The two most common and most used spyware tools, Lavasoft’s Adaware and Spybot Search & Destroy have been cleaning infected systems for a few years now. Both still come highly recommended for your spyware combat arsenal.
However, an interesting factor has cropped up recently where Lavasoft has removed a large well-known adware vendor called WhenU from their definitions database. That means any utilities produced by the WhenU vendor will be ignored by Adaware scans. This is a very disappointing move for Lavasoft to make. Pest Patrol and Aluria have also failed to include WhenU’s set of pests in their databases. Lavasoft’s response to its removal was that WhenU software was no longer a threat. Many spyware experts strongly disagree. There are other cases of known adware/spyware vendors going after the creators of spyware removal software, which can be found under this list of litigations pursued by spyware vendors when their software was included in various removal utilities.
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This just one large reason why a single scanning utility is not enough. Spyware utility companies should not be playing the “scratch-my-back-and-I’ll-scratch-yours” game with spyware vendors. In order to catch everything, you need to run multiple scanning utilities on your system. The Adaware/Spybot combination can do a good job at getting rid of adware/spyware, but it does not get rid of everything on your system, for spyware often changes faster than these companies can update their software. The spyware detection engines are starting to show their age by not picking up as much spyware as they used to in the past. In general, what one spyware utility misses, the other usually catches. Also, check the list of spyware your software detects and make sure they aren’t core Operating System modules or programs that you need or use (one such program called VNC for remote desktop control does get picked up, and yes, can be a security risk to an extent). Note that if you check for detected programs, it could also backfire because a program you have installed that you think may not have spyware, actually does. If you’re unsure, check this program search database.
Two other tools worthy of mention are Spy Sweeper and Pest Patrol. Both of these products are worthwhile, but are not free. There are plenty of free products available, therefore these tools are not necessary as a first line of defense. Spy Sweeper is a very good tool to use as a last resort option when other utilities were not successful in removing certain forms of spyware.
Spyware removal utilities do not usually pick up certain forms of malware, such as worms and Trojans, which usually come under the category of Anti-Virus protection. A good free AV application called AVG comes highly recommended and is often better than many AV packages you can purchase.
If you need an emergency scan quickly and don’t have an AV application installed, or AVG or some other utility isn’t picking anything up, but you still suspect a problem, using these online Trojan and virus scanners. Symantec’s AV Center Database contains information and removal tools for viruses, Trojans and worms, in case any of the above mentioned AV tools do not get rid of the virus/Trojan/worm.
Another good source for information on malware in general is 2-spyware.com, which has a database filled with malware-specific removal tools.
Last but not least, the final scanning utility you may want to run is HijackThis (http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/programs.php). HijackThis is a technical scanning utility which lists all running processes and installed or altered system modules. It is best if this program is run right after startup. Their site also has a link to a tutorial which will help interpret a HijackThis log by giving you a more detailed description of each entry. If you are still unsure about what may or may not be legitimate and what should be removed, many computer forums across the Internet that have experienced techs who are willing to assist users in identifying pests that appear in HijackThis logs. Simply copy and paste the log’s contents into a new thread and courteously request assistance. Also, be sure to clearly state what Operating System and Service Pack for that Operating System that you are running.
Problem Specific Tools
Still other annoying forms of malware mutate so fast that they cannot be thoroughly removed by existing spyware or AV utilities. Such is the case with the CoolWebSearch infections. Spyware utilities may pick up the infection, but are not equipped to fully remove, or remove it correctly without side effects. CWShredder is a utility that focuses solely on removing this annoying pest.
http://www.intermute.com/spysubtract/cwshredder_download.html
Another annoying pest is the infamous “About: Blank” home page in IE. If it is a hijack and not a simple home page change, like CoolWebSearch, this pest cannot be picked up by existing spyware or AV utilities. PCHell.com has a tutorial on how to deal with this issue.
http://www.pchell.com/support/aboutblank.shtml
This fix may seem like a daunting task, but if it is taken one step at a time, it shouldn’t be all that overwhelming.
AboutBuster (http://www.malwarebytes.org/aboutbuster.php) is another alternative for getting rid of “About: Blank” only if other problems accompany it, only after a spyware scan. The problems can include receiving random pop-ups, and the home page usually being set to “About:Blank”, or sometimes may be similar to “res:///random”.
Yet another annoying pest that is starting to become increasingly common is the nail.exe infection paired with the Aurora pop-up infection. It is nearly impossible to remove these regenerating infestations manually, so a 3rd party utility is extremely useful in this case.
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