Spyware

[Chris from Washington]

msconfig

go to the startup tab, and see what is starting when you boot the computer.
If you see anything really odd, go to google and type the name in. You can usually find out what it is, and if you need it. If you don't need it, uncheck it.
reboot, and see what happens.

[Dragon_fire]

^^ agree + Run linux
OR

erase your whole harddrive and never use it agian, its almost impossible to not get spyware in one way shape or form without hindering your internet experiance. Spyware+adaware = the best bet. Run every sunday morning, anything that isnt deleted you have to delete yourself. Learn your way around the registry. pay attention to path names. Clear out your temp files, ALL OF THEM once a week. STOP LOOKING AT PORN. and uh...yeah..it sucks but you gotta keep on top of it. KNow the sites you go too.

[Chris from Washington]

there is also a program, that you can use to look for programs that hijack IE. I wanna say it's called hijackthis. or something like that.

It looks for 3rd party software that is installed to IE.

[Chris from Washington]

Best bet..

Firefox :)

been using it for about 6 months, and I get almost no spyware/adware installed now.

[Dragon_fire]

Hijack this does not tell you whats what. It mearly prints out the information from registry and msconfig of what is currently running and what is set to run at start up. You still have to know whats what. But it does give you a nice easy to read print out to show others that can help.

[Dragon_fire]

http://www.informationweek.com/story/sh ... =163101408

[Chris from Washington]

That's right, didn't it give suggestions too?

I can't remember, I only used it a couple times about a year ago.

[Dragon_fire]

as far as my understanding Hijackthis does not give recommendations.Its supposed to be used in conjuction with an experianced user.

[MrSo0h0o]

try Avant Browser.. i have been using it over a year and i LOVE it, from built in ad blocking, to tabbed web pages.. havent gotten a virus since.. and i am like a computer neat freak in which i keep my computer nice and tidy inside..

[Jonathan]

Firefox kills IE in performance and security, Opera is very good as well. Nearly anything is good after using Internet Explorer, though.