Help with Spyware!

[antryg]

Through the actions of my son visiting a site he shouldn't visit; I now have a problem with a program call Internet Search Technologies. It produces a shell which labels itself as internet explorer but takes over as my homepage. If you go to internet options I am locked out of the option to change my homepage. I have updated and run Spybot 1.2 and AdAware 6 and neither of them recognizes it as spyware. Norton Antivirus doesn't see it as a virus either. The program refused to uninstall and I finally found the folder and deleted it. However somewhere hidden is a file that keeps it going. The "homepage" I now have has no "home or back" icons. I cannot even enter a URL myself and the search function only gives sites they want you to visit. What is really worrisome is that when I came to a forum which I stay permanently logged in it was asking me to login. Obviously it is trying to get user names and passwords. Fortunately my firewall is refusing this program to access the internet so they can't get any information (more than what my son allowed them to get). Any ideas or help would be appreciated.
P.S. I am on a public machine doing this so I may not be able to answer questions in a timely fashion.

[Morgeruat]

try emailing the makers of spybot and/or adaware with your problem, I'm sure they will work on aifx as soon as possible. as to how to get rid of it, you can always try uninstalling IE and then reinstalling it from windowsupdate.com

[johnny]

Give this a try: http://www.your-soft.com/

[Vaskez]

Have you tried uninstalling and reinstalling IE?
Also, if you're running W2K or WXP, try looking in task manager to see which processes are active. End the one that you think is this stupid program. Its name will also tell you what the file is called, then you can find it and delete. If your firewall is blocking it, it should tell you what the program is called. Do a windows search for it and erase that sucker!

[ 04-22-2003, 06:37 PM: Message edited by: Vaskez ]

[TheCrimsomBlade]

http://www.lavasoft.nu

this is the Adware home page check it out maybe it will help you.

try to reinstall Internet Explorer it may clear up the problem.

[antryg]

Originally posted by TheCrimsomBlade: http://www.lavasoft.nu this is the Adware home page check it out maybe it will help you.

I've already used Adaware (check out my original post) as well as Spybot. According to a bulletin board this is a new spyware, just out since 04/20/03 and both adaware and spbot will have updates in a few days. I downloaded Netscape and am using that right now. Fortunately it didn't spawn over. Hopefully everything will be fixed pretty quickly.

I don't want to uninstall explorer though. If Bill Gates can't uninstall it on a prepped computer without everything crashing, I don't think I want to uninstall.

[harleyquinn]

Originally posted by antryg: quote: Originally posted by TheCrimsomBlade: http://www.lavasoft.nu this is the Adware home page check it out maybe it will help you.

I've already used Adaware (check out my original post) as well as Spybot. According to a bulletin board this is a new spyware, just out since 04/20/03 and both adaware and spbot will have updates in a few days. I downloaded Netscape and am using that right now. Fortunately it didn't spawn over. Hopefully everything will be fixed pretty quickly.

I don't want to uninstall explorer though. If Bill Gates can't uninstall it on a prepped computer without everything crashing, I don't think I want to uninstall. [/QUOTE]It probably (99% certainty) won't crash if you uninstall it. I've done it plenty of times on my PC for one issue or another. The other option is to go with a scorched earth approach and reinstall your whole OS [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[Vaskez]

Originally posted by antryg: quote: Originally posted by TheCrimsomBlade: http://www.lavasoft.nu this is the Adware home page check it out maybe it will help you.

I've already used Adaware (check out my original post) as well as Spybot. According to a bulletin board this is a new spyware, just out since 04/20/03 and both adaware and spbot will have updates in a few days. I downloaded Netscape and am using that right now. Fortunately it didn't spawn over. Hopefully everything will be fixed pretty quickly.

I don't want to uninstall explorer though. If Bill Gates can't uninstall it on a prepped computer without everything crashing, I don't think I want to uninstall. [/QUOTE]What do you mean Netscape didn't spawn over? You mean transfer settings etc? The only things worth transferring are your bookmarks. You can do this by going into IE clickin File->Export-> Bookmarks and save as an html file. THen import this file in Netscape.
Anyway try Opera you will be impressed by it's speed and slick interface.

Also windows might indeed cash withouth IE but that's cos programs expect it to be there and they will try to run it. Although more likely you will just get file not found errors.

[ 04-23-2003, 08:38 AM: Message edited by: Vaskez ]

[Stormymystic]

Originally posted by antryg: Through the actions of my son visiting a site he shouldn't visit; I now have a problem with a program call Internet Search Technologies. It produces a shell which labels itself as internet explorer but takes over as my homepage. If you go to internet options I am locked out of the option to change my homepage. I have updated and run Spybot 1.2 and AdAware 6 and neither of them recognizes it as spyware. Norton Antivirus doesn't see it as a virus either. The program refused to uninstall and I finally found the folder and deleted it. However somewhere hidden is a file that keeps it going. The "homepage" I now have has no "home or back" icons. I cannot even enter a URL myself and the search function only gives sites they want you to visit. What is really worrisome is that when I came to a forum which I stay permanently logged in it was asking me to login. Obviously it is trying to get user names and passwords. Fortunately my firewall is refusing this program to access the internet so they can't get any information (more than what my son allowed them to get). Any ideas or help would be appreciated. P.S. I am on a public machine doing this so I may not be able to answer questions in a timely fashion.

for one you stole my topic......
and 2 i have been having sim probs, i have a deect agent that is showing me all kinds of spyware...what is it? how do i sto it, and why are there things on here i have never heard of or seen before????

[Vaskez]

Originally posted by Stormymystic: for one you stole my topic...... and 2 i have been having sim probs, i have a deect agent that is showing me all kinds of spyware...what is it? how do i sto it, and why are there things on here i have never heard of or seen before????

"I" is a capital letter
As to your questions:

Spyware is software that sends information about your computer and internet usage patterns to 3rd parties without your knowledge or permission. Most of it is generally harmless - they only want data for advertising and crap like that. But of course it is an invasion of your privacy and is damn annoying. There are things there that you haven't heard of or seen before because they install themselves when you visit certain sites. Get rid of everything that is picked up by ad-aware or spybot - search and destroy as dangerous. That's how you get rid of them - run spy detection software and anything it picks up as dangerous can probably be safely deleted.
I don't know what "sto" means.

[ 04-23-2003, 12:17 PM: Message edited by: Vaskez ]