Monday, April 27, 2009

There’s Nothing Total About Totalantispyware

I was happily browsing away on my computer last week when the totalantispyware pop ups started. I knew that getting pop ups meant that I had been infected with spyware, but I figured it was no big deal and didn’t bother to do anything about it. After all, I’m not stupid enough to believe that the “full version” of totalantispyware is going to do me any good, and I’m certainly not going to believe any so-called error reports that this uninvited bug kept trying to shove in my face. So, my logic of “let it be” seemed like an appropriate choice at the time.

Until the pop ups started happening so frequently that it felt like I was spending all of my time closing windows that is. When my browser started to magically redirect itself my concern grew, but it wasn’t until my computer started to freeze up and run so slowly that I couldn’t get anything done that I got annoyed enough to spring into action. I had one of those free antispyware scanners on my computer, which I decided to run as a first line of defense. I know, I know, I should have done that to begin with, but as it turns out my lack of attention didn’t matter. I ran the scanner and it came up showing that there was nothing wrong with my machine!

Now I was starting to get irritated. There certainly was something wrong, and it needed to be fixed now! So I went over to a friend’s house to use her spyware-free machine and see what I could dig up on this little bugger.

It turns out that I most likely got infected with totalantispyware when I was trying to download some video codec that I needed and had unknowingly downloaded spyware instead. Still unwilling to pay for anything, I found some manual removal instructions online and followed the removal protocol. It worked wonderfully and I enjoyed a full afternoon of pop up free surfing. Much to my dismay however, totalantispyware was back in full force when I rebooted my machine the next morning!

This was getting to be too much. I resisted the urge to throw my computer out the window and relieve some tension by smashing it to bits and instead called my geeky, gaming brother in South Dakota to ask him if he had any bright ideas.

As luck would have it, he did. He knew right off the bat that I’d been infected with rogue antispyware and told me that the reason it had returned after my painstaking search and destroy was that I had missed one of its hidden files. Turns out the sneaky little buggers are much like ivy – they can regenerate themselves so long as any piece of them is left on the machine. He also told me my free antispyware scanner had missed it because it probably wasn’t strong enough. Little did I know that most of those freebies only catch about 75% of any given spyware on a machine.

He then recommended that I save myself the headache of trying again and just buck up and invest in some quality antispyware so that I wouldn’t have to deal with this problem again. He told me that something called SpyZooka was the only product that guaranteed 100% removal and that he’d appreciate it if I’d download it and stop bugging him.

Well, I did and I couldn’t be happier. SpyZooka found totalantispyware and removed it right off the bat. Even better, I haven’t had problems since. If you too would like to save yourself the trouble, you can get started with a free scan here: http://www.spyzooka.com.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Does Total Security Provide Any Security?

Total Security, supposedly an anti-spyware application, is a clone of Total Virus Protection. It is a rogue that does nothing to remove threats from your pc. It is most often installed by trojan viruses to display fake security alerts. If you aren't familiar with spyware, what it does, and how to remove it, you definitely need to read this information.

Spyware is software that gets placed on your computer, and you are usually unaware of this. The most common sources of these malicious applications are freeware, weather, free online games and messenger programs. It can also be picked up from undesirable websites you visit. Some of these programs pose high security threats, while others are not as threatening. However, any and all of them need to be removed promptly.

While there are authentic anti-spyware applications that are designed for this purpose, Total Security isn't one of them. This fake will display security alerts to you in order to convince you that there are viruses and other parasites on your pc. Usually, there are no threats on your computer. This is simply an attempt to make you believe there are, so that you will purchase their product to remove it. Avoid doing this, as Total Security can actually add threats that weren't there before.

Many people have heard of spyware, but don't really understand what it does. This software actually follows what you are doing when you are online. It tracks your online searches, the websites you visit, and can even get your passwords and other information. Spyware collects this information in order to relay it to third party sites. What happens then? You need to be informed, because certain applications can be a threat to your personal identity.

These sites will send you advertisements, usually pop-up and banner ads. Sometimes you will also get spam emails containing information that are related to your online searches. Other things that you may notice if your computer is infected is a slow performing pc, changed homepage, or new toolbar in your browser. Spyware can be very dangerous, and actually corrupt your files or cause your pc to crash. You must remove it!

Anti-spyware applications work by scanning your pc for viruses, trojans, and other parasites. These programs will then remove the infections in order to restore security to your computer. Beware of rogue applications like Total Security, as they perform fake scans and alert you of problems that don't exist. They want your money, and there are many such fakes out there. If a message pops up to alert you of threats, don't click on such ads. Find a legitimate product to check your computer for viruses and other threats.

