Spyware Information and Links

Spyware, Malware, Adware, Scumware, Trojans- these are all programs that may be placed on your computer with or without your knowledge, particularly if you are not careful in the sites you visit and the downloads you install. They are used to reveal information about your use of the computer to various companies, and in particularly bad cases, slow down your computer to the point of unusability, damage your files, or be used to launch attacks on other individuals. In fact, we have found that spyware/malware is the single largest cause of Internet access problems for all of our repair clients.

Wonderful Articles about Spyware and Scumware that everyone should read once

The Internet changes by the second. Please do not blame us if some links below are no longer valid

How To: Prevent Browser Hijacks

Think Spam is bad, Get Ready for Spyware

Test your phishing knowledge

Browser Hijacking and How To Stop IT!

A good resource to check is PCHell.com

Smit Fraud Fix	SmitFraudFix is a tool that S!Ri created to remove rogue anti-spyware applications that utilize Trojans to issue fake taskbar security alerts or that change your background in order to scare you into purchasing the full commercial version of their software..
CW Shredder	First, Run this great removal tool by Merijn for cool web search and most of its variants. Instructions for using CWS Shredder
Spybot S & D	Next, Download, UPDATE, and scan with this cleaning tool. Quick Install instructions Instructions on using spybot Spybot can, in rare occasions, have a small bug. Get the fix file for it here. (Free and still the one of the best removal tools)
Ad-Aware	Last but not least, Download, UPDATE, and scan with this removal tool. Install instructions. Instructions for using ADAWARE
About Buster	How to remove Manually + Bogus Spyware PopUps on Internet Explorer startup + Homepage hijacked to res://random .dll/random
BHO DEAMON	Think of BHODemon as a guardian for your Internet Explorer browser: it protects you from unknown Browser Helper Objects (BHOs), by letting you enable/disable them individually.  It also monitors your Registry and alerts you when a BHO is installed.  Best of all, BHODemon knows about the most common BHOs - the good ones, and the not-so-good ones!
Mac-Scan	For spyware removal on Macs
Microsoft Anti-Spyware	Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware (Beta) is a security technology that helps protect Windows users from spyware and other potentially unwanted software. Known spyware on your PC can be detected and removed.
Ewido online scan	Online scan for spyware. Requires IE and Windows XP

Spyware Blaster	Prevents some spyware from being installed on your computer. (Free)
IE-SpyAd	Tool that puts tons of spyware and ad pages in IE restricted zone list. This prevents them from installing and changing any setting in your computer. This only works with IE. (Free)

Anti-Spyware Site	eWeek.com has a new anti-spyware section to their website
Spyware Info	A great resource for spyware information with great and helpful people in the forums
Merijn.org	The coder for cwshredder, Kill2Me, and HijackThis. Very good information and tools on his site.
Kill Spyware	A Nice Forum site with lots of information and posts
Spyware Warrior	Weblog with good information on Spyware and removal tools.
Rouge Spyware programs	Very Good list of fake and very untrustworthy spyware programs.
Zero's Realm	Web Page of on of the helpful people you will meet in the spywareinfo forums.
Computer Safety online	Nice site with lots of tips and software links.
Subratam.org	Welcome to Subratam.org. A growing resource to help you deal with spyware and computer problems.
Tom coyote	Great place of enlightenment on spyware and malware explained for beginners and experts alike.
ASAP	Alliance of Security Analysis Professionals
Protecting Your Privacy & Security	Welcome to Eric Howes' Privacy & Security Page
Microsoft Knowledge Base Article - 827315	Microsoft knowledge base article on spyware and removing it.
NetworkTechSupport	Welcome to networktechsupport.com . A professional, network/web centric support site for the layman and the expert alike.
Spyware Definitions	Definitions of some of the kinds of spyware Spybot S&D uses for it's program.

BHODemon	BHODemon scans your Registry for BHOs, and presents any it finds in a list.  By highlighting a BHO in this list, and clicking the "Details" button, you can see information about this BHO, and even disable it if you wish.  BHOs are disabled by simply renaming the DLL that houses them.  By renaming the DLL, instead of deleting it, you have the option of enabling it later if you wish.
Kill Box	Kills running files and process in windows dead! You can find instructions for killbox here.
pv.zip	Have at least one IE window open when you run this. It allows you to see what DLL's are running attached to IE.
HijackThis	A general homepage hijackers detector and remover. Initially based on the article Hijacked!, but expanded with almost a dozen other checks against hijacker tricks. It is continually updated to detect and remove new hijacks. It does not target specific programs/URL's, just the methods used by hijackers to force you onto their sites. As a result, false positives are imminent and unless you are sure what you're doing, you should always consult with knowledgeable folks (e.g. the forums) before deleting anything. A rudimentary HijackThis log tutorial is available here. The official HijackThis Quick Start for posting on the SpywareInfo forums is available here
WinSock Fix	If spyware or removing spyware has messed with your winsock file and you are no longer able to access the internet. Reset it with this file. Works best for 2000/XP machines.
Peper Spyware	Removal tool for Peper Spyware
Kill2Me	L2M removal tool by the awesome coder Merijn. Will not work on new variant which uses all random names.
Cool Web Starter Removal Tool	Try this if ad-aware, spybot, or cwshedder won't open. There is a special version of cws that kills their services. Use this file to get control back and to be able to run the removal tools.
VX2Finder.EXE	New Removal Instructions for L2M