computer problems (1 Viewer)

[Dave_P]

Just curious for all those more knowledgable than me about computer things. How can I get rid of Adware on my brother's pc? He's handicapped and small programs like this are literally taking over his computer. I have a virus scanner on the pc, but the Adware has to be quarantined (because you cannot delete). Then it is back in five minutes. Also, IE takes ten seconds to appear after you double click. Anyone have idea what that might be? Can I have this PC professionally cleaned or debugged? Do you know how much this may cost? Thanks for all your help.

 

[James T]

Spybot.

It's freeware.

http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/fil...d,22262,00.asp

You can immunize some spyware programs. Adware is spyware, so that may be the problem. Save yourself the money because a professional does nothing special to your PC

 

[Andrej Dolenc]

Ad-aware is another spyware removal tool, we've used it here in the office with much success:
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/

Andrej

 

[Dave_P]

Thanks guys! Does anyone else have any other ideas about the IE problem? I also cannot have multiple IE windows opened at the same time. I could two days ago, but it seems like today that I cannot. I appreciate the responses.

 

[Lance Nichols]

Use both Spybot AND Ad-aware. Together they remove just about everything.

 

[Leila Dougan]

After you get all the spyware cleaned off, and if it's still happening, post more details as to what's happening, etc.

You can also configure Adaware to run when the computer starts up and to automatically clean anything it finds. This might be helpful for your brother so that his PC can stay clean with minimal intervention.

 

[Fred Seger]

If you can't get IE to start working properly switch to Slimbrowser or Mozilla web browsers( both are free)

 

[Cary_H]

First off.....is this adware, or Ad-Aware, the anti-spyware application? One, adware is something I've never heard of, the other is a legitimate program, and not spyware.
What OS is being run? Is it up to date? IE....got all the latest patches?
Is the virus app up to date? Spyware programs, and to some degree virus apps, are only as effective as their knowledge of knowing what to look for. If there's something new out there that they don't know exists, they'll be hard-pressed to recognize it if and when they come across it. How about the firewall? He is running behind one, right?
Have you looked at what programs fire up on start up? I have seen some stuff that parks itself in the registry and startup config that will open up IE and connect without your help. If you are familiar with the basics that belong in the startup config you'll spot what doesn't right away.

I was on a forum just last week where folks were complaining about what they thought were porn popups. There were a number of replies with suggestions for popup killer apps. Others weren't seeing them at all, nor was I.....but something sounded fishy to me. When I went in to post that these sounded like something more than just popups, I got bombarded with them. My own popup app was rendered useless. Immediately my virus app alerted me to a trojan it just saw, quarrantined, then deleted.
Anyway, IMO, this problem seems along the lines of more than just spyware. In my experience normal spyware is pretty stealthy, that is, it runs along happily not bringing attention to itself.
Keep us posted.