Guide to Detection and Removal Of Malware

Dan Sippy, Apr 29, 2007 1800 hrs IST

Is your PC acting strange? Maybe it's sick. Here's a prescription that should make it feel better!

EXPERT REVIEW

Symptoms

There are several symptoms of Spyware and Adware taking over your PC, and how dangerous these are depends on its level.

Certain spyware could just be slowing your system down whereas some of them download Trojans and Viruses to your system to further infect it. Any message telling you that your system is infected with spyware when you haven't installed an anti-spyware is a form of Spyware on its own. This is one of the most dangerous types of Spyware as it disguises itself as an Anti-Spyware, telling you that you have spyware on your system and you need to install that Anti-Spyware to remove it. After installing itself it takes over different parts of your system, this you'll notice only when you won't be able to open some system tools or your system restarts if you try to use them.

Now I know that some of you already have your security software installed on your PC and think that you're safe. But trust me, you re not. The best way to tackle these problems is by using certain software that the good geeks of the world have invented for us. Some of them are listed below:

Cleanup 4.52 - Deletes Temporary Files
CCleaner - Deletes Temporary Files and Unwanted Registry Files. Can also Uninstall Programs.
HijackThis - Detects security threats in the registry.
KillBox - Capable of deleting any file. Used when a certain file cannot be deleted (incase of some Malware).

Now some of these you may know of, whereas some you won't. I shall now explain what they can be used for.

USER COMMENTS

i am very sure that this information is going to help me a lot...thanks a ton

by varun tuteja, delhi, on Oct 10, 2007 08:43 AM, Report abuse Reply

Very much thank you. Your article was very informative.

by novaeroger, chennai, on Oct 09, 2007 06:24 PM, Report abuse Reply

by manish, New delhi, on May 27, 2007 08:30 PM, Report abuse Reply

pleaz i want to know what type of viruses that can Prevent openning partitions and show strange symbols Instead of open & explore in the partition short menu.

by amr sayed, cairo, on May 26, 2007 01:04 PM, Report abuse Reply

i think kaspersky has a slight advantage over the Symantec AV because the intelligence of av matters when it comes to keeping the pc at best........

by pardhusamanth, chennai, on May 01, 2007 01:03 PM, Report abuse Reply

AD-AWARE ROCKS!!!

by CHINTAN, MUMBAI, on Apr 30, 2007 08:35 PM, Report abuse Reply

well i for ie users spybot is certainly the best imo.coupled with winpatrol and avg

by abcd, acd, on Apr 30, 2007 07:11 PM, Report abuse Reply

guys@ this is jus 2 basic.....atleast for my level but good though for newbies..

by Vishal_Kadakia, mumbai, on Apr 30, 2007 05:37 PM, Report abuse Reply

iv had horrible experiences with some wicked rootkits...it takes a lot of effort to clean those up! AASE does the cleaning well, and Symantec AV helps too...

by Shoel, Mumbai, on Apr 30, 2007 03:29 PM, Report abuse Reply

Nice review; However Spybot is missing in the list!!

by FreeGuy, Mumbai, on Apr 30, 2007 12:31 PM, Report abuse Reply

good samaritan... nice work bro.. keep helping us with many of these..

by siva, pune, on Apr 30, 2007 10:47 AM, Report abuse Reply

Use MSconfig and Hijackthis to identify running dll's and exe's. From system32 directory. Check on file details of Any suspesious looking file. Most trojans will not have version and revision history. Search about this file on the web and you will know what to do. Also having two OS's on a system is a good idea. Once you have found out about the infecting file, Boot in another OS and delete all traces manually. Remove registery entries using Hijackthis program.

by Dams, Mumbai, on Apr 29, 2007 09:43 PM, Report abuse Reply

Also, you can try running a sweep on your system using the Webroot "SpySweeper". We can periodically update the Virus Definitions and use online Virus detection and removal tools.

by Anandavalli, Bangalore, on Apr 30, 2007 10:06 AM, Report abuse

Use IE-SPYAD with ZonedOut to restrict Spyware sites. If you are using Firefox, use AdBlock-Plus along with a Filterset... I have also heard that the IE7Pro plugin for IE is good.

by tempest, chennai, on Apr 29, 2007 09:00 PM, Report abuse Reply

ver nice presentation and informative. It will help me.

by pranab bhattach, Kolkata 700 104, on Apr 29, 2007 07:06 PM, Report abuse Reply