DescentBB

My brother ran this program called Spy Sweeper, which gets rid of spy and/or ad-ware, because he was under the impression that his computer had spy and/or ad-ware on it. I ran this program and it did great for me.

But when he ran it, it took a LOOONG time to get finished and when it did all of his programs where deleted (Flash, MSVC, his browser and other). But he re-installed the programs. This happened like a week ago.

but now he can't get to his Control panel... And also he cannot delete Spy Sweeper. So I think that Spy Sweeper is the cause of this problem. I don't know why spy sweeper would do such an evil deed! As it got rid of all the spy and/or ad-ware on my computer no problems!

Anything that brother can do to save his computer from this rape, and maybe even death?
Thank you.

Sounds like he got hosed by a virus more then anything. Do you guys have any AV software? I'd recommend scanning his system with updated AV software and see if it comes up with anything.

i concur, a virus is probably your culprit, and a good AV Scanner will most likely fix it. if that isnt the case, do you have the Windows CD's, sounds like you may need them.

Try typing Control Printers in the run box and see if it loads the printer control panel app. If it does, you may just need to repair/replace Control.exe or rerun windows setup and select repair.

ya i agree, some viruses go nuts when they get all self-preserving.

hold the windows key down and press pause.
it should open up system properties (if it doesn't work, then uh. if it does work then... uh. i dunno just try it and tell us what happens)

Sounds to me like he was removed from the local admin group?

ive never come across a spy/ad ware program that affects user groups and policies

Yeas, thank you for your replies. We are looking into investing in the Anit-Virus Buisness Solution, as we are running none on any of our computers. I guess we learn the hard way eh?

What Anti-Virus software would you reccomend? We are willing to pay money, but free is always an option.

But I shall try holding down the Windows key and pressing Pause, as previously discussed in this topic.

Again, thank you.

Norton.

Personally I detest virus scanners, but I'm also careful and smart enough to avoid getting viruses and I still run a free online scan from time to time.

-Krom

AVG or Norton........stay away from EAnthology and anything McAfee which is M$ Crap.

i recommend antiVIR over AVG
http://www.free-av.com/

completely free (as comparison to AVG)

Would you reccomend turning off virus scanners when you play a high end video game?

NO

i can' stand having any application running in the backgroudn while i am gaming, heck, i can't stand having an extra service running when my pc boots up...most anti virus apps r bloated and real time protection takes a lot of system resources and affects games a lot, especially if you have a lower-end pc...forget about anti-viruses, know what u r downloading, or don't download it at all...also follow up on the security threats and apply all the needed patches...and use some online free scanners occasionally, and u'll be ok.

yes

http://www.spywareinfo.com/downloads.php?cat=sp#det

I'd suggest running another program Sage, such as AdAware or Spybot S&D. Furthermore, only download such programs from the company's website, not some joe blow website somewhere on the net. There are sites out there that impersonate spyware killing programs and actually screw your system up. Don't you just love spam companies that want to force their ★■◆● on you?

Yeas, I always watch what I download and have not come across many viruses in my time. The reason I downloaded Spy Sweeper was because I would get random popus sometimes, coming from my computer, not websites. I ran AdAware & SpyBot and they didn't fix my problem, so I searched on the internet and found a message boards post where the guy was having my problem, and he said that Spy Sweeper worked and privided linkage to the company's website. I downloaded it at it got rid of my problem. So my brother ran it cuz he thought he might have some spyware, and it deleted his program files... So I don't know what went wrong.

some programs (kazaa etc) have spyware ingrained into the program itself. and these programs are designed to REFUSE TO WORK if their spyware co-component is deleted.

ppl often had trouble with adaware deleting a spyware file from the kazaa program, and then kazaa refusing to work.

the best way around this is to use spyware free versions of these programs (kazaa-lite etc).
(there are also tricks to MODIFY the spyware co-component so that it is disabled, tricking the mother program into thinking it's spyware is still operational)

Computer Associates AV cleans viruses that Norton's POS can't even detect.

It disturbs me that NAV doesn't even detect RATS much less clean them.

This is what I run on my folks computer:

http://www.my-etrust.com/products/Antiv ... 99936BB8BD

It has a yearly registration fee (USD$24.95 but I think we pay less since we upgraded from the free version they had before hand). It lacks a lot of the bells and whistles of flashier, more expensive programs but it gets the job done. Combined with email virus scanning and spam blocking provided by our ISP it keeps most of the crap out.