How Do I Stop Adware?

[D'Snowth]

How do I get rid of AdWare?

[D'Snowth]

Come guys, I neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed to get rid of this AdWare...pop ups, spams, freezes, and crashes galore!!!

[Fozzie Bear]

Search for McAfee in Google and download their free virus protection, and then it should be able to do a search and block all that.

Otherwise, you might try to delete your cookies. Go under "Search Files" and type in "temporary internet" and then again as "*.tmp" and when it pulls those up, highlight the entire list and delete those. You'll have to sign back in to all your forums, though.

[MuppetsRule]

Download either Ad-aware or Spyboot Search & Destroy. And keep them updated. Both do a good job of searching your computer and deleting all cookies and adware if used regularly.

[D'Snowth]

Downloads are what gave me adware in the first place! And I delete my cookies regularly, but I'll try one of those, my computer's as slow as a snail now.

[MuppetsRule]

Both are very reputable.

[Andrew T]

Actually you can't go wrong using them both at once.

[JaniceFerSure]

I use a good adware/spyware program by LavaSoft,it does a very good job.It's free for personal use.

[D'Snowth]

Yeah, but they make you pay to get rid of it!!! What a rip-off.

This AdWare's getting worse now...I'm starting to get porno pop-ups, and what if my mom uses the computer and sees this?

[D'Snowth]

Is there a 100% free way to get rid of this thing? These pops are literally making my computer do things it's not supposed to do!

[D'Snowth]

Come guys, help me out here, if my mom finds out, she'll make me pay 85 bucks to have it removed professionally, and that could mean I won't be on for WEEKS, I don't have that kind of money, and I don't get my allowance on a regular basis anymore.

[Buck-Beaver]

Try using Spybot Search and Destroy. It's free, reliable and can be found with a google search. It's often best to run Windows in safe mode while you're using it.

[D'Snowth]

How much will it make me pay to remove?

[D'Snowth]

Well?

[D'Snowth]

Apparently I solved the worst of the problem, I was told I have a AdWare-SurfAccuracy. It told me to uninstall a program called "Surf Accuracy" (I have NO idea how it got on there). Now I'm running another scan with Norton AntiVirus 2005, but it still says I have all of the infections. Why?

[MuppetsRule]

Both Ad-aware and Spybot can be downloaded for free and do not charge to get rid of adware.

[D'Snowth]

Both Ad-aware and Spybot can be downloaded for free and do not charge to get rid of adware.
I just downloaded Ad-aware, and they charged me to get rid of the adware.

[MuppetsRule]

I've been using Ad-aware for years and never paid a dime. :confused:

[D'Snowth]

Here's the update:

I managed to delete 3 infections of AdWare, but I still have 4 left on my computer: three of them are "AdWare.NetOptimizer", and the other one is "AdWare. IST...something or other". I managed to deleted 3 of the original 7 via a tool I used from the virus definition website (I'll think of the name later). So slowly but surely, things are getting back to normal, but computer's not as slow, the pop ups are starting to dwindle, but I'm experiencing more crashes lately.

[Muppetsdownunder]

the best spyware/adware software available is free, its great to use both adaware se personal (http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-SE-Personal-Edition/3000-8022_4-10045910.html?part=dl-ad-aware&subj=dl&tag=top5)
and Spybot (http://spybot.info/en/index.html) which are both excellent programs.
Also to help prevent spyware/adware from getting onto the computer aswell as popup windows try mozilla firefox (http://www.mozilla.com) browser instead of internet explorer. its popular and great and free!

If you use internet explorer its important to use this free software called spyware blaster (http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html) that stops bad stuff from getting onto the computer before it has a chance to get on and its also free.

[Muppetsdownunder]

Here's the update:

I managed to delete 3 infections of AdWare, but I still have 4 left on my computer: three of them are "AdWare.NetOptimizer", and the other one is "AdWare. IST...something or other". I managed to deleted 3 of the original 7 via a tool I used from the virus definition website (I'll think of the name later). So slowly but surely, things are getting back to normal, but computer's not as slow, the pop ups are starting to dwindle, but I'm experiencing more crashes lately.
Install all the free software mentioned in my above post and keep them up to date and you should be fine.

