Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with AdAware

New software for a new computer?

®@ — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 08:39:31 -0800

I'm setting up my spankin' new computer. So far I've downloaded AVG as my anti-virus solution, but I'm not sure which way to go for anti-spyware. Is Ad-Aware still any good? Should I use ZoneAlarm (which doesn't play nice with Adaware), or is there something better? And does anyone have experience with AVG's anti-spyware setup? I realize that ZoneAlarm serves more of a "firewall" niche, so input / corrections are appreciated. Anyone have experience with AVG's anti-spyware solution?

Computer Protection Over-Kill

Smarson — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 11:08:37 -0800

What are effective anti-virus and anti-spyware programs that work in harmony? I recently attempted to save a relative's computer from the depths of virus and spyware hell (a foolish attempt, I know) and not only failed, but also managed to turn the laptop into an authoritarian regime of "you sure you wanna execute that program???" x infinity.

Needless to say the computer's hard drive will undergo a reformatting shortly (what I should have done in the first place). However, once that is completed, what melange of anti-virus and anti-spyware programs should I look into that will play nice together?

Here is a list of programs I had running simultaneously which not only bogged down the poor laptop's processor, but also objected to nearly everything you tried to do on the computer except empty the recycle bin.

*ad-aware - Love this program and have used it since college

*Spybot - Search & Destroy - Had heard good thing about this program but never used it until recently

*ewido anti-spyware - This was something I found recommended here on AskMeFi, but it would often go nuts when activated and want to go total war on everything from temp files to cookies.

*smitRem - Was using this to try and get rid of the dreaded SpywareQuake

*ToolBar Cop - Was instructed to use this in combination with smitRem to get rid of SpywareQuake

*Kaspersky Anti-Virus 6.0 - Downloaded this also on suggestions from MeFi users and it too seemed to like to freak out attack anything that moved. It seemed a little trigger happy and actually deleted some executables that disabled explorer (I've since sold said relative on the glories of firefox).

*ClamWin Anti-Virus - I'm a huge fan of opensource stuff and I'd heard raving reviews about this program so I added it to the party. I think it does a great job, but it's scans took for.ev.er. I left it on over-night and still had to wait until noon the next day. Ever more frustrating, once it was finished, it didn't give an option to delete the identified threatening files (at least no option I could find).

Bottom line: With the newly reformatted hard drive, what combination of these (or other programs) could I use to combat spyware/ malware and protect against viruses without sparking a turf war?

Firefox Ads & Pop-Ups

trinarian — Wed, 22 Jun 2005 15:59:17 -0800

I love Firefox like the next guy, but I think it's popularity has killed off its best feature: ad/pop-up blocking. How do I make all the pop-ups stop? I've installed AdBlocker, added the correct lines of code from this post, run AdAware.... still, I get pop-ups. Same thing on my brand new laptop; within two days of having Firefox I was getting pop-ups.

Ad-Aware is freezing on registry deep scan

xyzzy — Sun, 19 Sep 2004 19:40:02 -0800

Ad-Aware. I use it. I love it. And it hath forsaken me. Now, every time I try to run it, it freezes on the the same CSLID key (that, inconveniently, I cannot copy or paste) when deep scanning the registry. Upon disabling the deep scan, it hangs on large files in the I386 directory. The forums at Lavasoft provided advice like, disable the deep scan, then try it again, which doesn't really help. Ideas? Google fu?

Searching "Help"

agregoli — Thu, 19 Aug 2004 07:17:15 -0800

Help! I have run Adware and cleaned up my computer, but there is one thing stuck in my browser - one of those "we'll help you search!" things. How to get rid of something like this? I can't find it in the add/remove programs list, and Adware didn't come up with it. How to find it for removal? (Sorry, I am somewhat knowledgeable with computers, but not a whiz). This is Windows XP.

PCVirusFilter: Spyware and "Bridge.dll"

Orange Goblin — Tue, 15 Jun 2004 15:19:34 -0800

Something is royally screwed with my PC (Windows XP). I had some kind of spyware involving the file "bridge.dll", I found instructions online to get rid of it, but I still have problems. When I reboot, my Quick Launch toolbar is no longer there, and when I use the "Email", "WWW" and other buttons on my Logitech keyboard, it opens up 3 instances of the programs. Adaware and Norton Antivirus turn up nothing. Anything I can do?

Recommendations for trustworthy Adware cleaners

limitedpie — Fri, 05 Mar 2004 07:53:25 -0800

As embarrassing as it is to confess, I am not very sophisticated with computers and technology. Recently my computer has become the eager droid of "purityscan," which (to my never ending frustration and dismay) opens a few hundred pop-ups per hour. I Googled for the best spy/pop up removal software, but I am unable to tell the good guys from the bad guys. I downloaded and ran "adaware" but now that they have identified "368 spyware components" on my computer they want $30.00 to remove them. I have no problem paying to end this problem, but I do not want to pay for dreck or pay evil extortionists who create the problem and then sell the solution. So: Which software is best, from an honest company, to fix this loathsome problem?

How do I rid myself of this adware on IE 6 that adds hotlinks to search engines on certain keywords?

trigfunctions — Tue, 27 Jan 2004 09:20:56 -0800

I've got some kind of adware on IE 6.0 that is putting hot links on MetaFilter and other pages for certain keywords, like "Photoshop" or "diamonds". The links lead to search engine websites. It is really gumming up the works. I've tried Spybot but that didn't remove it. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks.