Now I'm just mad. Before I drag my stupid, crap laptop over to the Geek Squad, help me figure out some solutions for what's like a malware/adware problem. [more inside]
posted by santojulieta on Aug 16, 2008 - 24 answers

I'm currently running a business where I monitor computers for people. I use custom made software that gets by all the anti-malware scanners and through the firewalls. I have been charging $40/hr for the first hour, and $45 for each hour after that. Since most of work may only take 1-4 hours per client I've been told that I'm charging too little. Figures have been thrown at me by friends, family and even clients that I should charge $60, $75 or even $100. What is a fair amount in this business. Yes this involves spying on people at the workplace, churches and spouses. My first question. I've searched mefi for similar stuff and came up empty.
posted by Jack Feschuk on Mar 10, 2008 - 15 answers

Has anyone heard of a computer virus/worm/trojan that causes a photo of someone's rotten teeth (meth mouth) to pop up at startup and occasionally? [more inside]
posted by bradn on Jul 25, 2006 - 3 answers

Where does my spyware go? [more inside]
posted by Postroad on May 26, 2006 - 10 answers

Linkedin Virus: Have any of you guys received an email in the last week from a friend's valid email address asking you to join their LinkedIn network? It seemed harmless enough so I clicked the link, wasn't interested and closed the browser. Soon enough, my whole machine slowed down to a crawl and even after repeated reboots, it's still almost locked. Sound familiar? [more inside]
posted by dhoyt on Aug 21, 2004 - 16 answers

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?
posted by limitedpie on Mar 5, 2004 - 19 answers