Genealogy Chat

Hello Bob, Tried that, didn't work at first, it was as though those links at the top weren't enabled, after a few stops and starts managed to get into the settings. It was on Auto quarantine. So hopefully now sorted. It used to be fine, don't know why it suddenly went like that?? Thanks Diane

Re problems with Ad aware I am not sure but you should not try to Quarantine if you have the auto-quarantine set as on. Go to Settings (the cog wheel at the top) and click the "Automatically quarantine...." box so that it turns into a red X. Please let me know if this works or not. Bob

I installed adaware and have found that the last couple of times I've used it I too have had the same happen as another one of you. I clicked quarantine and a box came up to say it was doing so and nothing else happened it just froze like that. Then had to exit via red cross. Why is it doing that now. When you then check on the list of files there is nothing for that date. Does this mean it hasn't worked. I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling, same thing. I've now downloaded AOL's spyware programme too. Any help please?? Diane

Nudge - for newbies

I used to have Spyware Nuker. I stopped using it when I bought the latest version of Norton and the firewall advised me to block it. This does not happen with Ad-Aware. Read into that what you will Margaret

didnt want this getting lost, as I had found it very informative... sorry to everyone thats already read it!!!! ta ta sarah

I find it mind boggling that these companies can get away with the things they do. For the average PC user, a lot of this gobbly gook tech talk means absolutely nothing. Thanks for the lesson Bob....and the rest of you, be sure to read the fine print! Judy

I found this re. Spyware Nuker A New Spyware Tactic? A program called Spyware Nuker was recently released boasting it can remove Spyware and Adware from your PC that others may leave behind. After testing this I was very surprised by what I found. Am I calling this Spyware? Read on for the results of mt tests and you can decide. What first caught my attention is that you have to first download a small installer that downloads and installs the main file. As a software developer I can tell you that it’s twice the work to create a file to download a file and unnecessary in my opinion. Most that do this will download to a temporary directory, install the program and then delete the main file. The only reason I see for this is if someone didn’t want you to have or see the main file. I managed to get it anyway and found that their files were compressed by a little known compressor and aren’t readable by standard Windows means. Is there something to hide? Here are a few excerpts from their 5 page license agreement: "You acknowledge that "Trek Blue" may, at their sole discretion and for any purpose, provide updates, automatic or otherwise, to the "Trek Blue" Program(s) including but not limited to the advertising or other value-added software and technology. By installing, downloading, copying, updating or otherwise using the "Trek Blue" Program(s), you specifically agree to include and/or accept the noted software and technology through which "Trek Blue", its subsidiaries, affiliates, partners, divisions, and clients provide value-added upgrades and applications to your computer." In other words, they can install anything they want, anytime they want without informing you “including but not limited to advertising or other value-added software and technology” on your PC. "You acknowledge that you desire to receive value-added content and applications as a condition to using the "Trek Blue" Program(s)." Translation: We’re covering our butts so you can’t sue us. On running a Domain name check I found that the Domain http://www.spywarenuker.com is actually owned by the following advertising company that according to them “specializes in integrated marketing, media branding and online advertising technologies” Seems like we have a Wolf In Sheeps clothing doesn't it ? Bob

I can attest to what Bob is saying about downloading off the internet and Spyware Nuker....I, too, downloaded Spyware Nuker a few weeks back. I ran both Adaware and Spyware Nuker at the same time....Spyware Nuker found 36 pieces of spyware where Adaware picked up 39 pieces. The additional pieces were all attributed to Spyware Nuker.....it actually added spyware to my computer! Like, Bob, I uninstalled it immediately. Many of the downloads out there that are offering their product for free, more than likely, has spyware attached to it. Which is why it's important, any time you download off the internet, no matter how trusted the site, make sure you run Adaware or a like product. Judy (and Bob!) LOL :)

Just for your information.... You will have seen much mention from Judy and me about the program AD-AWARE. Neither of us has any relationship with Lavasoft (the owner of AD-AWARE). It is just a program that we use, trust and have found reliable. I have just downloaded a similar program called SPYWARE NUKER and when I did an AD AWARE scan I found that a load of spyware (described by ad aware as "malware") had been installed on my machine. Needless to say I have now cleaned it up and deleted SPYWARE NUKER. The point of this is that there are many sites out there offering "free" software and that we must be very careful before we install them. Bob

