How can I eliminate spyware?

[Tanya Kostiouk]

Can someone recommend me a good software to get rid of Spyware... I purchased a "Spyware X-Terminator" but it does not help...
Thank a lot. Tanya Kostiouk

[bill]

Welcome to WebmasterWorld Tanya_Kostiouk

We have a few threads in here about spyware that might point you in the right direction. Try this search [google.com] of the site.

[ccsimil]

Did you try using adware? That work great but you might want to get the full version so it can actully delete the spyware.

[Robin_reala]

Here's a message I sent to a friend last week who was having the same problems.

1) Make sure AVG [grisoft.com] is updated to the latest updates and run a full scan again. Set it to run a weekly full scan and automatically download updates. Don't worry about Norton, AVG is really good.

2) Download Spybot S&D [safer-networking.org], install it, grab the latest updates, and run a full scan. This deals with spyware, and is as good as anything out there. Clean your system.

3) Dump IE. Use Firefox [getfirefox.com] instead. 99.9% of spyware is configured to exploit holes in IE. Remove IE from the equation and you remove the spyware. Only use IE for point 4.

4) Make sure you keep your computer update with all MS critical patches at [windowsupdate.microsoft.com ].

[Saltminer]

I have found that no one product will take care of all of the spyware/adware. But a combination of three freeware products seems to do the job for me.
Spybot - S&D
Adaware
Spywareblaster

Spybot and Adaware are "removers"
Spywareblaster blocks some spyware from installing.

Jimmy

[isitreal]

Some spyware is only removable by running spybot or adaware, or both, in safe mode, windows f8 on boot. Even then it may require registry deletions to get rid of all of it.

[Dave McClure]

Lavasoft Ad-aware is good, as long as you download the most up to date reference file before each use. If you're running Zone Alarm, there's a scan and remove function under the 'Privacy' tab. Sometimes it finds things that Ad-aware misses.

[mincklerstraat]

Consider an operating system that's about 99% less likely to get infested by spyware, scumware, trojans, viruses, etc. Make a Knoppix cd-rom (it's free) and try out Knoppix - it won't install on your computer, it's just for trying out Linux without changing your computer - if you like it, you can install some kind of Linux, I use debian but 'Fedora Core' might be best for newbies, I've heard the install is really easy, in some cases easier than windows.

You can do this on a different partition, so you still have your windows and all your windows stuff - there's a utility on the knoppix cd that can do this for you. Then you have 2 different operating systems on the same computer, and you can choose which you want to use.

[dreamcatcher]

Robin_reala, I gave my brother the exact same advice. Tonight he phoned me to tell me a trojan horse had reared its ugly head. I think there might be something he isn`t telling me. :)

Anyway, Xoftspy is pretty efficient and its also a good idea to have HijackThis installed for a quick registry scan to see if anything has appeared that shouldn`t be there.

[Chndru]

Q: How can I eliminate spyware?

A better Q would be,

Q: How can I be immune (to a quite degree, w/o OS changes) to spyware/pop-ups/adware?
A: Firefox [mozilla.org]