Tips on preventing / removing spyware

Here’s some tips from me on how to prevent spyware from infecting your windows pc, and tips on how to remove most malware 

• Do not download files from unknown source especially if the file types are executable files and if you choose to download the files try scanning it first using your Antivirus program (most Antivirus nowadays can scan spyware too ) … for example i was using NOD32 and Kaspersky Antivirus 6 to scan all downloaded files and they can found most of spyware threat in an instant inside the software (including compressed setup files)
• Try not using Internet Explorer browser no matter what you do because there’s lot of vulnerability on Internet Explorer that can be exploited, and if you’re using Firefox on Windows try installing the NoScript Extension (future/known threat can be avoided by using this small extension for firefox) since most exploit use Javascript, and Java which is executed by the browsers. As a note i only use Opera to open trusted site only because it lacks of extension
• Always update your windows, but if you’re using a quota based internet like me. You should download Critical Update only to save the internet quota by searching from microsoft technet site (if you’re not using windows update) … for example to protect you from the Popular WMF Exploit (im not going into much detail here
• Don’t forget to set your Firefox to automatically remove private data such as cookies, etc to minimize risk from tracking cookies everytime you close the firefox browser’s window (you can do this by going into Options – Privacy – Settings), as an alternative way you can install the CookieSafe extension for Firefox (it acts like noscript extension but don’t forget after installing it, you must set it to Disable Cookies Globally *the default setting to allow cookies globally* and only allow trusted site to put cookies into your browser, for example yahoo, microsoft, etc)
• Pay attention when installing new software especially when there’s an option to install new toolbar for Browsers, etc. Always choose to NOT install it no matter what
• Download hosts file from MVPS Site and extract the hosts file to Windows Directory/System32/Drivers/etc (if you didnt customize the hosts file then choose to overwrite it) and dont forget to set the Hosts file attribut into System and Read Only. You can do this by typing this in command prompt / run

attrib +A +S +H +R “C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc\hosts”

Note: if your windows installation is on different drive then adjust it accordingly

• If your system already infected try downloading Spybot Search n’ Destroy or Ad-Aware to remove the spyware from your system (don’t forget to update it first before using it)
• Before downloading and installing new anti spyware software / products try checking the SpywareWarrior site, just in case its a Rogue/Suspect/False Anti Spyware (since most of windows users like to download new anti spyware software before validating it)
• Download task manager replacement software, since most malware block access to task manager (there’s alot on the internet so you can find one easily) … for example Process Manager from SysInternals
• Download this file and extract it into directory of your choice, right click on the .inf file and choose to install it (it’ll fix most registry errors caused by malware for example missing Folder Views, etc) …

Note : All credits to that file belong to the original owner, but since i collect them from various site and combine them all, i cant remember the site name

Hopefully i’ve put all the necessary information in here, if i missed anything feel free to contact me or post a comment here