Pop-ups & and spam mail

GenesisEDIT

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Joined
May 18, 2008
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44
Yep, pop-ups. :( Quite annoying to get minimized when you play TF2.
I got Spybot - Search & Destroy (low tech :p) but it is uncapable of removing the pop-ups. Anyone know any good, free, and free anti-virus program? :D
And, I got like, what, 3000+ spam email in my mailbox (don't know how, don't ask).
I've tried to block the sender but it didn't work (déjá vú) >.>
So, anyone know any free and working anti-spam-mail thingy? :p
My computer is really Steaming.
Please reply :)
 
I have used Avira myself for a few years now, and it is completely free for home use. You can buy an upgraded version if you use outlook or want an integrated "spybot" so to speak. The free version will do an excellent job. I like it so much that I decided to become a reseller of this product for my business. I have often found systems which where running MacAfee or Norton, and completely taken over by viruses and after installing Avira it took care of the whole problem. You can find Avira at www.avira.com
By the way, spy-bot search and destroy is much more effective when you immunize your system. You could install the tea-timer as well, but personally I don't like it, since it takes to much control (good for computer illiterates like my mom). If you have pop-ups, chances are very likely you contracted some kind of a Trojan or other mal-ware. Hands down, the combo of Avira and S&D has kept my personal system and that of other people I installed this for safe.
 
NoScript with Firefox is pretty darn good. Seriously.

I would also recommend getting a gmail email account for spam. Use it when you sign up for random forums, websites, applications. This will help keep spam out of your personal email.
 
If you're getting popups all the time, not just while browsing certain sites, you probably have some form of spyware. They're getting more malignant and harder to remove all the time. If spybot isn't working, and you've tried the alternatives people have already suggested, I hate to say it but you might have to reformat. Generally anti-virus software isn't going to catch and remove spyware.

Avoiding spyware is generally easier than removing it, sad to say. Use Firefox, don't click on ads, always say 'no' to installing anything while browsing (unless you're very sure about the source), and make sure you get your software from reliable sources. The listed firefox extensions can be very helpful in this regard. I will also second the suggestion of using spybot's immunization, although that works better on a clean machine.

If multiple people use the computer, consider making those more vulnerable to spyware (ie, younger users and those less computer literate) separate accounts that don't have administrative rights. If you use just one account, consider making it something that isn't administrator, and just use the administrator account for installing programs, etc.

As far as Spam goes, if you're getting quite a bit, it is probably safe to say your email address got posted someplace online and was farmed by spam bots or something of that nature. There's really no going back and getting less spam. The spam senders are really getting good at evading spam blocking and filtering software. A simple sender block really doesn't do anything. Again, I hate to say it, but if the situation is that bad, you probably will need to abandon the address or deal with the loads of spam it generates. Temporary or free email accounts (GMail was suggested, I believe) help if you need to sign up for something you think will generate spam mail. GMail's spam filters are also better than most, so there's another mark in the positive column for their service.

For your next, fresh, email account, I can provide some suggestions to stay spam-free. Never open the messages, or click on links in them. Don't post the address publicly in a forum or mailing list, website, etc. The Thunderbird email client (from the Mozilla team that makes Firefox) is pretty good about keeping small amounts of spam out and preventing security problems from malicious email.

If a site wants your email address for a 'free' account, consider using bugmenot.com, where people sign up for bogus free accounts and share the login details. You can also use a time-limited mail service like mailinator.com if you just need to receive an email real quick in order to log in to an account or something.

So, to summarize... if you're at this point (pop-ups all the time, and hundreds of spam mails a day), and nothing seems to fix it, you probably need to start fresh on your Windows install and email. Use this as a learning experience to figure out what to do to avoid this situation in the future. Lord knows I went through a good dozen email accounts and any number of reformats before I got the system I have today - very few spam messages and the same WinXP install for the last 5 years or so.

Good luck!
 
Thanks alot for all the replies, guys!
I'll try some of the stuff you mentioned when I get back home (at a public computer ATM).
Thanks for your help :)
 
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/
These forums are the best on the net for spyware removal. If you have a virus that just won't go away (there are some out there) they can interpret a hijack this log (hijack this is a program that allows you to terminate and delete any active process. It is VERY powerful and VERY dangerous to use if you don't know how) for you and get rid of the virus permanently.
 
