This is annoying: Sometimes an installation goes haywire and whenever you reboot your computer or run a particular application you get the Microsoft Office installation message asking you to insert a CD. Even after running Cleanup and clearing out the Windows cache you still get the install message.
One way to clean this up is the Installation Cleanup Utility. You can find it here:
This details how I was able to remove one of my most difficult spyware popup infections to date: ad.yieldmanager.com.
This insidious spyware was extremely persistent, avoiding cleaning by my normal set of favorite cleaners: Kaspersky, AVG Antivirus, AVG Antispyware, Spybot, Ad-Aware, Panda Online, HijackThis, l2mfix, VundoFix, Easy Cleaner, CleanUp!, and ewido.net.
At first it was even difficult to identify the type of spyware because the popups didn't leave many clues other than an occasional "New Offer" popup window. However, after letting the PC system "ferment" a little to let the spyware infestation spread, the ad.yieldmanager.com signature appeared in one of the windows.
The best removal sequence I found came mostly from this site: http://www.pchell.com/support/smitfraud.shtml where I followed the steps for removing SmitFraud. I took a guess on this because I saw an earlier SpySheriff infection on the system and I was thinking that perhaps it was not entirely removed.
The set of cleaners I ran from Safe Mode in this order were:
SmitRem by NoahdFear - http://noahdfear.geekstogo.com/
Of the set of cleaners I ran, I think RogueRemover and Aproposfix were the critical programs for this particular spyware infection.
After running all these cleaners the ad.yieldmanager.com spyware was removed completely.
Here are a couple products you might want to consider for keeping your PC clean from further ad.yieldmanager infections.
1) First, the best anti-virus program on the market -- in my view -- is Kaspersky. It's not as well known as some of the more heavily marketed antivirus programs like Norton and McAfee.
However, I like it because it catches a lot more viruses than Norton and McAfee and it is also a much smaller program. Norton is especially taxing on the system and there is a VERY noticeable slowdown of your PC when you have Norton installed.
The cheapest prices I've seen for Kaspersky Antivirus or Kaspersky Internet Security is on eBay. Make sure the seller has a lot of positive feedback when you make your purchase and you'll save some bucks.
Here's a good site with a list of 46 free utilities. I generally agree with the list which has everything from free antivirus software to free screen capture utilities. Lots of good stuff!
Once upon a time, Norton Anti-virus reigned supreme in the anti-virus world. Fast, easy to install, small footprint. Unfortunately, that was in the year 2000.
Since then Norton has become the exact opposite of all that. Now it's slow, often difficult to install -- and especially uninstall -- without side effects, and the program has far surpassed the level of bloatware.
To top it all off, Norton appears to miss a LOT of viruses and is very slow to update. Poor Peter Norton's legacy has befallen the bureacracy of large scale companies.
Personally, I am recommending a couple of other alternatives to Norton.
For free antivirus software the last holdout seems to be avast. http://www.avast.com. It catches a reasonable amount of viruses, updates fairly often, has a relatively small footprint, and the price is right.
For paid antivirus I feel Kaspersky is now king of the hill. It consistently ranks high in the best antivirus detection as well as update speed tests.
Now if you currently have Norton (or McAfee for that matter) I would continue to use it as long as you're happy with the results. However, if you find that your computer is running particulary slow when you check your Outlook email or if you are still getting a fair share of viruses on your system, then consider switching over to Kaspersky http://www.kaspersky.com once your current subscription expires.
After many years of using and recommending the great free AVG antivirus software, Grisoft has finally decided not to make it free anymore. *sob* It's still a great antivirus program -- much better than Norton or McAfee, the one time leaders in the antivirus market.
Smaller, faster programs have emerged such as AVG, Nod32, Kaspersky. If you're willing to spend a few dollars on antivirus software, those are all excellent choices.
As far as the free antivirus market goes, Avast now seems to be the last holdout. I've started using it a few months ago and it seems pretty good, although the interface is a little less than intuitive. For example, it wasn't obvious to me how to scan a whole drive. (Right-click on the Avast icon to get all the goodies.)
Despite the slightly quirky interface, Avast antivirus is an excellent -- and perhaps only -- free choice.
While you're at it, you can also download their free anti-spyware as well. Works as a full version for 30 days before downgrading itself to a minimal -- albeit free -- version.
I decided to remove the Notifyalert.exe program from a Dell PC which appeared to be slowing it down. The program is part of the Dell Support program that you can normally remove under Add / Remove Programs. Apparently this only works for version 3. If you have version 2 of Dell Support then the Add / Remove programs function can fail.
If you have version 2 of the Dell Support program, you need to reinstall the program and then remove it. Go to http://support.dell.com/ and do a search on "uninstall dell support" which will give you a link to the uninstall program.
Interesting slow booting problem found on a network. This is a good check for whenever you have a slow starting PC.
I noticed on a 10 PC network that one PC was particularly slow to boot. I checked the ethernet wiring from the PC to the switch with a cable tester and it all looked OK.
I then decided to check the ethernet card, thinking it might be damaged. I checked the TCP/IP properties and noticed that it had DNS server values of 85.255.116.67 and 85.255.112.71. Very unusual since this network was supposed to obtain the DNS server addresses automatically.
I did a quick Google search on the servers IPs and it looks like they are related to some Trojan. After removing the hard coded DNS server addresses the system boots up quickly now.
