Spybot reports RegistryFix - why?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Terry Pinnell
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Terry Pinnell

Why is Spybot reporting RegistryFix.exe as a threat? I removed it, but
I would now like to learn more about it please. I gather it arises
from a free registry repairing utility I installed (on recommendation)
last week, called RegCure, but can't be sure.

BTW, am I mistaken, or does Spybot not offer the option of studying
*details* of its results? A single word 'RegistryFix.exe' doesn't tell
you much. In some other programs I recall being able to read details
of the entries.
 
Why is Spybot reporting RegistryFix.exe as a threat? I removed it, but
I would now like to learn more about it please. I gather it arises
from a free registry repairing utility I installed (on recommendation)
last week, called RegCure, but can't be sure.

BTW, am I mistaken, or does Spybot not offer the option of studying
*details* of its results? A single word 'RegistryFix.exe' doesn't tell
you much. In some other programs I recall being able to read details
of the entries.
Click to expand...
Unless it's changed in recent versons, you can click on any item it
reports to see exactly what file/registryentry/etc it thinks is bad.
I can't offhand recall if it tells you /why/ it thinks it's bad.
 
Dave Budd said:
Unless it's changed in recent versons, you can click on any item it
reports to see exactly what file/registryentry/etc it thinks is bad.
I can't offhand recall if it tells you /why/ it thinks it's bad.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'll look harder at end of next run.
 
Because Safer Networking (Spybot S&D) classifies it as malware. RegistryFix
has been reported by some to come up with false positives and pop-ups in
order to persuade those who download it to buy cleanup software. That would
be typical adware and rogue software behaviour.

Spybot S&D signature updates Dec 19. 2007:
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/updatehistory/2007-12-19.html

Let me just add a tip: Search Vista and XP General discussions for "registry
cleaner", and you will find many posts on the benefits and dangers of using
them. Be careful, this is pro's tools that can cause your computer a lot of
harm.

Search Microsoft Discussion Groups:
http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/default.aspx

Charlie42
 
Thanks, I'll look harder at end of next run.
Click to expand...
Run a scan. When it completes, expand (click on the "+" sign) an item and
highlight the expansion. Click on the bar with the two arrowheads at the
right side of the window. A panel with a message will be revealed, for
instance:

"Company:
Product: Windows.RedirectedHosts
Threat: Hijack

Description
Hijackers often use the hosts file to redirect websites to other ipadresses,
commonly antivirus vendors get blocked by hijackers".

In my case this occurs because I have msn.com redirected to 127.0.0.1 in my
hosts file, to block advertisements.
 
Charlie42 said:
Because Safer Networking (Spybot S&D) classifies it as malware.
RegistryFix
has been reported by some to come up with false positives and pop-ups in
order to persuade those who download it to buy cleanup software. That
would
be typical adware and rogue software behaviour.

Spybot S&D signature updates Dec 19. 2007:
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/updatehistory/2007-12-19.html

Let me just add a tip: Search Vista and XP General discussions for
"registry
cleaner", and you will find many posts on the benefits and dangers of
using
them. Be careful, this is pro's tools that can cause your computer a lot
of
harm.

Search Microsoft Discussion Groups:
http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/default.aspx

Charlie42
Click to expand...

I like Crap Cleaner (free from www.download.com) for registry
modify/cleanup. You can choose how detailed a search ( all temp files/
unused links etc) AND it shows what it will "clean up " letting you
check/uncheck the box.( Choose OPEN CCLEANER vs Run CCleaner. Run - just
"does your defaults" - OPEN puts it all on the screen and YOU choose
what/if to "clean up".
 
- Bobb - said:
I like Crap Cleaner (free from www.download.com) for registry
modify/cleanup. You can choose how detailed a search ( all temp files/
unused links etc) AND it shows what it will "clean up " letting you
check/uncheck the box.( Choose OPEN CCLEANER vs Run CCleaner. Run - just
"does your defaults" - OPEN puts it all on the screen and YOU choose
what/if to "clean up".
Click to expand...

