Topic: spy ware

[ben21]

help am having a spy ware which is taking a lot of memory allocation,thus its known as  webrebates,every time i stop its process it restarts again immedeatly,thus as irun my  NO Adware spy ware remover "or is it not a spy ware remover"the webrebates is found in the registry,removed and then it starts again well how can i get  read of it......

then is the No Adware that am using meant to stop spyware or  advertisements

[Simon]

Hi Ben, first you need to download Ad Aware and Spybot, which are the two spyware scanners we usually recommend (links below).  Update them and run them, and see if they cure the problem.  If they don't, boot into safe mode (keep tapping F8 during the start of the boot sequence), and run the two programs again.  Boot back into normal Windows, and the problem should be fixed.  Come back to us if not.  I would also recommend Spyware Blaster, which prevents most spyware from infecting your PC in the first place, providing it's kept updated regularly.

Ad Aware
Spybot
Spyware Blaster

[Sandra]

Try this method Ben :

Manual removal
Please follow the instructions below if you would like to remove WebRebates manually. Please notice that you must follow the instructions very carefully and delete everything that is mentioned. In most cases the removal will fail if one single item is not deleted. If WebRebates remains on your system after stepping through the removal instructions, please double-check by stepping through them again.
Start the registry editor. This is done by clicking Start then Run. (The Run dialog will appear.) Type regedit and click OK. (The registry editor will open.)
Browse to the key:
'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Run'
In the right pane, delete the values called 'WebRebates0' and 'WebRebates', if they exists.
Exit the registry editor.
Restart your computer.
Start Windows Explorer and delete:
%ProgramsDir%\Web_Rebates\
%ProgramsDir%\WebRebates
Note: %ProgramsDir% is a variable (?). By default, this is C:\Program Files.

Sorry if this is the method that you have already tried but maybe you have missed a step ?

This has a lot more information about which folders it creates and more things to delete in the registry :

http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/adware.webrebates.html

[davy51]

this may be the type of spyware that installs itself in restore

might have to turn off restore while running spy removers to get rid of it

[gmax]

dont waste your time with "Ad Aware and Spybot" they miss too much
spyware, try "counterspy" it's a lot better, link below.
 
  http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/CounterSpy.cfm

[Simon]

The attraction with Ad Aware and Spybot is that they are free.  CounterSpy, as far as I am aware, isn't.  I have just been having a discussion with Clive about all these various spyware removers, and scepticism is growing between us as to whether any of them are actually genuinely any good.  Why do they all detect and miss different things?  Surely a trojan is a trojan, and spyware is spyware.  What one finds, so should all the others, shouldn't they?  

:?

Oh, and gmax.  

[chorleydave]

I agree.  Although I still have AdAware and Spybot S&D, plus Xoftspy, I find myself rarely bothering to run them these days, prefering to do an Alt>Ctrl>Delete to bring up task manager and have a look to see what is running.

It's the same with anti-virus.  A friend of mine was running AVG and was sure he had a virus, so I uninstalled it and replaced it with Avast.  The first run of Avast found two items and removed them!  

[gmax]

I  used to use both Ad Aware and Spybot ,but they just don't detect enough
spyware! so i downloaded counterspy, problem solved it's vastly superior to Ad Aware and Spybot ,it's easy to check for yourself ,download the free
15 day trial of counterspy, then run Ad Aware and Spybot then run counterspy and you will see what Ad Aware and Spybot missed.
 there's plenty of reviews on counterspy like the one below

Code: [Select]

CounterSpy
A Software Review
by Herb Goldstein
Member of the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc.

You are completely unaware that it's surreptitiously in your computer. You will never know where you got it, but you can bet your bottom buck it's there, and more than likely in plentiful quantity. It's spyware, the scourge of today's computer users. It used to be that viruses were mostly what was on everybody's malware mind. They still are, but some excellent antivirus software like PC-Cillin has delivered us from that phobia being foremost in our mind. Instead, we have a worthy worrisome replacement, spyware (including adware) that runs amok like viruses did years ago.

