I find "Data Miners" under the critical components after scanning with Ad-aware
Is there any way to prevent spyware rather than delete it once its in?
Most of it is from a site called doubeclick.net...but i go to only wikipedia or youtube or something known ...i always keep off unknown sites....
2007-01-22 02:47:34 · 10 answers · asked by Mot 2 in Computers & Internet ➔ Security
Yes it's normal. ad aware sometimes marks as a dataminer rather harmless stuff. For instance, if you take a poll on some websites, they will put a tracking cookie on computer to make sure that you don't take the survey over and over again. Other websites put on tracking cookies to make web site navigation a little easier. There is, of course, bad data miners out there... but AdAware casts a wide net.
2007-01-22 02:55:17 · answer #1 · answered by Strange Dog 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is not only a matter of keeping off of unknown sites. Many sites out there can be culpirts. Also, emails, even from those you trust, could be carrying malware/adware. You probably need a good anti-virus to really clean out the actual cause of the data miners you have. Ad-aware is great at finding the files that are popping up but it does not find actual viruses.
To specifically answer you question on the number of finds well that depends on other factors. If you have no firewall in place then I would say you are doing great only haveing five things get through. If on the other hand you do have a good firewall up then you have something that breached it and is sitting on your computer (ie. virus, trojan horse, etc).
Just run a virus check. You can buy several good products like McAfee, or Norton, or you can download AVG for free. Your choice.
2007-01-22 02:59:34 · answer #2 · answered by nimbylive 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is most likely normal for you. Since you probable go to the same site weekly or daily and you keep getting infected. It is however possible to cut down on that. You say you scan with Adaware, I would suggest added Spybot and Spyware Blaster.
Download, update and run Spybot---http://www.safer-networking.org/ . Don't forget to use the Immunize feature.
Download SpywareBlaster---http://majorgeeks.com/download2859.html
SpywareBlaster doesn't scan and clean for spyware - it prevents it from ever being installed.
It's main features include:
- Prevent the installation of ActiveX-based spyware, adware, browser hijackers, dialers, and other potentially unwanted pests.
- Block spyware/tracking cookies in Internet Explorer and Mozilla/Firefox.
- Restrict the actions of potentially dangerous sites in Internet Explorer.
2007-01-22 03:25:35 · answer #3 · answered by rlh242424 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
YouTube is a good site to get riddled with tracking cookies. And using only AdAware isn't really enough to stay clear of spyware. I recommend that you use Spyware Terminator along with AdAware, it has real-time protection with HIPS technology, which will prevent installation of malware onto your computer.
http://www.spywareterminator.com/
2007-01-22 02:52:21 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes. I used to have the same problem... Then I switched to Firefox. In the tools, options portion there is a cookie tab which you can choose to Keep Cookies until I close Firefox. This means when I close Firefox, the cookies are automatically deleted.
Plus none of the ActiveX in IE.
Also, use a firewall... Zone Alam is good.
2007-01-22 03:35:10 · answer #5 · answered by Eskimo 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I use it as well, but I find that Ad-Aware likes to overly dramatize it's discoveries of often relatively harmless cookies.
A lot of us get those same identical "critical components".....
... I for one don't lose much sleep over them . They are pretty widespread on the web & often hard to avoid.
The best practice is to just keep doing what you're doing.
regards,
Philip T
2007-01-22 02:55:26 · answer #6 · answered by Philip T 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Thats par for the course, no way to stop it; thats why you scan for Spyware and Data Miners.
2007-01-22 02:52:30 · answer #7 · answered by Mictlan_KISS 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes it's normal but I question Adaware's definition of "critical"
- you seem to be using a sensible browsing policy which is the first line of defence/defense in web security
Add spywareblaster (free) if you don't have it - works well with Adaware
http://tinyurl.com/3bagmz
2007-01-22 02:53:34 · answer #8 · answered by zoomjet 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ad-aware, Ewido are free spyware removers.
You can download free softwares at http://fixit.in/spywareremover.html
2007-01-23 10:46:21 · answer #9 · answered by leas 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes keep scanning, most are probably tracking cookies i get the same, but i have gotten less since i started using spyware terminator, which is free realtime monitoring i recommend it with automatic updates www.spywareterminator.com
2007-01-22 02:50:56 · answer #10 · answered by mocho22 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