Ad_Aware SE which setting

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> One of my friends had a bad infection from gator spyware and pest patrol
> was the only one so far that prevented gator from coming back.

The worst case I ever saw involved a colleague from work and Gator, on a
virtually pristine new WinME machine (only a couple of months old).

It took 6 hours to boot, and every single mouse click took 10-15 minutes
to register.

On top of that, it had trashed the registry making it impossible to boot
fully without reverting to a backup. When we eventually got the machine
booted, Spybot S&D had it sorted in seconds.

He learned his lesson, and has a firewall, AV (updated regularly), and
scans for spyware on a regular basis.

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> http://www.webroot.com/services/spyaudit_03.htm

I`m still not convinced as to the accuracy of these checkers, as this one
reported asm.exe from Brilliant Digital.

The file does not exist on any of my 8 partitions.

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"S.Lewis" <stew1960@cover.bellsouth.net> wrote:

>I'm sort of surprised that the Giant software hadn't gotten any play in this
>very newsgroup. To be honest, I don't recall ever having heard of it - or
>if so not much. Perhaps they operated on a pay-only basis with limited or no
>demos of the software.

Yeah. Here or elsewhere that anti-AW/SW proggies are often
discussed. Just found their web-site, and it refers everything
about their anti-spyware tool to MS. On this one, MS apparently
bought out that program from them, and what they were doing in
the past is not addressed.

http://www.pctools.com/spyware-doctor/

>Along with the real-time systray function/updates, it also has a feature
>that (if the user decides to enable and participate) reports found spyware
>to a shared database to monitor infection activity.
>
>I read an article (in Eweek, I believe) that stated, in effect, this version
>is really not a 'beta' at all but rather the Giant software nearly
>identically tagged with the MS logo.

I had the same thought when I first viewed that MS page on it
after it was first mentioned in a tech column. That has been MS
practice with some other "utilities" they've added to Windows
over the years - e.g., AIUI they licensed their disk defragger
and disk cleanup utilities they added from Norton or someone like
that. I guessed when reading the MS page that the "beta" is only
to make sure that their implementation of it as a part of Windows
is working for users.


I also hadn't heard of that Spyware Doctor that Infinion
mentioned, so I just did a google on it, and it sounds good.
Latest version released Jan 7th, 2005. They do note that the
trial version operates in scan mode only. The paid version can
do a lot of real-time protection stuff. Like everything else in
this section of the software world, it's $29.95 for the paid
version. ;->

[Damned PCTools is throttling their downloads, I'm getting ISDN
speeds even though I've got a 3+mbit/sec cable connection. Sigh.
The google turned up several other sources for Spy Doctor. If
anyone is gonna try it, I'd try one of them. It's a 4MB
proggie.]
--
OJ III
[Email to Yahoo address may be burned before reading.
Lower and crunch the sig and you'll net me at comcast.]
 

sparky

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Steve wrote:

> "jd" <sickboy2all@aol.com> wrote in message
> news:1105653290.200712.45210@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
>
>>since we are on the topic of internet security(and football,
>>apparently. long suffering dophins fan here) for those of you who use
>>windows , do you think thier new "malicious software removal tool"
>>(that's what my update list calls it) is worth a download, or will it
>>simply add to windows bloat? i'm already up to my ears in security
>>software and what i use seems to do a good job. because this tool comes
>>from ms do you think it may offer something more, or perhaps just more
>>of the same? any replys are welcome and appreciated : )
>
> What program are you referring to?

It's brand new (Release Date: January 11, 2005) and comes up now when
you go to the Windows Update site:

SUMMARY

Microsoft has released the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal
Tool to help remove specific, prevalent malicious software from
computers that are running Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Microsoft
Windows XP, or Microsoft Windows 2000. The Malicious Software Removal
Tool supersedes all virus-cleaner tools that were previously released by
Microsoft. You can download the Malicious Software Removal Tool from the
Microsoft Download Center. You can also run an online version of the
tool from the Malicious Software Removal Tool Web site on Microsoft.com.
To run the Malicious Software Removal Tool from either location, you
must log on to your computer with an account that is a member of the
Administrators group. If you are running Windows XP, you can also run
the Malicious Software Removal Tool from the Windows Update Web site or
by using Automatic Updates.

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=890830#kb1

---------------------------------------------------------

I have no experience with it.
 