[D'Snowth]

The pop-ups are coming back in full force, I guess I better do yet another system scan and see how many more infections I have now...

[D'Snowth]

the best spyware/adware software available is free, its great to use both adaware se personal (http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-SE-Personal-Edition/3000-8022_4-10045910.html?part=dl-ad-aware&subj=dl&tag=top5)
and Spybot (http://spybot.info/en/index.html) which are both excellent programs.
Also to help prevent spyware/adware from getting onto the computer aswell as popup windows try mozilla firefox (http://www.mozilla.com) browser instead of internet explorer. its popular and great and free!

If you use internet explorer its important to use this free software called spyware blaster (http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html) that stops bad stuff from getting onto the computer before it has a chance to get on and its also free.Dude, neither one of them worked! Ad-Aware only scanned the viruses, but wouldn't get rid of them. Spybot wouldn't let me do anything unless I downloaded something else.

[MuppetsRule]

Are you sure you are using them correctly? Ad-aware does not scan for viruses, it only scans for tracking cookies and spyware. Spybot Search and Destroy does the same thing. Both of them allow you to get rid of them without paying or downloading anything more.

[D'Snowth]

Here's a status update: I now have only 1 infection left, but I can't delete this one: it's Adware.SideFind, but other than that, I've gotten rid of all the rest of the infections, so I'm definetely making progress!

[D'Snowth]

Another Status Update: I'M CLEAN!!!

[MuppetsRule]

Congrats! What finally did it? Bar of soap and a good shower? Just make sure you run a scan about once a week if not more often.

[D'Snowth]

My Norton automatically scans every Friday night at 8:00, and I was told they automatically update the program every Wednesdays.

What finally did it was I used both a Symantec Adware.NetOptimizer removal tool, and a Symantec Adware.Istbar removal tool, and that did the trick. I had one threat left, that I managed to quaratine, then delete. So, I'm clean. NO MORE DOWNLOADS AT ALL!!!

[furryredmonster]

Yay!!!!

[D'Snowth]

Just got through with the weekly automatic scan...I'm still clean!!!

[Muppetsdownunder]

Sometimes things cannot be removed with adaware or spybot because they are currently running on the system. The programs usually offer to scan at next system startup which is a good idea because it does a full scan before the bad spyware gets a chance to start up. If you are having trouble getting rid of things its often a good idea to start the computer in whats called "safe mode" it starts the computer with very minimal things running and allows a proper scan for viruses etc if you have viruses on the computer stopping the virus/spyware software from working properly.

[Muppetsdownunder]

Just got through with the weekly automatic scan...I'm still clean!!!
A good way to stay clean is to to use the free mozilla firefox browser, its great and free and has great popup blocking.
also, its a good idea to stay away from any websites used for porn, gambling and that kind of thing. Those websites are more likely to contain bad spyware software.

[anythingmuppet]

I have Firefox and popups still show...:smirk:

[Muppetsdownunder]

They sometimes do to me also, but thats just because they use a different type of popup.

[super muppet]

Because the definition's change all the time Hackers are always finding new way's to hack.

I have three program's Norton anti-virus,Spy sweeper and Ad-aware they seem to keep the viruses away.

[D'Snowth]

Odd. My computer's been acting funky lately...it's getting slower, crashing alot more, and freezing. I did another manual virus scan, but nothing turned up, HOWEVER, I now notice I have these files named "***embly". What's up with that?

[Muppetsdownunder]

well, to be safe, update and scan your computer with adaware and spybot. Theres also new bad stuff being created to infect unprotected computers all the time, some are even undetectable.

[Buck-Beaver]

You may have to run the scan and do the uninstall in Windows Safe Mode. Sometimes that is the only way to remove certain types of Spyware/Adware.

If you were asking how much Spybot will make you pay to remove it, nothing. Spybot is totally free (although they accept donations). It sounds like you had the scam where you're supposed to pay to remove anti-virus software that has infected your computer. I think usually this is done by affliates of the company making the anti-virus software without the knowledge or consent of the company making the anti-virus software.