I mentioned on an earlier post about running Adaware as one of the things to attempt to find a dialer on your PC. Adaware may not find all dialers, but it does find some of them, as it found and removed one for me last week. Judy

Hi everyone Can i just say that adaware is a very good program but it will only pick up advertising.you should remember to update it every time you use it.you should also download spybot search and detroy which will find spyware,always remember to regually update these. i dont think either of these will find dialers though, you get diallers usually from dodgey internet sites like,game cheats and such like,a lot of sites like these seem to send alot of porn popups which are more likely to put dialers on your pc you should avoid these like the plague.i got a dialer once that corrupted my master boot record so i had to format my hard drive which meant i lost everything.having updated virus programs only works if you actually do virus scans mine is set to scan every night. if you have a real time monitor they will pick up some dodgey files, this is a golden rule :you should scan all your files regually also scan any files that you download prior to opening them ian

Since I installed the critical updates from Microsoft a week ago, whenever I use the "Back" button on GC (and a couple of other sites) I get an error message "This page provides potentially unsafe information to an ActiveX control...etc." I've reset the security options to the default levels but it's still coming up. Anyone any ideas on what I need to do to prevent it appearing?

Judy - many thanks, have been off and had another go. The smaller icon deleted OK. Went back into ad-aware and had a look in the quarantine list - nothing! So ran the scan again, it found the same 12 files and one reg.key total of 13 objects. Then followed instructions on screen - ticked each item separately and bingo! It's now telling me that 13 objects were deleted and 13 objects were quarantined. So I guess that they are safely locked away! I will have a look in a day or so as per your instructions and delete them completely - watch this space... Where would we be without you - many thanks once again. Sue

Judy Thanks for you help in this, await your email. Many thanks to you all for the help, thoughs of us who don't know much about computers appreciate it , should surprise my son next time he comes round. If only I could print them all off, my printer has broken. Oh well will save them on to windows so it doesn't get lost. Many thanks every one. Irene

Thanks for ALL your help Judy, maybe you have the answer to the next problem, I hope. Some of my e-mails are coming into my 'delete box' any idea why? Denise

Sue: Sounds like you did everything correctly. Instead of hitting quarantine, since your computer hung up, just choose to delete everything. As for the icons on your desktop, the Adaware 6 with the red circle is a shortcut to the program so you have instant access to the program.....so yes, it should be there. I think the other icon is the adaware download you got from the site. You downloaded the program to your desktop opposed to putting it on your C Drive/Programs file. This icon should be OK to delete off your desktop as you've already installed the program which should have installed itself by default to your C Drive/Programs file. Judy

Denise: Anytime you have a program installed on your computer, you must "uninstall" it opposed to deleting. Deleting does not allow all the components associated with the program to be deleted....uninstalling does. If you uninstall the hot tool bar from your tool bar it does not remove anything else in your tool bar. If by some freak of nature it does, when Internet Explorer is open, go to the top of the screen and click on VIEW. Choose TOOLBAR and then CUSTOMIZE and you can choose what features you want to show in your toolbar. Judy

Help - please... I've downloaded and run ad-aware - I only had 13 nasties but did as suggested and asked for them to be quarantined. When it was done I had a bar with blue vertical lines which filled the bar across the ad-aware box - it just sat there, I waited for it to tell me it was done or to close or SOMETHING! So in the end I just exited via the little red cross - was this right? Also i've got 2 icons on my desktop one is a picture of a computor with aaw6 underneath it and the other is a red circle with a line through it a red 6 and underneath Ad-aware 6.0 have I done something wrong!! Sue.

Thanks for your help Judy, downloaded and cleaned. could not believe my eyes when I saw all the bugs counting up. I use to have 'Hot Bar' and many of the files belong to them also 'Tracking Co' Still got the Hot Bar bar-tool on my Outlook Express, if I ask for it to be removed it says- toolbar or view bar, should I delete this, just wandering if I will remove ALL my tool-bars. Denise M/C Yippee---Hot Bar has gone! even from the add and remove program.