How do I get rid of this annoying site

[Guest]

every time I try too download something I get sent to this site that has
nothing too do with what Iwant too download.My address bar reads
http//toolbar.desktoptraffic.net and I cant get rid of it.

 

[Kevin]

Hijacker. Use your security software, such as Ad-Aware, Spybot Search and
Destroy, HiJack This! or Spyware Blaster to clean your drive of malware.

 

[Frank]

adaware, spybot and Hijack this, are very good. do not use the others, they
are garbage. do a little research on them and you'll see
Frank L

 

[Shenan Stanley]

adaware, spybot and Hijack this, are very good. do not use the
others, they are garbage. do a little research on them and you'll see

Discover "Rogue Spyware" applications:
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm

Good AntiSpyware Applications:

Spybot Search and Destroy (Free!)
http://www.safer-networking.net/en/download/index.html

Lavasoft AdAware (Free and up)
http://www.lavasoft.de/support/download/

CWShredder (Free!)
** No longer updated as of July 29, 2004 - however, still a great
product and should still be ran **
http://www.softbasket.com/download/s_8114.shtml

Hijack This! (Free)
http://mjc1.com/mirror/hjt/
( Tutorial: http://hjt.wizardsofwebsites.com/ )

SpywareBlaster (Free!)
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/sbdownload.html

IE-SPYAD (Free!)
https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/ehowes/www/resource.htm

ToolbarCop (Free!)
http://www.mvps.org/sramesh2k/toolbarcop.htm

Bazooka Adware and Spyware Scanner (Free!)
http://www.kephyr.com/spywarescanner/

Browser Security Tests
http://www.jasons-toolbox.com/BrowserSecurity/

Popup Tester
http://www.popuptest.com/

The Cleaner (49.95 and up)
http://www.moosoft.com/

 

[johnf]

Massive overkill list & potentially dangerous to anyone not completely sure
what registry enries are all about!

All you need is the efficient safe ones -

Spybot Search and Destroy (Free!)
http://www.safer-networking.net/en/download/index.html

Lavasoft AdAware (Free and up)
http://www.lavasoft.de/support/download/

CWShredder (Free!)
** No longer updated as of July 29, 2004 - however, still a great
product and should still be ran **
http://www.softbasket.com/download/s_8114.shtml

?? v2.0 was released October 19th !!

Hijack This! (Free)
http://mjc1.com/mirror/hjt/
( Tutorial: http://hjt.wizardsofwebsites.com/ )

Plus naturally, a good uptodate AV program

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Massive overkill list & potentially dangerous to anyone not
completely sure what registry enries are all about!

All you need is the efficient safe ones -


?? v2.0 was released October 19th !!


Plus naturally, a good uptodate AV program

So you wanted this list?

*WARNING* This is a LONG spill, all in plain text and simplified so that
even non-techs should be able to understand it. Hopefully this will
assist some people in not only repairing their systems, but in making
them faster and more stable tools for them to use. It contains advice
on many things, many considered "common knowledge" to 'IT' people
everywhere. It is split into major sections, hopefully this will make
it easier to navigate. *WARNING*

Suggestions on what you can do to secure/clean your PC. Every attempt
has been made to be general and an assumption of a "Windows" operating
system is made here as well - although in some ways, this could be
adapted to any OS.


GENERAL UPKEEP AND CLEANUP
--------------------------

You should periodically defragment your hard drives as well as check them
for errors. Only defragment after you have cleaned up your machine of
outside parasites and never defragment as a solution to a quirkiness in
your system. It may help speed up your system, but it should be clean
before you do this one.

How to Defragment your hard drives
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=314848

How to scan your disks for errors
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=315265

How to use Disk Cleanup
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=310312

You should also empty your Internet Explorer Temporary Internet
Files and make sure the maximum size for this is small enough not to cause
trouble in the future. Empty your Temporary Internet Files and shrink the
size it stores to a size between 10MB and 360MB..

- Open ONE copy of Internet Explorer.
- Select TOOLS -> Internet Options.
- Under the General tab in the "Temporary Internet Files" section, do the
following:
- Click on "Delete Cookies" (click OK)
- Click on "Settings" and change the "Amount of disk space to use:" to
something between 10MB and 360MB. (Betting it is MUCH larger right
now.)
- Click OK.
- Click on "Delete Files" and select to "Delete all offline contents"
(the checkbox) and click OK. (If you had a LOT, this could take 2-10
minutes or more.)
- Once it is done, click OK, close Internet Explorer, re-open Internet
Explorer.

Uninstall any software you no longer use or cannot remember installing
(ask if it is a multi-user PC) - but only if you are sure you do not
need it and/or you have the installation media around to reinstall if
you need to. http://snipurl.com/8v6b may help you accomplish this.

If things are running a bit slow or you have an older system
(1.5GHz or less and 256MB RAM or less) then you may want to look into
tweaking the performance a bit by turning off some of the memory
using Windows XP "prettifications". The fastest method is:

Control Panel --> System --> Advanced tab --> Performance section,
Settings button. Then choose "adjust for best performance" and you
now have a Windows 2000/98 look which turned off many of the annoying
"prettifications" in one swift action. You can play with the last
three checkboxes to get more of an XP look without many of the
other annoyances. You could also grab and install/mess with one
(or more) of the Microsoft Powertoys - TweakUI in particular:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx

You should also verify that your System Restore feature is enabled and
working properly. Unfortunately, if seems to have issues on occasion,
ones that can easily be avoided by turning off/on the system restore and
make a manual restoration point as one of your periodic maintenance tasks.
This is particularly important right before installing something major
(or even minor if you are unsure what it might do to your system.)
(This, of course, will erase any previous restore point you have.)

