Question about Spyware
By jhl930
@jhl930 (3601)
United States
April 4, 2008 8:21am CST
I have a computer and I've had it for several months now and I have never had any kind of problem with spyware or anything like that and all of a sudden last night I got this pop up screen that said security warning your computer has been infected with spyware...and I got that like two or three screens...and then I downloaded a program(it was free)it was called super anti spyware free edition...and i scanned my computer and it found like seventy two things and it said that it would fix it(it didn't say those words but thats what it meant)and for a little while those screens went away...and then something popped up on the bottom of my screen and ask me if i wanted to download it and it said something about it was for anti spyware and I clicked yes and it wsa like a cleaner or something...and now I woke up this morning(I uninstalled the cleaner because it was giving problems last night, because after like 15 mins it popped the thing back up about me having spyware)and now this morning like last night theres a yield sign on the bottom right hand corner of my screen saying click here to fix the problem...so what should i do im so confused because this screen keeps popping up saying I need to fix it because it could tear up my computer and that stuff...what do i do is there a free program that really works? What do I do?
JHL930
8 responses
@Rhoadan (42)
• United States
5 Apr 08
Asylum is probably right and you downloaded some variety of malware. Someone I know recommends Spybot Search and Destroy for anti-spyware software. There's a free version of that available.
I use Spyware Doctor which is not free, but does work. I've successfully used it to clean up my hard drive.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
4 Apr 08
I assume that the original pop up that you encountered was a web based message via a website that you were visiting, probably javascript. The 72 issues found were obviously quite false and simply a message provided to cause panic and persuade you to download the program.
Sadly, you have probably installed either spyware, malware or both. It can be difficult to trace and remove some of these programs, particularly since they often install a seperate program to scan the original and restart it whenever it stops.
The easiest way may be to run System Restore and turn the computer back to the time before you downloaded the program.
1 person likes this
@Araiya (61)
• United States
5 Apr 08
Sounds like you've taken on a Smitfraud.C variant on your computer. However, I'm only conjecturing until you post a HijackThis log.
SuperAntiSpyware (http://superantispyware.com/) itself should have handled it, but I've never put the app up against a Smitfraud.C variant. I ended up throwing a copy of SmitfraudFix at the system in question.
Further, to composite other responses:
Best option that I've used in conjunction with SuperAntiSpyware is Spybot Search & Destroy (http://spybot.info or http://safer-networking.org).
I'd rerun scans with both programs mentioned above in Safe Mode.
@hersheyskiss (761)
• United States
5 Apr 08
I am sorry to tell u this but that thing you downloaded was spyware and it just fooled you into believing that it was something to help you when actually it wasn't. And then the others just followed suit. So basically it made you infect yourself.
@Cocoa33 (921)
• United States
5 Apr 08
hi. there are free programs that you can use to install that will work. look for the freeware programs. i had the same problem, i found the software cyberdefender. its really good for getting rid of spyware,etc. if that doesn't work you many need reinstall operating system you have on your computer to get rid of them.
have a good day
@vicky30 (4766)
• India
4 Apr 08
I also had problems using spyware terminator to remove spyware.it used to detect the spyware but couldn't remove it.later i downloaded spyware doctor.it cleaned all the spyware and just asked me to restart the computer.next time the computer was free from spyware.you can download spyware doctor from
www.download.com.Its the best spyware remover.
@yuusukinet (84)
• Philippines
4 Apr 08
i agree with the comment above me..download AVAST ..it's an antivirus software. It's free (just register it..it's fine it's just info about yourself). BootScan. Then download Spyware Blaster.
do give us an update on what happened.
