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Old 08-05-2004, 01:19 AM   #1
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My Spyware tips
I have done the following on my system and it seems to be keeping the Spyware to a minimum.

Basically, I scheduled tasks on my system to run in the middle of the night when I'm not using the comp. Of course, this requires leaving your comp on all night.

I will describe the steps for Windows XP. Other Windows versions should be similar. This also assumes you used the default install path for the ad removal programs.

First download both Ad-Adware and Spybot - Search and Destroy. If you can't find them, type their names into Google and download.

Go to the Control Panel and open Scheduled Tasks. Then click Add Scheduled Task.

Click Next.

From the program list choose Ad-Aware from the program list. Click next.

Choose to perform this task daily. Click next.

Choose a time when you are most likely to not be using the computer. Click next.

Enter your user login data (If you don't have a login password, just leave it blank). Click next.

Check the "Open advanced properties for this task when I click finish." Then click finish.

The advanced properties window will popup. On the line that says run, delete what is there and copy and paste this:

"C:\Program Files\Lavasoft\Ad-aware 6\Ad-aware.exe" "c:" +a +1 -smartscan

Then click OK and OK again.


After you are done setting up Ad Aware, repeat the process for SpyBot - Search and Destroy. Make sure you schedule them to run at least 45 minutes apart from each other.

When you get to the advanced properties tab for SpyBot, type the following in the "Run" line:

"C:\Program Files\Spybot - Search & Destroy\SpybotSD.exe" /autoupdate /autoclose /autocheck /autofix /autoimmunize




The above settings will run the programs and automatically close them when they are done. It is important to note that Ad-Aware will not automatically update its reference file, so you need to periodically open Ad-Adware and click "Check for updates now" and get the newest version of the reference file. SpyBot will automatically update itself with the above settings though.


Also, I cannot stress enough that if you want to prevent Spyware from getting onto your computer you should not use Internet Explorer as your primary browser. I highly recommend Mozilla Firefox. It is very stable and faster than IE in my opinion. http://www.getfirefox.com

And while you are at it, you may as well migrate away from another bloated Microsoft app. I recommend trying out AbiWord as your word processor. Its very lightweight so it won't bog your system resources down. http://www.abisource.com


And of course, you should have both anti-virus software and a firewall running. I recommend Norton Anti-Virus and ZoneAlarm.


That's all for now. If anyone has any other recommendations for getting rid of spyware and/or speeding up a computer, I would be happy to hear them.
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Old 08-05-2004, 01:48 AM   #2
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Just for me personally when i use ad-aware. In addition to using the smart scan option. I prefer to use the custom scan option. I just usually check through all the various scanning and cleaning options for extra protection and see if that can help me is anyway at all Seems to work for me!
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Old 08-05-2004, 02:48 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sadio8
Just for me personally when i use ad-aware. In addition to using the smart scan option. I prefer to use the custom scan option. I just usually check through all the various scanning and cleaning options for extra protection and see if that can help me is anyway at all Seems to work for me!
The +1 option that I included as a parameter for Ad-Adware does an In-Depth scan, which checks absolutely everything. Here is the info from the help file:

The parameters have the following function:

+A: perform all automatically (scan, remove and clean)

+S: Silent mode, minimize Ad-aware during the operation

+0: don't use in-depth scan
+1: use in-depth scan
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Old 08-05-2004, 09:37 AM   #4
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Oh yeah, good tips, but it's better to use open source software. Ya know what i mean?

It's something like... Open Office Org..

It's basically a free program that is available for download for free, and it's better and faster than microsoft programs... so well.
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Old 08-05-2004, 10:31 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Goldbird
Oh yeah, good tips, but it's better to use open source software. Ya know what i mean?

It's something like... Open Office Org..

It's basically a free program that is available for download for free, and it's better and faster than microsoft programs... so well.
I use open source software as much as I can.

Firefox, OOo, and the others are better than Microshit.

I just got a new comp and I'm going to set up a dual boot with WinXP and Fedora Core 2. And I plan on spending most of the time with FC2. XP will just be for games.
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Old 08-06-2004, 05:24 AM   #6
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I use Knnopix as my OS
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Old 08-07-2004, 09:56 AM   #7
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great guide Jim v.w.o.

much respect.

I am always trying to get people to scan the crap from thier systems.
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Old 08-07-2004, 10:37 AM   #8
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How good is this Firefox ?
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Old 08-07-2004, 05:03 PM   #9
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Thanks a ton, sucafrutpi


 
Old 08-07-2004, 05:05 PM   #10
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This Firefox is pretty good, it would be better if it was called Foxfire though

The only problems are that:

a) organizing favorites is a bitch

b) clicking a favorite from the start menu gives me an annoying pop up saying windows cannot find this link, then it opens in firefox

c) On one page all the links kept flashing on and off the screen

d) My custon title is white

It doesn't seem a lot faster either
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Old 08-07-2004, 11:08 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Y2Ant
This Firefox is pretty good, it would be better if it was called Foxfire though

The only problems are that:

a) organizing favorites is a bitch

b) clicking a favorite from the start menu gives me an annoying pop up saying windows cannot find this link, then it opens in firefox

c) On one page all the links kept flashing on and off the screen

d) My custon title is white

It doesn't seem a lot faster either
a)The favorites organizer is inherited from Netscape. A lot of people are used to it.

b)The clicking a link problem is because of Microsoft. I'm assuming you have Firefox as your default browser.

c) Don't know what's up there.

d) Or here

And it should seem faster. Comparing Firefox to IE is like comparing Speedy Gonzalez to Giant Gonzalez.


You should try redownloading and reinstalling. My girlfriend was having a few problems with firefox and resinstalling seemed to take care of everything.
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Old 08-08-2004, 01:59 AM   #12
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Here is a cool freeware program I just found that cleans IE history.

http://www.spychecker.com/program/cleancache.html
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Old 08-08-2004, 09:56 AM   #13
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Well, I found out that you can turn off the blinking text by changing the parameter in about:config

There's one value that's set to #FFFFFF, i'm guessing that's the one that makes my custon title white
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Old 08-08-2004, 10:07 AM   #14
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Can't find the one that's messing up my title
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Old 08-09-2004, 12:13 AM   #15
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For the firewall + virus protection, I'm runningSygate Personal Firewall Pro and McAfee Viruscan. How would you rate that on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being as if there were no protection in the first place and 10 being impenetrable)?

Also, when I run spybot, I keep getting this weird error when it gets to Xabot. How do I take care of that?
 
Old 08-09-2004, 03:31 AM   #16
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I think this browser has it in for purple or something, cause when naturboyvc posts (insert obvious joke here), it comes up as white, but in IE it's purple.

Mine and Tony's custon titles appear white, but Cheeba's pink one is still pink

Any ideas anyone?
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Old 08-09-2004, 03:39 AM   #17
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Here's a useful tool for removing spyware.

http://www.spywareinfo.com/xscan.php
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Old 08-09-2004, 04:34 AM   #18
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Thanks
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