It's gotta be me

[TwstdFreak]

Hello all. Would someone please tell me what I have or have not done to get the SpyWare Blaster program to open? I had it before and it worked like a dream. Then, for some reason I am unable to recall now, I did a system restore on my PC. I had to download it again, but this time I can't get it to open. It does nothing. I am pretty much computer illiterate, so if you can help me please explain it as simply as possible. Thanks!

[snapdragin]

Hi TwstdFreak,

If I am understanding correctly, you had to do a system restore to a time before you installed SpywareBlaster, and this is on a XP, or WinME?

Is there any chance that you could have restored to a time that may have had any spyware/malware files still stored in your system restore? Some spyware can disable and even prevent SpywareBlaster from running, so this is why I am asking, and if you have also scanned your computer with an anti-virus, and anti-spyware program after you did the restore.

Regards,

snap

[TwstdFreak]

Thank you so much for responding so quickly. This truly has me frustrated. I am on an XP. Yes, like an idiot I restored it to a pretty bad time. Is there anything I can do to get it to work again? It worked so well and I would love to get it working again. Thank you.

[snapdragin]

I'm guessing that "I restored it to a pretty bad time" means that you may have restored an earlier infection and it is now active on your system.

First, I would suggest doing a scan of your hard drive with one of these free on-line scanners: Free Services (http://www.wilders.org/free_services.htm)

Fix what the on-line scans flag as infected, then reboot your computer.

Next, download, install and bring up-todate one, or both of the following spyware removal programs:

Ad-AwareSE (http://www.majorgeeks.com/download506.html)
Spybot Search&Destroy (http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html)

Scan with them, and reboot after the scans, then run them again until nothing more is flagged as infected.

Use the Disk cleanup Utility to clean out your Temp folders. Disk Cleanup Utility (http://www.theeldergeek.com/disk_cleanup_utility.htm)
Go to Start --> Run and type in the box: cleanmgr. This will bring up the Disk Cleanup Manager.
Place a check mark in the box beside Temporary Files, Temporary Internet Files, and Recycle Bin.
Then click "OK" and the Disk Cleanup Wizard will delete the files you've placed a check mark beside.

If you think there was a chance that you had a CoolWebSearch infection, then you can try running CWShredder (http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=14086) and see if it detects anything. Make sure you close ALL browsers before running it and follow the prompts you receive from the program.

Then uninstall SpywareBlaster (if you had been able to enable it's protection, then you would want to disabled that before uninstalling SpywareBlaster). Reboot after uninstalling, then re-download a new copy of SpywareBlaster (http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/products.html) and install it.

Let us know if you can then open SpywareBlaster.

Regards,

snap