Keyloggers?

Question

I want to buy something online but I'm concerned about any keyloggers on my computer. Right now I have avast running and it's detected some trojan called Agent-L, which I deleted. But no keyloggers, as far as I can tell. But I'm really paranoid because I ran Ad-Aware SE Personal earlier today and it came up with loads of spyware so who knows what else I've gotten?

Is it true that keyloggers can only be picked up by anti-virus programs? If so how am I supposed to make sure I'm clean if I can only have one anti-virus?

Answer 1

AdAware, huh?

I am willing to bet that all of those "threats" that AdAware found were harmless tracking cookies and even more harmless MRU's (most recently used), that was detected by AdAware. Neither cookies or MRUs pose any kind of a threat to a computer.

The detection of these non-existent threats by the free version of AdAware is a cheap marketing ploy to "encourage" people to purchase the full paid version.

Answer 2

Most keyloggers are VERY easily detected these days, and you SHOULD be safe, if you haven't noticed any changes in any of your online accounts. However, if you're still concerned, try these steps to scan for viruses:

I'll provide a few links for you at the end of this answer. Check these out by downloading them and scanning your system with them.

If all else fails and the virus cannot be deleted, use the last two links at the end of the answer. I will describe them down there...

Good luck!

-------TRY THESE!------------

http://lavasoft.com -- For AdAware, to find adware & spyware

http://kaspersky.com -- Download the trial of Kaspersky anti virus. Great and up to date definitions.

http://free.avg.com -- If you're looking for long term, and free protection, download AVG Free, or consider purchasing Kaspersky (above), for great long term protection.

---------If all else fails--------

1) Download HijackThis -- http://www.trendsecure.com/portal/en-US/...

2) Scan & Copy the log that HJT gives you

3) Paste the log into a new topic on BleepingComputer.com -- http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/f...

4) Wait a few hours for someone to go over your log and provide you with steps to delete the virus.

Having a human go over the results works better, and is worth the wait.

Good luck!!

Answer 3

Download HijackThis and CCleaner from FileHippo.com and install. Avast! may detect HijackThis suspicious, but its the most effective software ever to scan startup.

Restart and press F8 repeatedly and start in Safe Mode. Do not start system restore. Do not double click on any drive. Open ccleaner, delete all startup entries except those you trust. Start hijackthis and run system scan only, mark all and click fix checked. If asked continue..You will be surprised to know how many things run at startup..Reboot normally and im 100% sure no virus, spyware or keylogger may be running.

Thanks.