as a zipped form. You can open zipped files with a program like WinZip.
1st Run LSP-Fix
2nd Run CWS smartkiller removal tool
3rd Run CWShredder
Optional: I would recommend running the update utilities in the programs of steps 4 and 5, then restart your system into safe mode to run the scanners and fixes. I would then restart into normal mode and run them again before proceeding to step 7.
4th Run Spybot
5th Run Ad Aware
Note: Steps 6 - 11 are meant to prevent reinfection, not remove current infections!
6th Run Spyware Guard
7th Run Spyware blaster
8th Install IE-SPYAD which is similar to spyware blaster, except its a registry patch, and serves to block many attempts at hijacking, unauthorized installation of spyware, script based popups and bad cookies. IE-SPYAD is updated about once a month, so check with them often. You should run both spywareblaster and SPYAD.
9th Make sure your AntiVirus is up to date and do a full system scan. If you have no antivirus or your subscription has expired, you need to get AVG which is a freeware antivirus that some people say rivals NAV.
10th Make sure your firewall is up to date (to test your firewall, visit grc.com and run shields up!) and if you have no firewall, you need to get Zone Alarm.
11th Check your IE explorer settings (Tools>internet options>privacy) to make sure privacy is set on at least medium and security setting (Tools>internet options>security) is likewise and reset your homepage manually.
If you are still having problems, download HijackThis (zipped) and Please highlight all that is posted in this program after running it, and then copy and paste the contents into your Reply in the same post where you originally asked your question. As a result, false positives are imminent and unless you are sure what you're doing, you should always consult with knowledgable folks (e.g. the forums) before deleting anything.
Note: Rember to keep all of these programs updated and run spybot, adaware, and CWShredder scans/fixes at least once a month. In the meantime try Firefox which is a great alternative to internet explorer that usually has less problems with spyware and hijacking.
We all need to thank Patrick Kolla (whose spybot database was stolen and turned into nonfreeware software by people who sought to make money off of his work), Merijn (expecially this guy, since he gets blamed all the time for creating coolwebsearch), and others for creating and maintaining these excellent freeware tools and the AT mod that repaired this thread after it was cruely struck down by the forum upgrade.
Note to mozilla users
No need for mozilla/firefox users to perform steps 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8.
and do not use the link in step 4, Spybot 1.2 does not work with mozilla/firefox cookies, so use the beta of 1.3 which is available here
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Spyware FAQ
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