Question for Computer Techies!

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dwayne

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Jul 12, 2001
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Let me start from the beginning... my computer was running slower than slow yesterday, and my husband recommended downloaded Ad-Aware and running a scan... he then said to go to their help forums (bulletin board, like here) and they will walk you through what to do next. I did that, and at the time had quite a few items in quarantine. One of the guys said I could easily delete everything, no problem. So I did, and then another guy, apparently a moderator, said that I shouldn't have listened to his advice, because he's a newbie (der, I should have looked, he had 14 posts and this moderator guy had like 6000!). Anyway, my pc is running fine right now, so hopefully whatever I deleted yesterday wasn't a necessary thing. (I tried to go to my quaratine log and recycle bin to restore, but nothing was in either one). Maybe the files are hidden somewhere? Luckily (or not) I didn't do a shut down last night, I logged off (I have Windows XP).

This morning when I got into work I downloaded the updates, and ran a new scan. I now have 80 or so things in quarantine, but I don't know whether I should delete them (and nobody has answered my ?? in the forum over there).

My 3 questions:
1. How do I know what is safe to permanently delete, and what isn't?

2. If I install Yahoo IM on my machine, does that open me up to more unwanted files than just surfing the net? My husband thinks that all IM's are bad news.

3. How can I set my cookie/security/privacy settings in Tools/Internet Options, so that I can still visit sites without much hassle (for instance, hotmail, a MSN group, Yahoo email etc).

Thanks in advance for any help/insight anyone can give me... I'm worthless when it comes to this stuff!!!

~Tara

ps - my hubby said I should just talk to the IT people, but I want to wait and see if I can do this myself...
 

val

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Oct 18, 2002
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I've used ad-aware for a year now.

As to your first question, yes, feel free to delete whatever you've got quarantined. if you look at the results every time you scan, you'll see that most of the spies are recurring.

As for the second, I've been told that IMs introduce these spies to your system. that's why you run ad-aware (or another good one is spybot) on a regular basis.

As for the third, no idea. Sorry.

Val
 

Dale W.

Formerly known as "Reefscape"
Oct 7, 1998
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Typicaly speaking, you can pretty much delete everything that ad-aware and spybot detect. These programs are directed to search out unwanted cookies in your system that are known culprets. I have always deleted everything that it has come up with and you will have to know what you are looking at in order to keep the ones that are safe (I use this term loosly). It would be a good idea to run both ad-aware and spybot as one has a tendancy to pick up stuff that the other one doesnt.

As far as the IM goes. I run MSN IM without any problems. It may open you up to unwanted advertising but you can just run the two prorams once a week to clean things up. More than likely you wont get much of anything through the IM.

The firewall, hmmm, well you can use the one in XP but it isnt a very strong one. You are better off downloading a better firewall. There are quite a few good ones out there and maybe some people here can give you some options. I have mine set up through a Linksy's system. With the XP one, you will just have to go through everything to decide how strong you want it and what to allow.
 

Walrus

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Jan 4, 2002
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I'd ask your IT department before you go any farther.

1. I delete everything that Ad-Aware finds.
2. I agree with your husband. IM's are a big security hole if the firewall allows the traffic.
3. Depends on how proactive you want to be. If you want your PC to be ultra secure then your going to be hassled alot. You kind of have to find the happy medium for yourself.
 

Elmo

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Dec 8, 2001
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3) I would try and avoid IE if at all possible. There are several good alternatives out there including Mozilla FireFox and Opera . There have been several warnings that Internet Explorer should not be used because of the way it handles things such as ActiveX controls.
http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3374931

As for Reefscapes suggestion about a firewall, as far as software firewalls go, ZoneAlarm is good and there is a free version. You mentioned you were at work, so you shouldn't need to worry about running a firewall there as I would assume that you are behind a decent hardware firewall.

And yes, as suggested by Walrus talk to the IT guys before installing/changing things.
 
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dwayne

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Great, thanks guys!!

Reefscape ~ that's my problem, I don't know what I'm looking at when I look at the qt log, so I don't know what's ok and what's not ok to delete.

Firewall ~ Like Elmo said, I don't think I need a firewall, my company has a good one, I'm sure of it.

