Registry Cleaner & Backup software

[Stro Asquith]

I have some adware on my PC which neither Spybot S&D nor
Ad-aware 6.0 can find. Norton Anti-Virus 2004 found the
adware, but is unable to delete it. So armed with
Symantec's adware manual removal information, I'm going to
do a regedit and manually edit/delete entries in the
Registry (after much reading on the subject).

I know manually editing the Registry is a dangerous thing,
so I was thinking about software products to clean, repair
and optimize the Registry. I have Norton SystemWorks 2004
on my PC, but I'm not sure how this software may benefit
the Registry, if at all.

Specifically, I'm interested in learning more about these
areas:

1) Is it a good idea to run Registry Cleaner/Repair
software? Will this software help with adware removal?
Any specific product suggestions?

2) Does anyone have experience with ERUNT (Registry Backup
and Restore for Win NT/2000/2003/NT) and NTREGOPT
(Registry Optimization for Win NT/2000/2003/NT)freeware?

Thanks for any advice.
Regards,
Stro

 

[Wesley Vogel]

Stro;

Export the key(s) and edit those.

What's the spyware?? Have you tried HijackThis?

ERUNT & NTREGOPT are excellent.

2) SpywareBlaster
SpywareBlaster doesn't scan and clean for spyware - it prevents it from ever
being installed.
The most important step you can take is to secure your system. And
SpywareBlaster is the most powerful protection program available.
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html

3) HijackThis (some other stuff that may be of interest also)
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/index.html

HOW TO Add, Modify, or Delete Registry Subkeys and Values by Using a
Registration Entries (.reg) File
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;310516

HOW TO Back Up, Edit, and Restore the Registry in Windows XP and Windows
Server 2003
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;322756

Registry Editor overview
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/regedit_overview.mspx

Safekeeping the Registry

http://www.microsoft.com/WindowsXP/expertzone/columns/honeycutt/03march17.asp

Windows Registry Tutorial
http://www.winguides.com/article.php?id=1&guide=registry

Windows NT Registry Tutorial
http://www.governmentsecurity.org/articles/WindowsNTRegistryTutorial.php

Discovering the System Registry
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=/directory/worldwide/en-gb/registry.asp