Thanks for those helpful replies.

I've duly removed Regcure, which I'd added to supplement my usual
cleaners, CCleaner and Glary Utilities Pro.
 
Registry Cleaner Tools are all snake oil remedies. No harm will come to the registry if not used
 
Terry Pinnell said:
Thanks for those helpful replies.

I've duly removed Regcure, which I'd added to supplement my usual
cleaners, CCleaner and Glary Utilities Pro.
Click to expand...

You are welcome, Terry. I hope you take the time to read through the threads
on registry cleaners. Uncritical use of such utilities may damage your OS
badly, and there is little if any performance to gain from it.

Charlie42
 
- Bobb - said:
I like Crap Cleaner (free from www.download.com) for registry
modify/cleanup. You can choose how detailed a search ( all temp files/
unused links etc) AND it shows what it will "clean up " letting you
check/uncheck the box.( Choose OPEN CCLEANER vs Run CCleaner. Run -
just "does your defaults" - OPEN puts it all on the screen and YOU
choose what/if to "clean up".
Click to expand...


CCleaner's registry scanner seems relatively benign, as long as you
step through each detected "issue" one at a time, to determine if it
really is an "issue" or not, and then decide whether or not to let the
application "fix" it. In my testing, though, most of the reported
"issues" won't be issues, at all. I tried the latest version on a
brand-new OS installation with no additional applications installed, and
certainly none installed and then uninstalled, and CCleaner still
managed to "find" over a hundred allegedly orphaned registry entries and
dozens of purportedly "suspicious" files, making it clearly a
*worthless* product, in this regard. (Not that any registry cleaner can
ever be anything but worthless, as they don't serve any useful purpose,
to start with.)

CCleaner's only real strength, and the only reason I use it, lies
in its usefulness for cleaning up unused temporary files from the hard
drive; as a registry "cleaner," it's not significantly better or worse
than any other snake oil product of the same type.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot
 
pcbutts1 said:
Ccleaner is cleaning up the junk left over by the clean install of
windows, things that should have been done by Windows.
Click to expand...


If you'd ever tested it, you'd know that that is pure and utter nonsense.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot
 
Bruce Chambers said:
CCleaner's registry scanner seems relatively benign, as long as you
step through each detected "issue" one at a time, to determine if it
really is an "issue" or not, and then decide whether or not to let the
application "fix" it. In my testing, though, most of the reported
"issues" won't be issues, at all. I tried the latest version on a
brand-new OS installation with no additional applications installed, and
certainly none installed and then uninstalled, and CCleaner still
managed to "find" over a hundred allegedly orphaned registry entries and
dozens of purportedly "suspicious" files, making it clearly a
*worthless* product, in this regard. (Not that any registry cleaner can
ever be anything but worthless, as they don't serve any useful purpose,
to start with.)

CCleaner's only real strength, and the only reason I use it, lies in
its usefulness for cleaning up unused temporary files from the hard
drive; as a registry "cleaner," it's not significantly better or worse
than any other snake oil product of the same type.
Click to expand...

You can choose the "categories" to scan. Normally I do not have every
option checked. So I don't have it .. " purge all the uninstall info" for
example, which - if you check that box - would be considered " an issue".
It can also "purge all recently typed searches" ... - maybe you don't want
to "fix those items" ... Tweak it to what you want to check for and it
does " just that". IMHO, I think it's great and well worth the price -
FREE .
 
- Bobb - said:
You can choose the "categories" to scan. Normally I do not have every
option checked. So I don't have it .. " purge all the uninstall info"
for example, which - if you check that box - would be considered " an
issue". It can also "purge all recently typed searches" ... - maybe you
don't want to "fix those items" ... Tweak it to what you want to check
for and it does " just that". IMHO, I think it's great and well worth
the price - FREE .
Click to expand...