Turn off System Restore.
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=310405

Reboot.

Turn on System Restore.
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=310405

Make a Manual Restoration Point.
http://snipurl.com/68nx

Also, you should look into backing up your valuable files and folders.
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=308422

And keep your original installation media (CDs, disks) safe with their
CD keys and such. Make backups of these installation media sets as
well and always use strong passwords. Good passwords are those that
meet these general rules (mileage may vary):

Passwords should contain at least six characters, and the character
string should contain at least three of these four character types:
- uppercase letters
- lowercase letters
- numerals
- nonalphanumeric characters (e.g., *, %, &, !)

Passwords should not contain your name/logon name.


UPDATES and PATCHES
-------------------

** Side Note: *IF* you are about to install Service Pack 2 (SP2) for
Windows XP, I suggest you clean up your system first. Uninstall any
applications you do not use. Update any that you do. Download the
latest drivers for your hardware devices. Defragment and run a full
CHKDSK on your hard drives. Scan your system and clean it of any
Spyware/Adware/Malware and for Viruses and Trojans. Below you will
find advice and links to applications that will help you do all of
this. If this advice helps you, please - pass it on. Print it,
email it, forward it to anyone you think it might help. A little
knowledge might help prevent lots of trouble.

This one is the most obvious. There is no perfect product and any company
worth their salt will try to meet/exceed the needs of their customers and
fix any problems they find along the way. I am not going to say Microsoft
is the best company in the world about this but they do have an option
available for you to use to keep your machine updated and patched from
the problems and vulnerabilities (as well as product improvements in some
cases) - and it's free to you.

Windows Update
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/

Go there and scan your machine for updates. Always get the critical ones as
you see them. Write down the KB###### or Q###### you see when
selecting the updates and if you have trouble over the next few days,
go into your control panel (Add/Remove Programs), match up the latest
numbers you downloaded recently (since you started noticing an issue) and
uninstall them. If there was more than one (usually is), install them back
one by one - with a few hours of use in between, to see if the problem
returns. Yes - the process is not perfect (updating) and can cause trouble
like I mentioned - but as you can see, the solution isn't that bad - and is
MUCH better than the alternatives.

Windows is not the only product you likely have on your PC. The
manufacturers of the other products usually have updates as well. New
versions of almost everything come out all the time - some are free, some
are pay - some you can only download if you are registered - but it is best
to check. Just go to their web pages and look under their support and
download sections. For example, for Microsoft Office update, you should
visit:

Microsoft Office Updates
http://office.microsoft.com/
(and select "downloads")

You also have hardware on your machine that requires drivers to interface
with the operating system. You have a video card that allows you to see on
your screen, a sound card that allows you to hear your PCs sound output and
so on. Visit those manufacturer web sites for the latest downloadable
drivers for your hardware/operating system. Always (IMO) get the
manufacturers hardware driver over any Microsoft offers. On the Windows
Update site I mentioned earlier, I suggest NOT getting their hardware
drivers - no matter how tempting. First - how do you know what hardware
you have in your computer? Invoice or if it is up and working now - take
inventory:

Belarc Advisor
http://belarc.com/free_download.html

Once you know what you have, what next? Go get the latest driver for your
hardware/OS from the manufacturer's web page. For example, let's say you
have an NVidia chipset video card or ATI video card, perhaps a Creative
Labs sound card or C-Media chipset sound card...

NVidia Video Card Drivers
http://www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.asp

ATI Video Card Drivers
http://www.atitech.com/support/driver.html

Creative Labs Sound Device
http://us.creative.com/support/downloads/

C-Media Sound Device
http://www.cmedia.com.tw/e_download_01.htm

As for Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Windows XP, Microsoft has made this
particular patch available in a number of ways. First, there is the
Windows Update web page above. Then there is a direct download site
and finally, you can order the FREE CD from Microsoft.

Direct Download of Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Windows XP
http://snipurl.com/8bqy

Order the Free Windows XP SP2 CD
http://snipurl.com/8umo

Microsoft also have a bunch of suggestions, some similar to these,
on how to better protect your Windows system:

Protect your PC
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/


FIREWALL
--------

Let's say you are up-to-date on the OS (operating system) and you have
Windows XP.. You should at least turn on the built in firewall. That will
do a lot to "hide" you from the random bad things flying around the
Internet. Things like Sasser/Blaster enjoy just sitting out there in
Cyberspace looking for an unprotected Windows Operating System and jumping
on it, doing great damage in the process and then using that Unprotected OS
to continue its dirty work of infecting others. If you have the Windows XP
FW turned on - default configuration - then they cannot see you! Think of
it as Internet Stealth Mode at this point. It has other advantages, like
actually locking the doors you didn't even (likely) know you had. Doing
this is simple, some helpful tips for the SP2 enabled firewall can be found
here:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/columns/cableguy/cg0204.mspx

If you read through that and look through the pages that are linked from it
throughout - I think you should have a firm grasp on the basics of the
Windows XP Firewall as it is today. One thing to note RIGHT NOW - if you
have AOL, you cannot use this nice firewall that came with your system.
Thank AOL, not Microsoft. You HAVE to configure another one.. So we
continue with our session on Firewalls...

