By John Borland
CNET

Web surfers battling "spyware" face a new problem: so-called spyware-killing programs that install the same kind of unwanted advertising software they promise to erase.

Millions of computers have been hit in recent years by ads and PC-monitoring software that comes bundled with popular free downloads, notably music-swapping programs. The problem has attracted dozens of companies seeking to profit by promising to root out the offending software. But some software makers are exploiting the situation, critics allege, turning demand for antispyware software into a launch pad for new spyware attacks.

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Hey Nxt2Hvn, you must have been reading my mind. I downloaded Hotbar.com. tried to delete it because it's showing up as adware in my virus scan. I went to Spykiller, had to download it onto my pc to scan for it to tell me the same thing that McAfee told me. Decided to uninstall Spykiller because of all the ads to buy it. No problem with that however I cannot uninstall that G*&#%*m F@#$*&%^g Hotbar exe! It has downloaded into my hidden program files & whenever I try to uninstall that piece of G*&#%*m F@#$*&%^g Hotbar exe! S@%t it blocks me telling me that it's either password protected or in use.

I feel better now that I have vented.

Dot9M

OH NO ... NOT HOTBAR!!!!

SERIOUS SPYWARE WITH HOTBAR!!!

I use Spybot and Adaware... you can d/l them from the internet.

They both work great!


Some advice a friend of mine gave me was that anything that is free on the internet probably has spyware attached to it... wallpapers.. screensavers... games... anything free.. BEWARE OF!!!

Nxt2Hvn & stillcrazy

Thank you!

I downloaded spybot & found 78 items. I cleaned my computer. What a difference!
OMG!!! My pc is so much faster.

I heard my computer shouting "Die Hotbar! Die!!!!"

Dot9M

Dot9M glad to be of service

I downloaded adaware as well, however I think that I still have to tweak both programs.

I didnt realise just how "dirty" a pc can get.

Dot9M

Dot9M make sure that after you D/L Spybot that you update it right away. There is a little box that says online update. For some reason when you down load you get the original version with about 5100 spyware adware etc. library entries. The current library is 11000+

Wow! Thanks N2H! I d/led spybot and I had no idea how many different
intrusions had slipped through norton! Since then I haven't had any
pop-up ads. Thanks! Good info! You are redeemed!

joc, did you get the updates as well. see my post above to Dot9m

It's a great program that has been touted by every computer mag around. But it does need to be updated about once a month.

Peace and good vibes

I used to use Ad-Aware a good bit, but I have no further use for it. Spybot S&D is all that I need. Spybot comes with a recovery system so you add certain things back in if you want. Alexa, for example comes with Internet Explorer. Ad-aware will simply delete items like this in the registry, which can cause damage. Ad-aware does not have the ability to recover these deleted items, whereas Spybot does. Spybot also substitutes things in your systems registry instead of just deleting them like Ad-Aware does. Spybot will also block bad products and can block bad Active-X installs and lock Internet Explorers home page from being changed. I also like Spybot because it has the capability to lock out bad hosts by updating your hosts file to resolve domains that are known for bad behaviour (like www.hotbar.com) to 127.0.0.1 instead of their actual IP address. I occasionally have your average spyware cookie file that slips through, but that's about it. I could make a site showing how to update and tweak some of spybot's advanced settings if there's enough interest.

I guess i better update my spybot if it's up that much. (Such a pain on this many machines sometimes.)

Are you trying to get into SB settings or other settings?

the Banzai buddy is also an object of pure evil . Another thing to note is to never trust customer reviews from a website trying to sell you the product , 100% BS .

Trojan Guarder is awesome. It found like 12 trojans that nothing else could find and got rid of those two annoying pop ups I got every time I closed IE.