On-Demand Scanning of Spyware Infections

Windows Security Tutorials - Herong's Tutorial Examples

∟Spybot - Spyware Blocker, Detection and Removal

∟On-Demand Scanning of Spyware Infections

This section provides a tutorial example on how to scan a Windows system for spyware problems with Spybot - Search and Destroy.

One of the main features of Spybot - Search & Destroy is to scan the Windows system for any spyware infections. Here what I did to try this feature:

1. Run Spybot - Search & Destroy.

2. Click on the "Check for problems" button. Spybot starts scanning the system for any spyware infections.

3. Click to "No" when it prompts for confirmation to remove temporary files. I wanted to keep temporary files for myself to review and remove.

3. Wait for a few minutes or longer until the scan is complete. The scanning report shows up on the screen. I was surprised to see so many tracking cookies on my Windows system. Here are some examples:

AdRevolver: Tracking cookie
Advertising.com: Tracking cookie
Avenue A, Inc.: Tracking cookie
BursMedia: Tracking cookie
CasaMedia: Tracking cookie
CN.wAQdN188: Tracking cookie
CoreMetrics: Tracking cookie
DoubleClick: Tracking cookie
FastClick: Tracking cookie
HitBox: Tracking cookie
MediaPlex: Tracking cookie
MyWay.MySearch: Global settings
Right Media: Tracking cookie
Statcounter: Tracking cookie
TagASaurus: Tracking cookie
Tradedouble: Tracking cookie
Tradedoubler: Tracking cookie
WebTrends live: Tracking cookie
Zedo: Tracking cookie

4. Spybot Spybot - Search & Destroy offers a button "Fix selected problems" to remove those tracking cookies. But don't use it until you have reviewed all reported problems first. See next tutorials for more information.