This is spyware. Don't install anything you see a TV commercial for that will "clean" your computer

Over the course of the last 15 years I’ve learned a lot of tricks to keep spammers from getting my email, and spyware from getting installed. I do my best to create informative posts like these on this blog, but not everyone has access to it, and some don’t even realize how much they have put themselves at risk, and don’t consider it to be that big of a deal.

In my post about Improving Commercials, I take the position that commercials are useful to some extent, but have room to be improved. The other side of that coin are the commercials that are not useful: the ones that would be considered SPAM and SPYWARE-inducing if they were in email format.

I’ve seen the movie “Love & Other Drugs” – I know this is people’s livelihood to get the new drugs on the doctor’s shelf to give to patients, especially if it’s better, has fewer side-effects, or costs less. I get it. However, I don’t need it. I don’t even need to know about it.

There is no reason for a Cialis commercial after 5pm. Its target demographic is already in bed.

Asking people to treat their doctors as legalized drug dealers is one thing. Blatantly lying to people about what your service does is completely different. There is no software out there that will “double your speed”, there is no software that “fixes registry errors”, and there is no software that can “remove popups” that aren’t already removed by your browser.

All of these issues have real solutions, but they do not involve installing 3rd-party software.

Cable companies should allow user-feedback on the advertisers they sell spots to, or at least have some sort of ethics-in-advertising guidelines before letting someone come on. I know they can do this – I’ve seen the local broadcaster preempt national HD commercials with local SD commercials (And I hate it by the way – if it’s an HD channel, only HD commercials should be aired).

There should be a button on the remote that allows the viewer to mark this commercial as SPAM, False Advertisement, or (if you want to get granular) Irrelevant.

I realize this leaves the door wide open for every commercial to be marked as SPAM by some viewers, but the cross-sectional results of which commercials were marked as SPAM by *a majority* of viewers would have more value than the “dirty” data from abuse. And then commercials could be tailored to the household receiving them so that the ad-expense is actually worth the cost for the advertisers (and the ad-revenue can be increased due to the increased relevancy the cable company’s system can offer).

Seems like a win-win from my view. Customers don’t have to see SPAM commercials, and can vote-down false-advertisements, and potentially vote up relevant ads. Cable Companies can generate more ad-revenue from advertisers who would likely do better as a result of only broadcasting to interested customers.

Technorati Tags: ads, advertising, advertising innovation, commercial innovation, commercials, false-advertisements, spam, Spyware, television, tv, tv commercials, tv innovation

I get asked a lot by coworkers and friends about how to clean up a computer (either because it’s running slow, has spyware, or because they just can’t do anything on it any more). Below are 5 of the major cleanup methods I use to get their computer up and running again. Depending on the issue you want to resolve, I’ve broken up this post into some common categories…

Free up some space

1.) Disk Cleanup

Disk Cleanup removes temporary internet files, downloaded program files (used to install things like updates, that aren’t needed any more), other temporary files, recycle bin contents, cached thumbnails, error messages, and other unneeded files. In addition to deleting the files, it also compresses old files that haven’t been used in a long time, to free up some room on the disk for actively used files.

To run Disk Cleanup:

1. Go to your Start Menu, click All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup **OR** Open My Computer, right-click on the drive you wish to clean, choose Properties > click the Disk Cleanup button (like the Disk Cleanup image shows)
2. Once the program has calculated all the things it can cleanup, go through the “Files to Delete” section and Check those which you want deleted, Clear those you do not want to delete.

   

3. Once you’ve made your selections, click OK, then click Yes or “Delete Files” when prompted and it will handle the rest.

2.) Disk Defragmentation

Running Disk Defragmenter will help speed up your system’s ability to find and read data from your hard drive. In the pre-XP days, this was a big deal, and when you ran the utility a progress graphic would appear showing you which bits were being moved to where as everything was organized. To run Disk Defragmenter you would have to know about the application, and either run it manually or set up a scheduled task for it. When Vista & Windows 7 were released, this process was automatically added as a scheduled task, and likely runs every Wednesday sometime late at night.