But let's say you DON'T have Windows XP - you have some other OS like
Windows 95, 98, 98SE, ME, NT, 2000. Well, you don't have the nifty built in
firewall. My suggestion - upgrade. My next suggestion - look through your
options. There are lots of free and pay firewalls out there for home users.
Yes - you will have to decide on your own which to get. Yes, you will have
to learn (oh no!) to use these firewalls and configure them so they don't
interfere with what you want to do while continuing to provide the security
you desire. It's just like anything else you want to protect - you have to
do something to protect it. Here are some suggested applications. A lot of
people tout "ZoneAlarm" as being the best alternative to just using the
Windows XP FW, but truthfully - any of these alternatives are much better
than the Windows XP FW at what they do - because that is ALL they do.

ZoneAlarm (Free and up)
http://snipurl.com/6ohg

Kerio Personal Firewall (KPF) (Free and up)
http://www.kerio.com/kpf_download.html

Outpost Firewall from Agnitum (Free and up)
http://www.agnitum.com/download/

Sygate Personal Firewall (Free and up)
http://smb.sygate.com/buy/download_buy.htm

Symantec's Norton Personal Firewall (~$25 and up)
http://www.symantec.com/sabu/nis/npf/

BlackICE PC Protection ($39.95 and up)
http://blackice.iss.net/

Tiny Personal Firewall (~$49.00 and up)
http://www.tinysoftware.com/

That list is not complete, but they are good firewall options, every one of
them. Visit the web pages, read up, ask around if you like - make a
decision and go with some firewall, any firewall. Also, maintain it.
Sometimes new holes are discovered in even the best of these products and
patches are released from the company to remedy this problem. However, if
you don't get the patches (check the manufacturer web page on occasion),
then you may never know you have the problem and/or are being used through
this weakness. Also, don't stack these things. Running more than one
firewall will not make you safer - it would likely (in fact) negate some
protection you gleamed from one or the other firewalls you run.


ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE
------------------

That's not all. That's one facet of a secure PC, but firewalls don't do
everything. I saw one person posting on a newsgroup that "they had
never had a virus and they never run any anti-virus software." Yep - I used
to believe that way too - viruses were something everyone else seemed to
get, were they just careless? And for the average joe-user who is careful,
uses their one to three family computers carefully, never opening unknown
email attachments, always visiting the same family safe web sites, never
installing anything that did not come with their computer - maybe, just
maybe they will never witness a virus. I, however, am a Network Systems
Administrator. I see that AntiVirus software is an absolute necessity given
how most people see their computer as a toy/tool and not something
they should have to maintain and upkeep. After all, they were invented to
make life easier, right - not add another task to your day. You
can be as careful as you want - will the next person be as careful? Will
someone send you unknowingly the email that erases all the pictures of your
child/childhood? Possibly - why take the chance? ALWAYS RUN ANTIVIRUS
SOFTWARE and KEEP IT UP TO DATE! Antivirus software comes in so many
flavors, it's like walking into a Jelly Belly store - which one tastes like
what?! Well, here are a few choices for you. Some of these are free (isn't
that nice?) and some are not. Is one better than the other - MAYBE.

Symantec (Norton) AntiVirus (~$11 and up)
http://www.symantec.com/nav/nav_9xnt/

Kaspersky Anti-Virus (~$49.95 and up)
http://www.kaspersky.com/products.html

Panda Antivirus Titanium (~$39.95 and up)
http://www.pandasoftware.com/
(Free Online Scanner: http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/)

AVG Anti-Virus System (Free and up)
http://www.grisoft.com/

McAfee VirusScan (~$11 and up)
http://www.mcafee.com/

AntiVir (Free and up)
http://www.free-av.com/

avast! (Free and up)
http://www.avast.com/

Trend Micro (~$49.95 and up)
http://www.trendmicro.com/en/home/us/personal.htm
(Free Online Scanner:
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/housecall/start_corp.asp)

RAV AntiVirus Online Virus Scan (Free!)
http://www.ravantivirus.com/scan/

Did I mention you have to not only install this software, but also keep it
updated? You do. Some of them (most) have automatic services to help you
do this - I mean, it's not your job to keep up with the half-dozen or more
new threats that come out daily, is it? Be sure to keep whichever one you
choose up to date!


SPYWARE/ADWARE/POPUPS/HIJACKS
-----------------------------

So you must be thinking that the above two things got your back now - you
are covered, safe and secure in your little fox hole. Wrong! There are
more bad guys out there. There are annoyances out there you can get without
trying. Your normal web surfing, maybe a wrong click on a web page, maybe
just a momentary lack of judgment by installing some software packages
without doing the research.. And all of a sudden your screen starts filling
up with advertisements or your Internet seems much slower or your home page
won't stay what you set it and goes someplace unfamiliar to you. This is
spyware. There are a whole SLEW of software packages out there to get rid
of this crud and help prevent reinfection. Some of the products already
mentioned might even have branched out into this arena. However, there are
a few applications that seem to be the best at what they do, which is
eradicating and immunizing your system from this crap. Strangely, the best
products I have found in this category ARE generally free. That is a trend
I like. I make donations to some of them, they deserve it!

Two side-notes: Never think one of these can do the whole job.
Try the first 5 before coming back and saying "That did not work!"
Also, you can always visit:
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
For more updated information.

