Not too long ago, my mother purchased and downloaded an adware/spyware removal programme called NoAdware, without telling me first. I've never heard of it before, so I was a little weary when she told me about it the next day, especially since she paid for it and all. Well, she said it had removed a whole bunch of stuff, so I didn't worry too much.

But just now I updated Ad-Aware and did a full scan on the C drive, and (along with hundreds of other things) a bunch of NoAdware files showed up, including noadware.exe itself. So after I removed everything, I tried searching for NoAdware's official site and came up with various things. I'm assuming noadware.net is their official site then? And it looks pretty sketchy too; all it says is that it will do a scan of your computer for free. I don't know how she got it or how much she paid for it, but I would sure like to know more about this thing.

So I guess what I'm trying to get at here is this: Has anyone ever heard of this so-called adware removal programme and what have they heard about it?

As you can see, I've been having big computer troubles lately. :lol:

theres a lot of things like this, one time i had a problem with my svchost.exe taking up too much cpu usage, so i did a search. I came up with a "a one time free scan thing" so i figured it was worth a try. It came with games and weird stuff, and when i got my other antivirus stuff running, it deleted the thing i just installed.

keep with nortan, mcaffe, avg, adaware, and spybot. Thats all i can say.

i used noadware before. it scans your pc for free but then you have to pay for it to delete the stuff. THIS IS ILLEGAL, DO NOT MENTION IT ON THE FORUM

Oh gosh, not another of these. Ever heard of SpyHunter? And many other things that are made to sound unbelievably good? Guess what? They're all a bunch of fakes. They say they'll scan your computer, but then you have to pay. You know what the best part is? It barely, if not a single thing, clears anything. And technically they would say that they are reported by other programs as spyware because of the backups, but trust me, it's all just a hoax. Stick with Adware and Spybot.

By the way, just cause it may detect a lot of things doesn't exactly say anything. I mean, it may give you 10 listings just for one adware program. It just tries to look like it clears a lot.

Yeah, I know all about those scams, SpyHunter and the like, and ones that deliberately hijack your browser just to say that your computer is infected. I had just never heard of NoAdware before, and I was hoping that it wasn't a scam because my mother hardly goes online and isn't familiar with distinguishing hoaxes from...non-hoaxes. :P

How much do they make you pay, anyhow? I hope it wasn't too much...man...

i use both spybot and ad-aware and they don't help! or they do at first but the second i open up internet explorer again a bunch of pop-ups come up! arg, it's so frustrating! luckily my computer is still pretty fast :cool: i've never heard of the program your mom purchased, Makar, it seems abit odd... but try to use it, and if your computer doesn't worsen, then i guess that's a good sign ;) your computer seems pretty infected anyway [no offense] so this program can't hurt too much :D

Usually these programs can cost around 20 dollars I believe (SpyHunter was 30), which is a lot considering they never return your tech support questions and the software does almost nothing. They try to prevent people calling them and saying that their software is horrible.

Anyway, if you still have spyware and adware even if you have SpyBot and Adware, there's another thing I use that is no hoax at all. However, it's only recommended for advanced users, cause you have to delete the things manually (it gives you directions). If you want to try it out, you can download it here: http://download.com.com/3000-8022-10247783.html?tag=lst-0-1

Well, as I've said, I updated my Ad-aware and was able to delete over 400 objects, so right now I'm not having any problems. Hopefully it will stay that way for a while. :\

I was just able to talk to my mum, and she said NoAdware was thirty bucks, and she found it by doing a search on Google for "Spyware blocker", so at least she didn't follow a pop-up window link or anything. She also says that she found a site that compared adware/spyware removal programmes and that they gave pretty good ratings for NoAdware. So I'm not so sure...especially since Ad-aware detected all those NoAdware files. Hmm...well, thanks for everyone's input. I love how I can always count on you guys whenever I'm having computer problems. :)

Well, just a little note, the Internet is all about opinions and hoaxes ;) Who says that the developers of NoAdware can't take over the world and force cats to give them good reviews?

Well, just a little note, the Internet is all about opinions and hoaxes ;)
Well yah, that's Internet rule number one, man. :rolleyes:

I've never used Spybot, but seeing as many people find them helpful, I'll use them as a credible source. Here they compare a bunch of spyware/adware removal products...though I've never even heard of any of those, they gave NoAdware a good rating.

http://spybot-spyware.com/compare-spyware-removers/all-spyware.htm

I have spybot and ad-aware. Once I tryed SpyHunter, it really sucked and it said it found about 10 things. you couldn't delete them, you had to pay so I just deleted it. a while after that a computer repairer installed ad-aware. I used that for a while, then I tryed Spybot. I like them both in there ways.

these files are part of a line of programs aptly dubbed "extortionware" because they allow you to download themselves for free, and turn around and force you to pay to take them off. to get rid of this problem, i will repeat what others have said:

get:

SPYBOT: SEARCH AND DESTROY- as the name suggests, seeks and eliminates many spyware programs (but take note: because it is a program "definition" file, or it only looks for files it recognizes, you will need to update it whenever you use it with the "update feature")
AD-AWARE 6 - deletes many adware programs, but just like ss&d, it's "definition" files needs to be updated regularly
SPYWARE BLASTER -this is not a scan or serch file, but rather a blocker that tries to keep you clean in the first place. Get it and update it regularly.

(these are trusted and respectable programs dont be fooled by imposters)

Finally: the best protection you can get from junk like this is to not get it in the first place! (one way is to step-up your cookie protection through the tools:internet options: (tab)privacy: then raise the bar to maximum (block/prompt for all cookies) and when you encounter a cookie, check the vendor- if you don't trust them, select block cookie! (PS: though this can be a hassle, it is a pretty good way to prevent spyware on your own!)(PPS:That last suggestion works in IE only as far as i know)