Jeremy’s World

Having dealt with a lot of badware in time and having been frustrated by the lack of a good resource for finding badware removal tools quickly and easily, I decided to try and start putting together a list of good badware removal tools available on the Internet.

You can now find on my website under Networking and Security, a thorough list of good badware removal tools which I have commonly used to resolve infections on a wide range of Windows machines.  As I continue to build this site I will be putting together an understanding badware page to help inform people of the dangers of poor Internet use in an effort to better educate users to utilise the Internet wisely.

I hope that people find this list useful.  I would like to thank all the geniuses who wrote these tools for taking their time to make the Internet a little more safer.

If you know of any more good anti-badware tools, post a comment and I will add them to the list.

So you are infected!  This page should hopefully provide you with a full arsenal of tools to resolve an existing infection that anti-badware detection and prevention tools have been unable to resolve.

SmitFraudFix by S!Ri

What is it? SmitFraudFix is one of the ultimate malware killers found online.  It kills just about every type of know malware hijacker that exists in cyberspace.  SmitFraudFix would have to be one of the best pieces of software written to kill badware.  It should be your first choice when dealing with an unknown badware problem on your computer.

How do I know if I need it? If you have a problem with your machine: slowness, pop-up ads, strange behaviour - then SmitFraudFix should be your first stop. If you have anti-virus software which has detected a problem which cannot be fixed, then you should also turn to SmitFraudFix.

Where can I get it? SmitFraudFix.exe is available from s!Ri’s SmitFraudFix webpage.  You can also find copy’s of the software from associated mirrors and via a google web search.

ComboFix by sUBs

What is it? ComboFix is a general malware killer.  It looks for a host of known trojans, adware and malware and does its best to eliminate the infecting software.

How do I know if I need it? This is not the easiest of questions.  If you suspect you have a piece of malware software on your machine, then ComboFix might be a good bet to fix the problem.  Detecting Badware is never easy - you can try one of the Badware detection programs above if you think you have a problem.

Where can I get it? ComboFix is available from bleepingcomputer.com, forospyware.com and geekstogo.com.  You should use ComboFix with caution.  A good explanation of the software can be from the bleepingcomputer.com’s website.

CWS Shredder by Merjin

What is it? CWS Shredder is a brilliant little piece of software for getting rid of the extremely annoying CoolWebSearch malware hijacker, one of the most common and annoying pieces of badware on the Internet.  Written by the brilliant Merjin, the create of HijackThis, CWS Shredder can get rid of all existing CWS infections and variants.

How do i know if I need it? If you have Cool Web Search as your homepage in your browser, then this tool is definitely for you!

Where can I get it?  You can get CWS Shredder and a host of other great detection and removal tools from Merjin.org.  CWS Shredder is also available at the TrendMicro website as TrendMicro officially purchased the tool from Merjin in 2004.

VundoFix by Atri

What is it? VundoFix is an application for killing the Vundo trojan.  This trojan is one of the more common pieces of badware I have come across in the last year.  Atri at atribune.org has written a brilliant piece of software to get rid of this monster of a trojan.

How do I know if I need it? Things begin to slow down on your computer.  Not just the operating system, but applications and your Internet connection as well.  You might notice rogue processes with random letters and numbers running such as “urqnn”.  You should use HijackThis to detect the Badware: look for O2s and O20s that look rather suspicious.

Where can I get it? You can get a copy of the latest version of VundoFix.exe at Atri’s website.  Atri updates this removal tool regularly when he comes across new strains of the trojan.

RogueRemover FREE by MalwareBytes

What is it? RogueRemover is another anti-malware piece of software for removing existing infections on a machine. RogueRemover comes in two versions:  FREE and PRO.  The free version is enough for typical infections and is a worthy install for those who suspect that have been infected by badware.

How do I know if I need it? RogueRemover can act as a useful scanning tool as well as a removal application.  It is yet another tool in your potential anti-badware arsenal.  If you experience slowness or pop-up ads, get this useful piece of software.

Where can I get it? RogueRemover FREE is available from MajorGeeks and BetaNews.

ATF Cleaner by Atri

What is it? Yet another great tool from Atri, ATF Cleaner is a temporary file cleaner for getting rid of nasty badware and its associated rubbish that may sit in you temporary file folders.

