Replies

Tony,
Thanks for links. Have been waiting to see if anyone else had any ideas, but it looks like I’m on my own. I’ll report back here if I manage to resolve the issues on my own (not very likely I’m afraid). Cheers!
Keith

And the second (scrolled) screen shot.

Additional bit of information. Checked the System Internals option on Spybot S&D and found following info re registry entries – not sure if there’s a connection? (first of two screen shots – second shot in next message).
Keith

John, R2 and Ian,
Thanks for inputs – The mist has cleared. Firstly, I didn’t have Tea Timer set, and I was just loading the whole Spybot programme at start-up (SpybotSD.exe). I’ve set Tea Timer and taken Spybot out of my start-up function. Now when I start up Tea Timer kicks in without the whole Spybot programme loading. Hopefully, as I’ve kept the automatic Spybot scan scheduled that will kick in at the appropriate time. I’d already set Immunize so, as R2 says, I’ve been “vaccinated”.
I’ll now go away and browse, slow time, through the many ‘settings’ options and also have a look at Javacool’s Spyware Blaster.
All your inputs have been much appreciated – and all extremely useful.
Many thanks.
Keith

John, R2 and Ian,
Thanks for inputs – The mist has cleared. Firstly, I didn’t have Tea Timer set, and I was just loading the whole Spybot programme at start-up (SpybotSD.exe). I’ve set Tea Timer and taken Spybot out of my start-up function. Now when I start up Tea Timer kicks in without the whole Spybot programme loading. Hopefully, as I’ve kept the automatic Spybot scan scheduled that will kick in at the appropriate time. I’d already set Immunize so, as R2 says, I’ve been “vaccinated”.
I’ll now go away and browse, slow time, through the many ‘settings’ options and also have a look at Javacool’s Spyware Blaster.
All your inputs have been much appreciated – and all extremely useful.
Many thanks.
Keith

Lyra J,
Thank you! You are quite correct, there is a hidden partition on my hard drive which contains back-up data, and there’s also a facility within to create a set of Master back-up CDs (approx 10!) which will restore to ‘original factory settings’ (but nothing else). – Found it under a sub-heading on my start up menu; It’s called Smart Restore (what else!). Once the CDs are burned, back-up data on the hard drive is erased and a new partition created (D:) with 2Gb of free space.
Many thanks for pointing me in the right direction.
Keith

Lyra J,
Thank you! You are quite correct, there is a hidden partition on my hard drive which contains back-up data, and there’s also a facility within to create a set of Master back-up CDs (approx 10!) which will restore to ‘original factory settings’ (but nothing else). – Found it under a sub-heading on my start up menu; It’s called Smart Restore (what else!). Once the CDs are burned, back-up data on the hard drive is erased and a new partition created (D:) with 2Gb of free space.
Many thanks for pointing me in the right direction.
Keith

Joe,
Thanks for advice. Acronis True Image seems to offer everything I’m looking for and doesn’t appear to be too complicated – and, importantly, is available in UK as an ‘off the shelf’ item (I only have a 56k dial-up modem, so it’s easier if I purchase software as a package rather than try downloading). I think I’ll also have to bite the bullet and get myself of an external hard drive – seems a sensible thing to do. Interestingly, following response from Lyra J, I’ve delved around and found that I do have capability to create basic Master backup CDs (approx 10 of them!) which will provide me with ability to recover to an ‘original factory settings’ condition – but nothing else. Apparently, PB puts its back-up software on a hidden partition on the hard drive ( thanks Lyra J!) which, when freed up, provides an additional 2Gb of free space under a newly created D:
Keith

Joe,
Thanks for advice. Acronis True Image seems to offer everything I’m looking for and doesn’t appear to be too complicated – and, importantly, is available in UK as an ‘off the shelf’ item (I only have a 56k dial-up modem, so it’s easier if I purchase software as a package rather than try downloading). I think I’ll also have to bite the bullet and get myself of an external hard drive – seems a sensible thing to do. Interestingly, following response from Lyra J, I’ve delved around and found that I do have capability to create basic Master backup CDs (approx 10 of them!) which will provide me with ability to recover to an ‘original factory settings’ condition – but nothing else. Apparently, PB puts its back-up software on a hidden partition on the hard drive ( thanks Lyra J!) which, when freed up, provides an additional 2Gb of free space under a newly created D:
Keith

Bill. Thank you for the clear explanation and the links – I’ve checked them all out and now fully understand what it’s all about. I’ve included ‘net-integration’ into my favorites!
Cheers! Keith

Bill. Thank you for the clear explanation and the links – I’ve checked them all out and now fully understand what it’s all about. I’ve included ‘net-integration’ into my favorites!
Cheers! Keith

Gents; Thanks all for all the inputs. I’ve now d/l Spybot S & D 1.3 to use in conjunction with Ad-Aware. However, having run Spybot it has found 5 Data Source Object Exploit items (which Ad-Aware has never found) – unfortunately, I’m not that sure what to do about them as the 5 seem to be microsoft’s?? I’ve attached a print of what Spybot says. The product descriptions (not shown) says that they’re Microsoft, the product is IE and they are all ‘security hole threats. The description log says ‘there’s a security hole in IE allowing websites to execute code without asking you first. you can find more info at ‘security.greymagic.com’ – I’ve checked that out and bottom line seems to be that it will require a Microsoft patch to rectify situation?? I get the impression from the website that this is a well aired/known about problem?
Thing is – what should I do about these 5 DSO items? Should I ‘kill’ them or leave them alone? As they appear to be Registry changes (something about which I know little, if not nothing!) I don’t want to do anything that might screw up my system. Help appreciated please. Perhaps I should add that I have IE version 6.
Keith

Gents; Thanks all for all the inputs. I’ve now d/l Spybot S & D 1.3 to use in conjunction with Ad-Aware. However, having run Spybot it has found 5 Data Source Object Exploit items (which Ad-Aware has never found) – unfortunately, I’m not that sure what to do about them as the 5 seem to be microsoft’s?? I’ve attached a print of what Spybot says. The product descriptions (not shown) says that they’re Microsoft, the product is IE and they are all ‘security hole threats. The description log says ‘there’s a security hole in IE allowing websites to execute code without asking you first. you can find more info at ‘security.greymagic.com’ – I’ve checked that out and bottom line seems to be that it will require a Microsoft patch to rectify situation?? I get the impression from the website that this is a well aired/known about problem?
Thing is – what should I do about these 5 DSO items? Should I ‘kill’ them or leave them alone? As they appear to be Registry changes (something about which I know little, if not nothing!) I don’t want to do anything that might screw up my system. Help appreciated please. Perhaps I should add that I have IE version 6.
Keith

Got the d/l from lavasoft.nu so should be okay. Thanks for input Joe.
Keith

Got the d/l from lavasoft.nu so should be okay. Thanks for input Joe.
Keith