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I'm afraid I have bad news for you....
I work in desktop support, and by mandate quite a while ago, all of our users had their administrator privileges revoked, very very few are still at that level, however, many still end up with this junk on their systems. I am flabbergasted that this stuff isn't considered virus-like, and removed by companies that are paid good money to keep unwanted SW off of our systems (hello Norton, McAfee etc.) So it's not even a matter of admin rights, but more of common sense in where you surf, and what you look at. Even in how you say no to an offer for an install. I have watched a MS window pop up asking if you want to install this new package, and if you click 'Yes' it installs, and if you click 'No' it installs anyway.....the only method of actually keeping it off your system is the big X in the upper right corner. Now yes, this most definitely IS a failing of MS to protect us, but merely jumping up and down that MS is evil solves nothing, except the question of who the *nix-heads are. Yes, linux is generally more secure than Windows, especially in a default installation, but if most Windows users were as knowledgable as Linux users, Spyware as it is now, would virtually cease to exist. But once again, not bing admin is NOT sufficient, proper firewalling, screening your cookies (please change from the MS default 'Accept ALL cookies'!), and even fairly commonly screening with a capable tool like Ad-Aware, and SpyBot is the best method of KNOWING your Windows box is clean. And I recommend scanning with both if you know you have a problem, each will find stuff the other missed. And NEITHER can be absolutely depended upon to get everything, if your system continues to misbehave, you may have to roll up your sleeves, and dig through the registry a little bit. Not pleasant, but really your own fault for not using firewalls, and being extremely cautious.
Posted by: cleverlyc@...   Posted on: 04/10/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use
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Best spyware removal  Oscar_Goldman | 02/04/04
Most likely to have spyware on his machine...  Confused by religion | 02/04/04
Ummmm..OK Mills...  Bobby Sskcat | 02/04/04
My name is Milly - don't forget it...  Confused by religion | 02/04/04
Ummmm..OK Mills...  Bobby Sskcat | 02/05/04
Oh yea...  travisr | 02/05/04
Smokin' crack, maybe  slapmaxwell | 02/12/04
Huh?  Damon K | 02/04/04
in this case  ryusen | 02/05/04
another good reason to use a mac  TWRX | 02/06/04
Microsoft makes it too easy  Mark Gist | 02/05/04
Impractical for the main victims  jfrankcarr | 02/04/04
Absolutely 100% Correct  vferrara | 02/05/04
You are correct, but...  bhanes@... | 02/05/04
I agree and follow that  Arrg | 02/05/04
Hah  Mike B_z | 02/05/04
Where is Mike Cox when you need him  nucrash | 02/05/04
But his rep's in Aspen  Jay Cash | 02/05/04
People use Windows and IE because it's easy  justanuthernerdlikeu | 02/05/04
Your guys need privacy laws  Nigel Johnstone | 02/04/04
simple solution  JoeMama_z | 02/04/04
simple solution??  nite_w0lf | 02/04/04
(NT) Well, that made absolutely no sense.....  James T. Kirk | 02/05/04
this is the kinda fud  JWatson77 | 02/05/04
The bad guys are behind it, but it's real.  Robert Carnegie | 02/05/04
spyware is  JWatson77 | 02/05/04
the bad thing is  JWatson77 | 02/05/04
ZoneAlarm  Robert Carnegie | 02/05/04
Sbybot S&D, Adaware, Panda AntiVirus/Firewall is all you need.  xunil skcor | 02/05/04
Sbybot, Adaware, Panda  BXLE | 02/05/04
Brain is all you need  PB_z | 02/05/04
Are you sure?  doh123 | 02/05/04
No spyware here.  PB_z | 02/05/04
Good reasoning  bhanes@... | 02/05/04
Tracking cookies  quietLee | 02/09/04
I'm afraid I have bad news for you....  cleverlyc@... | 04/10/04
Maybe, but XP firewall won't tell you.  Jomo_z | 02/05/04
Microsoft spyware is covered by their EULA  jellyclock | 02/05/04
Ad-Aware Works Quite Well  Trentito | 02/05/04
Ad-aware and Spybot not enough  Blackdog_z | 02/05/04
Right issue...not exactly right target  Domb2 | 02/05/04
Arrrg! Disable ActiveX people!!  Nullifidian | 02/05/04
True but...  Blackdog_z | 02/05/04
That's What You Get for Using Microsoft  brenthawkinsmd | 02/05/04
Ack...here we go again  jfrankcarr | 02/05/04
When is free not really free?  BillPStudios | 02/05/04
SpywareI updated my system from WINDOWS 98 to WIONDOWS XP-Professional  CHSUAPUKAO | 02/06/04
Spyware Horror Story  rholley13 | 02/06/04
I get paid to fix spyware problems!  softwarescout | 02/06/04
Smart Bot Pro  GaryC_z | 02/06/04
Spyware Nuker  spiderlucci@... | 02/13/04
Best practice to stop spyware  kurtnv_1 | 03/15/04
Message has been deleted.  Bottom Line | 04/06/04

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