Friday, August 1, 2008

How to Detect & Remove AntiSpyMaster


AntiSpyMaster is just more fake anti-spyware, and a clone of AntispywareMaster. You might have caught AntiSpyMaster from a trojan. How do you know if you have AntiSpyMaster? More like how don’t you know: a bajillion of AntiSpyMaster popups try to trick you into clicking them. This AntiSpyMaster popup probably reads:

“Warning! 29 suspicious files found! Potentially dangerous files were found on your system during the last scan! IT is highly recommended to remove them as soon as possible…Remove Now!”

f you click these popups, you’re taken to a site to buy the “licensed” version of AntiSpyMaster. Great. AntiSpyMaster? More like AntiSpyScammer. Yeah, that rhymed.

Do I Have AntiSpyMaster?
You can search your computer manually, but it

might take hours to find AntiSpyMaster’s hidden files. To save time, I recommend you automatically scan your PC for AntiSpyMaster and other spyware. Why not? It’s free.

You can easily detect AntiSpyMaster with SpyHunter’s FREE spyware scanner. And if you’re really infected with AntiSpyMaster, you can buy the full version of SpyHunter to remove AntiSpyMaster and other spyware. Or you can use my instructions below and remove AntiSpyMaster for free.

I’m a big fan of SpyHunter. Here’s why: SpyHunter offers live support on the phone, and if SpyHunter doesn’t automatically remove AntiSpyMaster, you can get a custom fix for your computer.

How to Remove AntiSpyMaster
Your best protection against AntiSpyMaster is to remove AntiSpyMaster processes, registry keys, DLLs, and other files ASAP.
Get Rid of AntiSpyMaster Manually

AntiSpyMaster warning Manual removal of any spyware can be difficult. When you manually remove AntiSpyMaster, you have to fiddle with your registry and risk destroying your PC. It’s highly recommended you use an automatic spyware scanner to make sure you’re infected with AntiSpyMaster. Also, I recommend you backup your system any time before editing your registry.

Stop AntiSpyMaster processes:
-----------------------------------------------
AntiSpywareMaster 7.3.exe
%ProgramFiles%\AntiSpywareMaster\asm.exe
-----------------------------------------------
Unregister AntiSpyMaster registry keys:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\AntiSpywareDeluxe
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\AntiSpywareDeluxe_is1
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\AntispywareD
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\AntiSpywareMaster
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\{5222008A-DD62-49c7-A735-7BD18ECC7350}


Delete AntiSpyMaster files:
AntiSpywareMaster 7.3.url
%UserProfile%\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\AntiSpywareMaster.lnk
%UserProfile%\Desktop\AntiSpywareMaster.lnk
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\AntiSpywareMaster\AntiSpywareMaster.lnk
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\AntiSpywareMaster\Uninstall AntiSpywareMaster.lnk


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: In any files I mention above, “%System%” is a variable referring to your PC’s System folder. Maybe you renamed it, but by default your System folder is “C:\Windows\System32″ on Windows XP, “C:\Winnt\System32″ on Windows NT/2000,” or “C:\Windows\System” on Windows 95/98/Me.

Relatedly, “%UserProfile%” is a variable referring to your current user’s profile folder. If you’re using Windows NT/2000/XP, by default this is “C:\Documents and Settings\[CURRENT USER]” (e.g., “C:\Documents and Settings\JoeSmith”).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AntiSpyMaster changed your homepage?

Click Windows Start menu > Control Panel > Internet Options. Next, under Home Page, select the General > Use Default. Type in the URL you want as your home page (e.g., “http://www.homepage.com”). Then select Apply > OK. You’ll want to open a fresh web page and make sure that your new default home page pops up.

Recommendation:
AntiSpyMaster removal warning To save time and avoid risking destroying your computer, I highly recommend you use a spyware scanner, such as SpyHunter, to detect AntiSpyMaster and other spyware, adware, trojans, viruses, keyloggers, and more that can be hidden in your PC. It’s also recommended before you manually remove AntiSpyMaster you backup your system.

How Do I Remove AntiSpyMaster Files?

Need help figuring out how to delete files, DLLs, and registry keys? While there’s some risk involved, and you should only manually remove AntiSpyMaster files if you’re comfortable and confident editing your system, you’ll find it’s fairly easy to delete AntiSpyMaster files in Windows.

How to delete AntiSpyMaster files in Windows XP and Vista:

  1. Click your Windows Start menu, and from “Search,” click “For Files and Folders…
  2. A speech bubble will pop up asking you, “What do you want to search for?” Click “All files and folders.”
  3. Type any file name in the search box, and select “Local Hard Drives.”
  4. Click “Search.” Once the file is found, delete it.

