How porn and P2P pummeled a PC

Got your own spyware horror story?

It all started when we got the new desktop. The first thing I was going to do was download a few protective programs, as well as Service Pack 2. I downloaded the SP2 update and was planning to download multiple antispyware and antiviral programs. My father told me not to and said he would go out and purchase one himself. He came back with Norton Internet Security. It provided good protection, but my father complained about how the "extra settings" such as the e-mail scanner bothered him. So I downloaded AVG Anti-Virus and again tried to download Ad-Aware and Spybot - Search & Destroy. My father said no again and went off to buy an antispyware program. He returned with Webroot Spy Sweeper, which was just fine.

But after a while, my brother began toying around with LimeWire. I had strongly advised him against this, saying it would be the downfall of the computer, but he blew me off. I also suspected my father of viewing pornography on a daily basis (judging by the Web-surfing history) and this also worried me, because I knew you could contract a lot of bad software at these kinds of sites.

A few days later, I noticed Norton Internet Security flicking on and off and trying to run constant scans. When I let the scan run, it stopped before finishing. I found this weird. I suspected multiple strains of spyware were on the computer, but my father insisted I was just paranoid and that Spy Sweeper was working fine, again forbidding me from downloading other antispyware programs. After Spy Sweeper alerted me that potential threats were trying to install on my computer, I ran multiple scans. Each time I did, Spy Sweeper stopped after a few seconds. Soon, our Web browser slowed to a halt, as did everything else. Everybody complained to me as if it were my fault, although I had not been allowed to download additional protective programs. However, after days of everybody being fed up, I finally downloaded Spybot and Ad-Aware.

The former found hundreds of spyware keys but froze up in the middle of a scan. So I ran Ad-Aware, and the exact same thing happened. I tried removing the cookies and temporary files via my browser, but this option had been disabled, as had the Control Panel. I then ran Spybot and Ad-Aware again, to no avail. When I tried to click the Start menu, nothing happened. I tried clicking desktop icons, but again, nothing happened. The cursor moved but the screen was frozen; the wheel was turning, but the hamster was dead. After a bit, the computer decided to turn off and not turn back on. Ever. It died right there.

We still do not know how we got spyware, but I suspect it was my brother downloading hundreds of MP3s without bothering to use common sense.

-Loki
New York, U.S.A.

Reply from the Download.com editors:

It's ironic that your family tried to blame the infected computer on you, considering they were the ones who practiced risky surfing and downloading. We've said it time and time again, but we'll say it once more: downloading files from P2P networks and frequenting porn sites are two of the best ways to find yourself with a machine full of spyware. Hopefully your father and brother learned some things from the fate of your poor old PC (including how to erase potentially embarrassing Web-surfing tracks).

We like all three of the antispyware applications you mention in your story, two of which (Ad-Aware and Spybot) are totally free and one of which (Spy Sweeper) boasts an impressive real-time shield. That said, we don't feel you can ever be overprotected from threats in this day and age, and we always suggest having multiple weapons against malware at your fingertips.