Slotchbar & Altnet

[Stealthmode]

For some reason, I can't shake these two guys. (Altnet,slotchbar)
I had these show up on a scan done with Spyware Doctor 2.1.
I was bombarded one evening with pop ups because I forgot to arm my Po pup Stopper Companion. All kinds of stuff was installed on my PC. I went back and removed what I could and then ran up to 4 or 5 different spyware progs. My spyware doctor found most and supposedly removed them. Well when I would reboot my PC and run the scan again, the 2 mentioned above still show up. I since then reformatted my PC and found they still exist. how can I get rid of these two. Slotchbar is the more serious threat. It is just The Spyware Doctor that detects these two items. I also Ran Ad aware SE Personal 1.05, Spy bot "Search and Destroy" 1.3. X Cleaner Full. These did not detect them.

Oh, Info you : AluriasoftSoftwares "Spyware Eliminator" comes equipped with 007 keylogger, some ad ware and spyware. I would say approx 18 items. I found out after doing my first scan with Spyware doctor while Spyware Eliminator was installed. I then removed the keyloggers and spyware with the doctor and found later my Spyware Eliminator software would not function. I then reinstalled it and ran another scan with the doctor and there the entries were once again. Can you believe it? I'm going to exact a refund.

Running Windows XP Home Without SP2

[photolady]

Live and Learn, right? Sorry but there only two spyware detectors I trust and both do the job intended of them, plus they are both free. Spyware Search and Destroy and Adaware SE. Both are in the link below:

http://discussions.virtualdr.com/sho...hreadid=167915

I suggest you run both after uninstalling "Spyware Eliminator" and see what they find. Remove all they find. Each program needs updating before use and each program will do a backup before allowing you to fix any problems found.

[SuperSparks]

I agree with Photolady that Spybot and Adaware are all you really need. But Spyware Eliminator is a well respected product, I would reinstall it and run a scan with Spybot and Adaware. If they don't find any malware then it would rather suggest that Spyware Doctor is one of the bogus spyware removal programs out there. Though I'm unable to find any definite info that it is.

False positives like that are one of the tricks used by bogus apps, and are a good way of making people remove genuine apps such as Spyware Eliminator.

[Stealthmode]

I'll Give it a try as far as uninstalling the Doctor reinstalling Spware Eliminator and checking with both Spybot and Adaware SE. Do these two detect keyloggers as well? I also use Pest Patrol to find keyloggers and sometimes Agnitums Tauscan 1.7 for trojans.

Now lets just say certain spyware and keyloggers are undetected by the two more popular spyware utilities. That's always a possibility. It could be the Spyware Doctor is a more thorough application. This I don't know. I hate the dishonesty in software vendors who incorporate these tacticts (false positives) as a tool to increase sales. None of the other spyware applications detect what keeps showing up after the Spyware Doctor Scans, including my Pest Patrol App.

I just checked the review on a new spyware removal app called Giant. This one sounds like it's leading the pack in this catagory. It's new and has a larger definition db than all out there now.
It rated second to Spyware eliminator only because it is new. I don't know about this Spyware Eliminator. I guess I can check it out again seeing how I paid for it.

Thanks for your input

[Vernon Frazee]

http://discussions.virtualdr.com/sho...hreadid=176367

[HAN]

Stealthmode: After reading through this, I wonder if you might be willing to consider using an alternative browser than IE??? Say Firefox or Opera?

They aren't perfect... One prime example, if a site requires the use of ActiveX (like Windows update) they won't render those pages. So one still needs to keep IE for those sites.

But to a huge extent, they are much safer and far less likely to become infected with the kinds of pests you are chasing after.

I am a fairly conservative surfer. So my chances of becoming infected with baddies is not the highest. And, I'm not the best example of being a risk tester. But with that in mind, since switching to Firefox, I have tested 100% clean for adware/spyware. I also switched all of the PCs at work to Firefox and they too have been ok ever since. (Before the switch was a completely different story!)

Anyway, something to consider...

[Stealthmode]

Good Advice Han! I do currently have Opera on my pc and have Firefox ready and waiting. I just didn't know a whole lot about these browsers and how secure they are. I know they were recommended by a Microsoft representative here in the recent past due to an IE vulnerability.

Excellent link Vernon! Good information! I had no idea this was going on with Aluriasoft. All I know is that once installed SpywareDoctor detected 007 keylogger and several pieces of adware. When I would remove them, Spyware eliminator ceased to work. I see I have wasted my money and will proceed in removing it permanently. Thanks for the Info.

I guess Spyware Doctor is a keeper for now