Spybots

**Troll** · 08-28-2008, 11:37 PM

I need some techie help.

Whenever I turn on my computer, the first thing I do is to run Spybot Search & Destroy. It occasionally picks up one or two, but when I ran it earlier this week, it caught twenty-something. This morning, it caught over thirty, so I did an experiment. I told the program to "Fix Selected Problems", and it said that it had cleared all the spybots. I immediately closed the program, then reopened it and ran it again. Bingo, thirty spybots. I did this a couple more times, and it looks like the program is detecting them but not fixing them. Has anybody experienced this? Any thoughts on how I can fix it?

On edit - I'm re-downloading the program to see if that helps. More to follow...

**megimoo** · 08-29-2008, 12:02 AM

Originally Posted by Troll

I need some techie help.

Whenever I turn on my computer, the first thing I do is to run Spybot Search & Destroy. It occasionally picks up one or two, but when I ran it earlier this week, it caught twenty-something. This morning, it caught over thirty, so I did an experiment. I told the program to "Fix Selected Problems", and it said that it had cleared all the spybots. I immediately closed the program, then reopened it and ran it again. Bingo, thirty spybots. I did this a couple more times, and it looks like the program is detecting them but not fixing them. Has anybody experienced this? Any thoughts on how I can fix it?

Yes .It is very common .They are usually detected and kept in isolation as a template.Some spybots check to see if their bots have already infected the computer and if it finds the isolated bot it will not install a new one.

Different types of anti_spyware programs handle the problem in different ways.In most cases after spyware is detected it is added to the detect list every time it runs even if it is already isolated.

I recently read an article about an agreement made between people who write spyware and the the groups who make money selling spyware killers .The reasoning is thus ,If you kill all of the spybots we will go out of business but so will you .

You should leave some bots alone so that we can make money and so can you.The new spybots all have built in dummy bots that get detected and logged but aren't really spyware just detectable chaff to hide the real spyware ,Something like a dummy warhead on a MIRV !There's big money in tracing a users path and where users spend their time and what they buy online.

**Troll** · 08-29-2008, 12:09 AM

Originally Posted by megimoo

I recently read an article about an agreement made between people who write spyware and the the groups who make money selling spyware killers .The reasoning is thus ,If you kill all of the spybots we will go out of business but so will you . You should leave some bots alone so that we can make money and so can you.The new spybots all have built in dummy bots that get detected and logged but aren't really spyware just detectable chaff to hide the real spyware ,Something like a dummy warhead on a MIRV !There's big money in tracing a users path and where users spend their time and what they buy online.

A conspiracy! Well, I'm running the 'new' version of Spybot S&D, and for some reason, the 180,000 files it used to go through has gone up to 300,000. Something stinks here.

**megimoo** · 08-29-2008, 02:11 AM

Originally Posted by Troll

A conspiracy! Well, I'm running the 'new' version of Spybot S&D, and for some reason, the 180,000 files it used to go through has gone up to 300,000. Something stinks here.

I had a problem with old links to deleted code in my registry.Every time I find a new free version of regclean or some other named registry cleaner is that after it runs it will flag several thousand dead links and delete only a few for free.I refuse to pay for code the doesn't show what it actually does.I recently found some freeware written by a Swedish geek to clean up his hive and ran that.It reported a clean hive and recommended a reformat program that was also free .After a few false starts it made quite a difference in look up speed and the old for sale registry cleaner code still reports thousands of dead links !

**Chuck58** · 08-29-2008, 03:20 AM

SpyBot S&D, according to people on a security forum I read and post on hasn't really kept up with the latest threats. Some still use it, but most have moved on to other software. SuperAntiSpyware seems to be among the most favored now. It can be had either free or you can get a pay version.

My wife got hit with a rogue so called antivirus called Antivirus 2008. It took us all evening a couple of weeks ago to get rid of it. I finally checked at Wilders Security forum and superantispyware was recommended. SAS took care of it instantly. All traces gone, along with quite a few tracking cookies and a trojan that Norton missed.

I use a little freebie called Sandboxie, which I highly recommend. I don't even use antivirus any more. Nothing has ever gotten through Sandboxie. I ran SAS on my computer, which hasn't had any kind of check in over a year. It was clean. Not even a tracking cookie was found.

**Troll** · 08-29-2008, 11:58 PM

Chuck, I owe you one.

I ran the new version of S&D yesterday, and it picked up 52 spybots.

Today, I downloaded SAS and ran it. After an hour and a half, it had picked up 939 Adwares, 10 Malwares and 2 Trojans. I had to have a look at my checking account just to make sure I hadn't been robbed. :eek: I think I'm going to uninstall S&D now.

**Chuck58** · 08-30-2008, 01:23 AM

Don't thank me. Thank the guys at Wilder's security forum. They turned me onto it. It does work, and it does just about everything it says it will do, and no false positives to boot. You can bet all those were real.

Just a thought. Do you have your browser set to empty all cookies and history each time you close it? That'll get rid of most of the tracking cookies and some other stuff.

Or, try Sandboxie. It's got a very slight learning curve, especially if you download email. Otherwise, there's just one setting that needs to be made. Basically, it's a couple of clicks and click a box. What it does is stop anything that comes into Sandboxie from accessing the Internet, except whatever browser you use. That'll keep keyloggers and anything else from calling home.

**wulfpaw** · 09-07-2008, 04:58 AM

Try Spywareblaster, http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html It's a good preventitive, free-to-use with free updates, too.

**DarkHalo** · 09-07-2008, 11:38 AM

Never rely on a single spyware detector program. They all have holes in what they can detect. I always use at least two to get better coverage. I usually use Spybot Search and Destroy and Ad Aware.

**wulfpaw** · 11-14-2008, 04:47 AM

Here's some other good free programs: http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/ One's a registry backup/recovery tool, and the others a registry optimizer, to speed up your system.