HELP!!! Pop-ups driving me insane! (Spy-ware?)

P

precision response

New User
Hey guys,

(I’ll start off by saying I am a novice when it comes to computer viruses/spy ware/etc. – I essentially have no idea!)


For the last couple of months I have been putting up with random 'pop-ups' (I use the word 'pop-up' loosely, because I am not sure they are actually 'pop-ups' as my Google toolbar has a 'pop-up' blocker which has always functioned flawlessly in the past, and I am receiving these 'pop-ups' on numerous relatively 'safe' sites such as this tennis board and the windows site!!).

Having said that, at about 11pm last night my computer almost started to self-destruct. A Windows XP window came up telling me my computer was 'infected' with spy-ware and then it automatically downloaded Spy Sheriff (which was actually useless, because it only scanned the hard drive, you actually had to purchase the program for it to remove the spy-ware/infected files/whatever).

So, in an anxious frenzy I came to Talk Tennis and found the 'Spy-ware thread'. I read it, and then downloaded eTrust PestPatrol, MS AntiSpyware, Ad-aware SE and ran them all. They all found significant numbers of spy ware files and subsequently deleted or quarantined them all.

Whilst the Windows XP window that tells me my computer is ‘affected’ is no longer showing – I am still putting up with constant ‘pop-ups’. I’m pretty sure these are not pop-ups you get from visiting suspicious sites (hell, I’m even getting these pop-ups whilst writing an essay in word – not surfing the internet!) so I was wondering what I should do about them? I don’t think a pop-up blocker is in order (besides the fact I already have one in the Google toolbar) I am led to believe the problem lies somewhere on my hard drive. These particular pop-ups have become far more frequent since the near-destruction last night.

I am just about to download and run AVG Antivirus Free Edition, but I’m not sure how much good that will do.

After this problem is solved (hopefully a solution will be offered by some of you very knowledgeable blokes!) I am planning on switching to Mozilla Firefox from IE, and also putting up a decent firewall (I actually have no idea what a firewall is, so any suggestions are welcomed!) and ofcourse running the anti-spy ware and anti-virus programs frequently.





Thanks for any help! I am desperate. I’m getting a popup at least once a minute!



(PS. I’m using Windows XP on an Acer laptop, which is connected via wireless to a router…I think I’m on an ADSL connection)

(PPS. What are cookies and why should they be deleted frequently? Are they bad?)
 
Once your computer is infected with spyware you can longer fully trust it.
I'd sell / trade in your Acer and buy an Apple MAC ibook.
 
precision response said:
Can somebody PLEASE help me with the problem at hand?

Or do I really have to sell up?
Click to expand...


It's an easy fix.........don't listen to the Apple droids.

Go here and download Ad-Aware, the personal ediition is free :

http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-SE-Personal-Edition/3000-8022_4-10399602.html?tag=lst-0-2

Install it, run the update to get the latest ad definitions and then scan your hard drive. It will search out all the spyware on your system and give you the option to delete it. Once you delete it, your system should be fine.

If you keep having problems, post again and I'll try to help you. If you download it and run it correctly, Ad-Aware should fix the problem. I've run it on 4 or 5 computers that belong to friends/neighbors and it always has done the trick.
 
Basic stuff to protect your computer.
1. Firewall 2. Anti-virus 3. Anti-spyware

1. firewall monitors traffic b/w your computer and network/internet
If you are behind a router, that's good 'cause router has its own firewall. but you can get one for your computer as well.
Choose one of the following:

http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp
Click "Download FREE ZoneAlarm"
umm, I guess you are gonna have to use that. there are more free programs out there but I heard many good reviews about Zonealarm.
For the first couple of days it's gonna be VERY irritating to click "allow" for every single thing that's trying to connect to the internet, but it's good to know what's being connected. For the programs that you use frequently, say... Firefox, you can allow it permanently.

2. Choose one of the following:
I'd used AVG Free edition for about a year and never had a single problem. It also has a built-in scan scheduler so you don't have to manually run it everyday.
Avast! looks pretty decent too. It's got what's called "real time" scanner which means it scans as you use your computer. so like it's checking this tennis warehouse forum right now as I'm typing this. But one downside to Avast is, if you are using AVG it conflicts with one of AVG's programs or some **** like that. It's not much of a hassle though as everything works out automatically.
There are tons of free Anti-virus programs but these two are praised by many computer experts. so i guess that's good

3. you need more than one scanner for this. MS antispyware, lavasoft, spybot, umm idk what's good lately... peerguardian gets good reviews as well.



What are cookies? i like chips ahoy, haha ok that was not funny
From Webopedia, cookie is A message given to a Web browser by a Web server. The browser stores the message in a text file. The message is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server. hmm I know it doesn't make much sense, basically cookie remembers who you are on the internet. I am by no means a computer-savvy person so don't quote me on this. hehe Anyways, when you go to forums like TW, it shows threads with new posts in bold text right? How does the forum know you haven't read those threads? because cookies from the site are stored in your harddrive temporarily. so if you delete cookies, TW will nolonger remember who you are, and therefore won't know which threads you have read and which threads you haven't. God, that was such a bad explanation but you get the idea. :)
You should delete cookies from time to time because 1) it takes up space 2) it stores your private info like what sites you've been to, what your so and so forum username is etc.

Personally I would uninstall that crappy google toolbar and get "adblock" for Firefox but if you insist on using it, whatever. lol

after all this if you are still having problems, google "Hijackthis" download it, run it, and post the result on computer forums. They should help you out. laters
 
equinox said:
Once your computer is infected with spyware you can longer fully trust it.
I'd sell / trade in your Acer and buy an Apple MAC ibook.
Click to expand...
Great advice. Now if he doesn't like the tension of the strings in his racquet he can apply the same idea and buy a totally different racquet of another brand!
 