Well, if you're getting constant pop-ups, spam, and maybe even some slowdown, chances are, you've got spyware.

You should download a program called [link=http://www.trendsecure.com/portal/en-US/tools/security_tools/hijackthis/download]HijackThis[/link], run it, and post the log file somewhere they can handle it for you. Posting it on bleepingcomputer, castlecops, etc. will get the situation handled, but it may take time. If you post the HijackThis log here, someone here should be able to get a fairly quick answer back to you, especially if it's something common.

I'm a little worried myself that it's probably a Virtumonde/Vundo/SmitFraud infection. Probably the most aggrivating spyware to remove. I've had to fix quite a few Virtumonde infections lately, so something's spreading it around.
 
Yes, it sounds like Spyware is the problem. ctrl + alt + del and see what processes are running under your windows username that you don't know about, there should be explorer.exe and taskmngr.exe, and maybe steam and a couple others that you know about like spybot. A lot of spyware contains processes that keep running and come back after you stop them. Find what process that might be, and google it to see what others say to do. For now though, break away from the pain and suffering of IE and get Firefox!! It is the fastest growing browser on the market. Firefox 3 comes out next month, and is supposed to be the fastest browser on the market then. It blocks most popups. For the spam problem I would highly reccomend gmail. Google Mail has a great spam filter, I usually have about 300 or so filtered out per day with ZERO spam in my inbox whatsoever. It's free, and if you don't want to change emails right now, use POP forwarding. Gmail has about 6.5+ gig of space. Endless. I have 3000 non-spam emails that I have simply archived and sit in my all mail folder. Guess how much space I use? 3%...Hope this helps!!
 
mozilla, if he runs HijackThis and posts a log, it'll let us all know what processes are running in the background and let us get to the bottom of the issue.

Also, Mozilla isn't much more secure than IE. Especially if it stays on the "fastest growing" browser track. When mozilla-based browsers are used by enough people to make targetting them significant, it'll happen. Unless I'm mistaken, there's already plenty of spyware that can attack through either browser.
 
Your absolutely right Ephyu. Firefox and IE can't stop a lot of spyware. It's a better popup blocker than IE, but is still definitely subject to plenty of spyware. I don't know how he got that on his computer, but neither browser could have stopped it. It could've been a download, we may never know. Thanks for the info on Firefox, it makes sense, and I hope everyone with that browser doesn't feel 100% secure.
 
Well, if what he got is one of the variants of Virtumonde/Vundo/SmitFraud/etc. that I've been dealing with lately, I don't even think browsers are the issue most of the time. Even very knowledgable computer users I've helped with it (the kind that don't go to questionable sites, have properly configured security, and don't go around clicking "Yes" to every pop-up they see) have gotten this virus. The computers at my father's workplace were infected about a month ago with the same thing, and they've got crazily restrictive web filters and security in place. I know a friend of mine, without even visiting a website, got it shortly after her mother's computer was infected. As far as I can tell, the spyware (or the dropper for it) is network-aware and can even manage to spread over a direct-connect (on something like AIM) or through some types of pseudo-LAN programs like Hamachi.

It's also disgustingly difficult to remove, as it somehow manages to continue locking itself down and replicating even in safe mode, prevents its dll files from being unregistered, and has taken 1-6 hours each time I've had to deal with it to remove. The worst two times involved running several virus scanners in safe mode and then running ComboFix, which is a bit of a risky program to run, as well as manually deleting all the various replicated files it shoves in random places in your computer. I even saw one instance where it duplicated every program that was allowed by the computer's firewall and infected those. It re-named the actual applications to include a space ("aim .exe" instead of "aim.exe") and replaced the original file-names with a wrapper that included a copy of the spyware but still launched the appropriate program so you wouldn't notice the shortcut was broken. This made it VERY hard to eliminate every trace.

It also manages to survive re-installing Windows if you do anything short of formatting the drive, according to someone who tried fixing it before I got the chance to help. That user may have tried to run a previously infected program, though, and re-infected the new install. Not sure.

Still, I hope it's just something simple for Genesis' sake.
 
I had Vundo/Smitfraud. It came back. I haven't tried to fix it since :P. Once I figure out how and when I'm going to re-format my computer, I'm doin it. Deleted 19 gigs of music off my computer already! :(
 

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