How do I know if I need it? ATF Cleaner is a good tool to have in general.  Any typical user should have ATF Cleaner installed on their machine and make use of it at least once every month to get rid of the typical rubbish that accumulates on a Windows machine.

Where can I get it? ATF-Cleaner.exe is available at atribune.org.

KillBox by Option^Explicit

What is it? KillBox is a tool for removing in use files.  Files that are in use are usually running as processes on your machine or are actively being used by a process.  Windows protects in use files by disabling the ability to delete them.  KillBox circumvents this protection mechanism and can be handy for getting rid of nasty Badware.

How do I know if I need it? If you are attempting to get rid of a piece of badware and come across an error where the file is in use and you cannot remove it, make use of KillBox to remove the file.  It is also useful for getting rid of temp files in use that you know are not required to be kept.  But make sure you use KillBox with caution.  It is definitely not for the faint-hearted.

Where can I get it? KillBox.exe is available at KillBox.Net or do a general web search.

Unfortunately many people fall victim to various types of badware on the Internet due to either lack of knowledge, usage of nefarious websites or a failure to keep their software up-to-date.  Sadly to often, the process of resolving an infection is dealt with by a complete format of the disk and re-install of windows.  But, this is not always necessary.

From my experiences with badware, I have decided to try and help those who are suffering from badware by providing links to prevention, detection and removal tools that might help the typical user.  In this section you will find information and links to tools which can help you combat the nasty software often implanted by hackers and bots on unsuspecting users’ machines.

Badware Detection Tools

A list of detection tools will be found here soon.

Badware Prevention Tools

Anti-virus software

Although not the best software for dealing with all types of badware, anti-virus software is good at dealing with most viruses, trojans and malware that can infect a typical machine.  But be wary!  Not all anti-virus software is good.  Here are my top recommendations based on years of experience with anti-virus software.

Kaspersky Lab Anti-Virus: Kaspersky Lab is widely regarded these days as one of the best network and computer security firms in the world.  Their world renowned anti-virus software is increasingly used by major organisations worldwide.  Originally based in Russia, Kaspersky Lab has years of experience and the technical know-how to deal with new and upcoming viral threats.  You can get a copy of their trial version  virus scanning software or use the free online scanner.

AVG Free: My recommended anti-virus software for the general user or business.  AVG is a well-known Internet brand providing anti-virus and badware detection and removal software.  AVG Free is used by many any indviduals and companies including Excel Building Management.  You can get a copy of AVG Free Edition from their website or at download.com.

Avast! Home Edition: Avast! is another good anti-virus program.  The home edition is available for personal, non-commercial home use.  It is a good alternative to AVG Free if you do not have AVG or find that AVG’s interface is not to your taste.  You can download Avast! Home Edition from the avast.com website.  Be aware that you need to register Avast! once a year with a new key in order to be able to make full use of the software.

More soon…

Badware Removal Tools

If you have already been infected then you need the tools to remove the badware infection.  Not all badware detection software can removal the nasty pieces of badware than exist on the Internet.  I have tried to put together as complete a list as possible of badware tools available from my previous experience of dealing with badware.

This section will address information about the various types of badware that exist.

For the time being you can find a list of tools to combat badware on the Anti-Badware Tools page.

Computer networking and security is increasingly becoming an area of Computer Science that has major relevance in everyday society.  As people are evermore using the Internet as a medium for sharing, disseminating and retrieving information, they are at the same time under the threat of those whose underlying agenda can only be described as being “bad”.

This section of the site covers topics related computer networking with a particular focus on issues related to computer security such as badware and malware, cryptography and social engineering.  It will also examine basic networking protocols, ideas and tools available to the everyday user that not all users may be aware of.

Badware, Malware and Trojans

Badware, malware, trojans, viruses, worms, adware are the various names given to a large class of software which currently is the bane of the average user’s existence.  Tens of hundreds of users a day are caught in the nasty web of badware that floats around the Internet looking for unsuspecting, unprotected users.

This section attempts to give the average user some help in combating badware right through its lifecycle for pre-infection to post-infection.  This will hopefully help to overcome the many problems that users experience with reduced performance in their operating system and network connections.