L
LewB
And did you re-enable the McAfee application immediately upon rebooting
after you installed SP3?
Yes
When (approx. date) does your current McAfee subscription expire?
It is gratis from Cox, my ISP, as part of their internet service and has
no date of expiration
Has any other McAfee application or a Norton application ever been installed
on the computer (including but not limited to free-trial versions)?
None that I can recall.....but this computer (2004) was an update of
the one built by the
same person for me in 1999 but updated with more RAM, XP instead of
Win98, SATA's,
etc and it's presumably possible that McAfee or Norton could have been
there briefly....I
just don't recall but there is no Norton program on the computer now.
I installed McAfee
a few months ago. Before then Avast was my AV program for a few years.
Is Automatic Updates enabled?
Yes
Are KB980182 and KB979683 both listed in Add/Remove Programs (after making
sure the Show Updates box at the top is checked/enabled)?
KB979683 is there. KB980182 is not. (Only KB 980232)
LJB
--
LJB
after you installed SP3?
Yes
When (approx. date) does your current McAfee subscription expire?
It is gratis from Cox, my ISP, as part of their internet service and has
no date of expiration
Has any other McAfee application or a Norton application ever been installed
on the computer (including but not limited to free-trial versions)?
None that I can recall.....but this computer (2004) was an update of
the one built by the
same person for me in 1999 but updated with more RAM, XP instead of
Win98, SATA's,
etc and it's presumably possible that McAfee or Norton could have been
there briefly....I
just don't recall but there is no Norton program on the computer now.
I installed McAfee
a few months ago. Before then Avast was my AV program for a few years.
Is Automatic Updates enabled?
Yes
Are KB980182 and KB979683 both listed in Add/Remove Programs (after making
sure the Show Updates box at the top is checked/enabled)?
KB979683 is there. KB980182 is not. (Only KB 980232)
LJB
--
LJB
PA Bear said:...[SP3] was installed after I disabled McAfee.
And did you re-enable the McAfee application immediately upon rebooting
after you installed SP3?
When (approx. date) does your current McAfee subscription expire?
Has any other McAfee application or a Norton application ever been installed
on the computer (including but not limited to free-trial versions)?
Is Automatic Updates enabled?
Are KB980182 and KB979683 both listed in Add/Remove Programs (after making
sure the Show Updates box at the top is checked/enabled)?
The above notwithstanding, one would expect to find a legitimate listing of
"Microsoft Antispyware" on a WinXP computer if and only if Windows Defender
beta had been installed (and never uninstalled). Do with this information
as you see fit.
Did you own the computer in February 2005? [yes/no]
Yes, it was custom bult for me in May 2004
And did you intentionally download/install Windows Defender beta? [yes/no]
I don't think so. I rarely if ever have downloaded beta softwae.
And did you uninstall all beta builds before you installed Defender
final/RTW on or shortly after 26 October 2006? [yes/no]
No. The Defender program on my computer is dated January 2007
I kinda lost track here: Are you still unable to install SP3? [yes/no]
No, it was installed after I disabled McAfee.
Did you own the computer in February 2005? [yes/no]
And did you intentionally download/install Windows Defender beta?
[yes/no]
And did you uninstall all beta builds before you installed Defender
final/RTW on or shortly after 26 October 2006? [yes/no]
I kinda lost track here: Are you still unable to install SP3? [yes/no]
LewB wrote:
Of course I want to have this computer secure. Reviewing your note of
4-13
you referenced several links about Microsoft Antispyware being a rogue
and
these links are dated in late 2007.
Sunbelt Blog: Fake Microsoft Antispyware Center:
http://sunbeltblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/fake-microsoft-antispyware-center.html
McAfee Labs Blog: AntiSpyStorm: Fake Microsoft AntiSpyware Center
pushing
Adware
http://www.avertlabs.com/research/b...-microsoft-antispyware-center-pushing-adware/
Fake Microsoft AntiSpyware Site Aims For Credit Card Numbers
http://www.informationweek.com/news/internet/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=202401707
Fake Microsoft AntiSpyware Site Aims For Credit Card Numbers
http://www.informationweek.com/news/internet/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=202401707
The Microsoft Antispyware in my Program Files has a date of February
2005.