Spybot Search and Destroy (Free!)
http://www.safer-networking.net/en/download/index.html

Lavasoft AdAware (Free and up)
http://www.lavasoft.de/support/download/

CWShredder (Free!)
http://www.softbasket.com/download/s_8114.shtml

Hijack This! (Free)
http://mjc1.com/mirror/hjt/
( Tutorial: http://hjt.wizardsofwebsites.com/ )

SpywareBlaster (Free!)
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/sbdownload.html

IE-SPYAD (Free!)
https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/ehowes/www/resource.htm

ToolbarCop (Free!)
http://www.mvps.org/sramesh2k/toolbarcop.htm

Bazooka Adware and Spyware Scanner (Free!)
http://www.kephyr.com/spywarescanner/

Browser Security Tests
http://www.jasons-toolbox.com/BrowserSecurity/

Popup Tester
http://www.popuptest.com/

The Cleaner (49.95 and up)
http://www.moosoft.com/

That will clean up your machine of the spyware, given that you download and
install several of them, update them regularly and scan with them when you
update. Some (like SpywareBlaster and SpyBot Search and Destroy and
IESPYAD)
have/are immunization utilities that will help you prevent your PC from
being
infected. Use these features!

Unfortunately, although that will lessen your popups on the Internet/while
you are online, it won't eliminate them. I have looked at a lot of options,
seen a lot of them used in production with people who seem to attract popups
like a plague, and I only have one suggestion that end up serving double
duty (search engine and popup stopper in one):

The Google Toolbar (Free!)
http://toolbar.google.com/

Yeah - it adds a bar to your Internet Explorer - but its a useful one. You
can search from there anytime with one of the best search engines on the
planet (IMO.) And the fact it stops most popups - wow - BONUS! If you
don't like that suggestion, then I am just going to say you go to
www.google.com and search for other options. Please notice that Windows XP
SP2 does help stop popups as well. Another option is to use an alternative
Web browser. I suggest "Mozilla Firefox", as it has some great features
and is very easy to use:

Mozilla Firefox
http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/

One more suggestion, although I will suggest this in a way later, is to
disable your Windows Messenger service. This service is not used frequently
(if at all) by the normal home user and in cooperation with a good firewall,
is generally unnecessary. Microsoft has instructions on how to do this for
Windows XP here:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/howto/communicate/stopspam.asp


SPAM EMAIL/JUNK MAIL
--------------------

This one can get annoying, just like the rest. You get 50 emails in one
sitting and 2 of them you wanted. NICE! (Not.) What can you do? Well,
although there are services out there to help you, some email
servers/services that actually do lower your spam with features built into
their servers - I still like the methods that let you be the end-decision
maker on what is spam and what isn't. If these things worked perfectly, we
wouldn't need people and then there would be no spam anyway - vicious
circle, eh? Anyway - I have two products to suggest to you, look at them
and see if either of them suite your needs. Again, if they don't, Google is
free and available for your perusal.

SpamBayes (Free!)
http://spambayes.sourceforge.net/

Spamihilator (Free!)
http://www.spamihilator.com/

As I said, those are not your only options, but are reliable ones I have
seen function for hundreds+ people.


DISABLE (Set to Manual) UNUSED SERVICE/STARTUP APPS
---------------------------------------------------

I might get arguments on putting this one here, but it's my spill. There are
lots of services on your PC that are probably turned on by default you don't
use. Why have them on? Check out these web pages to see what all of the
services you might find on your computer are and set them according to your
personal needs. Be CAREFUL what you set to manual, and take heed and write
down as you change things! Also, don't expect a large performance increase
or anything - especially on today’s 2+ GHz machines, however - I look at
each
service you set to manual as one less service you have to worry about
someone exploiting. A year ago, I would have thought the Windows Messenger
service to be pretty safe, now I recommend (with addition of a firewall)
that most home users disable it! Yeah - this is another one you have to
work for, but your computer may speed up and/or be more secure because you
took the time. And if you document what you do as you do it, next time, it
goes MUCH faster! (or if you have to go back and re-enable things..)

Task List Programs
http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm

Black Viper's Service List and Opinions (XP)
http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm

Processes in Windows NT/2000/XP
http://www.reger24.de/prozesse/

There are also applications that AREN'T services that startup when you start
up the computer/logon. One of the better description on how to handle these
I have found here:

Startups
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.php


That's it. A small booklet on how to keep your computer secure, clean of
scum and more user friendly. I am SURE I missed something, almost as I am
sure you won't read all of it (anyone for that matter.) However, I also
know that someone who followed all of the advice above would also have less
problems with their PC, less problems with viruses, less problems with spam,
fewer problems with spyware and better performance than someone who didn't.

Hope it helps.

 

[johnf]

I don't want your confusing list thanks & didn't ask for it!

Don't you realise as yet that if you keep continuing to post your same saga,
all you're achieving is to turn the average person off wading through all
that stuff.
Following your advice? will cause you to finish up with more utility
programs on your PC than normal programs.

A simple question on Ad/Spyware just requires a simple answer - not pages of
links unrelatedly ranging from how to install SP2 to defragging your drive.
Sure, it proves you know how to cut & paste, that's about all.

What ARE you trying to prove?

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I don't want your confusing list thanks & didn't ask for it!

Don't you realise as yet that if you keep continuing to post your
same saga, all you're achieving is to turn the average person off
wading through all that stuff.
Following your advice? will cause you to finish up with more utility
programs on your PC than normal programs.

A simple question on Ad/Spyware just requires a simple answer - not
pages of links unrelatedly ranging from how to install SP2 to
defragging your drive. Sure, it proves you know how to cut & paste,
that's about all.
What ARE you trying to prove?

I'm not trying to prove anything. It's a simple fact that no one
antispyware application removes or immunizes against everything. If a
person truly wants to be protected and does not change the habits that got
them in trouble in the first place - then they have to go through this list
and make sure they understand each part.

