Computer help needed!
 

My sister must have been on some oddball sights last night because when I came home my computer was FULL of spyware. It took my spyware program half an hour to get rid of it. But I still have a problem, when I do a google search if I clink on a link it redirects me to some BS sites. I need to copy and paste the website address into my browers to get it to work.

Also I just ran my spyware program and rebooted the computer to get rid of all the stuff it found. Not windows won't let me access it saying I don't have permission?:confused: WTF

I would restart in safe mode (F8 while starting up) and then re-run your anti-spyware programs (spybot, adaware, etc). Running an antivirus client may also help (avg, avast, avira are all good, and free). Once you're done, reboot into normal mode.

EDIT: If you want to use the internet in safe mode, do the safe mode with networking option.

Wow, sounds like you have a problem! :eek:

This is exactly why I don't let my brother use my computer anymore. A couple of years ago he installed some yahoo chat nonsense and it threw in a new tool bar on my browser to boot. A few weeks later it crashed my hard drive and I lost everything....

Can you flush the entire system and just restore? Sometimes that might be the easiest way. I usually keep a backup of all important things and another of some less important things that I update every now and then so all that is lost is some time to re-install and add back the necessary stuff

You better tell "your sister" to stop visiting all those porn sites, you "heard from someone else once" that they are all bad!;)

First - be very cautious about claims of spyware infections from some sites or apps. There are various almost-name-brand software apps that claim to disinfect your computer while actually infecting it or leaving trojans.

There is an interesting white paper from Symantec on Rogue Security Applications that will disable actual security settings, or they will support identity theft - while 'cleaning' your computer they will send your financial info to a third party site.

It's available here (or do a Google search for Symantec Rogue Security): http://eval.symantec.com/mktginfo/enterprise/white_papers/b-symc_report_on_rogue_security_software_WP_20016952.en-us.pdf

The bad guys are getting smarter and will hijack the Google search bar to give the appearance of a legitimate recommendation when searching for security software. They will also use 'black hat' search engine optimization to boost fake web pages into higher rankings.

If your system is infected and you're not using a reputable (C-Net, ZD labs - recommended, etc) cleaner then you might still be at risk.

I think his wearing his sister's clothes while surfing should not be blamed on his sister. But just in case, TTIWWP.

Not all are. Some are actually gooooooddddd. :D

Believe it or not - sports and news focused sites are also rife with malware. Any site that wants you to download a codec or a media viewer may be installing spyware. That 'funny' video that was e-mailed to you from a friend's address that needed a few more mouse clicks to make it work? Yeah, that too...

I think this is like the case of the boy that goes to the priest and says "Father. I need to ask you a question for a friend of mine. I didn't do this but ........"

Today, the priest might say "Bend over and say 3 hail marys while I.........":D

I don't know what my sister did to this thing.:rolleyes: It seems to be working OK now, I just deleted my old spyware program which wasn't responding to well. Although it used to work pretty good.

Whats a good free spyware program?

Yes no doubt about it! What's harder to believe is the "sister" of a 20 something, female companionship-less, male doing extensive web browsing of vague "news and sports focused" sites late on a Saturday night!

I'd be more inclined to buy the " I was only doing research for a green school paper on the carbon footprint generated by the multi-billion dollar internet porn industry" claim!

Winders Defender, Malware Bytes, AVG.

For your "sister" Porn Blocker, Version 36,967.0!

For you, Avira running all the time is a good thing, for problems that "pop up" Malwarebytes Anti Malware is very effective at searching, finding and disableing all sorts of viruses, worms, trojans, etc.

Geekstogo.com is an invaluble resource for dealing with the most pervasive problems that this simple solutions can't overcome.