PUPs

[jane grant]

I have had a spate ot PUPs detected on my computer, (for no apparent reason) and need some advice as to whether or not it is safe to delete them. (I ask as a friend had a similar problem and now has trouble booting up following the deletion). The offending programmes are

Navhelp.exe
nxstinst.? (I've quarantined this one and can't remember the extension)
remover.dll

I tried restoring the computer to a previous date, but something knocked out my antivirus protection by doing this, which necessitated a frantic visit to the website in the early hours of this am to re-download, with fingers crossed I didn't pick anything else up!
Also, any ideas where I may have got these from, and we never download anything suspect, and nornally only visit tried and tested web sites.

Thanks.

[spanish hopes]

PUPs are basically adware. I use the Microsoft Antispyware free download which helps to keep my computer free of these annoying little bu@@ers.

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/securit ... fault.mspx

Of course the Bill Gates fan club will slag me off for suggesting it.

When you have a virus or similar it is best to switch off your system restore before removal as a copy of the offending file will probably be held in system restore waiting to pounce.

[frank]

Not a subject I know much about, but if you copy the individual file names into google, you'll find lots of references to these files. Seems the second two are adware, and it says this of the first one.

How to use NAVHELP.EXE
Included with this SDK is a Windows application called NAVHELP.EXE. This is a utility that allows you to test context-sensitive help files even when the application that will ultimately call your help is not available. By specifying a help ID, you can "test-drive" what will happen when a help button is clicked in your application, or F1 is pressed. This utility is only available under Windows for this release but will be available for Mac and Unix platforms in the future.

[Beachcomber]

As well as you antivirus program you should consider running Adware, Spybot and Spyware Blasterto your PC.

They are all free downloads and you can upgrade to paid for versions with more features if you wish.

[jpinks]

Beach and Frank are quite correct. There are many free removal tools and protection systems against these pests, and you are well-advised to keep these programmes up-to-date. The problem is pretty much confined to Widows users, though I believe some are now getting into macs as well. I will try not to smirk when I see them trying to install themselves in Linux

[El Cid]

It seems to me that these tools are even more important than an AV program now.

Maybe its just me, but I haven't had a virus sent to me for 6 months. A year ago I was sometimes getting 5 a day.

I think these low lifers are now spending all their time on writing Spyware and Malware etc rather than viruses.

Sid

[Beachcomber]

Yes, same here.

It is curious, though, that Spyware Blaster treats terra.es as a restricted site. I have to manually disable protection against this site within the program otherwise I cannot access my Telefónica emails.

If anyone installs Spyware Blaster you need to bear this in mind. It is number 987 in the restricted sites list and is one of the CoolWebSearch entries.

[jane grant]

Thanks for all the advice. Having had 3 PUPs detected by Mcafee and 4 by the windows anti spy ware I was feeling quite confident all was sorted, till I ran SpyBot and an amazing 71 files were detected! Guess who's runnung SpyBot in the future!

[jpinks]

It is curious, though, that Spyware Blaster treats terra.es as a restricted site. I have to manually disable protection against this site within the program otherwise I cannot access my Telefónica emails.

It is probably because terra.es is riddled with malware of one sort or another. Several big isp's in america are also blocked for similar reasons. Yahoo, msn and hotmail are three of the largest distributors of malware in the world, so terra.es is in good company