Is it possible therefore that this is a valid program as suggested by
the
link in Ken's note of 4/13.
To my surprise (I didn't remember this at all) Windows Defender
was
formerly known as Microsoft Antispyware. See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_AntiSpyware
I'm not trying to be difficult and want to do what is best/right.
Lew
Do you want a secure, trustworthy computer or do you want to risk
losing
those other programs?
LewB wrote:
That's a pretty extensive recommendation for a computer that quite
frankly
seems to works normally. I have no qualms about formatting and
reinstalling
XP. I do have the original XP discs and would need to work up to SP3.
And
I have my Microsoft Office discs. But there are some programs I want
to
keep that I purchased/obtained online and there are no installation
discs
for them. Some of them have executable (.exe) files associatied with
their
icons and double clicking on them starting the installation process as
I
recall. Thus if I selectively include these programs in my backup so
they
will be included in the restore process, will I be able to reinstall
each
one that has an executable file since I will not have an installation
disc?
That is my major concern. You advise backing up only those
programs/files
I
know are trustworthy. How can I tell? If Microsoft Antispyware is a
rogue
is there no way to remove it short of what you have written??
Lew
LJB
:
Back-up any personal data (none of which should be considered 100%
trustworthy at this point) then format the HDD & do a clean install
of
Windows. Please note that a Repair Install (AKA in-place upgrade)
will
NOT
fix this!
HOW TO do a clean install of WinXP: See
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html#steps and/or Method
1
in
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/978307
After the clean install, you will have the equivalent of a "new
computer"
so
take care of everything on the following page before otherwise
connecting
the machine to the internet or a local network (i.e., other
computers)
and
before using a flash drive or SDCard that isn't brand-new or hasn't
been
freshly formatted:
4 steps to help protect your new computer before you go online
http://www.microsoft.com/security/pypc.aspx
Other helpful references include:
HOW TO get a computer running WinXP Gold (no Service Packs) fully
patched
(after a clean install)
http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.windowsupdate/msg/3f5afa8ed33e121c
HOW TO get a computer running WinXP SP1(a) or SP2 fully patched
(after
a
clean install)
http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/msg/a066ae41add7dd2b
Tip: After getting the computer fully-patched, download/install
KB971029
manually: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971029
NB: Any Norton or McAfee free-trial that came preinstalled on the
computer
when you bought it will be reinstalled (but invalid) when Windows is
reinstalled. You MUST uninstall the free-trial and download/run the
appropriate removal tool before installing any updates, Windows
Service
Packs or IE upgrades and before installing your new anti-virus
application
(which will require WinXP SP3 to be installed).
Norton Removal Tool
ftp://ftp.symantec.com/public/english_us_canada/removal_tools/Norton_Removal_Tool.exe
McAfee Consumer Products Removal Tool
http://download.mcafee.com/products/licensed/cust_support_patches/MCPR.exe
Also see:
Risks & Benefits of P2P file sharing
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/data/downloadfileshare/filesharing.aspx
http://blogs.technet.com/mmpc/archive/2008/10/06/the-cost-of-free-software.aspx
Steps To Help Prevent Spyware
http://www.microsoft.com/security/spyware/prevent.aspx
Steps to Help Prevent Computer Worms
http://www.microsoft.com/security/worms/prevent.aspx
Avoid Rogue Security Software!
http://www.microsoft.com/security/antivirus/rogue.aspx
If these procedures look too complex - and there is no shame in
admitting
this isn't your cup of tea - take the machine to a local, reputable
and
independent (i.e., not BigBoxStoreUSA or Geek Squad) computer repair
shop.
--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-IE, Mail, Security, Windows Client - since 2002
LewB wrote:
Ok so the consensus is this is a rogue file. Did I download this
because
it
looked real and is, in fact, I presume from you discussions,
malware??
Anyway the basis question of how to deal with it has not been
answered.
The
program is not listed in Add/Remove in CP and in Program Files there
is
no
uninstall file among the 13 after the 3 folders. There is a
cleaner.log
and
an error.log (both on Notepad) and on opening them a fair bit of
activity
is
listed. I tried to copy to a new files I created in Word and then
place
it
here but it won't let me do it.
As you and Ken have been in contact I will not copy this to him.
Thanks
to all of you for your continuing input and help.
<snip>
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