We All Get Spyware

[SunshineGirl]

Despite the numerous programs that SG has running on my system to try to make sure that I don't end up with icky bugs on my computer, it seems that I have contracted something.

Here's the kicker--it's not always obvious. I noticed that I didn't get a couple of survey credits. Then I didn't get a credit for a shopping purchase. Seemed odd. Then I noticed that I kept getting logged out of our forum after about 10 minutes, which never happens to me on any other computer and never happened before.

So he is aggressively scrubbing my computer this morning and has found a few things.

Moral of the story: Be so very careful and pay attention to the things that your computer does. If you start missing credits for things or anything else that indicates that cookies might be getting deleted, scrub your computer. If you see anything weird show up in windows or popups, scrub your computer. Even as careful as I am about not downloading things and checking McAffee SiteAdvisor, I still ended up with something.

It's a good thing that I don't do a lot of surveys for money. LOL!

[m 'n c]

Tricia what did he find and what programs did he use to find them?

[icartjetta]

This is one reason I LOVE MY MAC, I'm new to mac but I don't think we have these problems as easily. Hedy, don't you use a mac? Is there anything special that you do to try and keep it clean?

[bartleby1]

Hi Tricia - good reminder for everyone! I wonder if I picked up the same thing you did. My computer was old (still running windows 98) and the other night right after doing a bunch of offers for the crazy credits, it went kaput (sp?). I couldn't keep it running and it got worse after each reboot. My norton didn't pick up anything but I finally managed to keep my computer up long enough to run a free online virus scan at bitdefender. It picked up a whole bunch of infected files which it couldn't fix so they were deleted (the virus was one of those ISASS.exe ones, which unfortunately I've had experience with a few years ago). It also couldn't clear the virus. Since it was such an old computer and I needed to upgrade anyway I didn't bother trying to fix it so now I'm waiting for a hard drive to come for a computer my DH had sitting in the basement. Hopefullly it will work out.

I don't know if I picked up the virus through one of the crazy credit offers or whether it was just one of those strange coincidents but it sure does stink, lol!

[bs4free]

Sorry to hear about your sick computer Tricia! I know it sucks when it happens and yes it happens even to those who trya nd take every step to avoid it! But this is a good reminder for the entire SR community! So i think i am going to run some extra scans today just to make sure....

[MdCaterer]

We run PC Cillin on our computer and there are a few of the free offers that cause it to display the dangerous web site sign. It come up with three warnings in a row everytime the ringtone ad os displayed

[jnorth1007]

So tell me what "scrub" means and if the free version of AVG, CCleaner and Spybot are good enough. I definitely know that there is something on here that keeps certain things (Shoebuy, Bocajave) from crediting and I am wondering if there is something better I can run. Maybe even upgrading to the paid versions of one of these cleaners.

[Jipster]

This is one reason I LOVE MY MAC, I'm new to mac but I don't think we have these problems as easily. Hedy, don't you use a mac? Is there anything special that you do to try and keep it clean?

I've got to second this. I've had a Mac for a little over a year now. Have had zip, zilch, zero problems with it. My past PC's were forever picking up spyware regardless of the spyware programs I ran.

[Anna]

Despite the numerous programs that SG has running on my system to try to make sure that I don't end up with icky bugs on my computer, it seems that I have contracted something.

Here's the kicker--it's not always obvious. I noticed that I didn't get a couple of survey credits. Then I didn't get a credit for a shopping purchase. Seemed odd. Then I noticed that I kept getting logged out of our forum after about 10 minutes, which never happens to me on any other computer and never happened before.

So he is aggressively scrubbing my computer this morning and has found a few things.

Moral of the story: Be so very careful and pay attention to the things that your computer does. If you start missing credits for things or anything else that indicates that cookies might be getting deleted, scrub your computer. If you see anything weird show up in windows or popups, scrub your computer. Even as careful as I am about not downloading things and checking McAffee SiteAdvisor, I still ended up with something.

It's a good thing that I don't do a lot of surveys for money. LOL!

Great tips. Since you recommended the AVG, I am much more happy with it than the Norton I PURCHASED! Norton was competing with the AVG so I removed Norton from my computer yesterday because my computer was soooo slow. Get this....I ran AVG right before I removed Norton and I had a trojan horse that came from the NORTON site where I downloaded the Norton. Isn't that nice? I had always suspected that sometimes these protection programs might even be the ones to invent these bugs to get business.

I soley use the AVG now and am much happier. I also use the Cookie Cleaner ccleaner you recommended. Both of these are free too! Thanks for helping us to stay on top of these probblems that we might not have even noticed until it was too late. That is one of the many reasons we love you guys Tricia and SG!!!:love: :sunshine2:

[SunshineGirl]

Here's something interesting that we discovered that I would NEVER have guessed. My computer was alternating between my home wireless network and my neighbor's! So every time it switched, it was dropping me from the forum and some other sites that I visit that depend on IP address. I didn't notice because I was staying online. But apparently my IP address has been going back and forth about every 20 minutes for the last week. LOL!

