PestPatrol ---> say no to spyware, adware, and browser hijacking

[Angelic Demon]

I recently did an online scan for pests and found a myriad of them. Lots I haven't even heard of before. Unfortunately, PestPatrol doesn't clean the pests for me. In order to clean them, I would have to purchase it. Does anyone know of any free pest killers? Thanks in advance.

[cdroman]

http://www.safer-networking.org/
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/

Spybot and adaware are good and free. Use them both, what one misses the other may get.

[Angelic Demon]

thank you, you were a great help. I was wondering ... after some fiddlying around with the pests, the icons at the lower right hand corner of my screen have disappeared, even McaFee Virus scan, and the ATI resolution stuff ... does anyone know why?

[r8500]

reboot and see if they come back

[Angelic Demon]

yeah i've tried a few times actually, and they dont' seem to work ... weird ...

[r8500]

What version of windows?

[Angelic Demon]

Operating System: Windows 2000 Professional (5.0, Build 2195) Service Pack 4
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: n/a
System Model: n/a
BIOS: Default System BIOS
Processor: AMD Athlon(TM) XP 2500+, MMX, 3DNow, ~1.8GHz
Memory: 512MB RAM
Page File: 216MB used, 1030MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINNT
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0b (4.09.0000.0902)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.0001.0902 32bit Unicode

[r8500]

Did you run any registry cleaners?

[Angelic Demon]

hmmm, I dont' believe so. After I found the many pests i had in my computer, i quickly downloaded a myriad of programs to help me get rid of them. Unluckily however, they were not designed to clean them, so I had to clean them manually. I fiddled around with the stuff until the detectors can't detect the pests anymore. I also cleaned a few registry "CSLID" or something alike. But it seems as if by repair the programs, the systray icons appear again ... interesting ...

[G]

Why not simply use the PestPatrol (PP) trialware version for now. Update where applicable, scan, and remove.

Sometimes it is just worth buying the program that works than spending so much time trying to haphazardly repair manually and failing to find the fix.

These commercial programs, e.g., PP, are for corporations too so you are almost guaranteed that the program will have to be up to the task and under constant scrutiny and development.

If you want freeware then try Ad-Aware and Spybot.

I use PP as my main spyware, scumware program and it has never let me down.

Ad-Aware and Spybot have fixes for about 10,000 pests; PP has 30,000 fixes.

You may have inadvertently authorised the removal of the startup Reg keys or entries for the programs that should have loaded. Either go to the programs, if they still work, and uncheck (if checked) and then check to start up with Windows. Reboot and see if this fixes the problem.

Otherwise you may need you uninstall and reinstall the applications etc.

Not all Windows Registry cleaners are robust. The ones I recommend are RegVac and Ace Utilities. Otherwise, I clean, modify, delete, and create my own subkeys, keys, and entries manually.

[Johnny Fist]

I'm going to agree with G for a change. Although I have neve used Pest Patrol, if its like any of the other software I've used, it probably disabled the startup items in the registry. I think in windows 2000 you want to look at HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Run to see if its empty or not. If it is, then simply run the software thats been disabled and make sure its set to load at startup again.

[G]

:D