As for how many apps they will end up with.. Let's count. Antivirus, 1.
Antispyware (actual installed applications) - 3. Antispam - 1 (not
necessary, but suggested if they do not understand how to use other types of
filtering.) I don't suggest they install (INSTALL) anything else. I give
them links so they know the choices they have, but nothing more. So at my
count, I am suggesting they INSTALL 4 applications, 5 if they do not know
how to filter their email sufficiently and 6 if they feel the Windows
Firewall in XP (or if they don't have XP) is not enough.

As for what I do or post, I thank you for your comments and I welcome input.

 

[johnf]

If you say so, but let's count again - something like 64 links posted by you
in one post?

I suggest you carefully check your fix-all problems instructions you have
stored away & prune it down slightly - or at least break it into sections
relating to specific problems, the just post the relevant bit.

Don't forget, most people CANNOT be bothered scrolling through page after
page, especially when it's bottom posted, just to find a possible solution
to their individual problem. Would you be bothered??

 

[Shenan Stanley]

If you say so, but let's count again - something like 64 links posted
by you in one post?

I suggest you carefully check your fix-all problems instructions you
have stored away & prune it down slightly - or at least break it into
sections relating to specific problems, the just post the relevant
bit.
Don't forget, most people CANNOT be bothered scrolling through page
after page, especially when it's bottom posted, just to find a
possible solution to their individual problem. Would you be bothered??

I'll consider your statements among the hundreds of "thanks you's" and "can
I post this on my web site" and "I have printed this and passed it on to.."
emails and replies I have gotten in these newsgroups from this and other
similar posts I have made over the years. *smile*

I realize it is quite long. I do prune it quite often and only choose the
information that the OP needs. Many time I do not use the spiel, as it does
not apply. However, for most, it not only applies but will prevent the same
thing from happening in the future (fat least from the majority of the
feedback I get.)

As far as "cannot be bothered", I'll point out to you as I have to others in
the past - your "cannot be bothered" and "do not have the time" priorities
change daily. Not to mention that many times (as is the case here) if you
bothered once for a little extra time and then once a month for a few
moments of time, you avoid much larger problems that might lead to something
that you not only don't "have the time for" or "cannot be bothered with" -
but are very upset about losing.

Ounce of prevention and all that. From the percentage of positive remarks
versus the negative, the spiel has done a majority of good versus not.
Given that, people can choose to read it or not - the information is there -
and as it is rarely the only answer they receive on these newsgroups, they
can take one of the shorter ones if they deem themselves incapable of doing
the rest. =)

 

[Shenan Stanley]

If you say so, but let's count again - something like 64 links posted
by you in one post?

Yes. I did not count them, I'll take your word for it.

I suggest you carefully check your fix-all problems instructions you
have stored away & prune it down slightly - or at least break it into
sections relating to specific problems, the just post the relevant
bit.

It is in sections and when ever I reply with the full text and know a
specific section is useful over all others, it is pointed out before and
within the first two paragraphs (after the warning.) I suppose you meant
"...and then post the relevant...", which is also answered in my other
response to this same thread.

Don't forget, most people CANNOT be bothered scrolling through page
after page, especially when it's bottom posted, just to find a
possible solution to their individual problem. Would you be bothered??

Answered in another post, but felt I should add the "Bottom post" comment is
an opinion thing. Properly snipped, bottom is actually usually preferred,
as it allows continuity for delayed newsgroups/readers. This is inline,
depending on the length of the post being responded to and the number of
queries/relevant subject in the OPs post, this also makes it easier to
follow the conversation. However, as can be seen in a variety of these
arguments all over the web, in the end it is a personal opinion as to which
is better, there never will be a universal preference.

 

[Guest]

Hi Shenan,

I complement you on your thoroughness but there are some limitations I must
speak about.

The less you have installed on your system that is too closely related the
better off you are. In other words you ownly need one antivirus progam as
other programs start tripping all over each other and your registry is forced
into a total conflictive mess. One firewall will do also and no more than one
engaged. One registry cleaner and make sure it knows what it is doing. The
best I have seen on the market is free for the basic version and that is
Tweak your registry entries. Very safe and not dangerous as a lot of system
utility programs that have too many functions that are not addressed very
carefully.

Next thing is Spyware Blaster is dangerous when you get the updates as not
everything is engaged and when I was running Norton Internet Security 2005 it
obliterated practically all the registry entries because it uses the registry
for spyware prevention. Spybot Search and Destroy is too infrequently updated
although it has wonderful advanced features to it that are quite useful.

Best thing happening right now is the antivirus companies are ponying up
money and buying spyware prevention companies and integrating this into their
software.
Now again it is risky to run another spyware prevention program as conflicts
can arise. Plus another double whammy is that you have to be careful what
kind of spyware you delete off your system as legitimate software like Real
Player and Ipod install spyware on your system. If you do peer-to-peer file
sharing then they want to know about it. They want you to purchase their song
tracks and not get them for gratis. Another problem is just a plain tracking
cookie can be considered spyware when you talk about companies like atdmt. Go
ahead and look up how much information they collect on people. [everything
under the sun] One other dilemna with tracking cookies is if you don't let
them in to your system then you are not going to be able to either completely
see the website or you won't get on the website and you will just get a blank
page.

Now a form of malware is legitimate software because it does not want to get
itself out of your registry once you uninstall it because they are
apprehensive about you
violating user licenses. Another problem is when it uninstalls some of the
files are still hiding all over your system. You have to do a survey of every
path it uses when it installs itself. Unfortunately when you go to install
related software it will not install properly because of the mess the old
software made out of your registry.
Now that is malware city when you think about it and there are many
applications that are guilty of this. Look before you install anything as
Johnf made an excellent point about.

