SpyWare (Surf Sidekick) Remover

Post by **benryves** » Thu 08 Jun, 2006 9:35 am

The only reason you have to run as admin (and so let viruses access system files &c) is thanks to poorly written applications that decide (for example) to save their settings in their installation folder rather than the settings (X:\Documents and Settings\<user>\) folder. Running as a non-administrator cripples those applications, so you need to either run as admin the whole time (less hassle, more dangerous) or 'Run as...' on the dodgy applications (annoying).

Vista is fixing this with a new user account security model, meaning that apps are not automatically run at the same level as your account (about time too...)

Since when does which CPU you have determine how viruses work? They affect the OS, not the CPU.

CompWiz · Post by **CompWiz** » Thu 08 Jun, 2006 1:52 pm

benryves wrote:Since when does which CPU you have determine how viruses work? They affect the OS, not the CPU.

But isn't it different to write a virus for a PowerPC cpu than for an x86 one? More people know how to write software for the x86 based computers than for IBM cpu ones.

Post by **kv83** » Thu 08 Jun, 2006 1:58 pm

CompWiz wrote:
benryves wrote:Since when does which CPU you have determine how viruses work? They affect the OS, not the CPU.
But isn't it different to write a virus for a PowerPC cpu than for an x86 one? More people know how to write software for the x86 based computers than for IBM cpu ones.

The OS manages the interface with the cpu. The viruses makes use of it and doesn't care whether you have z80 processor (i hope not) or an Pentium4...

Congrats to your 1000th post btw.

threefingeredguy · Post by **threefingeredguy** » Thu 08 Jun, 2006 5:04 pm

CompWiz wrote:
anykey wrote:I'm so happy I don't have to deal with that stuff anymore! *hugs his mac*
The best thing to do is avoid the viruses in the first place. You should be careful about what you download, what you run, and pretty much everything. If something doesn't seem right, don't do it and research it first. Some of these viruses are impossible to remove without reinstalling everything.
macs can no longer claim that they are impervious to viruses, etc. Because they now use a much more common processor, and the OS hasn't had years of time to become battle hardened to viruses, it is actually more vulnerable now than windows.

*BZZZZZT* WRONG! The processor is the same, but all that means is that viruses that took advantage of processor things like overflows (which are blocked by new processors anyway) are the only things that would be the same. The Macintosh OS is still built from a completely different foundation, different file system, different system calls, different structure. You would have to write completely new viruses for the system. I am sure Mac thought about this before making the switch (not because using intel processors makes them more vulnerable but because it makes them more widespread) and did something about it. Plus the setup of Windows practically encourages viruses. Any two-bit idiot can change a billion settings and destroy the computer, but Macs are more secure (they've were designed on a network based operating system) and harder to alter.

Adaware is good for removing some things, but actually made it impossible for me to remove the spyware I got. It deleted several files necessary for the full removal, and therefore I had to reformat. XoftSpy found what was left, but I couldn't use it because I am cheap.