Spyware or Virus? - Comments Page 1

You mentioned that you "...tend to support the populist trend of calling them all viruses...". Given that there important differences, wouldn't it be better to call it "malware", which is all encompassing, which "virus" is not? (Of course if you define malware as anything that wreaks havoc on your computer, then I guess Windows, Norton and McAfee would have to be included :))

EDITOR'S NOTE: Yes, malware is a better term to cover all the bases. But terms like "virus" and "hacker" are so ingrained in our culture that it's like spitting into the wind to try and correct it.

Hey I was just wondering if certain websites are more harmful to your computer than others. For example I like going to the WWE website, but I computer person said it was very harmful to your computer right up next to adult videos. Is this really true, and if so is there a way to make the website safe??

EDITOR'S NOTE: Some websites do attempt to trick users into downloading spyware or viruses. But the WWE site doesn't appear to have any such issues. You should always read the privacy policy at a site before offering up ANY personal info. And of course use a good anti-virus and anti-spyware scanner.

I have the "Norton Internt Security", I had "Spyware Doctor" also, but the subscription ran out. Is Norton sufficient?

EDITOR'S NOTE: Norton is a bloated resource hog, not sure if it has anti-spy component. Here is my recommendation:

http://www.askbobrankin.com/should_i_buy_antispyware_or_antivirus_software.html

hey, ever since yesterday my high speed internet had dropped from downloading at 300kb/secs to 2kb/secs! Is this spyware? what should i do?

EDITOR'S NOTE: I'd ask your ISP if there is a signal problem. And of course do a complete virus/spyware scan.

Hello, I recently got a "restart virus," I believe, that would keep on restarting my computer (I posted in the computer restarting section). I used System Restore to send my computer back to August 6th, and then, it was working fine. I did two virus scans and found no viruses after. I then tried to install a free trial of PC-Cillin, and tried to scan with Trend Micro House Call. The House Call would not work, and PC-Cillin seemed to mess up my computer! I tried deleting PC-Cillin totally off of my computer, but every time I right click on my desktop, it tried to use a Windows Installer that tries to install to here: C:\Program Files\Xfire\downloads\metadata\TrendMicroPCCsmall\

It also says that it can't put it to there, and that something doesn't exist. I don't know how to get rid of it trying to install. Can you help me any? (And thanks on the on the other topic.)

EDITOR'S NOTE: Did you delete PC-Cillin with Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs, or manually?

Well, after it started to freeze up my computer and make it act strangely, I had to use the power button to shut it off and turn it back on a few times, and the PC-Cillin desktop icons were gone, but it still had parts of it on it. So, I could not find it in Add/Remove Programs, and did a Search to find files, and I manually sent any files I could that delt with Trend Micro and PC-Cillin to the Recycle Bin for deletion.

Hello Ryan I'm haveing the same problem with Trend Micro trying to re-install itself all the time. I tried to manualy delete everything but I couldn't find a way to delete tmdshell.dll.

Let me know if you found a way to resolve fully delete trend micro. I'm almost at the point of scraping everything and load the original system recovery cds.

Please if any one could help, I would appreciate it.

I had Trend Micro on my computer recently and I wanted to deleted. Well I did the add/remove programs like normal on all my programs I take off. It still shows that I have it on there. So I went into my program files and found out that the folder for Trend Micro was still there. So I tried manually deleteing and it said that I couldn't delete the tmdshell.dll file??? How do I delete the DLL file please.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Some programs are not completely gone until after a reboot...

Every time I try to go to a Website using Yahoo, the word {Continue} shows up in the upper left hand corner of the page after a slight hesitation. Then it changes me to another site that I did not type in. What can I do to prevent this? Also every time I try to Restore to an earlier time I am informed that it failed and no changes were made to my computer.. Any advice will be appreciated.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Sounds like a spyware hijack. I would try the free Windows Defender for a spyware scan/remove sweep.

Hey Bob, i've been messin around with computers for years now without any real training. I reckon i've got a fairly good grasp of how to remove malware and the likes from a computer expecially my own. I've been lookin around your site while cleaning out my computer manually and using the internet to try check out files I wasnt sure about. One thing has got me a little confused though. My computer has recently started scrolling randomly up and down. While online, while reading texts documents, and even during games sometimes even locking scrolled down or up. I dont really know whats causing it and I can't seem to find any programs that could be the cause. Any ideas as to what it is exactly? Dust in the mouse?

EDITOR'S NOTE: Yes, my first guess would be a dirty or defective mouse.

Hi Bob,

I got a lot information regarding virus and their activity. It will help others to have a good knowledge of virus and they can keep their computer free from it.