Having said that, at about 11pm last night my computer almost started to self-destruct. A Windows XP window came up telling me my computer was 'infected' with spy-ware and then it automatically downloaded Spy Sheriff (which was actually useless, because it only scanned the hard drive, you actually had to purchase the program for it to remove the spy-ware/infected files/whatever).

So, in an anxious frenzy I came to Talk Tennis and found the 'Spy-ware thread'. I read it, and then downloaded eTrust PestPatrol, MS AntiSpyware, Ad-aware SE and ran them all. They all found significant numbers of spy ware files and subsequently deleted or quarantined them all.
Click to expand...
precision response: The "XP window" was an advertisement - there are a lot of quite convincing ones. Spy Sherriff IS the spyware, and now you have it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spysheriff

It is very hard to get rid of in any case, but will be harder after your attempts I think.
I am not particularly recommending this method, but this is a good UK forum for beginners:
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/How_to_remove_SpySheriff_Winstallexe_Spysheriffexe-t22402.html

Or you could try Castle Cops or one of many other forums, excluding Talk Tennis. Tennis Experts here;), and you can't know if the advice is good, or not.
Look for a consensus on what is the best approach.
Personally, I'd recommend you took it to an expert and chalked the cost up to experience.
Good luck!

P.S. www. s p y s h e r r i f.com, the first response you get if you Google it, IS the spyware. Don't click on it.
 
Haha, nice work, yours!. Yeah, you have to look out for those pop-ups. oh man, dude, you don't spend much time on your computer, do ya, precision response? haha I can't believe you fell for that old trick dude. lol anything that AUTOMATICALLY downloads **** like that is 10 out of 10 times a spyware/virus.
 
rilokiley said:
Haha, nice work, yours!. Yeah, you have to look out for those pop-ups. oh man, dude, you don't spend much time on your computer, do ya, precision response? haha I can't believe you fell for that old trick dude. lol anything that AUTOMATICALLY downloads **** like that is 10 out of 10 times a spyware/virus.
Click to expand...



Yeah, jesus, this sucks big time.
 
Yours!05 said:
precision response: The "XP window" was an advertisement - there are a lot of quite convincing ones. Spy Sherriff IS the spyware, and now you have it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spysheriff

It is very hard to get rid of in any case, but will be harder after your attempts I think.
I am not particularly recommending this method, but this is a good UK forum for beginners:
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/How_to_remove_SpySheriff_Winstallexe_Spysheriffexe-t22402.html

Or you could try Castle Cops or one of many other forums, excluding Talk Tennis. Tennis Experts here;), and you can't know if the advice is good, or not.
Look for a consensus on what is the best approach.
Personally, I'd recommend you took it to an expert and chalked the cost up to experience.
Good luck!

P.S. www. s p y s h e r r i f.com, the first response you get if you Google it, IS the spyware. Don't click on it.
Click to expand...




Thanks Yours - much appreciated.

Now things make more sense.

I'll read up on the articles and see if their solution is plausible.

If not, I'll post back here.

In the meantime, has anyone had anything first hand experience with this Spy Sheriff virus?

Any other solutions?



Cheers, and thanks once more.
 
nViATi said:
Great advice. Now if he doesn't like the tension of the strings in his racquet he can apply the same idea and buy a totally different racquet of another brand!
Click to expand...

What a stupid analogy.

Even though my advice is a little inconvenient to the above poster, it is sound.

A Windows OS based PCs can not be secured enough for internet usage by average joes.

MAC OS based machine is vastly more secure out of the box, is less likely to be the target for malicious uses.

Apple MAC has an easier to use GUI than Windows OS or Linux OS PCs.

Buy a Apple MAC and you'll save yourself a lot of hassles.
 
equinox said:
What a stupid analogy.

Even though my advice is a little inconvenient to the above poster, it is sound.

A Windows OS based PCs can not be secured enough for internet usage by average joes.

MAC OS based machine is vastly more secure out of the box, is less likely to be the target for malicious uses.

Apple MAC has an easier to use GUI than Windows OS or Linux OS PCs.

Buy a Apple MAC and you'll save yourself a lot of hassles.
Click to expand...
It's not very hard to use mozilla firefox, have an antivirus scanner + firewall, and run spyware scanners.
 
If you're getting one pop-up per minute, it's because you're watching a lot of porn.

My advice: Quitttt the poooorn !!!!

:D
 
I bought a new computer before Christmas and bought PC-Cillin to go on it (includes Anti-Spyware, Anti-Virus, etc.) and it is working marvelously. I had to change the settings on it so that it didn't download the updates automatically because it seemed like every time I logged on it needed to be updated. Now I update about once a week...usually let it download while I eat supper.

TripleB
 
Firefox/opera

stop using the internet explorer is the smartest thing you can do.

The mozzilla firefox and OPERA are both exelent browsers (both are free too), i use both since a few years back and are 1000000 times better than the microsoft explorer.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Headshotterer
please help me
Replies
4
Views
893
forthegame
F
I
Help with a virus ?
Replies
1
Views
717
LafayetteHitter
LafayetteHitter
T
Camcorder to Computer Help Needed...
Replies
1
Views
677
burosky
burosky
psamp14
UBUNTU LINUX USERS: Help needed!
Replies
40
Views
3K
meh
M
J
Computer problem
Replies
6
Views
749
jim e
J
Back
Top