using ad aware & spybot

[bette]

does anyone know if these two programs will deleat files
needed to run windows. i want to install them and am
scared it might deleat something important . i am new to
this....also have second question. i have been getting
ocasianaly a popup stating do you want to install and run
this program...this comes up on different sites..i click
no asuming this is my security working right...i have
nortin 03 and xp firewall...any help apreciated. sorry
post is so long....bette

 

[anonymous]

ad-aware & spybot
these will not remove any system files. after you
download them and run notice the items found. most will
be cookies. hint: before running these delete cookies.

when a popup appears on a website try not to press the no
button. press the x in the corner of popup. pressing no
might just install the plugin anyway. if the corner x is
disabled use alt+ctl+del and 'end task' on that browser
window.

 

[Wesley Vogel]

In addittion to what anon.. said, if the close X is disabled use the
Ctrl key + the W key to close the window, instead of Ctrl + Alt + Delete.

 

[anon]

thanks wes....that's worth 50+ points.
you now need 10 points to pass sharon f!

 

[Guest]

thanks for the advice....very quick. also i do have
another question... i feel stupid asking but you said
press ctrl key + the W key. is that the w key on keyboard
or suposed to mean the windows key? thanks again

 

[anon]

control+w (or W)
==============================
visit this site.....
http://www.resourcenetwork.com
click on purple "free sample" button
order 2 free samples with free postage paid
no spam....no junk mail...no spyware....no downloads
5 days for delivery.
suggest you order:
windows XP
internet explorer 6.0
================================================

 

[Wesley Vogel]

anon;
It is very handy. ;o) Especilly with pop-up hell before I got a pop-up stopper.

 

[Wesley Vogel]

What he said.

 

[Kevin Weilbacher]

Thanks for the tip on the linked web site!
-kw

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

I've used both Ad-Aware and Spybot Search & Destroy for years
without any adverse affects.

There are at least three varieties of pop-ups, and the solutions
vary accordingly. Which specific type(s) is troubling you?

1) Does the title bar of these pop-ups read "Messenger Service?"

This type of spam has become quite common over the past several
months, and unintentionally serves as a valid security "alert." It
demonstrates that you haven't been taking sufficient precautions while
connected to the Internet. Your data probably hasn't been compromised
by these specific advertisements, but if you're open to this exploit,
you may well be open to other threats, such as the Blaster Worm that
recently swept cross the Internet. Install and use a decent,
properly configured firewall. (Merely disabling the messenger
service, as some people recommend, only hides the symptom, and does
little or nothing to truly secure your machine.) And ignoring or just
"putting up with" the security gap represented by these messages is
particularly foolish.

Messenger Service of Windows
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;168893

Messenger Service Window That Contains an Internet Advertisement
Appears
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=330904

Stopping Advertisements with Messenger Service Titles
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/howto/communicate/stopspam.asp

Blocking Ads, Parasites, and Hijackers with a Hosts File
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm

Oh, and be especially wary of people who advise you to do nothing
more than disable the messenger service. Disabling the messenger
service, by itself, is a "head in the sand" approach to computer
security. The real problem is _not_ the messenger service pop-ups;
they're actually providing a useful, if annoying, service by acting as
a security alert. The true problem is the unsecured computer, and
you've been advised to merely turn off the warnings. How is this
helpful?

2) For regular Internet pop-ups, you might try the free 12Ghosts
Popup-killer from http://12ghosts.com/ghosts/popup.htm, Pop-Up Stopper
from http://www.panicware.com/, or the Google Toolbar from
http://toolbar.google.com/, which is what I use.

3) To deal with pop-ups caused by any sort of "adware" and/or
"spyware,"such as Gator, Comet Cursors, Xupiter, Bonzai Buddy, or
KaZaA, and their remnants, that you've deliberately (but without
understanding the consequences) installed, two products that are
quite effective (at finding and removing this type of scumware) are
Ad-Aware from www.lavasoft.de and SpyBot Search & Destroy from
http://security.kolla.de/. Both have free versions. It's even
possible to use SpyBot Search & Destroy to "immunize" your system
against most future intrusions. I use both and generally perform
manual scans every week or so to clean out cookies, etc.


Bruce Chambers

--
Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH

 

[Guest]

Hi Bette
No, ad-aware and spybot will not usually mess up Windows setup files, or dll's. If the two bot/adware programs find anything it is 99.999% ok to delete the files.

My advice, 'quarantine' the items with ad-aware and then re-boot the p.c. If the system re-loads without any error, than it would be safe to delete the programs (after you've used the programs you usually use). Ensure that NTFS (file protection system is also turned on, throught the properties section of 'my computer' - under the tab file system. This also protects (most of the time) any legitimate files from corrupting.

On your second question, it would seem that you are going to sites (which in most cases can be legitimate), which require you to add a loader to increase the performance whilst viewing the site, or, trying to sell you something. 9 times out of 10, you are ok to click 'no'. Some of the time the program which installs has ad or spyware, which, is not a good thing to have on your PC (which is why you have chosen to install Spybot or Ad-aware). Don't install anything you are not comfortable with when surfing the net.

Other than that, ad-aware and spybot is quite good for what you have acquired them to do.

P.

----- bette wrote: -----

does anyone know if these two programs will deleat files
needed to run windows. i want to install them and am
scared it might deleat something important . i am new to
this....also have second question. i have been getting
ocasianaly a popup stating do you want to install and run
this program...this comes up on different sites..i click
no asuming this is my security working right...i have
nortin 03 and xp firewall...any help apreciated. sorry
post is so long....bette

 

[Guest]

We recently installed Spybot Search and Destry on several of our servers and workstations running windws 2000
It works great and does what it is intended to do...that is seach for and destry ADWARE files on the system.
It will effectively search for files, cookies, and registry modifications that add those annoying popups and redirections to web sites

Ad Aware also should work just fine, between the two I like Spybot, but thats my personal opinion

good luck

 

[Guest]

I have used Spybot and Adaware very successfully over the past several months on a number of PC's with no noticed bad effects. I have almost always seen an improvement in available processor resources free, due to deleting the files it finds.