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I’ve noticed that my computer has been taken over by spyware no matter how many times I use Spybot or Adaware spyware removal programs. Keep getting those darn IQ test and Diet Patch ads with Internet Explorer in the title bar. It has gotten so bad the the browser is being redirected from sites like Symantec, etc. I also noticed that if I uninstall AIM, run the spyware removal programs everything works ok so it has to be AIM related. I’ve removed the checks on the Wild tangent, etc. page but get the same garbage when I use aim. Then, I discovered that if I uncheck “show AIM.com” in the sign on/off user preferences page the problems seem to go away. Could someone tell if this indeed is my problem and if there is anything else within AIM that I should do to not get spyware?? Thanks a bunch!!!
Besides Wild Tangent, Aim really doesn’t have any spyware (unless you consider the ads spyware, but they’re more of just an annoyance). Your IE probably has browser hijackers. Hijack This (http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html) is a great program for investigating these problems, but there are many false positives so be careful using it. If you don’t have it already and you’re using XP get service pack 2 as it helps a lot with activex problems in internet explorer. I suggest you just use firefox, but that may be pushing it.
http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/central.html
Firefox is a great browser that is much more secure than IE…it has popup blocking built in and it is very customizable with loads of plugins, extensions, and themes.
Yes, I’ve heard of hijackthis and will give it a try. I’ve seen hijack logs listed in other forums. Does it just flag potential spyware or does it also have a built in fixit so that I don’t have to delete the programs manually? I also have SP2 loaded. The problem must really be with the aol ads that come up and then somehow invade IE. I’ve heard that firefox is great but with 3 computers in this house being used, seems everyone is accostomed to IE so we’ll probably continue using it. I thought that maybe loading down an older version of AIM, like 5.2 or something would be ad free. Those releases did not have the bundled spyware (yes wild tangent is considered spyware) or maybe it did and just didn’t give you the opportunity to not activate it. If anyone has had similar problems with AIM and their solutions, I’d love to hear about them. Thanks.
HijackThis is a tool, that lists all installed browser add-on, buttons, startup items and allows you to inspect, and optionally remove selected items. The program can create a backup of your original settings and also ignore selected items. Additional features include a simple list of all startup items, default start page, online updates and more. Intended for advanced users.
It lists everything… including some of the things that you may actually use. For example, it will list the acrobat plugin for IE if you have it installed. It also lists everything that starts, meaning some things you may want start. In these cases, just list them as excludes and they wont show up in your future scans. You remove basically anything that you don’t use or need. Rather than posting your log, you might as well just google anything you dont know. Theres tons of websites that will pop up just by typing in the .exe into google.
As for AIM ads. I use AIM Ad Hack (http://aftermath.dyndns.org:8888/~aimadhack/) It will remove your ads, as well as remove other things that you may not want. In the install there’s options. Just make sure you read everything rather than hitting next because you might end up with aim missing some things. If worst comes to worst you might just have to reinstall aim (which isn’t a big deal since you can just install over keeping your settings).
As for firefox….it’s seriously no different than IE. I attached a screen of my browser window. Without much effort, you can make it appear exactly the same as IE. I’m not forcing it on you, I’m just showing you it’s not that terrible. I was the same way…I didn’t really want to make the switch because I was so used to IE as was my family. However, when I went on vacation I was using my cousins computer and he used it, so I gave it a shot. Now I haven’t gone back.
Make sure (if your using AIM 5.5+) that you uncheck the options to install the AIM ToolBar, Weather Bug software, and WildTangent, and see if that solves your problem.
If not, try using an older version of AIM (like 5.2), it’s spyware free.
Wow Staticsage, thank you for all of the valuable information, especially about Hijackthis and Firefox. I’m pretty comfortable getting around with the computer so I shouldn’t have too tough a time with it. Like you said though, there may be startup programs that I indeed want. I ran into a recent problem where i disabled several programs from the startup menu under msconfig start options. Turns out I turned off my Norton antivirus auto-enable feature. The adhack I will definately try to. Also Someguy03, thks for the info on those 3 items that are bundled with aim. I was aware of them but I know that sometimes its easy to just click “Next” and then find that you’ve just screwed yourself good. Thanks again
Hi, Can anyone tell me if there is any more threat using AIM rather than AOL for instant messaging? My daughter wants to install AIM and she is currently using AOL to IM. I think that AIM will cause more pop ups and spam than AOl, so I will not let her. Can anyone help me make a correct decision? I just bought new computers and I do not want to invite extra junk onto them. I do have AOL Security edition and I run Ad aware and I do get stuff now, but I just don’t want more!!
Thanks
If you’re just concerned with Instant Messenging, I really don’t think that AIM is any more harmful than AOL. If you’re concerned with malware, just be careful during the installation of AIM. Uncheck all the things that it may attempt to install and you should be fine. The games on AIM use wild tangent which is malware. Just don’t have any of that installed. I mentioned using AIM Ad Hack earlier on. That works well for removing the ads on the buddylist. Someone else might have a better utility, but it gets the job done for me.
You may want to check out Trillian [http://www.trillian.cc] – It’s a great alternative to AIM, and it’s adware/malware free.
i prefer gaim (http://gaim.sourceforge.net/downloads.php) 😛
Yes, my daughter uses AIM all of the time and has used it for years. If are careful about unchecking the 3 items on install, (you dont want weatherbug, wild tangent or aol toolbar) then you should be ok. Also once its installed, go to edit preferences, and click signon/off in the left pane and make sure that you uncheck “load aol.com at startup”. This will stop the ads from coming up. She should be ok once you do this. Just remember to do this each time you install AIM.
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