Free programs are not free most of the time as they install spyware , adware
or even malware on your system. Most of the programs you listed you have to
be careful with unfortunately. Registry conflicts are a big problem with a
lot of people's computer systems and networks. Well so is there good spyware
or not that is the big question? Too many legitimate applications want to
push themselves into prominence onto your system and want to be the chief
application. Do you want it to be Windows Media Player , Real Player . or
Apple Computers IPod companion?

Another dangerous thing is downloading those so called free spyware scanners
as once most get on your system they don't leave after uninstall.

Prudent for you to go into the registry and just do a search of a program
you just unintalled and see if they had enough integrity to clear out all the
registry entries and they just have no default set which is great if you just
see that. But if you go in and you see the entire right side filled with
entries you have problems.

Hence the best way for you to get rid of that annoying site is too clear out
your history entirely. Purge your entire run command also and clear out all
your caches that are present. One other way is to look into getting another
browser that protects against that kind of thing.

Please Internet Explorer update and add more features!!!

Alan

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Answers/comments inline..

I complement you on your thoroughness but there are some limitations
I must speak about.

Thanks and I am reading it now..

The less you have installed on your system that is too closely
related the better off you are. In other words you ownly need one
antivirus progam as other programs start tripping all over each other
and your registry is forced into a total conflictive mess. One
firewall will do also and no more than one engaged. One registry
cleaner and make sure it knows what it is doing. The best I have seen
on the market is free for the basic version and that is Tweak your
registry entries. Very safe and not dangerous as a lot of system
utility programs that have too many functions that are not addressed
very carefully.

You are correct, you should only have one antivirus application installed at
any given time. I wish that antispyware applications were at that point,
but they are not. What one antispyware applications misses, the next one
may find. Same for immunization from spyware - although IE-SpyAd is pretty
comprehensive. Firewalls - I definitively agree. If you are going to run a
software firewall, choose one and only one. I list the options I do (for
antivirus and firewall) so someone might know the options they have with
minimal research effort in the beginning. However, I see the point being
made here - that it should be pointed OUT that you should not run multiple
firewalls/antivirus applications - as they may cancel one another out.

Registry cleaning - here is where we may differ. For Windows XP, at least -
I find this to be archaic and unnecessary. If there is any performance
increase from cleaning your registry, the normal human mind (not on crack)
is not likely to notice the nanosecond per day they gain - if that. Windows
XP and uninstallers in general (for good applications) do a decent job -
better than in the past - of clearing unneeded entries when they are removed
from the system - IMHO.

Next thing is Spyware Blaster is dangerous when you get the updates
as not everything is engaged and when I was running Norton Internet
Security 2005 it obliterated practically all the registry entries
because it uses the registry for spyware prevention. Spybot Search
and Destroy is too infrequently updated although it has wonderful
advanced features to it that are quite useful.

Interesting. I have had no ill effects with SpywareBlaster or IE-SpyAd when
running it on the many systems I have.. Admittedly - only a few have had
Norton Internet Security 2005. As SpywareBlaster also works with Firefox,
this is definitely a plus for me! I love Firefox and know that IE is not
"going away", so having a program that understands I have both...
fantastic. SpyBot Search and Destroy is too inffrequently updated? Hmmm..
That may be true for some, but it is another reason to use AdAware and the
other applications I list as well. As for frequency of updates, in my
experience, it is updated 2 or more times each month - usually leaning
towards the more. The advanced features are fantastic - I agree.

Best thing happening right now is the antivirus companies are ponying
up money and buying spyware prevention companies and integrating this
into their software.

Yes - but they are so far behind still. I've tried these all in one things
and at this point, my opinion would be "stick to what you have been doing
for years, this obviously is not working out for you." heh

Now again it is risky to run another spyware prevention program as
conflicts can arise. Plus another double whammy is that you have to
be careful what kind of spyware you delete off your system as
legitimate software like Real Player and Ipod install spyware on your
system. If you do peer-to-peer file sharing then they want to know
about it. They want you to purchase their song tracks and not get
them for gratis. Another problem is just a plain tracking cookie can
be considered spyware when you talk about companies like atdmt. Go
ahead and look up how much information they collect on people.
[everything under the sun] One other dilemna with tracking cookies is
if you don't let them in to your system then you are not going to be
able to either completely see the website or you won't get on the
website and you will just get a blank page.

Oh - I would not recommend turning off cookies. They are too widely used.
This is a point where common sense comes into play. However, I have never
seen a cookie that NEEDED to stick around longer than it's instantaneous
use. I mean REALLY needed to stay - given that you know your information
for particular sites, etc.

Most people using P2P should already know the danger they could be putting
themselves in, and it it is a P2P applications that HAS to have spyware to
run, it's time to consider a different client software, IMHO. RealPlayer -
ick. I recommend ditching that as soon as anyone can. They have gotten too
commercialized IMO - and want too much (not talking money here, just
everything that the software wants its hands in.) RealAlternative is
working out great for me - even in a corporate environment with many
different people. As for the iPod software - you have seen something go
wrong with antispyware and iPod software? I have several customers and
friends that use a majority of the software I listed and have iPods on their
PCs and I have not yet seen any issues (although I would be interested in
hearing your experiences to prevent anything from occurring in the future.)

Now a form of malware is legitimate software because it does not want
to get itself out of your registry once you uninstall it because they
are apprehensive about you
violating user licenses. Another problem is when it uninstalls some
of the files are still hiding all over your system. You have to do a
survey of every path it uses when it installs itself. Unfortunately
when you go to install related software it will not install properly
because of the mess the old software made out of your registry.
Now that is malware city when you think about it and there are many
applications that are guilty of this. Look before you install
anything as Johnf made an excellent point about.