Even most authentic anti-spyware applications don't perform as they should, often leaving traces of infection on your pc. This requires the purchase of another product to restore complete security.

Do you believe that Total Security or other infections are present on your computer? Click here to scan your computer now!

Advanced Spyware Detector Removal

Have you heard of a program by the name of advanced spyware detector? If so, and it is on your system, chances are that you are looking for a method of removing it permanently from your system. If you have not yet heard of advanced spyware detector, consider yourself lucky. But good fortune does not always last, and it pays to educate yourself on the potential dangers that await you in cyberspace. This article will provide you with the information you need to protect yourself from advanced spyware detector. Moreover, it will explain what you need to do to remove advanced spyware detector from your system if you are presently – or ever become – infected with this program.

Advanced spyware detector is a rogue antispyware program (or fake antispyware program, depending on terminology). In other words, advanced spyware detector poses as an antispyware program but is in reality nothing of the sort. Rather, advanced spyware detector is more of a problem than a solution. Advanced spyware detector purports to detect and remove spyware from your system, but in most instances it reports false positives. Now why would a program report that there are threats to your system when in reality there are none? The answer to this is quite simple: To make money. Advanced spyware detector claims that there are threats to your system and then tells you that the only solution is downloading its full product to save your computer. Do not be fooled!

If you begin receiving pop up advertisements from advanced spyware detector you can be sure to expect some problems with the way in which your computer operates. Advanced spyware detector installs itself to your system via a Trojan horse virus, which should immediately indicate how problematic this program can be. And while the symptoms of advanced spyware detector are quite bad in and of themselves, the virus will surely install other malicious programs to your system unless you do something about permanently removing it.

Here is what could happen: You will receive a plethora of unwanted pop up advertisements telling from advanced spyware detector and other undesirable sources. Your home page can be routinely reset to undesirable sources. You will be redirected to places on the internet you have no desire to visit. Your computer will run programs and processes without your permission. Your system will operate slowly and sluggishly. In short, your system will run as if it has a mind of its own and you will become extremely frustrated with how your system works.

So clearly you want to remove advanced spyware detector from your system. The first step should always be to remove it manually from your computer. However, this will not ensure that it remains off of your system, as the Trojan horse virus will likely remain planted on your hard drive. As such, you need to find a viable and permanent solution to your advanced spyware detector problem. Until you do, you can count on your computer progressively getting worse.

There is one product by the name of Spyzooka which is guaranteed to remove advanced spyware detector from your system. For a free scan of your PC by Spyzooka, visit www.spzooka.com.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

How I Learned that totalprotect2009 is Evil

I never realized just how dangerous surfing the Internet could be until I fell prey to totalprotect2009. I really thought that everything was safe and that you could only get infected by viruses and spyware by visiting really bad websites. Needless to say, I was wrong and naïve. This is how I learned my lesson.

I had been surfing the Internet and doing some research because I had just got a new pet. I was looking at my search engine results and clicked on a link that looked promising. Instead of being taken to the website that I was looking for, I was taken somewhere else.

There were some peculiar ads on that page and when I tried to leave a message popped up. It asked if I really wanted to leave. I clicked “OK” and for some reason it took longer to get back to the previous page. I didn’t really think anything about it at the time.

It wasn’t until later that I thought back on the incident and realized that I shouldn’t have clicked on that pop-up message. I thought about it because another message popped up on my desktop that warned me that my computer was infected with malicious software. I closed out the message, but soon after that another warning popped up. I thought it was weird, but I clicked on the message and my browser opened up.

I was taken to the website totalprotect2009.com. I didn’t want to buy it, so I closed the browser. Then, about ten minutes later, another message popped up warning me that my computer was infected. I sighed and realized that I really was infected. So, I did a search on totalprotect2009 and discovered that it had probably infected my computer when I clicked that original message.

I tried to manually remove it, following the instructions on a website. It took me quite a while to figure out where all the files and folders were, as well as delete them. The registry cleaning was the hardest part. I was proud when I had removed it. But the next day when I started up my machine, I got another pop-up message! Totalprotect2009 had been reinstalled!

I decided that needed some help. I began looking for an antispyware program. I found a few of them that I thought were good and I started to compare them. In the end, I settled for the one that I thought was the best. After my research I thought that SpyZooka would do the best job.

SpyZooka was the only antispyware that was guaranteed to remove 100% of spyware from my computer. It had also won a bunch of 5 star awards. Plus, since the company that sells SpyZooka is a member of the Better Business Bureau, I really felt that I could trust them. Thanks to SpyZooka my computer has been spyware free ever since.

If you want to know if totalprotect2009 has infected your computer, then visit www.spyzooka.com to learn about their free scan.