How to stop AntiSpyMaster processes:

  1. Click the Start menu, select Run.
  2. Type taskmgr.exe into the the Run command box, and click “OK.” You can also launch the Task Manager by pressing keys ALT + CTRL + DELETE or CTRL + Shift + ESC.
  3. Click Processes tab, and find AntiSpyMaster processes.
  4. Once you’ve found the AntiSpyMaster processes, right-click them and select “End Process” to kill AntiSpyMaster.

How to remove AntiSpyMaster registry keys:

Your Windows registry is the core of your Windows operating system, storing information about user settings, system preferences, and software, including which applications automatically launch at start up. Because of this, spyware, malware, and adware will often bury their own files into your Windows registry so that they automatically launch every time your start up your PC.

Because your registry is such a key piece of your Windows system, you should always backup your registry before you make any changes to it. Editing your registry can be intimidating if you’re not a computer expert, and when you change or a delete a critical registry key or registry value, there’s a chance you may need to reinstall your entire Windows operating system. Make sure your backup your registry before editing it.

  1. Select your Windows menu “Start,” and click “Run.” An “Open” field will appear. Type “regedit” and click “OK” to open up your Registry Editor.
  2. Registry Editor will open as a window with two panes. The left side Registry Editor’s window lets you select various registry keys, and the right side displays the registry values of the registry key you select.
  3. To find a registry key, such as any AntiSpyMaster registry keys, select “Edit,” then select “Find,” and in the search bar type any of AntiSpyMaster’s registry keys.
  4. As soon as AntiSpyMaster registry key appears, you can delete the AntiSpyMaster registry key by right-clicking it and selecting “Modify,” then clicking “Delete.”

Computer acting funny after you’ve edited your registry and deleted AntiSpyMaster registry keys? Just restore your registry with your backup.

How to remove AntiSpyMaster DLL files:

Like most any software, spyware, adware, and malware may also use DLL files. DLL is short for “dynamically linked library,” and AntiSpyMaster DLL files, like other DLLs, carryout predetermined tasks. To manually delete AntiSpyMaster DLL files, you’ll use Regsver32, a Windows tool designed to help you remove DLL and other files.

  1. First you’ll locate AntiSpyMaster DLL files you want to delete. Open your Windows Start menu, then click “Run.” Type “cmd” in Run, and click “OK.”
  2. To change your current directory, type “cd” in the command box, press your “Space” key, and enter the full directory where the AntiSpyMaster DLL file is located. If you’re not sure if the AntiSpyMaster DLL file is located in a particular directory, enter “dir” in the command box to display a directory’s contents. To go one directory back, enter “cd ..” in the command box and press “Enter.”
  3. When you’ve located the AntiSpyMaster DLL file you want to remove, type “regsvr32 /u SampleDLLName.dll” (e.g., “regsvr32 /u jl27script.dll”) and press your “Enter” key.

That’s it. If you want to restore AntiSpyMaster DLL file you removed, enter “regsvr32 DLLJustDeleted.dll” (e.g., “regsvr32 jl27script.dll”) into your command box, and press your “Enter” key.


read more...

HP, Intel and Yahoo Team Up In The Clouds


Computing giant Hewlett-Packard, chipmaker Intel and Web concern Yahoo said today they have teamed up on cloud computing. If you’re unfamiliar with the phrase, perhaps you ought to go back a few months and read Steve Baker’s cover story on “Google and the Wisdom of the Clouds.”

The idea is that large-scale computing tasks, can be handled as efficiently, if not more so “in the cloud” meaning by thousands of Internet-connected servers stationed in data centers around the world. Instead of spending truckloads of cash for servers and the space to house them and the personnel to run and maintain them, why not lease the capacity you need from providers in the cloud who can give you what need, add or subtract more quickly based on your needs

Dubbed the HP, Intel and Yahoo Cloud Computing Test Bed, the three companies are building a global project that will consist six distributed computing centers around the world. The trio has partnered with the Infocomm Development Authority in Singapore, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in the U.S. and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany each of which will host one of the six “centers of excellence.” The other three will be hosted by Yahoo, Intel and HP.

Each site will be based mostly on HP hardware and Intel processors, and will between 1,000 and 4,000 processor cores, which is enough computing power to conduct research on cloud computing applications. The sites will be fully operational and accessible to researchers later this year.

The companies declined to talk about their financial commitment, but each will be responsible for contributing hardware and resources at their own expense.

HP’s Prith Banerjee, head of HP Labs said that HP believes that the marketplace is entering an era called “Everything as a Service.” For instance, instead of wishing your company had the right computing resources to do a job, you’d be able to secure those resources from the cloud, without having to worry about the costs associated buying the hardware upfront or maintaining it. Better yet: You’ll only pay for what you use, and if you need more capacity, you can easily add more.

