Nuisances.

[matt_doyle]

The laptop has a double dose of malware at the moment. An irritating and obvious program called System Check showed up and started mucking around, and so I went to Google the most effective ways to get rid of it. The program most broadly recommended by several seemingly reputable sites was called Spy Hunter.

Spy Hunter, I discovered post-installation, is also malware.

Neither responds properly to standard attempts to uninstall, and until I have cast a broader net, I refuse to download some other program and be the old lady who swallowed the fly.

Tell me, oh wise and terrible fiendslist: how to I cleanse my poor machine of this b.s.?

Bah, humbug!

ETA 1:  Okay.  Super AntiSpyware seems to have allowed me to uninstall SpyHunter, but the Internet warns me it is probably still buried in my registry.  Is there an easier way to get it out than inviting one of my tech-savvier friends over and making him get rid of it?  Also, System Check has had some of its files pruned, but it's still hiding folders and parts of my start menu from me, is still visible on my bottom toolbar whatsis, and alas still invisible to the Control Panel's uninstall listings.

Any suggestions for a second step?

Comments

[ailelie]

CCleaner will let you clean your registry (among other things). It is also a lot more effective for emptying trash, uninstalling software, etc. Just be certain to review the list of things before you get rid of them all. I had to uninstall Firefox thanks to deleting some key component of it. But that was because I was lazy and didn't review the list before saying remove all.

For general malware/etc, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware is good, though I admit the frequent updates are annoying. (Then again, they are also super-quick, even on horrible 'take an hour to d/l 30 min' 4G internet).

[matt_doyle]

Thanks! CCleaner is what I used to use, and I'd forgotten about it entirely.