Killing Computer Parasites for Dummies

I finally got my computer cleaned up. (knock on wood) It really makes me mad when these malicious people hijack my browser, put pop-ups in my face and basically make my computer life miserable. Not to mention no telling what information they gleaned from my computer. And the main people I blame are the ones that pay for the advertisements. Otherwise there would be no reason for them. And guess who they are? Companies like AOL, Popup stoppers, Noadware......and the list goes on and on. In one case, Noadware has even hijacked a Hijackthis link that I found on a competitor's site. What better way to make a buck than to create a problem and charge you to fix it?

I'll list what I did here while it's fresh on my mind. There is a way around that without having to pay money. I downloaded:

Ad-aware - free version http://lavasoft.element5.com/software/adaware/
Spybot - free version http://www.safer-networking.org/en/spybotsd/index.html
Hijackthis - free http://www.spychecker.com/program/hijackthis.html
ZoneAlarm - free version http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload_10011.jsp

Run Ad-Aware and Spybot first, then Hijackthis.

Be VERY careful what you delete with Hijackthis. In fact, it would be best to post your results in a new thread in the Lavasoft forums for the experts to take a look at and give you their opinion. http://www.lavasoftsupport.com/index.php?s=d0cba01a06ec87a718ed92376aed5533&showforum=44 You'll need to do a free register first.

I double checked my startup list in System Configuration Utility to see if there was anything in there that shouldn't be. Of course, I found lots. You need to familiarize yourself with what needs to be in there and what is foreign. Go to your Start button: Run: type in msconfig, click OK: Startup. Check items with http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm Not everything is in this list so just because it's not listed doesn't mean it's a parasite. Also, until you get everything truly eradicated from your system, they will keep coming back. I finally got everything killed by using Hijackthis.

I also checked my Task List items with the above website. On your desktop, hit Ctrl, Alt, Delete and bring up your Close Program file. If you have a lot of [deleted] in there, it will slow your computer down. Once I got the extra stuff out of there, I wrote down what really needs to be in there. Everybody has different things on their computer so it wouldn't do much good for me to list it. What I want on my computer may not be something you want on yours. Again, until you get everything out of your system with Hijackthis, they will keep coming back. Ad-aware and Spybot are wonderful but they don't get everything.

ZONEALARM:
Last, but certainly not least, you need to block all future attacks with a firewall. Doesn't do much good to get them out unless you can keep them out.

The thought of getting a firewall is intimidating for those of us who know nothing about them, but it's not that bad. In fact, it's wonderful now that I no longer have those stupid pop-ups all of the time. If you pay ANYTHING through the internet, you need a firewall. GET ONE! There is a small learning curve, but it's not much. And it is SO worth it. I downloaded mine last Friday, it is now Tuesday and so far it has blocked 4351 access attempts to my computer and 98 of those were deemed very high-rated. It's so peaceful not to have to deal with that now.