Who would think I was capable of such revengeful thoughts about the parties responsible for inflicting my poor computer with spyware? Well, after the trauma of having gone through such an experience for the first time, I was sorely tempted by the occult section of curses and witchcraft at my local bookstore. Growl!

Basically, I am a normal person using a home computer to perform simple normal tasks such as word processing, writing emails, internet banking, and surfing the Internet for useful information. Ok, I also have a weakness for looking for bargains on good old eBay (sheepish grin) and Paypal is quite a handy option for easy purchasing. Problem:

Great dismay and panic hit when my pc started popping up strange windows or messages. With my limited IT knowledge, I ran a Norton virus scan which obviously revealed a number of problems. But the Symantec removal tool did not remove the spyware nd I could not even log onto a couple of password protected sites. My beloved pc was infected with some malware or adware or trojan, among which, I believe was WinFixer and a Trojan Vundo. I did not know how to get rid of Vundo or how to remove WinFixer. (Or perhaps they were the one and same thing?). But at that point, I did not know any better, so began the laborious task of searching for information on how to get rid of the spyware.Research:

From my search, I found out that the Trojan Vundo is a trojan horse that causes popups advertising rogue antispyware programs. For example, the program called Sysprotect is advertised in many of the popup windows as seen from the screenshot below. Vundo infects a computer by creating a DLL file in the Windows system directory and writes registry entries causing Windows to inject the file into winlogon.exe.

WinFixer, on the other hand, has siblings as it is identical to WinAntiVirus and ErrorSafe. And these programs all claim to repair problems within your computer system. By installing the program on your computer, you will likely end up receiving false information about your computer. Naturally, this will confuse you into believing your PC is infected with viruses, spyware and/or other forms of malware.

The popups and forced downloads apparently mirror “marketing” strategies of many spyware rograms. And at times, infected computers will reduce in their level of speed and performance. Well, this all explained what was probably happening to my pc, and I knew I had to figure out how to get rid of WinFixer and Vundo before they drove me mad. Research and solution:

In my initial panic, I reacted by downloading some recommended anti spyware rograms, namely CounterSpy by Sunbelt Software, XoftSpy by ParetoLogic and Spy Sweeper by Webroot Software Inc. I came to my senses by the third program and stopped myself from paying for another popular program, Spyware Doctor. But hey, all these programs did receive pretty good reviews from the experts at PCWorld, PCMag, CNet, Tucows and AdwareReport. So at the time, I did not feel that I had gone too much overboard

Now, there are many sites listing all sorts of free and paid antispyware programs with a variety of reviews and user opinions on how to remove WinFixer and how to get rid of Vundo. Many of the commercial antispyware program homepages also list very detailed features of their products plus the latest research findings about current spyware threats. Have a look at this webpage that lists some of these reliable programs. www.consumerstyle.com/antispyware

Anyway, an opinion and recommendation I had read when researching for the reliable antispyware programs made heaps sense in that software you pay for is more likely to offer benefits over freeware, i.e., better support, more frequent updates and better pro-active protection measures. One just has to be careful when selecting the programs. According to the comments in the forums and review articles I read, many recommend using at least two programs to be able to catch the latest spyware hat either program might miss (that was when I stopped myself from my downloading frenzy). I have learnt much more about my pc now and wish to share and perhaps amuse you my muddled but finally effective measures to cleaning up my pc and removing the spyware. My actions:

My initial Norton antivirus scan found but was not able to delete Vundo, even after rebooting. The Symantec removal tool did not help at all. I had disconnected from the Internet, disabled system restore, and ran the removal tool, regularly and in safe mode. After numerous startups, varying with safe mode, and disabling antivirus, I even tried to figure out how to remove Vundo manually without messing with the registry, etc. Please note that some people had success with the Symantec removal tools, and some others, like me, did not. Apart from the Trojan Vundo, I was getting quite frustrated at not being able to remove WinFixer for the many windows continually popping up started to slow my computer down, and even freeze it at times.