How might cloud computing affect the average user? Russ Daniels, CTO of HP’s Cloud Services Strategy says that since most of the computing work is not done on a user’s machine but out in the cloud, you can worry less about the limitations of that one particular machine, making it easier to provide a consistent user experience, even if your PC is a littler older. At least that’s the theory. We’ll see.

For now, the test bed will be used by researchers to better figure out how all this will work.
read more...

Here Comes Dell To Compete With The iPod, Again


Looks like Dell is going to make another run at the music player business. All I can say is “here we go again.” Perhaps you’ll remember its ill-fated attempt to compete with Apple’s iPod. It lasted all of three years.


What’s different this time around? Well last year Dell acquired a little music software outfit called Zing which in 2006 was demonstrating a concept design that essentially put Wi-Fi streaming inside a portable player, thus giving it the ability to, among other things, play Sirius streams.
Sound familiar? Well yeah, actually. My very favorite thing to do with the iPod touch is to listen to streams from Pandora and Last.fm. Okay, Sirius and XM aren’t on the iTunes App Store, but if they know what’s good for them, they’ll offer their subscribers who like to listen via the Web (ahem) an iPhone/iPod touch application that will work via Wi-Fi and/or 3G, but I digress.

Dell’s player might include streaming capabilities, and could also work with Rhapsody, which isn’t a bad service at all, or it might launch its own music service. And hey, if it supports MP3 music files, as it presumably would, it would support music sold on Rhapsody, Amazon, eMusic and whoever else has decided to go the MP3 route. The problem, will of course, come down to marketing and positioning aganst Apple, and we all know how that tends to work out. Its closest rival in the U.S. is SanDisk, which has a market share of about 11%, though it has tended to be a profitable share profitable share.

Or as CNet’s Jim Kerstetter says, this could all be a trial balloon meant to test market potential. It’s not like Dell doesn’t have enough on its plate, though CEO Michael Dell is promising a “big second half” of the year. A music player won’t get Dell there, that much is certain.

read more...

Google, Symbian: Cooperation Needed


When it comes to cell-phone software, open is the new black. In less than two years, no fewer than three coalitions have formed with the intent of building mobile handset operating systems with input from all comers. Suddenly the business of developing mobile software—once handled by coders working behind closed doors for a single vendor or group—has gone open source.



To recap, there's the Google-led Open Handset Alliance (BusinessWeek.com, 11/6/07) that draws together dozens of companies to work on an operating system called Android. "The first truly open and comprehensive platform for mobile devices" is how Andy Rubin, director of mobile platforms at Google (GOOG), described the effort, unveiled in November 2007. Then there's the LiMo Foundation, a coalition formed early last year that's already proved successful in getting the Linux open-source operating system onto mobile phones.

Most recently, cell-phone giant Nokia (NOK) said it's buying the part of the Symbian mobile software effort that it doesn't already own, and creating a foundation that will render Symbian open source (BusinessWeek.com, 6/24/08) and give away its software to device makers.

"A Rattly Ship"

Now, the question for many in the wireless industry is to what extent the world needs these potentially competing open software efforts and whether there's capacity for them to work together. "We are all doing the right thing," Rubin says. "I don't think there's anything that would preclude us from working together. How we cooperate—that's the question." Rubin also says he's willing to host a meeting among "everybody that's interested."

Open-source efforts might be able to accomplish a lot more together than they can apart, analysts say. Concerns over the reliability and lack of focus for any one initiative sends some handset makers into the arms of proprietary software makers Microsoft (MSFT), Research In Motion (RIMM), and Apple (AAPL), says Kevin Burden, an analyst at ABI Research. The concern is that open-source initiatives "are a rattly ship, [where] there's no control over where these platforms are going," Burden says.

Google's Rubin isn't alone in welcoming a concerted effort. At a recent Tokyo conference, Symbian CEO Nigel Clifford hinted that as closed Symbian gets reborn into the open-source Symbian Foundation, he'd be open to collaborating with Google in some way. Morgan Gillis, executive director of LiMo, says he wouldn't mind working with Android either. "There's plenty of scope for cooperation," he says.

Who Would Merge?

What would that look like? One option is for the Open Handset Alliance to join the new Symbian Foundation and use some Symbian code in its own software. Symbian, in turn, may want to harness Android's user-friendly menus, which could help vendors such as Nokia better compete with Apple's iPhone. Symbian could also benefit from Dalvik, a type of software developed by the Open Handset Alliance that could help the Symbian Foundation replicate Sun Microsystems (JAVA) Java software that it's restricted from using on its own.
read more...