I'll let SG weigh in on all the stuff he used to clean my system.

[Momtoaprincess]

Despite the numerous programs that SG has running on my system to try to make sure that I don't end up with icky bugs on my computer, it seems that I have contracted something.

Here's the kicker--it's not always obvious. I noticed that I didn't get a couple of survey credits. Then I didn't get a credit for a shopping purchase. Seemed odd. Then I noticed that I kept getting logged out of our forum after about 10 minutes, which never happens to me on any other computer and never happened before.

So he is aggressively scrubbing my computer this morning and has found a few things.

Moral of the story: Be so very careful and pay attention to the things that your computer does. If you start missing credits for things or anything else that indicates that cookies might be getting deleted, scrub your computer. If you see anything weird show up in windows or popups, scrub your computer. Even as careful as I am about not downloading things and checking McAffee SiteAdvisor, I still ended up with something.

It's a good thing that I don't do a lot of surveys for money. LOL!

My scans have always been clean but these past couple of weeks, I haven't been getting some credits. So, after reading you post, I did another scan and found 9 cookie bugs. I removed them permanently and hopefully they won't come back again. I will have to do this every couple of days. Thanks for posting about this Tricia!:)

[bs4free]

That is kinda funny, I would not have thought about the changing wireless netwok causing the drop of connection to some sites like that! Thanks for letting us know, I can not wait for SG to weigh in...

[mseg16222]

THe guy that fixes my computer and my wireless carrrier both suggested I get rid of Norton that it actual causes more problems and slows your computer done. They had me delete it totally from my compter and get AVG!!!! It has been 6 months now and it is so much beter then Norton. I would highly recommend to anyone.

[Riyaa]

I second the getting rid of Norton's suggestion of the previous poster. I got rid of Norton's on both our computers about six months ago and replaced it with Trend Micro's PCcillin and haven't had a single problem since.

[vegaskjk]

How often do you run AVG? What about others? I have Ad-Aware and Spybot also.

[m 'n c]

How often do you run AVG? What about others? I have Ad-Aware and Spybot also.

On my desktop computer I have AVG run all the time. I run ad-ware and spybot once daily. On my laptop I have McAffee (work computer no choice) and that runs all the time as well.

[vegaskjk]

My AVG "runs" all the time, but how often do you go into the program and have it do a system scan? Also, Ad-ware and spybot take like an hour each to run. Is this because I don't run them often enough, or do I have a problem? I ran ad-ware tonight and it removed 45 things, but I don't really know what I'm doing virus-wise!

[m 'n c]

My AVG "runs" all the time, but how often do you go into the program and have it do a system scan? Also, Ad-ware and spybot take like an hour each to run. Is this because I don't run them often enough, or do I have a problem? I ran ad-ware tonight and it removed 45 things, but I don't really know what I'm doing virus-wise!

Spybot takes about 20-30 mins on my computer, Ad-ware I do the smart scan so it takes 10 mins tops. I don't specifically do AVG scans but once in a blue moon which might not be the right response.

I'm betting the 45 things ad-ware picked up were cookies (in case you were concerned).

[Kycha]

My AVG "runs" all the time, but how often do you go into the program and have it do a system scan? Also, Ad-ware and spybot take like an hour each to run. Is this because I don't run them often enough, or do I have a problem? I ran ad-ware tonight and it removed 45 things, but I don't really know what I'm doing virus-wise!


My AdAware takes about an hour(I always run the complete scan) and Spybot about 30 minutes. I do a thorough cleaning about once every 7-10 days. Or right before I do a bunch of offers(like the increased credit night we had last week). I run AVG scan, AdAware, Spybot and CCleaner. That may be overkill, but it seems that some programs get things others do not.

[cglaura]

My AVG "runs" all the time, but how often do you go into the program and have it do a system scan? Also, Ad-ware and spybot take like an hour each to run. Is this because I don't run them often enough, or do I have a problem? I ran ad-ware tonight and it removed 45 things, but I don't really know what I'm doing virus-wise!

When I run a full scan this is what I do:

Open AVG from either your task tray (down by your clock it looks like a rubix cube? yellow/black/gree/red cube) or you may have an icon on your desktop. It can also be found in Start ---> All Programs ---> AVG X.XX (x=whatever version you have...I have AVG 7.5)

Click on Test Center on the left side.

Click Scan Computer: "Scans all hard drives on your computer. If a virus is found, AVG will remove it or provide you with step-by-step instructions for its removal."

Mine ususally takes about an hour, but I have alot of data on my system.

HTH!!