Cleaning up spyware - NOT

[dreamshark]

A couple of LJ friends had posted about using various tools to clean up Spyware and the like, so I decided it might be a good idea to do the same thing. I can't say anything I've tried has exactly worked.

I tried the Trend House Call online service, and it was a big waste of time. After downloading various Java thingies and restarting my computer, I started the scan, only to have the scan stop abruptly after 20 minutes or so and shut down the browser. I tried it several more times, but the same thing happened each time.

Then I downloaded Spybot, which is a slick little program. Runs for about 10 minutes and turns up an alrming list of things like AdRevolver and DoubleClick. But when I look at them more closely, they all seem to be nothing but cookies, which isn't that big a deal. Still, these were mostly cookies I didn't agree to, so why not fix them? I selected them all and clicked the "Fix Selected Problems" button, and all of them came back as "fixed." Then I ran the scan again, and guess what? All the same cookies turned up again.

Oh well, I wasn't having a lot of trouble with the computer, I just was trying to be safe.

Comments

[davidschroth.livejournal.com]

IIRC, the usual recommendation is to run several tools that purport to identify spyware, as each tool has its own set of areas where it is strong and weak in. I use both Spybot and Ad-Aware, I know others are available.