Spyware and adware are items you pick up unbeknown to you while surfing the net. They can lie invisible among your files, in the registry, in memory, reporting back to their origin without your knowledge or permission every move you make, every place you visit while you surf, and every keystroke coming from your keyboard. It is an outrageous invasion of privacy that steals your peace of mind, productivity, resources and slows your Internet connection, results in sluggish PC performance, increased pop-up ads, unexplained homepage change, and mysterious search results. What's worse, it is most often impossible to either find or remove. The odds are that right at this moment there is a significant amount of it residing in your computer even though you may have taken steps to find and remove it.

It may not be that you are unaware of the problem as much as the inability of most anti-spyware/adware software to deal with it. The two most widely used free apps to now have been AD-Aware and Spybot Search & Destroy. Used jointly, they have proved to have a maximum effectiveness of perhaps 50 % (if you are lucky). Additionally, a plethora of other anti-spyware utilities exist, none being more, and most less effective. Of these, Webroot's Spy Sweeper has proven best up to now, but some intensive research and testing by PC World and other publications has produced a new contender that leaves everything else in the dust. The name of the new champ is COUNTERSPY, out of Sunbelt Software, right here in Clearwater, Florida. It is easily the most effective app in finding and destroying spyware/adware. The icing on the cake is that it is also among the least expensive ($20) outside of outright free.

When it comes to utilities in particular, I'm from Missouri. As a software reviewer from way back, I have experienced a long line of clunkers. So it was with considerable skepticism that I downloaded a free 2-week trial version of CounterSpy. The results were simply astounding. After using a number of anti-spyware apps most recently, I was sure that little if any malware existed on my computer. I was wrong! CounterSpy found numerous offenders, some serious, that all the others had missed. The PC World report was right on the money! Aside from being considerably the most effective of the anti-spyware software out there, here are some of the other things I like about CounterSpy:

* It has an exemplary interface and is extremely easy and intuitive to use. Click the "Scan" button and it does the job without further ado. Scan inclusion settings are fully adjustable.

* It can automatically or manually update to include current spyware definitions.

* You can elect to scan or do a complete PC checkup to find other malware problems. It will update your computer to recommended security levels and suggest and perform changes with your permission. You can choose to either quarantine or delete spyware. CounterSpy will explain the origin and nature of any malware it finds.

* The program includes a history cleaner that will eliminate any record of where you have been and been doing on your computer.

* You can permanently erase beyond any recovery any sensitive files you select.

* "Active Protection" can be selected to keep CounterSpy running silently in the background to intercept spyware.

* It is very reasonably priced. A fully functional 2-week free trial period can be downloaded from www.sunbeltsoftware.com. Registration is $20 and includes a full year of updates. Thereafter updates are only $10 a year.

You can find a complete rundown on spyware and CounterSpy in the April issue of PC World. CounterSpy is also recommended by and available from Dell. It has our highest recommendation and we consider it not only the best, but a must-have for all computer users who value their privacy! :

[Simon]

Whenever you download a new spyware detector / remover, it always seems to find stuff that your other applications missed.  This is where some scepticism comes in.  Could it be that programs 'plant' spyware on your PC, to make themselves look good by subsequently detecting it?  Particularly the ones which only detect the spyware in the trial versions, then you have to purchase the full versions for the removal facilities.  It would be interesting to run just one application, such as CounterSpy for a period of, say, 12 weeks, then download another new one, and see what it detects that CounterSpy 'missed'.

[Rodders]

In addition to the usual panoply of security apps, I also employ WinPatrol and was so impressed with it that I even parted with small amount of dosh for the Pro version.

Give it a whirl.  You can choose between using it for FREE, or paying for it - thus unlocking lots of useful bells and whistles.


 

[mistybear]

I've downloaded and installed it.
Thought I'd give it a run on the P.B. while the Medion is being fixed.

[Rodders]

Well?  


 

[sam]

i also downloaded it and it seems to do very much what spybot does but it doesn't kill the system resources either so I have decided to have both running, can't hurt!

[Rodders]

Sure.  A belt-and-braces approach is always better than being caught with your pants down.  I've recently uninstalled Spybot though, after the front end started displaying some odd behaviour.  Until that's been fixed in a new release, I'll just have to make do with: AVG Pro; Mailwasher Pro; Blue Frog; Firetrust Benign; SpywareBlaster; WinPatrol Plus; HiJackThis; and a highly-customised Hosts file.


 

[sam]

paranoid at all ??      well at least you will be nice a protected!