Computer Exorcism Part II

I spent the last 20 or so hours of my work life battling malware, spyware, and adware on a co-worker's computer. It seems to have gotten a lot nastier out there since I posted my last guidelines on ridding a computer of malware. If you haven't read that post, read it first and then follow the advice below.

Microsoft has recently released a new spyware tool, and it's a lot better than I expected. My advice to you is this: Download it, install it, run the updates, boot your computer in Safe Mode, and then run it.

If you don't know about Safe Mode, it's a way of loading Windows with just the basics and no extra drivers, no extraneous software such as all that spyware you've got, and typically no internet. To get into it, restart your computer and press F8 a few times at the boot screen. (If F8 doesn't work, try F5 or check your computer manual.)

If you've done it right, you'll have a couple options: Choose Safe Mode without the network, and choose your version of Windows. You'll then see a very sad looking desktop reminiscent of your computer back in 1998 or so. Run Microsoft's spyware tool which you've already installed and the Ad-Aware and Spybot programs that you downloaded and installed when you read my initial post on malware.

After you've run these programs, shut down your computer and turn it back on normally. Hopefully that will have made a difference. If not, run the spyware again. See what you've got and google it. Someone else has certainly had the same thing and knows how to fix it. You can also check at Spyware Info and see if they have any solutions. Keep in mind that they are very helpful, but they have some guidelines you need to follow when it comes posting your problems.