Expert: Lorry - 9/24/2004

Question
My friend has a spyware viruses on his computer and we went to the Mircosoft website and download the two free Anti-spyware (Ad-Aware and Spybot Searce & Destory) and ran them, but the spyware is still there and we cannot get rid of it.  We have tried shutting down the modem and running the anit-spyware and it also says they are gone, but then after I reboot, they are back.  HELP
Thank you.


Answer
Hi Helen,

When you ran Ad-aware, did you check for updates before running program. Then follow the directions here to do a full scan:

The following explains how to set Ad-aware's settings to perform a "Full Scan."

In Ad-aware click the Gear to go to the Settings area.

The following items should be on a green check, not on a red X.

Under the Scanning button:

Scan within archives

Under Memory & Registry, Check EVERYTHING

In Check Drives & Folders, make sure all of your hard drives are selected

Under the Advanced button, check ALL under Log detail level (this makes it easier for visitors to the Lavasoft Support Forums to see what options you have selected should you require assistance.)

Under the Tweak button...

Some of these may not be an available option, depending on your version of Ad-aware and your version of Windows.  Do not be concerned if you cannot select a certain item.

In Scanning Engine:

Unload recognized processes during scanning

Include info about ignored objects in logfile, if detected in scan

Include basic Ad-aware settings in logfile

Include additional Ad-aware settings in logfile

Include used command line parameters in logfile

In Cleaning Engine:

XP/2000: Allow unloading explorer to unload shell extensions prior to deletion

Let Windows remove files in use at next reboot

UNCHECK: Automatically try to unregister objects prior to deletion

Click Proceed to save these settings.  When you would like to perform a "Full Scan," switch the scan mode from SmartScan to Custom.

After running Ad-aware, you must reboot your computer. It may be necessary to run Ad-aware two or three times if you have a lot of spyware, rebooting each time in between.

Where it says,"In Ad-aware click the Gear to go to the Settings area", on the top of the Ad-aware window, there are 5 symbols, click on the one that looks like a gear.

Try going to: http://sarc.com/  Scroll down and click on,"Free Online Virus and Security Check"  Write down exactly anything it finds, then return to: http://sarc.com/  and do a search for what was found. Symantec usually has a removal tool and/or directions for manually removing.

Don't forget to go to Windows Update and download the CRITICAL UPDATE(S) that are available.

Hope this helps!
Lorry