Please Help!

[suellen71]

Hello there, :)

I am not so sure if this is the right area to be asking for some help, so I apologise in advance here if I am in the wrong place!

I have just scanned my computer with Spybot, I also have AVG Antivirus with firwall, plus AVG Anti Spyware, and Windows XP. After scanning 3 or 4 times and 'fixing' this problem (called "web trends live") it still keeps coming up at the end of each scan. I click the "fix problems" button and it says it is actually fixed, but upon re-scanning, it comes up again.

Can the spybot team help me out? Thanks so much!

Suellen Dalton. :bigthumb:

[Alan D]

Sorry to hear there's a problem Suellen.
My knowledge is very limited, but while you're waiting for a real expert:

(1) Have you tried starting up your computer in SAFE mode and running the scan? (To get into safe mode, repeatedly tap the F8 key while the machine is starting up)
(2) Have you tried running a scan with AVG antispyware?
(3) Do you have any other antispyware software?
(4) Do you have a copy of Ccleaner installed?

[Alan D]

Just looking around the forum I found the thread below, which ought to get you started on a whole stack of things to try. (Actually, according to the rules given in that thread, I shouldn't have jumped in, but rather left it to the experts. But I'm sure pointing you to this thread is acceptable!)

http://forums.spybot.info/showthread.php?t=288

[suellen71]

Hi there Alan, :D:

I ran another AVG Anti Spyware scan (I have only just downloaded the trial version a couple of days ago and it's fantastic!) and it found 1 problem, which I fixed. I then ran Spybot once again and it showed no more problems, so AVG must have deleted the problem, although the name of the infection was different. The AVG found 114 infections when I ran the original scan!!!

Thanks again for your help and I will be in touch soon.

Suellen. :cool:

[bitman]

Suellen,

Plrase run another scan, right click in the Results Pane and select 'Copy results to clipboard', then paste that into your next post here. That way we can see exactly what Spybot S&D is detecting and determine what you need to do next.

Since this was detected by Spybot S&D and you are unsure of the situation, posting this directly in the Spybot S&D Forum itself would have been appropriate in this case. Tashi, the Forum's Moderator, will probably move this to that forum when she sees it.

Alan's advice were good general steps to take, though using Ccleaner isn't directly useful without knowledge of what you're attempting to remove. It only becomes inappropriate when recommending specific manual malware removal steps or posting in other's threads in the Malware Removal forum, which are against forum rules.

Bitman

< EDIT > Suellen, glad to hear you got rid of the problem. In the future please post as I suggested above as this will help the Spybot Team improve Spybot S&D for everyone. Thanks, Bitman

[Alan D]

The AVG found 114 infections when I ran the original scan!!!


AVG antispyware has a very good reputation but ... so many infections? Were they mostly tracking cookies, I wonder?

But it looks as though you've probably solved the problem, doesn't it? For what it's worth, I've found it very helpful to have several good antispyware programs installed. Not only does it give you several different shots at a stubborn piece of malware, but also it's reassuring when they all give you a clean bill of health after a scan. The online scanners are worth using too.

[suellen71]

Hi there,

Thank you Alan and Bitman for your help...I was a bit worried when Spybot kept bringing up this problem, I would fix it, then it would be there again when doing another scan.

Yes Alan, you were absolutely right :D: , those infections on AVG Anti Spyware were all tracking cookies, with a 'medium' threat level. So they weren't too serious. They were all removed successfully, plus it has detected a few more in scans I have done since then.

Thanks once again to you both for all your help... Bitman, I am unemployed at the moment, BUT when I am back on track, I will be pushing that donations button!!!! :bigthumb:

Suellen. :cool:

[Alan D]

those infections on AVG Anti Spyware were all tracking cookies ...They were all removed successfully, plus it has detected a few more in scans I have done since then.

Tracking cookies aren't much of a problem, but you'll go on collecting them whenever you use the internet so they're an annoyance. The best solution in my view is to stop them getting onto your computer in the first place - which you can do by installing an elegant and effective program called Spywareblaster (which will also help to prevent threats more serious than tracking cookies being installed on your computer.)

You can get it here:
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html

(I should add that it only blocks the nasty cookies, and lets the nice ones through.)