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re: take your pick......
Monday, November 15, 2004 at 12:54 pm
Windows XP Annoyances Discussion Forum
Posted by joe
(7016 messages posted)
One of the most asked about questions (other then SP2) is virus's, spyware, adware,
malware, and worms/trojans removal, protection/preventions, and basic questions on
which is better and what-not. Here is a list of links as well as brief descriptions
to to said products. Most are free or offer free, limited versions of thier products
and some offer free trials. Most products listed below are totally free, asking only
that you donate if you choose to and all currencies listed below are in U.S.Dollars.
Some of you have products not listed below. I advise that if you do have a product
not on the list and it may be a rogue product so please refer to Rogue
Anti-Spyware List for further help on that. Also to the regulars of this
site, If there are any more resources that I may have left off, please add them in
your response. please note: before using any product, have an understanding
of it, if not sure, post ask, we will assist you in anyway we can. please also further
note that if any of the links are broken or the site appears to be down, click on
the (--mirrors--) link next to the product name for alternate download
sites..
Spyware & MalwareRemoval Utilities
Ad-Aware
SE (--mirrors--)
(free, and pro version available for $39.95)-advanced protection from
known Data-mining, aggressive advertising, Parasites, Scumware, selected traditional
Trojans, Dialers, Malware, Browser hijackers, and tracking components
SpyBot-Search
& Destroy (--mirrors--)
(free)-detect and remove spyware of different kinds from your computer,
use along side with Ad-Aware for great protection and removal of scumware.Read the
Spybot Tutorial (--mirror--) for further
aid on how to use. please also note that if using already and/or if this is your
first download of spybot search and destroy, on the inital scans you will read a
DSO Exploit that upon fixing, returns back in other scans, in that case you need
Spybot - Search and Destroy
DSO Exploit Fix 1.3.1 TX NOTE: SpyBot-Search & Destroy 1.3 Final MUST
be installed before this update to work properly.
CWShredder™
2.0 (--mirrors--)
(free)-Originally developed by Merijn Bellekom of the Netherlands, CWShredder™
detects and removes coolwebsearch and its variants, a must have.this newest version,
2.0 was just released: October 2004, please note CoolWWWSearch.SmartKiller (v1 and
v2) is a new, real ugly variant of CoolWWWSearch. When running, it will close every
browser window you use to visit a large list of anti-spyware-sites, and even will
close Spybot-S&D and some other anti-spyware applications as well.
So if your copy of Spybot-S&D (or the anti-spyware application of your choice) closes
a few seconds after starting, or your browser closes whenever you try to visit an
anti-spyware site, try CoolWWWSearch.SmartKiller
(v1/v2) MiniRemoval .
a˛
(free, personal version available for $29.95)-This is a great and highly
recommended bit of software for scanning, detecting, and removing Trojans, Worms,
and Dialers.
HijackThis
1.98.2(free)- a general homepage hijackers detector and remover, please note
that Hijack This is for advanced users. If you are not familiar with running processes
on your computer as well as anything ever installed that could tie into your web
browser, so ask for help from someone whom is familiar with this program, there is
plenty of help here or on the web, or log onto and read the
HijackThis tutorial
LSPFix(free)-a
utility to repair a specific type of problem associated with certain Internet software.
This type of software is known as a Layered Service Provider or LSP, a piece of software
that can be inserted into the Windows TCP/IP handler like a link in a chain. However,
due to bugs in the LSP software or deletion of the software, this chain can get broken,
rendering the user unable to access the Internet.
Winsock
XP Fix(XP users only) (free)- WinSock XP Fix offers a last resort
if your Internet connectivity has been corrupted due to invalid or removed registry
entries. It can often cure the problem of lost connections after the removal of Adware
components or improper uninstall of firewall applications or other tools that modify
the XP network and Winsock settings. If you encounter connection problems after removing
network related software, Adware or after registry clean-up; and all other ways fail,
then give WinSock XP Fix a try. It can create a registry backup of your current settings,
so it is fairly safe to use. It was actually tested on a test machine that was having
a Winsock problem due to some Adware removal, and after running the utility and rebooting,
the connectivity was restored.