It shouldn't be necessary to filter out the categories of the false
alarms; that rather completely defeats the entire purpose of using such
a product. I will concede that, as a registry "cleaner," CCleaner is
worth exactly what you pay for it.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot
 
Bruce Chambers said:
- Bobb - wrote:

It shouldn't be necessary to filter out the categories of the false
alarms; that rather completely defeats the entire purpose of using such
a product. I will concede that, as a registry "cleaner," CCleaner is
worth exactly what you pay for it.

Bruce Chambers
Click to expand...

Bruce ,

( I think you know,) I don't HAVE to filter anything - they aren't "false
alarms".
If you're giving away a PC, maybe you WOULD want to check all the boxes so
.... no history listed in Internet Explorer/search box, but if just
cleaning for you, you might want to leave them there so you can choose
from dropdown. I was explaining to the user that he could actually INCLUDE
more than the defaults. So if he REALLY wanted to clean an install he
COULD elect to delete all temp files, cookies, remove all " MSFT Update"
uninstallation options ( so they disappear from add/remove) etc. Or that
SOMETIMES he might NOT want to be as thorough and might want to leave the
option to uninstall KB12345 there. If he DID (un)check those boxes, that's
the new "defualt" when he " Run CCleaner". To change that, he neesd to
Open CCleaner again to "turn them off" or 'back to default' or check some
items listed there (for whatever reason).
Anyway, I find it useful and - especially when friends/family have a PC
that's "a dog", I'll load that and after running Ad-aware/Spybots - run
CCleaner manually and look at "what's out there" and ask them about "all
this stuff" before purging all the excess ( from spyware sights/temp
files/old apps etc.)
< Stepping down from podium now >
 
- Bobb - said:
Bruce ,

( I think you know,) I don't HAVE to filter anything - they aren't
"false alarms".
If you're giving away a PC, maybe you WOULD want to check all the boxes
so ...
Click to expand...


No, I'd wipe the hard drive with a DoD certified utility, and then
reinstall any software being donated or sold with the computer. To do
anything less would just be a waste of time.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot
 
- Bobb - said:
Bruce ,

( I think you know,) I don't HAVE to filter anything - they aren't
"false alarms".
If you're giving away a PC, maybe you WOULD want to check all the boxes
so ... no history listed in Internet Explorer/search box, but if just
cleaning for you, you might want to leave them there so you can choose
from dropdown. I was explaining to the user that he could actually
INCLUDE more than the defaults. So if he REALLY wanted to clean an
install he COULD elect to delete all temp files, cookies, remove all "
MSFT Update" uninstallation options ( so they disappear from add/remove)
etc. Or that SOMETIMES he might NOT want to be as thorough and might
want to leave the option to uninstall KB12345 there. If he DID (un)check
those boxes, that's the new "defualt" when he " Run CCleaner". To change
that, he neesd to Open CCleaner again to "turn them off" or 'back to
default' or check some items listed there (for whatever reason).
Anyway, I find it useful and - especially when friends/family have a PC
that's "a dog", I'll load that and after running Ad-aware/Spybots - run
CCleaner manually and look at "what's out there" and ask them about "all
this stuff" before purging all the excess ( from spyware sights/temp
files/old apps etc.)
< Stepping down from podium now >
Click to expand...


As I said, CCleaner's only real strength, and the only reason I use it,
lies in its usefulness for cleaning up unused temporary files from the
hard drive; in this regard, it works well with Vista and is completely
harmless.

As a registry "cleaner," it's not significantly better or worse
than any other snake oil product of the same type, and just as useless.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot
 
Bruce Chambers said:
As I said, CCleaner's only real strength, and the only reason I use it,
lies in its usefulness for cleaning up unused temporary files from the
hard drive
Click to expand...

On mine it missed a lot... so I custom configured it to check certain
directories/files it wasn't previously looking for.

It is also very useful in getting rid of unwanted cookies.
 
PD43 said:
On mine it missed a lot... so I custom configured it to check certain
directories/files it wasn't previously looking for.

It is also very useful in getting rid of unwanted cookies.
Click to expand...


True, the default settings are rather conservative, but this can
sometimes be a good thing. And it does give one the option of choosing
and configuring a more "aggressive" cleaning.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot
 
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