Useful Computer Tips For Everyone (Part2) - Cleaning Your Computer of Spyware & Adware
Author: Martin Lemieux
Within part 1, "Cleaning your computer of viruses" I discussed how to properly get rid of viruses
from your computer, and how to take preventative actions against them. This article will now show you how to get rid of a second attacker, the deadly spyware & adware. Spyware & Adware usually
install a simple or complicated program onto your computer without you ever knowing it with the sole purpose of collecting data from you, or giving you unwanted ads, and then sending all results back to
the owner who created it.
How Does Spyware & Adware Usually Attack?
This fairly new form of virus has one thing in mind, to take control over your online browsing experience and
to give you another alternative without ever asking. For example spyware & adware will:
- Take control of your browser search functions.
- Display annoying popup ads when you launch your browser.
- Take control of your "home page" in order to give you another home page instead.
- Disable all search functions within your browser.
- Write cookies onto your computer for data mining purposes without you knowing.
- Add tracking cookies watching your every move online.
- Slow down your computers performance.
Without proper protection against these threats, most people will never know how
to find, or remove these malicious programs. The worst part is, many of the spyware & adware out there are built to elude spyware detection programs. In reality, they are built to hide from the user,
and the protector. This is what makes spyware & adware so annoyingly deadly.
Here Are Some Ways Spyware Avoid Detection:
Code Insertion:
When spyware inserts a piece of
its code into an already running program within your computer, in order to avoid detection from spyware protection software's.
Reload Script:
When you scan your computer for spyware and
remove all malicious files found, this reload script detects that you've just deleted the files associated with its programming, so it then takes a backup file and reloads the previously deleted spyware
program without you knowing it.
Program Lock:
Many bigger legitimate software programs have this feature so that you don't accidentally delete the files necessary to run the program.
Some spyware use this same method to protect itself from getting deleted by the user.
Automatic Updates:
Spyware, like many programs have the ability to auto-update itself as soon as you
log online in order to change the mechanics of its own programming to again, further avoid detection, and ultimately deletion.
These are just some of the techniques that spyware uses to make it
incredibly hard to remove from your computer. Prevention and awareness is the key to fighting spyware from getting into your computer and make a muck of things inside.
Spyware Prevention Tools:
- Spybot Search & Destroy
- Lavasoft Ad-Aware
- Microsoft Windows Defender
- STOPzilla Spyware Remover
Corrupt Anti-Spyware Tools:
There is a whole list of spyware removal
tools that are actually corrupt, and their sole purpose is to do the opposite by installing spyware onto your computer, instead of actually removing spyware from your computer.
Here's the list of corrupt anti-spyware tools:
http://www.2-spyware.com/corrupt-anti-spyware
Spyware Prevention Techniques:
There is no technique out there that is 100%. At one point in
time, you will get some form of spyware that is installed onto your computer. These prevention techniques will help to minimize your chances of getting spyware on a regular basis.
1) Make sure to have multiple anti-spyware removal tools installed on your computer.
Each anti-spyware removal tool is different, and they each look for different spyware programs and
techniques within your computer. Some software's look at the surface, while others look deeper. In the past I found that by running Spybot & Ad-Aware back-to-back, I would get different results
everytime which helped to detect spyware on many different levels. Spybot gave me a set of potential spyware files, while Ad-Aware gave me another set of spyware files. Both scans together helped me to
find spyware on the surface, and spyware deep within my hard drive.
2) Make sure your anti-spyware removal software is up-to-date.
Just like I mentioned in part 1, you need to make
sure that your spyware removal software is ALWAYS up-to-date with the most recent spyware definitions. This helps to detect newer, more powerful spyware scripts that haven't been detected in the past.
Newer definitions can be releases as often as once a week, so make sure to check often.
How Do I Update My Definitions?
9/10 Times you can find a button that says "Update
Definitions", "Check For Newer Updates", etc. This button is usually right on the main interface when you launch the program. Make sure you update your definitions before you perform any
scans.
3) Run your anti-spyware removal tools ATLEAST once a week.
I find that a great deal of people who browse online actually have an anti-software removal tool installed onto
their computer, but they haven't run any scans for quite some time now. Make sure to run a scan of your entire computer at least once a week. You might pickup spyware today, or tomorrow, you never know.
4) If a spyware program persists, try scanning via "SAFE MODE".