When you uninstall, I recommend always doing a CUSTOM uninstall whenever
possible and selecting everything on each screen. I have seen this alone
clean up the things you speak of, and I agree - there are still many
programs that leave behind garbage that perhaps you should manually clean -
if they are harmful.

Free programs are not free most of the time as they install spyware ,
adware or even malware on your system. Most of the programs you
listed you have to be careful with unfortunately. Registry conflicts
are a big problem with a lot of people's computer systems and
networks. Well so is there good spyware or not that is the big
question? Too many legitimate applications want to push themselves
into prominence onto your system and want to be the chief
application. Do you want it to be Windows Media Player , Real Player
. or Apple Computers IPod companion?

I have yet to find a "good" spyware/malware or had ill-effects from
removing/immunizing with any of the programs I listed. If it was just my
machine - I wouldn't make that claim, but after doing it on thousands of
machines with many different applications installed and with many different
users with extraordinarily different habits - I feel pretty confident in
saying it. Yes - I suppose it could happen. It might keep their P2P
application from working or something - but if they did not know that their
P2P application had malware in it - that is something they SHOULD know.
Look for the alternatives. As for registry conflicts - again - I have not
witnessed this issue running the antimalware applications. It more than
likely happens. Can you tell me in more specifics what you have seen? The
more information out there, the easier it is to avoid such a thing in the
future.

Another dangerous thing is downloading those so called free spyware
scanners as once most get on your system they don't leave after
uninstall.

udent for you to go into the registry and just do a search of a
program you just unintalled and see if they had enough integrity to
clear out all the registry entries and they just have no default set
which is great if you just see that. But if you go in and you see the
entire right side filled with entries you have problems.

Why do you "have problems"? If those entries are idle, you have wasted
database space. You can leave them or delete them without ill-effect and
little if any noticable performance gain. They SHOULD clean themselves up,
but you want to go someplace like:

http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm

Before installing an "antispyware" application, to be sure they are on the
up-n-up.

I do not think any novice should go around their registry and delete things
without doing some research first - and if they are not going to read a
simple computer maintenance document like the one I present to them (and
they don't already know most of it), then I think them messing with their
registry in any form may be asking for trouble.

Hence the best way for you to get rid of that annoying site is too
clear out your history entirely. Purge your entire run command also
and clear out all your caches that are present. One other way is to
look into getting another browser that protects against that kind of
thing.

Which is, indead, one of the suggestions in the "spiel". Clear out the TIF
and shrink the size it can take up. Check your startups and make sure you
know everything that is there and WHY it is there. You are welcome to use
an alternative browser, but don't think "now that I am using "browserX", I
can surf where I want, click where I want and nothing bad will happen to
me."

Please Internet Explorer update and add more features!!!

I have to applaud the features added with SP2, it is a definite move in the
right direction. Still a ways to go - but at least there was movement on
this last turn.

Thanks for the comments!

 

[Guest]

Hi Shenan, Let me complement you on your intelligent discourse with me. I
appreciate your feedback and value your experience. Is that your real e-mail
box as I would like to establish communication with you outside of the
newsgroups.

Anyhow, keeping your temporary internet files is very important as you can
tell by looking them over if you have been hijacked to other websites while
you thought the whole time you were on the website you were visiting at the
time. Plus you can learn so much from your temporary internet files. There
are different places you can go to look at them where there are some
differences. Also what is important is to do an antivirus scan before machine
is restarted.

Are you familiar with atdmt? They have a website for you to learn who they
are and what they do? www.atdmt.com [Very intrusive company] Excuse the
expression , eat their cookie and you will regret it. Tracking cookies are
not temporary they follow you around the internet where you go and invade
your privacy that is why I called them a form of spyware.

Unfortunately I have found Ad Aware completely useless as it just found
tracking cookies which I know about from experience anyway and the MRU. I had
some nasty adware on my system and it could not detect it. I just removed it
myself after repeated attempts at trying to use scanners of all kinds to find
it.

Shenan, you know why spyware is such a headache is that there are hybrids
out there that are malicious to a single system , LANS and WANS. Let me
declare that a RAT acts like spyware , a trojan depending on what kind does
too and a worm also.
So the problem is catastrophic because then there are singularities out
there as well and your computer or networks may have severe difficulty in
discerning what is transpiring with the system(s). Ultimately computer
security antivirus companies are going to be the ones that have the expertise
to deal with this in the future even though right now they are way behind.
One other thing I mentioned is that you can't remove some of them off your
system as it is essential for its operation. So as you know this is an
extremely complex problem.

Well, what I have seen is that when you insall a software program and
hopefully it gives you a log although there are programs out there that will
do this if they don't. If there are any errors in the log during installation
then you generally will have difficulty uninstalling it. As it may show that
you uninstalled it but when you go to install it again it may not let you or
it will make one big mess of a system(s) or networks. So that is what I may
say is what I have seen.

Hi Shenan,

I complement you on your thoroughness but there are some limitations I must
speak about.

The less you have installed on your system that is too closely related the
better off you are. In other words you ownly need one antivirus progam as
other programs start tripping all over each other and your registry is forced
into a total conflictive mess. One firewall will do also and no more than one
engaged. One registry cleaner and make sure it knows what it is doing. The
best I have seen on the market is free for the basic version and that is
Tweak your registry entries. Very safe and not dangerous as a lot of system
utility programs that have too many functions that are not addressed very
carefully.

