In response to the previous post above:

I had a very similar issue with starting my pc. Normally I would see the cpu specs etc. For the longest time - well, for two weeks :) - I thought i had some kind of a hardware based trojan. Later I learned what a rarity this is. I gotta give props to my computer guy. I found him on The Computer Guy Network and he hooked it up so thank YOCS . I had checked the bios and reset all the defaults. My problem was a combination of two things.

The first was, my boot was set to quick boot, which is why i was no longer seeing the POST displaying properly. The second WAS in fact a virus that had rooted itself in my startup. However, rather than getting a blue screen, my PC would just reboot. Basically it was a cycle of black screens that showed me nothing. YOCs showed me how to go into MSCONFIG (in safe mode) and uncheck the virus from loading at startup. I was then able to boot to the Operating System and remove the virus. Props to you YOCs and everyone here for their insight.

You no longer have to pay a fee for Opera. The removed it during version eight, they're now at 9.2.0

Opera I <3 mainly because it is the only web browser that supports every single web standard. FF and espically IE has a lot of catching up to do. Opera is the first browser ever to support PNGs, so it annoys me when I see sigs that read, "FireFox is the web complaint browser...no security flaws...faster...Supports PNGs...The first to have a PNG package." everything in those sigs are usually wrong.

AVG is a great software but it can take up a lot of your CPU load. =)

Isn't HijackThis somewhat considered Spyware because Merijn sold the application to Trend Micro and they did all sorts of mumbo jumbo to it. On a positive note, HijackThis is hands down the best combatant to Spyware, Hijackers, Adware, and just any type of Malware. It even scans for ADS....wait, why has this thread been sticked?

http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/index.php

There are the details straight from the *horse's* mouth, LOL.

Liz

OK here is a question. I know this topic is old. BUT spyware adware can people put code in their site to install this? How can I tell if it is installed on a site?

<a href="http://www.thescoreboards.com/forums/computers-technology/44469-hijackthis-logs-malware-removal.html" target="_blank">http://www.thescoreboards.com/forums...e-removal.html</a>

^my two cents^

Check your hostfile

My personal favorites in security: ESET Smart Security + Kerio Sunbelt CounterSpy + Ad LavaSoft Ad-Aware + Spybot S&D + JavaCool SpywareBlaster + CCleaner + Roboform + Comodo BOClean

All on a Windows Vista Business platform

If you're using Windows Vista, then it is safe to use the built-in firewall. This is because it offers outbound protection, where as WindowsXP doesn't. Just thought I'd let you know on that.

The You've got spyware already huh? bit.

First of all, you've recommend two great "free" programs. However, unfortunately most malware/virus/spyware isn't that easy to remove. It is a lot more complex. Hijackthis is a good tool and is used a lot on malware removal forums, however, you really need to be under a trained helpers supervision. You should visit one of the forums listed here for malware problems:

http://www.merijn.org/forums.php

It can be very time consuming removing malware, so I really advise you visit one of the malware removal forums, where you can request help for "free", and of course, receive the best possible support -- for free! :)

If you have a slow computer, then is doesn't necessarily mean it is malware. I recommend reading this great article: http://www.castlecops.com/t175256-Sl...e_malware.html

Finally, for tuning IE7, read the following:

http://reliancepc.com/menu/tips/IE7tuning/index.php
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/936213