What is worse than a virus? Yup, Trojans and Spyware. These things are nasty extras that infect your computer and slow it down to a crawl. On top of that, they tend to bring in their 'friends' and mess up your computer even more. Cleaning up your machine can take a few hours to a few days. Use of all of these tools will eliminate just about all of the known crud.
To use them is simple.
1) Download them to your computer.
2) Install the software on your computer.
3) Tell the program to get the current updates for itself.
4) Tell the program to scan your computer.
5) Remove anything the program finds as bad.
To keep your computer healthy, run each program every couple of weeks. Get the updates and then do a system scan.
Remember, these are all FREE and do an excellent job if kept up-to-date with their definitions and are run periodically.
Microsoft Security Essentials provides real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software.
Home Page:
Microsoft Security Essentials
Local version for XP: http://people.cst.cmich.edu/devan1rh/spyware/mssefullinstall-x86.exe
Local version for Vista/Win7 64-bit: http://people.cst.cmich.edu/devan1rh/spyware/mssefullinstall-x64.exe
Spybot - Search & Destroy (XP, Vista, Win7)
Application to scan for spyware, adware, hijackers and other malicious
software.
Home Page:
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/spybotsd/index.html
Local version: http://people.cst.cmich.edu/devan1rh/spyware/spybotsd162.exe
Local version updates: http://people.cst.cmich.edu/devan1rh/spyware/spybotsd_includes.exe
After installation, be sure to run the Automatic Update!
Ad-Aware is designed to provide advanced protection
from known Data-mining, aggressive advertising, Parasites, Scumware, selected
traditional Trojans, Dialers, Malware, Browser hijackers, and tracking
components.
Home Page: http://www.lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_free.php
Local version: http://people.cst.cmich.edu/devan1rh/spyware/Adaware_Installer.exe
After installation, be sure to run the Automatic Update!
Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware is considered to be the next step in the detection and removal of malware.
Home Page: http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php
http://people.cst.cmich.edu/devan1rh/spyware/mbam-setup-1.60.1.1000.exe
Make sure you download the latest definitions and install them.
Home Page: http://www.superantispyware.com/
Local version: http://people.cst.cmich.edu/devan1rh/spyware/SUPERAntiSpyware.exe
Local version of standalone checker:
http://people.cst.cmich.edu/devan1rh/spyware/SAS_Portable.com
Microsoft Safety Scanner
Home Page: http://www.microsoft.com/security/scanner/en-us/default.aspx
Microsoft Security Essentials provides real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software.
Home Page: http://www.bitdefender.com/scanner/online/free.html
Home Page: http://support.kaspersky.com/viruses/rescuedisk
Local version: http://rescuedisk.kaspersky-labs.com/rescuedisk/updatable/kav_rescue_10.iso
Other good tools:
Home Page: http://free.avg.com/
Local version: http://people.cst.cmich.edu/devan1rh/avg_free_stf_en_8_169a1359.exe
Home Page: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/combofix/how-to-use-combofix
Local version: http://people.cst.cmich.edu/devan1rh/spyware/ComboFix.exe
This one nasty rootkit infection that all the above scanners seem to totally miss, something called Rootkit.Win32.TDSS. Download the latest version, I think it gets updated weekly.
Home Page: http://support.kaspersky.com/viruses/solutions?qid=208283363
Local version: http://people.cst.cmich.edu/devan1rh/spyware/tdsskiller.exe
This one nasty infection that all the above scanners seem to miss parts of, something called Vundo. If you've got pop-ups happening all the time, and your search page seems to be getting changed, you probably have a variant of this thing. Download the latest version, I think it gets updated weekly.
Home Page: http://www.atribune.org
Local version: http://people.cst.cmich.edu/devan1rh/spyware/VundoFix.exe
For the real stubborn problems, this tool can help. Warning: This is
not a "click and fix" type program.
Home Page: http://www.trendsecure.com/portal/en-US/tools/security_tools/hijackthis
Local version: http://people.cst.cmich.edu/devan1rh/spyware/HijackThis.exe
For pop-ups, I have used the Google Toolbar with pop-up blocker at great success. Go to http://toolbar.google.com/ and install this for Internet Explorer. It keeps itself updated automatically.
For users with Windows XP and Service Pack 2, Internet Explorer has its own blocker now. This can be turned on by going to Internet Explorer's Tools menu and picking Internet Options. Under the Privacy tab, you can enable the Pop-up Blocker with a simple check. It defaults to being on, so you might not even have to do anything!