If you’re on XP or lower, and want to run Disk Defragmenter:

1. Click the Start Menu > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter **OR** Open a Run prompt, and type “dfrg.msc”
2. Choose the drive you want to defragment, then click Analyze.
3. Once it has finished processing, it will make a recommendation as to whether it needs to be defraged or not.
4. If it says it needs it, or if you just want to do it anyway, click the Defragment button, and let it do its thing.
   1. As long as there is at least 15% free space on the drive, you can do this as many times as you think necessary – ultimately it will come close to putting all the colored bars together, and all the empty white space together – but it won’t always be perfect.

Removing Unwanted Programs

3.) Control Panel’s “Add/Remove Programs & Features”

The safest way to remove programs from your computer that you either don’t want or need is with Windows XP’s Add/Remove Programs or the Vista/7  Equivalent “Programs & Features” icon in the Control Panel.

Knowing which programs to remove can be tricky if you aren’t familiar with what has been installed on your computer. Generally if it is a new computer, or one that has been subjected to Spyware infection, I tell people to remove anything that has these words in it that aren’t from big name software vendors that you trust (i.e. Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, etc):

• Deluxe
• Toolbar
• Search
• Smilies
• Web

Take caution about what you’re uninstalling from your computer. If you’re uncertain about a program, go to a website like BleepingComputer.com’s Uninstall Database and see if there is an entry for it in there. If there is an entry, and it’s described as a program you should remove, go ahead and remove it or follow their uninstall instructions. If the entry is either approved or non-existent, leave it on your computer, and we’ll check it with some of the next methods.

4.) Microsoft Security Essentials – Remove Spyware/Malware/Viruses

It’s the result of years of beta testing on the OneCare and OneCare Live platforms and now one of the latest, and best, software apps for removing viruses, spyware, and other malware is coming out of Microsoft – and what’s more it’s free. The program is called Microsoft Security Essentials – and as compared with 20 other security suite programs (including big names like Symantec/Norton, McAfee, Trend-Micro and AVG) MSE came out close to the top. But being free, and doing such an excellent job at finding programs that aren’t explicitly listed in its definitions (known as using Heuristics) MSE ranks better than the paid apps in my book. I use it on all my computers at home, and recommend it to folks who ask.

5.) Spybot Search & Destroy

Another free, and very effective program that I’ve used for years is called Spybot Search & Destroy. The best way to describe this program’s features is mentioned directly on their website:

Spybot – Search & Destroy detects and removes spyware, a relatively new kind of threat not yet covered by common anti-virus applications. Spyware silently tracks your surfing behavior to create a marketing profile for you that is transmitted without your knowledge to the compilers and sold to advertising companies. If you see new toolbars in your Internet Explorer that you haven’t intentionally installed, if your browser crashes inexplicably, or if your home page has been “hijacked” (or changed without your knowledge), your computer is most probably infected with spyware. Even if you don’t see the symptoms, your computer may be infected, because more and more spyware is emerging. Spybot-S&D is free, so there’s no harm giving it a try to see if something has invaded your computer. – www.safer-networking.org

There are some imitations out there that will try to get you to download something *similar* to Spybot, but instead of removing spyware, they actually add more. So instead of telling you to go download it from their site and risk clicking on an advertisement on one of their mirror websites, you can download it directly from the safer-networking.org website here.

Other ways to clean up

If your computer is still having trouble, there are other more complicated methods I use, but they require some knowledge of what is normally expected to be on a computer, and what is not. There are some very technical tools available for free that will show what files are in use by which process to help pinpoint the issue, but poking around on the sub-process level can really mess up your computer even more.

Should you find yourself needing this kind of expertise, you may need to take it to your local computer guru and have them take a look at it. Anyone who has successfully broken and fixed their own computer several times for fun should be able to figure out what’s wrong with yours.

But remember, whether it’s a family member, coworker, or best friend don’t expect the service to be free – even if they refuse payment. Acquiring the knowledge beyond what I can post in a Do-It-Yourself blog post takes many years of experience, mistakes, stress, and searching the internet for specific answers to the issue at hand. So treat them to dinner, offer a service exchange (if you have your own specialty), or something to show you appreciate their help.

