DSSAGENT Program

[cranheim]

I just installed McAfee VirusScan Professional version 8 from Version 7.
When I scan the C drive, VirusScan picks up program
"C:\WINDOWS\BBSTORE\DSSAGENT" as a suspect program that could harbor a
virus. While it is not a virus that can be cleaned, it is a suspect program
that probably should not be there. I have no idea what this application
program is used for or where it came from. I am afraid to let McAfee delete
it without knowing more about it. Can anyone tell me if this is a normal
program in Windows XP Home edition, or if it can/should be removed? Charles
Ranheim

 

[N.O. Body]

Spyware

reference: http://www.cexx.org/dssagent.htm

 

[Sharon F]

I just installed McAfee VirusScan Professional version 8 from Version 7.
When I scan the C drive, VirusScan picks up program
"C:\WINDOWS\BBSTORE\DSSAGENT" as a suspect program that could harbor a
virus. While it is not a virus that can be cleaned, it is a suspect program
that probably should not be there. I have no idea what this application
program is used for or where it came from. I am afraid to let McAfee delete
it without knowing more about it. Can anyone tell me if this is a normal
program in Windows XP Home edition, or if it can/should be removed? Charles
Ranheim

It's installed by a Broderbund software package. Found some additional info
about what it is and what it does here: http://www.cexx.org/dssagent.htm

 

[cranheim]

I wrote to (e-mail address removed) to ask if their removal utility works
with WindowsXP. This was their response:

"I understand that the dssagent is present on your Windows XP computer. As
there is not a version of any program that included dssagent that was made
to be compatible with Windows XP, there is not currently a Windows XP
version of the removal utility available. Having Macafee remove the
dssagent is acceptable."

I don't know if McAfee would remove it and the associated registry entries
or not. I am not a windows guru, and would not dare to alter the registry. I
can delete the program file, but if I do, the system may hang looking for
it. Charles Ranheim

 

[Sharon F]

I wrote to (e-mail address removed) to ask if their removal utility works
with WindowsXP. This was their response:

"I understand that the dssagent is present on your Windows XP computer. As
there is not a version of any program that included dssagent that was made
to be compatible with Windows XP, there is not currently a Windows XP
version of the removal utility available. Having Macafee remove the
dssagent is acceptable."

I don't know if McAfee would remove it and the associated registry entries
or not. I am not a windows guru, and would not dare to alter the registry. I
can delete the program file, but if I do, the system may hang looking for
it. Charles Ranheim

I've never had this on my system nor have I used McAfee's programs. Does
the McAfee program have an "Undo" feature?

You could create a restore point in XP's System Restore. Let McAfee clean
this up. Test. If all is okay, you're fine. If all is not okay, use
McAfee's Undo and, if necessary, the previously created system restore
point to undo the changes.

Another alternative would be to simply rename the folder. For example,
changing "dssagent" to "old-dssagent" changes the path. If the program
*has* to access that file to load, you will get a notice about "file
missing." If the program can load without it, it will do so. If everything
proceeds without a problem, change the name back and let McAfee go ahead
and remove this item.

As you know, the page I referred you to says that dssagent's function is to
obtain alternate splash screens from Broderbund to be shown when the
Broderbund program is launched. Since this feature would not be available
on a system that was not connected to the internet, there's a very good
chance that removing it would not hinder the operations of Windows or the
Broderbund software. There's also the point that Broderbund tech support
has condoned using McAfee's to alter this portion of their program. Will
hope that is a good sign and it turns out to be helpful advice.