Spyware/pop-up help

[pow]

Hey guys,

I've been using my parents' PC, which is infested with the occasional pop-up, and it's driving me insane.

The pop-ups are related to whatever website I'm viewing. If I'm on a site about, say, internships, then there will be a Yahoo! Jobs pop-up ad. Sometimes if I click on a link from a Google search, it will automatically take me to a different, spam website. If I click "back" and try again, it's usually okay.

It seems like Firefox is working overtime to close these pop-ups - the uppermost "bar" turns light blue, and I have to click on the browser to continue scrolling or typing - though several still come through. It's annoying, and I'm concerned about my security and privacy.

I've downloaded the free version of Lavasoft Ad-Aware, and I've run through multiple full scans, and it always finds something new (particularly under "cookies"). Even after deleting these files, the pop-ups still continue.

Any help would be great! Thanks.

[pow]

Right after posting that, I got a pop-up ad telling me to "Download Registry Defender - Repairs hidden system errors, helps eliminate crashes and freezes, improve system performance!"

It's scary... reminds me of those Gmail "related content" ads, only from an unknown source, hidden in my computer.

[Intrepidation]

Could be a virus/worm/trojan. I would run an virus scan. If it doesn't have an antivirus program, download this:

Avast! Antivirus Home Edition

I use this at home and for every computer I clean out. It's free and works very well. Plus it's not a resource hog and intrusive like McAfee or $h!ty Norton. All you have to do is register it (free) and enter the serial they email you and its good for a year. When the current expires you just register it again.

AVG is pretty good and is also free, I just don't use it.

[Cory Wolfe]

If you've got a virus letting that spyware in, no anti-spyware software is going to do any good. I also vote for an anti-virus download.

[capriceman]

Spybot search and destroy FTW! http://www.safer-networking.org/en/spybotsd/index.html

other than that reinstalling the os is the best option.

Edited May 12, 2009 by capriceman

[cletus8269]

+1 spybot is pretty darn good. run it in safemode tho as any virus software a lot of unknowns show up in there. if you want to throw some money at the problem i have had real good luck with spy sweeper and windows washer

[Croc]

I had this virus. It's particularly insidious. Let me guess, if you try to go to an antivirus website, or download antivirus software, the website cannot connect, right?

Here is what worked for me--and it kept coming back for a little over a week...I'm guessing that initially the software didn't catch all of it until after multiple updates: Download Avast! and SUPERantispyware...but download them from another computer, and transfer them to the infected computer via USB stick. Rename the setup files something other than what they are called...like "omg.exe" or something. During installation, rename the folder path to, again, "omg" or anything other than the program name. Finally, after installation, go to the program files and rename the application to "omg.exe" or whatever you chose, and update the shortcut paths accordingly. Do this for both of these programs so the virus won't block your software from launching.

Do full system scans, one following the other, and then schedule one to do a boot scan. Check the program settings so that it automatically deletes everything--otherwise, you will need to watch your computer get scanned and manually tell it to delete the offending files as it detects them for a period of several hours. Save yourself the time, and have it delete them automatically on sight. I forget which of the two programs has this "feature," but I think it was SUPER. After that boot scan completes, do the other, again making sure to automate it as much as possible.

I believe I ran Avast! first, and SUPER second in each case...and I had good results. Hope this helps!

[FloydHendershot]

Hijackthis and Spybot. Good luck.

[pow]

Thanks for the help guys! I ended up using Malwarebytes, and I've had no pop-ups ever since.