Next thing is Spyware Blaster is dangerous when you get the updates as not
everything is engaged and when I was running Norton Internet Security 2005 it
obliterated practically all the registry entries because it uses the registry
for spyware prevention. Spybot Search and Destroy is too infrequently updated
although it has wonderful advanced features to it that are quite useful.

Best thing happening right now is the antivirus companies are ponying up
money and buying spyware prevention companies and integrating this into their
software.
Now again it is risky to run another spyware prevention program as conflicts
can arise. Plus another double whammy is that you have to be careful what
kind of spyware you delete off your system as legitimate software like Real
Player and Ipod install spyware on your system. If you do peer-to-peer file
sharing then they want to know about it. They want you to purchase their song
tracks and not get them for gratis. Another problem is just a plain tracking
cookie can be considered spyware when you talk about companies like atdmt. Go
ahead and look up how much information they collect on people. [everything
under the sun] One other dilemna with tracking cookies is if you don't let
them in to your system then you are not going to be able to either completely
see the website or you won't get on the website and you will just get a blank
page.

Now a form of malware is legitimate software because it does not want to get
itself out of your registry once you uninstall it because they are
apprehensive about you
violating user licenses. Another problem is when it uninstalls some of the
files are still hiding all over your system. You have to do a survey of every
path it uses when it installs itself. Unfortunately when you go to install
related software it will not install properly because of the mess the old
software made out of your registry.
Now that is malware city when you think about it and there are many
applications that are guilty of this. Look before you install anything as
Johnf made an excellent point about.

Free programs are not free most of the time as they install spyware , adware
or even malware on your system. Most of the programs you listed you have to
be careful with unfortunately. Registry conflicts are a big problem with a
lot of people's computer systems and networks. Well so is there good spyware
or not that is the big question? Too many legitimate applications want to
push themselves into prominence onto your system and want to be the chief
application. Do you want it to be Windows Media Player , Real Player . or
Apple Computers IPod companion?

Another dangerous thing is downloading those so called free spyware scanners
as once most get on your system they don't leave after uninstall.

Prudent for you to go into the registry and just do a search of a program
you just unintalled and see if they had enough integrity to clear out all the
registry entries and they just have no default set which is great if you just
see that. But if you go in and you see the entire right side filled with
entries you have problems.

Hence the best way for you to get rid of that annoying site is too clear out
your history entirely. Purge your entire run command also and clear out all
your caches that are present. One other way is to look into getting another
browser that protects against that kind of thing.

Please Internet Explorer update and add more features!!!

Alan

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Hi Shenan, Let me complement you on your intelligent discourse with
me. I appreciate your feedback and value your experience. Is that
your real e-mail box as I would like to establish communication with
you outside of the newsgroups.

It is a functional email address - it does require me to authorize you after
an initial correspondence.

Anyhow, keeping your temporary internet files is very important as
you can tell by looking them over if you have been hijacked to other
websites while you thought the whole time you were on the website you
were visiting at the time. Plus you can learn so much from your
temporary internet files. There are different places you can go to
look at them where there are some differences. Also what is important
is to do an antivirus scan before machine is restarted.

Are you familiar with atdmt? They have a website for you to learn who
they are and what they do? www.atdmt.com [Very intrusive company]
Excuse the expression , eat their cookie and you will regret it.
Tracking cookies are not temporary they follow you around the
internet where you go and invade your privacy that is why I called
them a form of spyware.

Admittedly - they can be used in that way. Most - however, are harmless.
That is changing by token that the "reputable" web admins do not want to be
associated with the nefarious ways cookies can be used, so they use
alternatives and better/more advanced techniques. (IMHO)

Unfortunately I have found Ad Aware completely useless as it just
found tracking cookies which I know about from experience anyway and
the MRU. I had some nasty adware on my system and it could not detect
it. I just removed it myself after repeated attempts at trying to use
scanners of all kinds to find it.

Lavasoft AdAware? Yes - a person who knows what they are doing would find
many things useless. The need for antispyware, antivirus and such can be
virtually eliminated by a careful and informed user.

Shenan, you know why spyware is such a headache is that there are
hybrids out there that are malicious to a single system , LANS and
WANS. Let me declare that a RAT acts like spyware , a trojan
depending on what kind does too and a worm also.
So the problem is catastrophic because then there are singularities
out there as well and your computer or networks may have severe
difficulty in discerning what is transpiring with the system(s).
Ultimately computer security antivirus companies are going to be the
ones that have the expertise to deal with this in the future even
though right now they are way behind. One other thing I mentioned is
that you can't remove some of them off your system as it is essential
for its operation. So as you know this is an extremely complex
problem.

Believe me, I understand all too well. Running several larger networks (and
being involved with people who run many others) only demonstrates the
magnitude of the problem to me every day. Most of the people I associate
with have the updates and antivirus situation WELL under control - however,
spyware - it's a mess. In order to even partially disable the crippling
effects it can have, a users rights have to be severely crippled - at some
points to a ridiculous level. The speed (lately) that new versions of the
infestations come out is amazing. I have found that user training, so far,
has been one of the better defenses.

Well, what I have seen is that when you insall a software program and
hopefully it gives you a log although there are programs out there
that will do this if they don't. If there are any errors in the log
during installation then you generally will have difficulty
uninstalling it. As it may show that you uninstalled it but when you
go to install it again it may not let you or it will make one big
mess of a system(s) or networks. So that is what I may say is what I
have seen.

Feel free to send an initial email and receive authorization if you wish to
chat further. One should never refuse to share knowledge or have it shared
with them. =)