Jd

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hello all. i downloaded the above mentioned "malicious software removal
tool" patch, but can't find it anywhere on my computer. i've checked
the windows security center, programs on c:, sys tray, add/remove
programs, and all folders. even opened up windows in c:(which is a bit
foreign to me. lot's of stuff in there). so i assume just like a
regular patch it simply adds itself to windows without making a point
of it. but then how do i use it if i ever need it? is it just going to
pop-up if i'm infected? does it work in the background(certainly not
for removal of something bad)? aagh!! nutty stuff. oh , also downloaded
the ms anti-spyware program mentioned in other posts, and it would seem
to be a very good thing indeed. and i came up-clean as a whistle after
a scan. which is what using an alternative to ie will do for you
(firefox, in my case). have a good one, everybody : )
 

Jd

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thanks for the info and the link, nick. haven't had much time for the
web or alot of checking into things this busy new year. these boards
are a real lifesaver for me lately.
 

nick

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On 16 Jan 2005 09:44:30 -0800, in alt.sys.pc-clone.dell, "jd"
<sickboy2all@aol.com> wrote:

>hello all. i downloaded the above mentioned "malicious software removal
>tool" patch, but can't find it anywhere on my computer. i've checked
>the windows security center, programs on c:, sys tray, add/remove
>programs, and all folders. even opened up windows in c:(which is a bit
>foreign to me. lot's of stuff in there). so i assume just like a
>regular patch it simply adds itself to windows without making a point
>of it. but then how do i use it if i ever need it? is it just going to
>pop-up if i'm infected? does it work in the background(certainly not
>for removal of something bad)? aagh!! nutty stuff. oh , also downloaded
>the ms anti-spyware program mentioned in other posts, and it would seem
>to be a very good thing indeed. and i came up-clean as a whistle after
>a scan. which is what using an alternative to ie will do for you
>(firefox, in my case). have a good one, everybody : )

According to Microsoft's web site, the 'malicious software remove tool'
isn't a patch and doesn't install anything on your computer.

All it does is check your computer's memory to see if any of a small number
of Trojans, etc. are currently running, and removes any it finds.

It does not scan your hard drives for viruses, Trojans, etc. that aren't
currently running and it doesn't run in the background to check for new
infections.

For more information on that tool, check here:
<http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=890830> (that's where you wind up if you
follow the 'more info' links on the Windows Update page).

--
Nick <mailto:tanstaafl@pobox.com>
 
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If the 'malicious software removal tool' was really what it claimed to be, it
would delete Windows in its entirety... Ben Myers

On Sun, 16 Jan 2005 18:05:19 GMT, Nick <tanstaafl@pobox.com> wrote:

>
>On 16 Jan 2005 09:44:30 -0800, in alt.sys.pc-clone.dell, "jd"
><sickboy2all@aol.com> wrote:
>
>>hello all. i downloaded the above mentioned "malicious software removal
>>tool" patch, but can't find it anywhere on my computer. i've checked
>>the windows security center, programs on c:, sys tray, add/remove
>>programs, and all folders. even opened up windows in c:(which is a bit
>>foreign to me. lot's of stuff in there). so i assume just like a
>>regular patch it simply adds itself to windows without making a point
>>of it. but then how do i use it if i ever need it? is it just going to
>>pop-up if i'm infected? does it work in the background(certainly not
>>for removal of something bad)? aagh!! nutty stuff. oh , also downloaded
>>the ms anti-spyware program mentioned in other posts, and it would seem
>>to be a very good thing indeed. and i came up-clean as a whistle after
>>a scan. which is what using an alternative to ie will do for you
>>(firefox, in my case). have a good one, everybody : )
>
>According to Microsoft's web site, the 'malicious software remove tool'
>isn't a patch and doesn't install anything on your computer.
>
>All it does is check your computer's memory to see if any of a small number
>of Trojans, etc. are currently running, and removes any it finds.
>
>It does not scan your hard drives for viruses, Trojans, etc. that aren't
>currently running and it doesn't run in the background to check for new
>infections.
>
>For more information on that tool, check here:
><http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=890830> (that's where you wind up if you
>follow the 'more info' links on the Windows Update page).
>
>--
>Nick <mailto:tanstaafl@pobox.com>
 

sparky

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Ben Myers wrote:
> If the 'malicious software removal tool' was really what it claimed to be, it
> would delete Windows in its entirety... Ben Myers

LOL - amen to that, Ben!
 
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> If the 'malicious software removal tool' was really what it claimed to be, it
> would...

....install linux ;-)


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Ben,
LOL
Paul


Ben Myers wrote:
> If the 'malicious software removal tool' was really what it claimed to be, it
> would delete Windows in its entirety... Ben Myers