Technorati Tags: disk cleanup, disk defragmenter, how do I make my computer go faster, how do I speed up my computer, how to clean up a computer, microsoft security essentials, remove malware, remove spyware, remove viruses, reove viruses, spybot search & destroy, windows cleanup

Apparently they switched it back to the spyware method. I thought they learned their lesson. I guess not.

It looked like they replaced the download link that went to coupons.com with a pdf file. However, I think someone defaced the site and put that link on there because they were sending people to coupons.com.

Each coupon has a unique identifier though, and it’s the number under the Expiration Date and the Black/White squared barcode. You can’t pass around the same coupon to all your friends because those numbers are unique. That was my concern with the earlier update that they just linked to one PDF – it had the same barcode.

UPDATE:

You no longer have to download the software with spyware in it. KFC apparently realized the backlash, and made it so you can simply download the coupon: http://www.unthinkfc.com/.

If you happened to download the software, please keep reading to find out how to remove it properly.

Continued…

Yesterday, Oprah announced on her show that she was going to give everyone in America a Coupon for Free KFC Grilled Chicken. And all became well in the world…

Until a friend told me how his spyware detection program found some issues with the software they had you install.

See, to get the coupon, you have to install a program from Coupons.com that generates a hash based on your system configuration, and sends the coupon directly to your default printer, without any user intervention.

I read through the privacy policy, and it mentioned nothing about installing other programs, so I figured it would be safe. However, it doesn’t need to install other programs to do its thing.

Here’s what Spybot Search & Destroy says about it:

Spybot S&D on CouponBar

Functionality: Install a tool which provides “Over $100 in printable coupons right from your browser. Keep informed of the latest offers. Contains no adware or spyware. Coupons from companies like General Mills, Kimberly Clark, Nestle, and Johnson & Johnson.”

Description: The downloaded file installs a toolbar and a Browser helper object (BHO). The BHO connects to coupons.com at every Internet Explorer startup in order to download latest updates. The toolbar displays bonus vouchers which can be printed or used online. When uninstalled, nearly all the files and registry entries remain on the system.

Privacy Statement: [...]Coupons, Inc. uses the information that we collect to operate, maintain, and provide to you all of the coupons and promotional offerings found on the Sites and for other non-marketing or administrative purposes such as notifying you of major service updates or for customer service purposes.
Coupons, Inc. uses all of the information that we collect from our Consumers to understand the usage trends and preferences, to improve the way the Sites work and look, to improve our marketing and promotional efforts, and to create new features and functionality.
Coupons, Inc. uses “automatically collected” data to (a) process and record coupon printing and redemption activity; (b) store information so that you will not have to re-enter it during your visit or the next time you use the Sites; (c) provide custom, personalized coupon promotions, advertisements, content, and information; (d) monitor the effectiveness of marketing campaigns; and (e) monitor aggregate usage metrics such as total number of visitors and pages viewed. [...]
Coupons, Inc. discloses “automatically collected” data (such as coupon print and redeem activity) to its Clients and third-party ad servers and advertisers. These third parties may match this data with information that they have previously collected about you under their own privacy policies, which you should consult on a regular basis.
[...]

Spybot S&D's Detected Registry Entries for CouponBar

Spybot S&D found 7 registry entries. They’re in the picture at left so that you can manually remove them, since according to their analysis, “when uninstalled, nearly all the files and registry entries remain on the system.”

If you want to remove the threats, go download Spybot Search & Destroy from www.safer-networking.org. Do the updates, and then a “Search & Destroy”…check all the boxes it finds, and tell it to “Fix Selected Problems.” Once you’ve done that, go uninstall the software from your Control Panel in Windows. You may need to go to C:\Program Files\ and delete the folder “Coupons” and all its contents.

Free food is great and all, but not at the expense of the regular user unknowingly signing up for adware. If you told any of the mom’s who went to get their free coupon that installing the software required by KFC would put a program on your computer to track what you do on the web, most probably wouldn’t do it.

Plus, it says you have to cover any applicable tax on the food – they slip that in to the fine print on the actual coupon itself. However, the person before me in line did not have to pay extra tax. I bought something in addition to my free meal, so I don’t know if I was charged.

Technorati Tags: adware, coupon, coupons.com, free, kfc, Oprah, Spyware