I got an email to informed me that some of the messages I have forwarded contained spyware. I have been using the AOL spyware program and use it daily. I have no idea where the spyware could have come from (if it even from me).

If I have some kind of spyware in my computer could it be transferred to other members on the forum and should they be concerned? I hope not, but thought it necessary to pass on the info.

I was told a good program to remove spyware with was located at http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/ to go to "Download Ad-Aware. It's free for personal use. I am curious however why they would offer it for free and would you have to be concerned about getting spyware from doing that

Hi Jeanne Joy,

Also could you tell us what antivirus you are using?..thanks

No problems the forums are safe, we run SpamAssassin and Clamantivirus on the server...and all the domains email accounts are protected with the above.but this would not protect email from spyware..it could be the smilies in AOL..but I am not sure of this because I do not use AOL

Ad-Aware Personal... is safe to use on your windows box..
Also there is a another free spyware Remover Spybot - Search & Destroy

Spybot - Search & Destroy can detect and remove spyware of different kinds from your computer. Spyware is a relatively new kind of threat that common anti-virus applications do not yet cover. If you see new toolbars in your Internet Explorer that you didn't intentionally install, if your browser crashes, or if you browser start page has changed without your knowing, you most probably have spyware. But even if you don't see anything, you may be infected, because more and more spyware is emerging that is silently tracking your surfing behaviour to create a marketing profile of you that will be sold to advertisement companies. Spybot-S&D is free, so there's no harm in trying to see if something snooped into your computer, too :)

Spybot Search and Destroy searches your hard drive for so-called spy- or adbots; that is, little modules that are responsible for the ads many programs display. Many of these modules also transmit information, including your surfing behavior on the Internet. If it finds such modules, it can remove them. In most cases the host still runs fine after removing the spyware/adware.

Another feature is the removal of usage tracks, which makes it more complicated for unknown spybots to transmit useful data. The list of last visited websites, opened files, started programs, cookies, all that and more can be cleaned. Supported are the three major browsers Internet Explorer, Netscape Communicator, and Opera.


Info Spybot.

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html



You can download for free..

Link
http://fileforum.betanews.com/sendfile/104.../spybotsd14.exe

I'm using spybot first time it found over 100 spyware, now it finds nothing, run it every day after I get off the internet.
Crapcleaner is another good program

Yes, I use McAfee VirusScan.

I appreciate the information. I will put it to good use. Thank you so very much.

By the way, would you recommend using one or the other or both?

Hi Jeanne Joy,

You can use both of these programs..without any problems on your windows box
Ad-Aware Personal
Spybot

Also CCleaner is another good windoze progam to use


CCleaner is a freeware system optimization and privacy tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. But the best part is that it's fast (normally taking less that a second to run) and contains NO Spyware or Adware!

Cleans the following:
Internet Explorer
Temporary files, URL history, cookies, Autocomplete form history, index.dat.

Firefox
Temporary files, URL history, cookies, download history.
Windows
Recycle Bin, Recent Documents, Temporary files and Log files.

Registry cleaner
Advanced features to remove unused and old entries, including File Extensions, ActiveX Controls, ClassIDs, ProgIDs, Uninstallers, Shared DLLs, Fonts, Help Files, Application Paths, Icons, Invalid Shortcuts and more... also comes with a comprehensive backup feature.

Third-party applications
Removes temp files and recent file lists (MRUs) from many apps including Opera, Media Player, eMule, Kazaa, Google Toolbar, Netscape, MS Office, Nero, Adobe Acrobat, WinRAR, WinAce, WinZip and many more...

100% Spyware FREE
This software does NOT contain any Spyware, Adware or Viruses.

Download

CCleaner

http://www.filehippo.com/download/file/178...7067b93a034ead/

Thank you for taking your valuable time to give me so much help. I am blessed. May God Bless you richly.

Your

In fact we like helping people..any more problems..please let us know..

The Spybot program works great. I ran the program and was clean, but since then was able to eradicate 2 that I had acquired. Thank you once again.