Hey, J-kid or any other techies out there..........

[Ja. Jewel]

Whenever I do my weekly clean out (which has lately become daily) when I do the spy-bot search & destroy, it always comes up that "tagasaurus" is a problem (slows down everything bigtime)....so I check the "fix the problem" box and take it off, but the next day it's back & causing the same problems.

What is it?...how do I remove it forever? and please try to explain in "eediot" terms so I can do it myself....please and thanks!....btw, I've had someone wo is much more computer saavy than me look at it, do what he did and it was back again the next day!....please don't ask me what he did!!

[bee_bop]

Re: Hey, J-kid or any other techies out there..........

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Ja. Jewel</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Whenever I do my weekly clean out (which has lately become daily) when I do the spy-bot search &amp; destroy, it always comes up that &quot;tagasaurus&quot; is a problem (slows down everything bigtime)....so I check the &quot;fix the problem&quot; box and take it off, but the next day it's back &amp; causing the same problems.

What is it?...how do I remove it forever? and please try to explain in &quot;eediot&quot; terms so I can do it myself....please and thanks!....btw, I've had someone wo is much more computer saavy than me look at it, do what he did and it was back again the next day!....please don't ask me what he did!! </div></div>

Littleman says:
<span style="color: #660000">Tagasaurus is a form of malware known as adware, and is intended to track your internet usage, and report to a remote website.

It is difficult to remove, and apparently the technician who tried to remove it probably missed some of its files, on your hard-drive.

The manual fix is a bit tricky, since it involves going into the Windows Task Manager and stopping the process associated with TagAsaurus. If you accidentally stop the wrong process then you would probably have to reboot windows.
Also, you would have to remove the registry entries for TagAsaurus, which is even more <span style="font-weight: bold">dangerous</span>, because if you make a mistake here you could end-up having to <span style="font-weight: bold">re-install Windows</span>.

The easiest solution is to use anti-spyware software, usually two of them can completely, or near completely, remove spyware from your computer. Webroot Spy Sweeper is one such software that comes to mind, except that you have to pay. Next is Adware Alert which has a free version, that I have used for some time now, and is reasonably effective. Spybot Search and Destroy had a good reputation, but of late they have fallen behind. Lastly, most recent anti-virus programs, scuh as; Norton, or McAfee, also can tackle spyware effectively.

Here is a website that gives detailed instructions on manual removal of the TagAsaurus malware, follow it to the letter, no deviations. If you are not sure get that technician to help you. I <span style="text-decoration: underline">wouldn't</span> recommend downloading the SpyHunter Scanner, asociated with this website, but that's your choice.
The website's URL is: TagAsaurus Spyware removal </span>

[Ja. Jewel]

Re: Hey, J-kid or any other techies out there..........

THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE INFO., LITTLEMAN!!

[LinSkinny]

Re: Hey, J-kid or any other techies out there..........

Some versions of this malware are a RPITA to remove. If the spybot wont remove it, chances are it is buried in multiple areas of the windows boot process and that is why it returns. It basically reloads itself when you restart windows or when it sees that the process isn't running anymore. To remove it successfully, you will have to manually edit multiple places in windows, but as posted if you make a mistake, u salt.

Another good website is www.tek-tips.com

The spyware/adware forums have very good information on how to remove these malicious programs that do no good except to slow down your pc. If you were to google on the term Tagasaurus, you will see that there are many others out there affected by it. You can look at the 'cached' link under the links that google finds and see if the info is something you can use. You can also follow some of the instructions you find to see if it works for your particular infection.

A common tool used is HijackThis which builds a log of start up programs in windows. Once you get that log, then you post it so that someone experienced can look at the files and tell you which ones to remove. It is a time consuming process as one has to go line by line. Many of the sites that you find cater to the layman and you should be able to get good info from them.

[WorshipRaiser]

Re: Hey, J-kid or any other techies out there..........

Hey - I've had spyware like that on my pc too. I google how to remove the 'name of the spyware' and download the program to remove it, AND THEN REMOVE THE PROGRAM I JUST INSTALLED because some a them are spyware themselves.

Don't know if you want to, but i'm currently checking out a pc for my uncle, and I'm about to download a program called SMITREM - it has removed spyware off of other pc's for me before.

[Ja. Jewel]

Re: Hey, J-kid or any other techies out there..........

Thanks both of you for the input....I'm going to copy this so I have all the info. available.