gah....adware!

[ShiroiHikari]

hey, I just thought I would warn you guys about this.

the other day, I came to my computer and saw a thing called "TimeSynchronize" in my systemtray. I don't have a clue what it is, but I figure it's something Brad installed so I just close it and move on.

today, I find "DealHelper" in my start menu. I open up Internet Explorer, get a popup from a site I shouldn't have got a popup from. I run a Google search and-- big surprise --DealHelper is adware! it came with whatever TimeSynchronize was.

I have no idea where I got either of these things from. the only thing I downloaded and installed in the past couple of days has been IrfanView, which I was pretty sure didn't come with any of this adware crap.

if you find DealHelper or TimeSynchronize on your system, GET THEM OUT.

· in the Control Panel, go to Add/Remove Programs.

· if TimeSynchronize is installed, uninstall it.

· after that uninstall DealHelper. it WILL NOT let you uninstall it until you get rid of TimeSynchronize.

· if you don't have TimeSynchronize, but DealHelper is on your system, run Spybot S&D or AdAware. you also might want to do this afterward too, to get rid of anything that might have been left behind.

I'd still like to know how this crap got onto my machine...I use Mozilla, too, so you Mozilla users aren't immune!

[shooraijin]

Maybe Brad is using IE?

[ShiroiHikari]

he does use IE occasionally on this machine, yes, but from what I've read, Mozilla users are still affected.

[shooraijin]

I didn't think Mozilla could run ActiveX applets, though, or had the same JavaScript flaws that IE did. There is a shell:// URL exploit in Mozilla, but this is very easily patched, and is the only security issue I've seen for Mozilla in a very long time.

[ShiroiHikari]

hum...I dunno then. :\

btw, I just found something else on my machine called SearchFast that had the same icon as DealHelper and TimeSynchronize. I'm getting pretty mad about this...I need a firewall.

[Master Kenzo]

You might wanna teach Brad to click "no" to the security windows. When I browse the net, I get those a lot. I recommend running ad-aware every week or so, though, but that's just me.

[ShiroiHikari]

well, it's not like he's stupid...lol. he just doesn't like Mozilla so if he uses this comp to surf, he uses IE. ¬_¬

[Saint Kevin]

I use IE, and I pay for it with all the stuff I have to delete from time to time. I would recommend that if you KNOW there is adware or spyware in your system, that you restart your computer in safe mode, and THEN run either Spybot or AdAware. Doing so will get rid of a lot of pesky spyware apps that write themselves into your computer's startup. Also, running msconfig from the start menu's "Run" feature is a great way to see what kinds of annoying things are in your startup that you don't want there.

[shooraijin]

You don't have to click 'Yes' on some of those, btw. There are a number of known exploits to install applets with*out* a confirmation window, and these exploits are currently being taken advantage of in the wild. Microsoft has only offered a partial fix for only one of the three known methods.

Frankly, if I had a PC, I would be tearing IE off my desktop with all my might.

[The Grammarian]

My version of IE doesn't have JavaScript enabled. I would suggest downloading AdAware and running it intermittently, though. It'll detect that kind of stuff whether on your system tray or no, and then you can uninstall them from there.

[Lynx]

definatly download adaware. that's some good stuff. it found so much junk on my computer... it couldn't remove some of the programs running, so i'll have to start windows in safe mode and try again (thanks for the tip, saint kevin)

[H2flow]

Yup adware is a pest you guy's should download ad-aware to remove adware, it's also free
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/

[Locke]

yep ad aware is the way to go ( im DL right now