When in doubt, run a spyware scan with your anti-virus removal tool while being in "SAFE MODE".
SAFE MODE allows your computer to run the most essential programs only. SAFE MODE will disable persistent spyware that is harder to remove. This allows you to detect and remove persistent spyware
effectively while it remains dormant, and inactive. In my experience, I've been able to remove a great deal of spyware programs from SAFE MODE only.
How Do I Scan In SAFE MODE?
If
you've exhausted every alternative, and still the spyware you're trying to remove keeps coming back, try this...
Works for Windows 95, 98/ME, 2000, XP, Vista
A) Shut down your computer, wait 30 seconds, and reboot.
B) When you see the diagnostic info page, and memory count...
C) Start tapping F8.
D) Select the "SAFE MODE" option (Default).
Note: If when you start tapping F8 and you get an error message, reboot again and don't start tapping F8 so soon. Also, if your computer loads up normally, reboot again and don't tap F8 too late.
The key is to hit F8 when your 1st initial black/start up screen appears.
Once in safe mode, start your anti-spyware software removal tool and run a full system scan. You may get a shock when your
software actually finds spyware which wasn't detected from previous system scans.
Once complete, reboot your computer normally.
5) Make sure to install your operating system updates.
Every operating system needs periodic updates from the software provider. For example, Microsoft Windows sends a small popup to your computer asking you to install some new security updates. Many
people I know either ignore these messages all together, or think they should only update once a year. This is a terrible practice for your computers maintenance. Installing security updates ensures that
your computer has no known loopholes for spyware, adware, viruses, worms, or Trojans to exploit. Security updates help to prevent spyware from finding "back alleys" to play in.
Make sure to select "Automatic Updates":
HIT: START > CONTROL PANEL > AUTOMATIC UPDATES > Select "Automatic Updates".
This ensures that you don't neglect your
duty to update your computer on a regular basis. Prevention is the key here!
6) Don't Install Software You Don't Recognize:
Most spyware programs are installed by YOU! They typically
get into your computer from "FREE Shareware" software that you install directly from online sources. A great deal of shareware software come with a little surprise package attached to it. For
the most part, all you need to do is read the "end user agreement" carefully before installing the software. Most agreements tell you that this software will install secondary ad programs, ad
popup's, etc. Don't install anything that has unwanted add-ons that don't give you the ability to "not install" them. When downloading shareware, make sure to download the software from trusted
sources like "www.download.com".
7) Don't Visit Porn, Hare, or Warrez Websites:
A great deal of spyware install themselves directly from a compromised website that you
visit online. They generally exploit your "ActiveX" controls within your browser in order to install their spyware files silently without your knowledge. Many of the porn website's have silent
spyware downloads to get "back at people" who look for porn. This is a way for the webmasters to say, "Stop looking at porn". These same principles apply to hacker websites, and hate
related websites. Anything with a negative touch online has the potential to give you unwanted spyware scripts.
If you feel a need to visit these types of websites, make sure to run your
anti-spyware software removal tool after each time that you visit these widely exploited websites. Again, prevention is the key!
8) Make sure to activate your Firewall!
Like I
mentioned in part 1, a firewall can prevent hackers from getting into your computer through the back-alleys and hidden holes within your computer system. Make sure to activate your system's firewall in
order to prevent such attacks.
Activating your firewall:
Windows systems: START > CONTROL PANNEL > INTERNET CONNECTIONS > WINDOWS FIREWALL > "On (Recommended)".
Mac Users: APPLE MENU > SYSTEM PREFERENCES > SHARING PANE > FIREWALL > START
There you go; your firewall is now active!
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In Conclusion:
Getting spyware onto your computer is very annoying. Spyware can change your browser settings, install browser toolbars, and give you unwanted popup ads. Prevention is the key to beating spyware.
Make sure to scan your computer with an anti-spyware software removal tool. Scan your computer on a regular basis. Update your software's spyware definitions, and security patches. Scan your computer
within SAFE MODE to find very tricky spyware. Don't visit porn, or hacker websites, and make sure that you have a firewall in place.
All of these prevention techniques are the key to beating most
spyware out there. Failure to use these prevention techniques might mean a complete format of your hard drive, or a visit to your local computer shop.
This brings us to yet another computer maintenance tutorial:
Part 3 - Cleaning your computer registry
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