confused...

sauv

hey lads i'm just wondering if anyone has had a similar problem.
i have norton antivirus and when i run it it always detects "non-virus" threats called "adware..."

what are thhese and are they really a risk???
can they be deleted??

MrJoeSoap

Download Hitman Pro 2 and run it every so often to get rid of Adware.

Link: http://members.home.nl/mloman/hitmanpro233.exe

Adware or advertising-supported software is any software package which automatically plays, displays, or downloads advertising material to a computer after the software is installed on it or while the application is being used.

Static M.e.

This should give you some introduction stolen from Castlecops.com wiki

What are these ?
Adware

Malware designed to display advertisements (generally popups) on your computer. Subclasses include Browser hijackers (changes your browser homepage and search settings to drive traffic to certain sites) and drive-by downloads which are malware installed while browsing a webpage (technically, this describes how adware is installed and should belong to the first dimension). Note: Many adware also track user behavior to help customize adverts or otherwise help market research and are often also considered spyware.

can they be deleted??

Yes loads of packages out at the moment that will do this.
Ad aware, hit man pro ....

This is just a very simple intro btw, if you want more precise info, let me know

Also if you want to get rid of adware / spyware etc you might be better off posting under Comp / Tech or OS / Windows, not flaming or anything, I just think you would get a better response

sauv

thanks lads,
i firstly got hitman which crashed so i got ad aware but it found quiite a big list of critical objects, which ones should i delete?? i heard that if u delete some of these files they could be required for other programmes and it could ruin them.
just so u know it found things called "istbars, crackspiders, DyFuCA, powerscan, tracking cookies, posible browser hijack attemps and MRU files"
which ones would be safe to delete and which one should i not???
thanks again in advance

Capt'n Midnight

to the layperson the distinction between viruses and trojans which your antivirus program will remove and adware/spyware which your antivirus program won't remove unless you pay extra is hard to define.

All of them are installed on your PC without your permission, all slow your system down, all do undesirable things, they use the same sort of tricks to hide / prevent you uninstalling. Both are usually caught off web sites these days.

It makes me mad when an antivirus company tries to extort money from joe public for only doing half a job..

also get and use
spybot search and destroy, microsoft antispyware, spyware blaster
use Opera or FireFox instead of Internet Explorer.

IE can't be trusted MsBlaster hole lay undetected for 8 years, the WMF one closer to 15 years, who knows what else lies beneath

r3nu4l

sauv wrote:

thanks lads,
i firstly got hitman which crashed so i got ad aware but it found quiite a big list of critical objects, which ones should i delete?? i heard that if u delete some of these files they could be required for other programmes and it could ruin them.
just so u know it found things called "istbars, crackspiders, DyFuCA, powerscan, tracking cookies, posible browser hijack attemps and MRU files"
which ones would be safe to delete and which one should i not???
thanks again in advance

For massively detailed information go to www.castlecops.com, check out the articles and forums section on Spyware and HiJack This. The 1st responders on this site will help you out and you should follow their advice. Be careful of taking the advice of anyone who is not a 1st responder or Special Team leader.

Cheers,
r3nu4l