Spyware and Antivirus Tools

***Official Disclaimer*** Neither I nor Alltel/Windstream/Your ISP/Anyone else will be held accountable for what you or anyone else does inside your router or on your computer or any software you download and/or install. If you change/remove/corrupt something up on your computer or router or equipment and someone has to fix it or replace it for you and charge you money/services/beer for fixing it then it's your responsibility not mine nor is it Alltel/Windstream's or your ISP's or anyone else's. I give you the information that I have learned/found/acquired. What you do with it is up to you. Do not email me with questions or complaints about why your router/computer/equipment/etc. doesn't work. I cannot guarantee that this config or these settings or information on this site will work for everyone. I can't test all solutions possible because I don't know them all and there are not enough hours in the day/week/month/year for me to test every combination possible. I have tested/used these configurations/software and they work for me. I am just letting my findings be open to help others in times of need at no cost. If you do not understand these instructions/configurations/software or are afraid that you will mess up the computer/router/equipment/software then you will want to contact a computer/network technician to help fix/configure/build what you need done.
Definition of Spyware
Any software that covertly gathers user information through the user's Internet connection without his or her knowledge, usually for advertising purposes. Spyware applications are typically bundled as a hidden component of freeware or shareware programs that can be downloaded from the Internet; however, it should be noted that the majority of shareware and freeware applications do not come with spyware. Once installed, the spyware monitors user activity on the Internet and transmits that information in the background to someone else. Spyware can also gather information about e-mail addresses and even passwords and credit card numbers. Spyware is similar to a Trojan horse in that users unwittingly install the product when they install something else. A common way to become a victim of spyware is to download certain peer-to-peer file swapping products that are available today. Aside from the questions of ethics and privacy, spyware steals from the user by using the computer's memory resources and also by eating bandwidth as it sends information back to the spyware's home base via the user's Internet connection. Because spyware is using memory and system resources, the applications running in the background can lead to system crashes or general system instability. Because spyware exists as independent executable programs, they have the ability to monitor keystrokes, scan files on the hard drive, snoop other applications, such as chat programs or word processors, install other spyware programs, read cookies, change the default home page on the Web browser, consistently relaying this information back to the spyware author who will either use it for advertising/marketing purposes or sell the information to another party. Licensing agreements that accompany software downloads sometimes warn the user that a spyware program will be installed along with the requested software, but the licensing agreements may not always be read completely because the notice of a spyware installation is often couched in obtuse, hard-to-read legal disclaimers. Definition supplied by Webopedia
To get more information about spyware and how to recognize it. Wesleyan University of North Carolina has a well written document titled "What is Spyware and why is it harmful to my computer?"
When downloading and installing any of these programs please take the time to read the help information on the sites as well as the help documentation that comes with the software. Many of the programs need to be tweaked to meet your system needs in order to be more effective. This will help arm you with powerful information that may keep your computer protected from these vicious spyware programs and hijackers. Just remember that the computer you use to get onto the internet is several thousand times more powerful than what we sent man to the moon with. It's not going to be easy to use at first, but with reading, practice and time everything should become alot easier for you.
Winsock XP Fix 1.2 Can be downloaded for FREE here. Spychecker's Homepage	First thing you want to do if you are using Windows XP is download Winsock XP Fix 1.2. Many times when you remove spyware from your Windows XP machine the Winsock will get corrupted, which basically means you won't be able to get web pages. So you can think of this as one of your lifelines.
Now you will need to download your spyware removal tools. Two widely used programs are Spybot Search and Destroy and Ad-Aware Personal Edition. I would recommend downloading and installing both programs. The reason behind this are: 1) Ad-Aware often finds spyware that spybot doesn't and vice versa (2 heads are better than one) 2) Ad-Aware seems to be better at removing spyware that is already on the computer but the free version isn't pro-active. Spybot has a seperate program called teatimer that is pro-active about monitoring what changes to your windows settings are being made and can even backup your system information to be restored later.
Ad-Aware can be downloaded for FREE here. AD-AWARE HOMEPAGE	I have included a simple walkthru of installing, updating and running Ad-Aware HERE
Spybot can be downloaded for FREE here. Spybot Homepage	I have included a simple walkthru of installing, updating and running Spybot HERE
HijackThis lists the contents of key areas of the registry and hard drive--areas that are used by both legitimate programmers and hijackers. The program is continually updated to detect and remove new hijacks. It does not target specific programs and URLs, just the methods used by hijackers to force you onto their sites. As a result, false positives are imminent, and unless you're sure about what you're doing, you should always consult with knowledgable folks before deleting anything. CWShredder is also available here. A small utility for removing CoolWebSearch (aka CoolWwwSearch, YouFindAll, White-Pages.ws and a dozen other names). Spybot S&D and Ad-aware tend to forget essential parts of the hijack, so until they update, you can use this to completely remove the hijack. This program is updated to remove the new variants once they come out. HijackThis and CWShredder can be downloaded for FREE here. HijackThis Homepage	Basically two good programs for finding and removing browser hi jackers and certain "search" tools from your computer. Highly recommended. Tutorial may come later on their use. Also the same site has several other nice free utilities to download for your system.
Scanspyware can be downloaded here. Scanspyware Homepage	In the event that Ad-Aware or Spybot can't remove the spyware from your computer you can try a program called SCANSPYWARE which does cost but this page also has a link to manually remove spyware off of your computer. If you want to attempt to manually remove troublesome spyware yourself go to the bottom of the page and click on the link for manual removal and you will find links to the instructions for manual spyware removal.
AVG can be downloaded for FREE here. AVG Homepage	Now you will also need good Anti virus software. If you want good AV software that doesn't cost you 40 dollars or more a year. AVG is an excellent FREE choice.
Google Toolbar can be downloaded for FREE here. Google Toolbar Homepage	Now to help guard against pop up windows and porn ads, Google has created a rather helpful toolbar that installs into your Internet Explorer browser that not only blocks pop ups but has a built in search function. Highly recommended if you use Internet Explorer.
Sygate Personal Firewall can be downloaded for FREE here Simtel's Download Site	The next line of defense is to have a firewall on the computer, a firewall is designed to keep intruders out of your computer by denying access into it or not allowing programs to access the internet. I recommend Sygate Personal Firewall
Mozilla's Firefox can be downloaded for FREE here. Mozilla Homepage	The right browser can also help guard against spyware. By default, Microsoft's Internet Explorer is pretty much the most targeted browser for exploits, virii and just about anything else that comes along. I would suggest using Mozilla's Firefox.
Rogue Spyware Removers
This site maintains a pretty good amount information on spyware programs and removers as well as Rogue Spyware Removers which may be spyware themselves. Here's the link to check it out yourself.. Spyware Warrior
From here on the next logical step would be to run through all of your Windows updates to make sure you have the "latest and greatest" updates from Microsoft. The easiest way to run your updates manually would be as follows. Open up your Internet Explorer. At the top of your Internet Explorer click on Tools and then Windows Updates. This will take you to Microsoft's Windows Updates page. From here, just follow the instructions that Microsoft gives to do your updates.. The ones that you will want to make sure are done first are all the critical updates. During this process you may have to reboot your computer a few times. Just keep going thru this process until all the critical updates are done. As a side note, if you are prompted to allow for automatic updates go ahead and choose yes. This will automate the process of updating your windows without having to manually do the updates yourself.

Spyware and Antivirus Tools