Spyware Protection Programs
SpywareBlaster 3.2(free)Prevents
the installation of ActiveX-based spyware, adware, browser hijackers, dialers, and
other potentially unwanted pests in Internet Explorer, and Mozilla/Firefox
SpywareGuard 2.2 (free)-
provides a real-time protection solution against spyware that is a great addition
to SpywareBlaster's protection method.
MVPS
Host(free)-A hosts file that will block you from connecting to known malware
and adware sites
IE-SPYAD(free)-adds
a long list of sites and domains associated with known advertisers, marketers, and
crapware pushers to the Restricted sites zone of Internet Explorer.
Free
Online/Virus Scanners
(scanners)
HOUSECALL
HOUSECALL-EUROPE
( * Microsoft Internet Explorer
* Netscape (6+)
* Mozilla (1+)
* Firefox (all)
* Opera (7.5+)... Operating Systems currently supported are:
* Microsoft Windows 9x
* Microsoft Windows NT
* Microsoft Windows 2k/XP
* Linux
* Solaris)
Panda
ActiveScan
Bit Defender
GFI Trojan Scan
(free
software)
AVG 7.0(free,
pro version around $30-$35)
Avast!(free,
professional version available, one year subscribtion is $39.95)
AntiVir(free)
BitDefender Free Edition
v7.0(Professional Plus Version 8.0 available for $49.95)
(Trialware)
Symantec (Norton)
McAfee
TrendMicro (PC-cillin)
Panda Software
(stand-alone
utilities)
Stinger(free)
Panda's Free 38 Virus
Removal Tool
Firewalls
Zone
Alarm (free, pro version available for $49.95)
OutPost
Free Firewall(pro version available for $39.95)
Kerio(Kerio
Personal Firewall 4 is available in two flavors - the full edition and the limited
free edition.
After installation, KPF works as the full edition for 30 days, after which it becomes
the limited free edition.Full version available for $45)
Sygate
Personal(free, pro version available for $39.95)
Other Important
Removal Tools
KazaaBegone(free)-A
Kazaa uninstall which scans and removes all elements of all Kazaa versions, as well
as all of the bundled software that comes with it.
Spybot
Worm Removal(free)-W32.Spybot.Worm is a detection for a family of worms that
spreads using KaZaA file sharing and mIRC. This worm can also spread to computers
that are infected with common backdoor Trojan horses
sasser.removal.tool(free)
Other
important links
Spywareinfo
" the spyware and hijackware removal specialists"
doxdesk
spyware and parasites specialist
Audit
My PC Free online PC security check
security
advisors
how
did I get infected in the first place self explanatory
pchell a reputable spyware removal infromative site
Major
Geeks a plethora of free and shareware scumware removers
just a
few of many great Annoyances.org responses
virus/spyware/ADware
removal
lsass.exe
Jack's ME Fix's
(This site was created by our own, great Jack Gulley, for users of the infamous operating
system ME, a must read if using that windows operating system)
Great Browsers
that are safer to use then Internet Explorer
Mozilla/Firefox
(--mirror--)
Opera
And
finally, if push comes to shove (XP users only)
Clean
XP Install/Reformat
There is alot of other links that i forgot to
mention or just didn't put on the list. Other responses will aid you to those sites,
also, installing the google toolbar
to your browser or just plain using the Google
Search. Get help on How
to read Google Search Results first to aid you in that process.
Homepage
Tools
Yahoo: Yahoo Toolbar w/Anti-Spy
powered by PestPatrol (Yahoo is finally playing fair in the fight aginst spyware/ADware,
and tracking cookies. the toolbar only works with IE 5.5 and higher although is rumored
to have a Mozilla/Firefox and Netscape version floating around out there, the anti-spy
offered is the only free version of detect and remove offered by PestPatrol, so take
advantage Yahoo users the popup blocker is decent but not always effective on some
popups so a good software program such as, but not limited to Pop-Up
Stopper Free Edition by Panicware would be a good choice)
MSN:
MSN Toobar w/Popup Blocker. (decent
popup blocking, but as stated above, the use of a software version if not using SP2
(XP users only) would add and extra layer of popup blocking and malware protection.)
- Written in response to:
- Antivirus software (B: Monday, November 15, 2004 at 12:42 pm)
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