How to remove Spyware/adware
Read the entire page before you attempt to remove anything! One of the most annoying problems with being online today is spyware/adware that has been installed on your computer. It creates pop-ups and pop-unders as well as taking over your browser so that you don't go to the sites that you are actually looking for. These things are not virii. Your antivirus program will not catch them. The first thing you have to do is to be aware of what is being installed on your computer. You can find out more about spyware/adware by going to doxdesk.com, spywareinfo, computerguy forums and computercops and reading about them and what they do. There are two more websites with good instructions and help for spyware/adware removal that you might want to check out before you try removing the spyware yourself, Freewebbrowsers.com and 123renamer.com. Before you remove any adware or spyware be aware that if you have any freeware or shareware on your system they may contain some adware. Most of this is not harmful nor does it create popups if it comes from some legitimate source like the free versions of DAP or Eudora. These particular programs, and some others like them, only deliver banners when the program is running and if you delete these then you could, very well, break the program. So be careful and read everything as you go along. Sometimes after you clear out all the spyware/adware you cannot use your modem to dial out so you might need to have this tool to reset your system. Download it first before you start your cleaning. This tool is for Windows XP only. If you have another version of Windows go here and download ispfix. There are a few more tools to fix this problem that can be found in these places: http://www.bu.edu/pcsc/internetaccess/winsock2fix.html for Windows 98/98SE/ME http://digital-solutions.co.uk/lavasoft/whndnfix.zip For Windows 95/98/98SE/ME. The first thing you have to do to get rid of these pests is to download and install some spyware cleaners. Once you have these installed run the updates for them and then scan and clean your system. Here are the step by step instructions. First see if they have their own uninstaller or go to add/remove programs and see if you can remove them from there. Next, right click on Internet Explorer and go to properties. Delete cookies and all offline content. Under programs/accessories/system tools, click on disk cleanup and delete all temporary files or use Windows explorer to navigate to the C:\TEMP folder and delete everything in it. DO NOT delete the folder, just it's contents. The following programs are all available from spychecker.com or from their home websites. Second, download and install Adaware. Run the update and scan and clean your system. You can safely delete anything that it finds. At this point you might also want to download and run CWShredder. Third, download and install Spybot Search and Destroy. Run the update and scan your system. Delete only those things that are in red unless you know that something is a definite problem. Fourth, download and install X-cleaner_free and update then scan and clean your system. You should be able to clean anything that it finds. After doing all of this and you still have spyware/adware on your system then you should run HiJackThis. This program is not for the beginner. If you are new to this then please go to the forums at computerguy and read them before you attempt to use this program. Also go to the HiJackThis logfile analyzing page. After all of this is done and your system is running normally again you will need to flush the system restore if you are running Windows ME, 2000 or XP. You do this by right clicking on My Computer and choosing “properties”. On the system restore tab, turn off system restore then turn it back on again. If you do not do this there is the possibility that you will re-install the offending programs should you do a system restore. This will clear all previous restore points and set a new one for your present time!

How to remove Spyware/adware

Read the entire page before you attempt to remove anything!

One of the most annoying problems with being online today is spyware/adware that has been installed on your computer. It creates pop-ups and pop-unders as well as taking over your browser so that you don't go to the sites that you are actually looking for. These things are not virii. Your antivirus program will not catch them. The first thing you have to do is to be aware of what is being installed on your computer. You can find out more about spyware/adware by going to doxdesk.com, spywareinfo, computerguy forums and computercops and reading about them and what they do. There are two more websites with good instructions and help for spyware/adware removal that you might want to check out before you try removing the spyware yourself, Freewebbrowsers.com and 123renamer.com.

Before you remove any adware or spyware be aware that if you have any freeware or shareware on your system they may contain some adware. Most of this is not harmful nor does it create popups if it comes from some legitimate source like the free versions of DAP or Eudora. These particular programs, and some others like them, only deliver banners when the program is running and if you delete these then you could, very well, break the program. So be careful and read everything as you go along.

Sometimes after you clear out all the spyware/adware you cannot use your modem to dial out so you might need to have this tool to reset your system. Download it first before you start your cleaning. This tool is for Windows XP only. If you have another version of Windows go here and download ispfix. There are a few more tools to fix this problem that can be found in these places:

http://www.bu.edu/pcsc/internetaccess/winsock2fix.html

http://digital-solutions.co.uk/lavasoft/whndnfix.zip

The first thing you have to do to get rid of these pests is to download and install some spyware cleaners. Once you have these installed run the updates for them and then scan and clean your system. Here are the step by step instructions.

First see if they have their own uninstaller or go to add/remove programs and see if you can remove them from there. Next, right click on Internet Explorer and go to properties. Delete cookies and all offline content. Under programs/accessories/system tools, click on disk cleanup and delete all temporary files or use Windows explorer to navigate to the C:\TEMP folder and delete everything in it. DO NOT delete the folder, just it's contents.

The following programs are all available from spychecker.com or from their home websites.

Second, download and install Adaware. Run the update and scan and clean your system. You can safely delete anything that it finds. At this point you might also want to download and run CWShredder.

Third, download and install Spybot Search and Destroy. Run the update and scan your system. Delete only those things that are in red unless you know that something is a definite problem.

Fourth, download and install X-cleaner_free and update then scan and clean your system. You should be able to clean anything that it finds.

After doing all of this and you still have spyware/adware on your system then you should run HiJackThis. This program is not for the beginner. If you are new to this then please go to the forums at computerguy and read them before you attempt to use this program. Also go to the HiJackThis logfile analyzing page.

After all of this is done and your system is running normally again you will need to flush the system restore if you are running Windows ME, 2000 or XP. You do this by right clicking on My Computer and choosing “properties”. On the system restore tab, turn off system restore then turn it back on again. If you do not do this there is the possibility that you will re-install the offending programs should you do a system restore. This will clear all previous restore points and set a new one for your present time!