Death to Spammers!
While visiting a lyrics site Monday night, a nasty little pop-up package grabbed hold of my virtual being and installed its nastiness deep within the recesses of my computer. It has latched onto my Web life like a nasty little barnacle of banality, continually informing me of important sites such as Adult Friend Finder and Generous Genie.
Yes, I know having that great virus package in your drawer, not on your PC, isn’t helpful … but I’ve been busy … so just let me whine and bitch for a moment or seven.
Anyone know how to get rid of this nasty infection without having to restage my PC?
In the meantime, I’m singing “Flog the bastards,” to the tune of “Kill the wabbit.”
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Labels: flog the bastards, pop-up pimps should be poked and prodded into Hell
posted by Cup @ 5:23 AM
20 comments
20 Comments:
I had a similar problem last year. It was pretty f'n annoying. I was able to solve it by uninstalling a litle program that I had unintentionally downloaded with some other stuff. Going through my programs list took a little while but I found a bunch of other odd crap I didn't need in there too.
My deepest sympathies to you. I could go into a lenghty step by step process of removing the spyware from your PC but that would take too long. So here's a link that should help you.
http://www.download.com/Beat-back-that-Trojan-horse/1200-2023_4-5172423.html?tag=hed
The folks at download.com usually have good advice for fixing these issues. Oh and install your antivirus, it should install with no problem if you haven't yet, then it can zero in on the problem. I'd also advise you to get a Spyware protector as well. I use Spyware Doctor 5, that helps in removing adware. You can buy it at the store or download it off download.com. If you download it you can try it first to see if you like it. Hope that helps. Now go get the bug and squish it!
oh your poor computer hope it gets better real soon, nasty, nasty bug!
I don't have anything to add to the above fine advice, sorry. It would appear that I am the hardware expert in the family, but that is just a case of the blind leading the blind. Spyware protection is good, mkay?
I use Spybot Search and Destroy, it's free and frequently updated and works really well. I also use AVG anti-virus, another free program that has worked (knock on wood) really well for me these past few years.
Good luck
Here's the address for Search & Destroy:
http://www.safer-networking.org/
Here's the address for AVG:
http://free.grisoft.com/
Too bad I didn't see this an hour ago, when our tech guy was here. I got a spambot on my computer here doing exactly the same thing, looking for lyrics. He went through some procedure where he created a "ghost" server that saved all my files, and reinstalled the regular programs. My experience is mainly with Macs, so maybe someone else can help fill the details. It was a pretty easy procedure, and didn't take long.
I'm presently engaged in mortal combat with spammers and bad bots. I've had over 300 spam comments on my blog in the past 48 hours.
Thanks to your commentators for the info.
PS how did you enjoy the maupin book? I liked his Tales in the City series. Would this one be a good book for the cottage in Aug?
Years ago I had a lyrics site put some crap on my computer. Evil little bastards.
Everything that's already been suggested would be what I would suggest, too. I also use AVG Free and have found it to be very good. I'm going to look for that Spybot Search & Destroy...my man is a bit technologically challenged and has a tendency to visit sites (not necessarily porn, either) that put crap on the 'puter.
Good luck in battling the evil 'bots! I shall call you Coffeyus Prime! (Or maybe Optimus Beth?)
You don't need a virus to tell you where all the best porn sites are, Beth. Just ask me.
If I said "get a mac" would that be mean? All the porn, none of the spyware.
A "Lyrics site?" Is that code for something?
I second Bubs' advice. Just went through something similar, with a particularly nasty piece of spyware. For me, it wouldn't completely remove the spyware until I ran the program in safe mode. So, I'd advise, if it (Search & Destroy) doesn't work on the first try, try booting to safe mode (by pressing F8, usually, when booting up) and then running it. Worked for me. All good (and free):
Search & Destroy
AVG
Lavasoft Ad-Aware
When this happened to me, fortunately my anti-virus caught and quarantined it. Unfortunately, now I only trust three lyrics sites and I don't even bother with wav. file sites anymore.
I love this line:
"I know having that great virus package in your drawer, not on your PC, isn’t helpful..."
Bloggers really should be provided with people to deal with this stuff. Our time is far too precious to waste.
Instead of singing, actually flog the bastards Beth. But film it, people pay good money for that.
Beth, Spybot Search & Destroy, already recommended above, is free and there's a good chance it will do the job. That, and the Yahoo toolbar spyware checker are the tools I turn to first when I've got to disinfect my computer.
I hope it works out for you; those things can really make you crazy. If it doesn't work, you could try http://spywarewarrior.com/index.php http://www.spywaredb.com/ http://www.castlecops.com/ http://www.spywareguide.com/ http://www.virustotal.com/ or http://www.kaspersky.com/scanforvirus (some will merely help with ID, and 'virus' usually covers other malware as well) - if you still need help, e-mail me privately and I'll see if I can help you track down the specific infection you have and the steps you need to take to get rid of it.
Spybot Search And Destroy. It's free and it works.
disgusting, ain't it?! I've had to toss two laptops in the past 5 years because the viruses were that bad. kills me. what a waste.
I digress (see above).
I third or fourth the suggestion for Spybot. You should also have Ad Aware - also free (last time I installed, at least, which has been a while.)
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