So I first tried Xoftspy, which was the fastest when scanning my computer. I was pleased to have fewer pop ups, was able to remove WinFixer, and ended with a much faster internet connection.

Then with my next program, Spy Sweeper, I ran it twice and then did a full system scan. Lo and behold, Vundo was gone, no more popups and adware annoyances. I guess this might not work for everyone but it is worth a shot to download Spy Sweeper.

Being still paranoid about the health of my pc, I finally ran the the free two-week trial version of CounterSpy, for extra assurance. Now I was quite impressed as it also included a scheduler, secure file shredder, and a history cleaner that made it simple to set up weekly scans. And there are frequent definition file updates for CounterSpy’s publisher. The company seems to run a well-staffed spyware esearch department. After a scan, CounterSpy can delete, quarantine, or remove spyware. I was advised not to install Microsoft Anti spyware longside older versions of CounterSpy (version 1.5 and below). And it is recommended to get CounterSpy to check for online updates of definitions and program files manually.Conclusion:

To sum it all, XoftSpy was able to delete WinFixer as the program was able to uninstall WinFixer within fifteen minutes requiring a couple of restarts. As for Spy Sweeper, it managed to remove Vundo with ease. And I have no doubt that CounterSpy has done a great job of keeping my pc free of spyware I cannot say that I have taken the best approach to solving my problems, but my pc is now running faster than ever and I have been free of WinFixer and Vundo ever since. I just have to remember to be more careful and scan my pc regularly.

One thing is for sure, there are many reliable and popular antispyware programs out there, and many helpful forum chat folk who can lend a hand with plenty of technical advice. You just have to sort out what advice and which steps to take by increasing your own awareness and understanding of your pc and the nasty world of spyware lurking around these days.

With technological advancement and growing number of internet users the problem is a bit more serious coming to the issue of ad wares and spyware, Trojans etc. opening your internet sites exposes your computer to a no. of spyware. The spyware can extract your personal info like user id, passwords etc .and other confidential files if any. It can even handle your transaction details or make use of your money transaction paths. Now you might have got an idea of how serious the problem is. You may not even know when you are infected. Therefore, it is essential to download and install spyware emoval tool in computer.

Searching for a good spyware program in the internet itself may drag you in to troubles sometimes. Do not fall into the false promises of the companies that offer spyware without enquiring the authenticity of the sites offer spyware downloads. Rule out the possibility of these anti spyware programs to become the real spyware before you download one into your computer. It is always good to check out the reliability of the company before you decide which spyware is to be installed in your computer. If possible always go for the brand spyware to avoid complications that are caused by the duplicate anti spyware programs.

After zeroing in you will have to locate it and buy. You can have an online purchase using their link if you have credit card or other online transaction facility. Otherwise just visit the store nearby and purchase. You may get other off versions in other sites. It may not work well. Even if you install such versions, they may not detect the spyware nd it continues affecting your system. It is better to have credible version though it may cost some extra bugs.

Make sure your computer has the basic requirements to install this tool. After installing run it and get your system cleaned from the spyware and ad ware menace. After deleting the spyware and infected files install suitable anti spyware oftware for future protection.

If you remember your history, you will recall that the Greeks won the Trojan war by hiding in a large hollow wooden horse in order to enter a heavily fortified Troy without knowledge. This indeed is how a Trojan gains access to your computer. Trojans get on your computer by downloading seemingly harmless programs such as games, pictures, music or movie files, but once these programs are executed, their job begins. Trojans may only do things to annoy, but they can do worse damage. Trojans can erase your disk, send your credit card numbers and passwords to a stranger or let others use your computer for illegal purposes like denial of service attacks, crippling networks for months.

Your best protection is Anti-Virus Software that continually updates and to be careful about what you download off the internet. You only want to download from services or websites that you know to be safe. Antivirus software is your best defense not only against trojan viruses, but many will also protect you from spyware, adware and other types of malicious attacks on your computer. With the right Antivirus oftware, you should not have to worry about losing your data or having your personal information stolen.