Chris & Naomi Hathaway Home

Symptoms:
Sometimes, when I'm using Windows, it just freezes on me.  I can't move
the mouse or type on the keyboard or anything  I have to restart the
computer, but then it will happen again.  Finally, after I restart a few
times, it will be okay.

Problem: You could be infested with
Spyware or Adware, programs that try to track what you do on the computer in
order to target advertising or programs that just like to waste your computer's
resources.

Things to try:

Uninstall unwanted software.

1. Click the "Start" button, then click "Control Panel".
2. You'll see a window come up with several options.  Select "Add or
   Remove Programs".
3. The next window will have a list of most everything you have installed on
   your computer.  It looks like this:

4. Notice that if you click on any entry, it will expand and give you two
   button choices, "Change" and "Remove".  Go through this list, and look
   for any suspicious software that might be installed on your computer.  If
   you have know idea what a certain program is, and it has a snazzy internet
   name, like "CoolToolbar" or "SearchWiz100" (I'm just making those up, but a
   lot of times the software will be in the form of a toolbar or search help or
   discount something), click Remove and follow the instructions to get
   rid of the piece of software.  If you're not sure whether the piece of
   software is spyware, search for it at
   http://www.spywareguide.com/.  You don't have to worry too much about
   all the details, just know that if you find it there, you should remove it. 
   If you find it at that site and it has a very high SG rating, let me know.

Run a Spyware detection program on your computer.

1. Often you won't be able to catch all of the software just by uninstalling
   it from the Add/Remove window.  Sometimes it's hidden deep in the file
   system.  Fortunately, there are free programs out there that will find
   the spyware for you, and do a pretty good job at it.  WARNING:
   Do not go around and searching for and downloading any old "spyware removal"
   program; the majority of them out there are actually spyware programs
   themselves that are pretending to be a tool to help you.
2. One of the best programs is Lavasoft's Ad-aware.  You can download it
   
   here.  When you click on "Download Now" it should take you to a page
   with a link to Instructions for installation.  It's pretty
   straightforward, and at the end there will be some checkboxes for options you
   can do after the installation is complete.  One of them will say "Perform
   system scan now" (or something like that).  Make sure that box is checked
   when you finish the installation, and the program will start scanning your
   computer for unwanted programs right away.
3. At the end of the scan (which may take quite a while), you should be
   brought to a screen like the following:

I've circled the important part - on this scan, ad-aware
found 37 objects that shouldn't be there.  This is actually not that many,
because I scan my computer periodically.  Someone who is scanning for the
first time could see hundreds of critical objects.  Don't worry too much;
most of them are quite small and not too dangerous, but you want to get rid of
them anyway.

4. Right-click on any of the items in the list (such as "Alexa" in the list
   above).  A list will come up; click "Select all objects". 
   Everything should become checked now.
5. Click next.  Ad-Aware will Quarantine and Delete all those pesky
   files right away.
6. If you want to be extra thorough, you can run another program; each piece
   of software has some unique things it will catch.  I use Spybot along
   with Ad-Aware, and it seems to keep everything out pretty well.

Send me a list of your running processes

1. If you're still getting the problem, send me a list of all your processes,
   and I can analyze what's going on and what might be causing the problem. To do
   this, right click on your clock in the bottom right hand corner of your screen
   and select "Task Manager".  This will bring up a window that explains
   everything that's going on in your computer currently.
2. Click the tab that says "Processes".  This will list a number of
   things that are running and some information about them.
3. Resize the Task Manager window to make the window tall enough to see every
   process (so there isn't a scrollbar anymore)
4. Take a screenshot by pressing the "Print Screen" button on your keyboard.
5. Open paintbrush.  The quickest way is to click Start, then Run, then
   type in "pbrush" and press enter.
6. Click Edit -> Paste.
7. Save the file as a JPG (not necessary, it will just make it smaller), and
   send it to me
   here.

Preventative Measures:
Because Internet Explorer is used by the majority of computer users, people who
make spyware and the like gear it towards that browser, exposing its security
flaws and targeting its users.  One of the best ways to prevent much of
this software from installing itself is by using a different browser.  My
(strong) recommendation is Firefox.  See my entry on installing and using
Firefox for instructions.  (Coming soon)