DELETE SPYWARE -- I am hunting for at least five different kinds of spyware that have hijacked my laptop. The clean-up process starts with scanning my laptop for spyware and adware.
You need to scan your PC for spyware and adware if
- you spend several hours a week surfing the web,
- you share music files or photos with other users,
- you download freeware or shareware applications,
- you share your computer with other users .
I am using Spyhunter from DeleteSpyware.net because the recommendation came to my blog through Google Adsense after I posted information about my problem. Thanks in advance for other suggestions.
Update 24 March 2004. Norton Anti-Virus refuses to launch. The main process running the CPU to 100% usage is svchost.exe and it will not relegate to a lower priority. Stopping it causes the machine to reboot. All other complex tasks (Photoshop, Flash) feel like they are running on a 286 computer. Ran online scan from Closed Socket and found nothing unusual. Total troubleshooting time spent: 1.5 hours.
Update 25 March 2004. Spy Hunter found and eliminated SeekSeek, a parasite that was not redirecting my browser. After removal, Norton refuses to run. CPU usage still at 100%. Total troubleshooting time spent: 2.2 hours.
Update 26 March 2004. After turning off System Restore and kicking off two separate restarts, Trend Micro found remnants of the NETSKY and BAGLE.GEN-1 worms. However, both worms were locked down in Norton Quarantine already, so it's unlikely they caused my problem. The worms came as attachments to files. I must get a mail service that scans and delete unwanted attachments. I do not get that service from Ireland Online. Total troubleshooting time spent: 3.7 hours.
Update 27 March 2004. Ensured universal plug and play was disabled. Steve Gibson explains why. Ensured System Restore was disabled. Checked for down.com, ntrootkit.reg, MSDN.exe and the Welchia worm but they were not in my computer. Reinstalled Windows XP Pro. CPU usage remains at 100%. Still cannot download and install critical updates from Microsoft. Total troubleshooting time spent: 8.8 hours.
Update 28 March 2004. Ran online scan from RAV AntiVirus and it detected Win 32/RpcDcom.gen virus in the program System32\systems.exe. Renamed that file to non-executable. On reboot, system CPU usage drops to no more than 16%. Ran complete scan with Norton Anti-Virus and it quarantined the renamed file. System running up to three different svchost.exe sessions but CPU usage stays below 30% even with Photoshop open. Total troubleshooting time spent: 11.3 hours.
4 April 2004. System running normally but some online sockets appear damaged as I am unable to check mail with Eudora. That's minor. The svchost.exe problem is sorted without reformatting the hard drive.
Irish Typepad -- "Killing spyware"
Boards.ie -- "svchost.exe"
Mick Twomey -- "spyware removal tools"
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