Extremely intrusive spyware / ads -- how to remove?

Hey, recently I started having a serious problem with ads and such. I would get pop up ads on every single web site that I went to, even those that never used popups. Something is causing popups to be displayed no matter where I go. In fact, if I just type in random junk as the address and get a DNS error, I still get a popup!. Also, this is more serious: 2 different programs install on my computer all the time without my permission! I can easily uninstall them but still.. they shouldn't be there in the first place! (The programs are called WeatherCast and Clock Sync)

I noticed that if I turn off ActiveX, the programs won't load but then I won't be able to view half the web pages I go to properly.

I believe have traced this down to some sort of browser extension that my mom might have accidentally clicked "yes" to. Is there any way to check what browser extensions have been installed? and how would I remove them?
I already have AdAware but it doesn't solve this problem.

Try SpyBot, much better than AdAware IMO.

I second SpyBot. That has removed a lot of spyware on my computer that Adaware didn't catch.

wow, the SpyBot thingy found like 37 items that AdAware didn't catch. Hopefully I won't have any more problems. :D

thanks guys

Any one know where I Can find it? See ifg I have anything hiding on my sys?

Spybot AdAware

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Originally posted by phelan1777
Any one know where I Can find it? See ifg I have anything hiding on my sys?

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www.download.com

people that make pop up and spy ware that is that intrusive should be hanged by their b@@s and shot.

do you use kazaa ?

also dont ever ever install anything made my gator

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Originally posted by VertigoLabs

also dont ever ever install anything made my gator

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i second that... and that freakin comet-cursor proggy as well..

"just say no"... ive never lost any access as a result of not allowing it to install...

i guess that in the least case... theyve always asked up front..

When in doubt, don't install.

If you use Kazaa you should try Kazaa Lite, which is the basically the same exact program but without the adware. What I did was uninstall Kazaa, use SpyBot and then install Kazaa Lite. Key for SpyBot is update before scanning so it can pick up the most recent adwares around.

hmmm, I still have something running that causes pop-ups. I can go to like http://fghdsalkjfsahdkfsahfkas.com and when I get a DNS error, a pop up comes up. Also I was searching for something on Google and a competing search engine suddenly popped up with the same search string. I doubt google would use pop-ups of competing search engines. Even if they did, that still leaves pop-ups appearing out of nowhere when I'm not even viewing anything on the internet.

Anyways, I don't use Kazaa, I wouldn't install anything related to Gator if my life depended on it, and I don't click YES on anything..

I have tried both AdAware (latest version) and Spybot.

does anyone have any other suggestions?

I would say format your hard drive, start fresh. If those programs listed above don't work and nothing else seems to do the trick, format the hard drive. Just don't forget to get all the saved files you want onto either another computer through a network or save onto floppy disks or CDs.

grrrrr, I have ~60 gigabytes of mission-critical data on this hard drive and nowhere else to put it (all my other hard drives are full)

One thing that I have thought about is that some program might have modified local html files on my computer such as the DNS error page before I removed it. I noticed that when I look at the source for the DNS error page, about halfway down the first page I see this code:

function initPage()
{
document.body.insertAdjacentHTML("afterBegin","<object id=saOC CLASSID='clsid:B45FF030-4447-11D2-85DE-00C04FA35C89' HEIGHT=0 width=0></object>");
}

that looks sort of suspicious to me.. can anyone with java script experience tell me if that is supposed to be there?

There must be some program that finds installed browser addons or something.

Have you tried POW! by Analog X? I just put a shortcut to it in the startup menu. When I go online and get a popup, I add it to the list. The popup goes away, never to be seen again. It even comes preset with gator on the list! Easy, small, and FREE!

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Originally posted by mrspm2003
Try SpyBot, much better than AdAware IMO.

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Heh I just installed SpyBot and it beats the livin crap out of Adaware. Thanks!:cool:

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i second that... and that freakin comet-cursor proggy as well..

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Why is that on the comet cursor? My step daughter has it on her computer.

Ok thanks for your help everyone. I found the problem! There was a program called BTLINK located in C:\Program Files\Common Files\BTLINK that was causing the popups. I have no idea how it got there but I'm assuming it was through some ActiveX / JavaScript security hole that I've patched since then. (probably ActiveX)

What's weird is that none of the anti-spyware programs detected it.

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Originally posted by a68spectre


Why is that on the comet cursor? My step daughter has it on her computer.

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I've heard that comet cursor was spyware -- it logged all your viewing habbits and stuff. (I'm not completely sure -- someone who knows more about it please correct me on this)

How about you stop using Microshite Internet Explorer and use some sensible browser like Opera which has a built in pop-up stopper and doesn't have all these stupid vulnerabilities in the first place. :)