OMG, I logged on a bit ago and in the little bar at the bottom of my page where the pictures of stuff is, pop up protector, the internet speed, etc...there is a new icon picture and when I put my mouse over it it says e zulu 17% installed, my computer is really slow and keeps locking up...now it is at 89% installed...where did I get this, what is it? and how do I get rid of it? Thanks!

Just in case we're talking about a certain virus (spyware)called "e zula", click here.

Yes, sorry it is e zula not zulu....now my home page isn't even there anymore, some other one is there.

Kittypal, are you able to go to the link provided by mozart56 for the removal instructions? Basically it is Start/Settings/Control Panel/Add-Remove Programs and remove the TOPtext entry.

Once that is done, you can re-set your preferred Home Page by clicking Tools/Internet Options/and typing in the address of your page. For simplicity, you can go to the page you want and then in the Internet Options page, click the "Use Current" button.

For future reference, here are some free downloadable programs that will help remove and/or prevent these "Spyware" attacks.

I can recommend Ad-Aware (Please note the program name's spelling) from Lavasoft (click for the download). Also, there is Spybots version 1.3 (Click for download/program description).

Another very useful Anti-Spyware tool is Spyware Blaster from Javacool Software. This one help prevent spyware and browser hijackers from compromising your system in the first place.

With all of these tools, keeping them updated is very important. You can read more about all of these tools at my site.

Please be very careful about downloading and installing "AdAware" type of programs. Several programs that claim to be ad removal programs are in fact just ad generating or key stroke logging programs. This page details many of the problem programs: Click Here This page details many of the "good" programs: Click Here (And thanks to Bedstor for finding these last two links for us.)

I hope this helps!

Dwight

yes, thank you, it seems to be all cleared up. I just don,t know how I got it, we have a fire wall and anti-virus on here. Thanks again!!!

Kittypal, spyware is not the same thing as a virus. These programs get into the system in a variety of ways (all underhanded) and the resulting problems are varied. Some are really difficult to remove while others are relatively easy.

In any event, the Anti-Virus software won't help with these problems (although some Anti-Virus programs are beginning to offer Anti-Spyware capabilities). Your firewall also will not help in those situations where you're tricked into accepting the spyware download.

This page has a good (and brief) explanation of what spyware is and how it gets into your system.

I hope this helps!

Dwight