Other browers ~ My husband uses Mozilla on our home pc and I love it, except that it doesn't allow me to post on my MSN boards (which is what I do most on the internet, besides here!)

IT guys ~ I don't like any of them, hahah! But if I get into any real trouble I'll talk to them. I think I should be ok with the Adaware and maybe installing Spybot too.

Internet security ~ I have Privacy set to Custom (accept 1st party cookies, prompt 3rd party, always allow session cookies) and have a few websites over-rided to allow cookies.

IM ~ I may try to download Yahoo IM and see what happens... after I get my computer cleaned up right now!

Thanks for your help everyone, you have no idea how much I appreciate it!

~Tara
 

slipknottin

the original legend
Jan 13, 2002
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Once the items are in quarantine and your computer is still starting/running fine, then you can delete them.

And BTW- zonealarm does not work with Trillian.
 

dwayne

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Jul 12, 2001
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Boston, MA
One more question!

From the Adaware QT screen, when I click on delete, that deletes the QT backup files, but does it actually delete the files themselves, or do I have to go somewhere else to delete them?

edit: :eek: *#!@!! I deleted something that I shouldn't have!!! When I rebooted, I got this message:

c/windows/downloaded program files/bridge.dll
specified module could not be found

And now that I think about it, when I clicked on "restart" I got a message that said rundll32.exe ending - end now? Any unsaved information could be lost.

What did I do?!

~Tara
 
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Watcher74

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Feb 5, 2004
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Dwayne,

1. If you are nervous about deleting a system file in windows XP here's what you do....do you have a Windows XP boot up disk?
If not then go to My Computer-->C: then click on Tools up at the top of the window, pick "Folder Options", pick the "View" tab, and make sure the "Show hidden files and folders" option is picked.

Hit apply and you will see several, previously unseen files in your C: drive. Copy three of these files onto a diskette: (boot.ini, NTDETECT.COM, and ntldr) and label that diskette as a Windows XP Boot Disk. Keep it close to your computer where you always know where it is.

With that disk, if you accidentally delete a file or folder that prevents your computer from booting up, you can put the diskette in and start up your computer.

Now about fixing the problem after you have booted up:

XP comes with a wonderfully useful feature called System Restore. Your computer automatically saves your computer's configuration every few days. If you delete something important for the functionality of your computer you can use system restore to recover from it.

After you have booted up using the boot disk, go to START-->All Programs-->Accessories-->System Tools-->System Restore and follow the Wizard that pops up to guide you through the restore. Trust me, this feature has saved me from having to reinstall Windows XP several times.

2. As far as how much security you need for your computer that depends on what you use your computer for and how safe you want it to be. Do you keep personal information on your computer? Do you pay your bills online, order online, or do online banking? If so then you will want to secure it well to prevent identity theft.

Pick one of the brands of adware removers. I use Aluria's Spyware/Adware remover but their are others just as good. You can use that to get rid of unwanted programs on your computer that can spy on you and/or steal personal information.

Reefscape mentioned a Linksys router and this is a good device to protect your computer. Even though it is called a router it is actually a level 3 switch(just means it's a switch with Network Address Translation"NAT" software in it).

When you use a NAT device, it will show it's address to the internet but not the address it is using to connect to your computer. So if someone tries to send a malicious program to what they believe is an IP address of a computer, it will only get as for as the NAT device and then be stopped. But make sure you set a password on the NAT device with a really good password. Otherwise someone could hack into the device and bypass it.

-Disclaimer- The NAT device is not a sure fire way to protect a computer. It only makes it more secure. The only way to completely protect a computer is to disconnect it from the internet and any other computers and lock it in a vault. Anything less and you can be hacked into.

3. In the Tools/Internet Options you can choose the Privacy tab and choose to block all cookies by raising the bar to the highest setting. Under the Security tab, you click on the Custom Level button and can go through everything that IE will or will not allow to secure your web browsing. Those options are personal decisions about what you are most worried about being taken advantage of. You could click every one on Prompt so your computer will ask you first before it allows anything.

If there's any other questions or clarification of anything shoot me a PM and I'll try to help out.
 
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