spyware

Infopackets Reader Doug L. writes: " Dear Dennis, After reading your wonderful acticle on GuruNet , I downloaded and installed it on my machine. To my surprise, my Spyware detection utility (SpyDoctor) reported GuruNet as a malware BHO (Browser ... Helper Object). Can you comment on this? " Side note: a Browser Helper Object is a 'plug-in' for Internet Explorer which allows software developers to customize and control browsing sessions. BHO's are typically instantiated [initialized] by .DLL files which are located in the Windows System / System32 folder. My response: Unfortunately, your ... (view more)

This feature article is a step away from our normal discussions, as I am currently out of town visiting a friend in Toronto, Ontario for the next few days. RE: My encounter with the Backdoor.Agent.B Trojan I arrived at Frank's place in Toronto this ... past Sunday, and was unable to access the Internet until Wednesday. Unfortunately, Frank's computer was host to 35 virus-infected files, 7 Spyware variants, 4 Trojans, and 2 Internet worms (including MyDoom and SoBig) -- and he didn't even know it. I spent much of Monday and Tuesday "undoing" the damage caused by the malware. I have to ... (view more)

This feature article is a step away from our normal discussions, as I am currently out of town visiting a friend in Toronto, Ontario for the next few days. RE: My encounter with the Backdoor.Agent.B Trojan I arrived at Frank's place in Toronto this ... past Sunday, and was unable to access the Internet until Wednesday. Unfortunately, Frank's computer was host to 35 virus-infected files, 7 Spyware variants, 4 Trojans, and 2 Internet worms (including MyDoom and SoBig) -- and he didn't even know it. I spent much of Monday and Tuesday "undoing" the damage caused by the malware. I have to ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Betsy S. writes: " Dear Dennis, I am such a beginner on the computer, but enjoy reading your newsletters (even though some topics are way over my head)! I'm writing you today because I am concerned about some of the freeware ... programs that are mentioned -- not only in your newsletter -- but on other web sites, as well. I just read your article on " How to Visually trace down a Hacker ", and I was very interested in downloading VisualZone and trying it out on my machine. My question is: Don't hackers often use 'free' software to get into your computer? How can ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Frances D. writes: " Dear Dennis, I have a problem getting my home page as well as other web pages to pull up. My email pulls up, and sends fine. Sometimes, when I access Internet explorer, it tries to connect, but then reports an ... error message. Other times it will slowly pull up and stop at the half way mark. It tells me it is connecting to site 127.0.0.1. What the heck is site 127.0.0.1? I have contacted my Internet Service Provider and they have told me a number of things to try, but nothing has worked. Is this my computer or is it an Internet problem? " My ... (view more)

Recall -- Last week, I wrote a review on WinGuides Registry Mechanic . Since then, a number of users have contacted me with Kudos and Questions in regard to the article. Infopackets Reader 'Marv MnM' writes: " Hi Dennis, I have been a subscriber to ... your newsletter for quite some time and have learned a lot from it. This time, I feel compelled to comment on your latest recommendation, Registry Mechanic . First, let me say that I'm not a techie nor a very advanced user, just a 73 year old who enjoys his computer and tries to keep it squeaky clean from viruses, spam, Spyware, and the like. ... (view more)

Have you ever stopped to read the headlines that make news on the Internet? Fact: Almost one in every three Internet users in the United States has been hit by either a computer virus or a hacker in the past two years.(1) Fact: In just 24 hours, the ... 'MSBlast' Internet worm exploded onto some 120,000 Windows computers around the world.(2) Overall, MSBlast has infected an estimated 8 million PCs,(3) while damage from the worm is about $525 million USD.(4) Fact: Internet security and privacy issues frequently dominate news headlines as hackers repeatedly infiltrate computers connected to the ... (view more)

Last week, Infopackets Reader Cospul warned me of a problem he had with a browser enhancement, called MyWebSearch: " I downloaded and installed [the browser plug-in] only to find out that it hijacked my Internet Explorer ... Whatever [web site I ... visit, MyWebSearch either displays their site or an error message]. ... I emailed the Mywebsearch [support many times], but they have not [provided any useful technical advice]. I even hired a certified Microsoft technician to fix the problem -- but after a week, all they could tell me was that Mywebsearch acts like a virus (no kidding!). I can't ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Paul B. writes: " Hi Dennis! I recently downloaded a free Spyware removal program called AdAware 6.0. The problem is that I am not sure what settings are safe to remove and which ones are safe to omit after it scans my system? ... ... Can you help? " My response: I have received a number of related questions pertaining to this issue, so I will do my best to explain. RE: how does Spyware get identified? AdAware and similar Spyware removal tools work by comparing Spyware signatures against known offenders present in a database. A Spyware signature can be part of a file ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Lorraine M. writes: " Dear Dennis, Way too often while I am online, I receive an error message that says: 'Iexplore has caused an error in BTLINK.DLL. Iexplore will now close.' This seems to happen out of the blue and it is ... extremely annoying. Each time it happens, it takes me off the web site I'm visiting and back to the Windows desktop. How can I stop this from happening? " My response: I went to Google and researched "BTLINK.DLL". From what I understand, the BTLINK.DLL file is part of a Spyware program, called HuntBar. In a nutshell, HuntBar docs ... (view more)