[SabrinaD]

I've ran a full scan of Norton, it shows 155 at risk files (no viruses)-adware found. Per the advice of my ex-BIL, I downloaded Ad Aware from lavasoft. Noticed it won't let me do a full scan, but let me do a "smart scan". It showed in the over 78,000 files scanned over 680 different adware files found, even malware. My concern is I don't know if any of the files listed are critical to the performance of my puter if I delete/quarantine them (whatever you want to call it). Especially the malware listed, they are listed under C:\Windows...so don't know if they are safe to remove from my computer w/o doing damage to the computer. The Ad Aware listed the malware under "critical" status & highly recommended to quarantine the files, but since I'm concerned about the files importance, I put them in the ignore file for now until I know for sure they aren't going to hurt to be deleted.

[Advertisements]

Hi and welcome to Geeks to Go. I have been using AdAware for a l o n g time. I can guarantee you that if AdAware identified them as spyware/malicious, you don't want them on your computer. Delete them. If you really are concerned about them maybe becoming important to you, quarantine them. Then if you decide you want that malicious stuff back, remove them from quarantine.

[austin_o]

Hi and welcome to Geeks to Go. I have been using AdAware for a l o n g time. I can guarantee you that if AdAware identified them as spyware/malicious, you don't want them on your computer. Delete them. If you really are concerned about them maybe becoming important to you, quarantine them. Then if you decide you want that malicious stuff back, remove them from quarantine.

[SabrinaD]

Hi Austin,
ty for replying to my post...what about the results that I got from the Norton scan, it listed some Program Files & WINDOWS files along w/ .tmp files...could these be removed safely from my puter, they're not vital for the running performance of my puter? Sorry, just very worried to do something wrong & delete a file that I might need for performance of puter.
Example of some of the file names:
C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\LocalSettings\Temp\~...tmp (files end in .tmp)
C:\Program Files\Common Files\WinTools\WToolsS.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\...dll (files end in .dll)
these are just a few of the type of files listed as being adware.
If I list what adware files show up from Norton & the Ad Aware program, would you or some one be able to tell me if the particular files that I list are vital for the performance of my puter...I guess I'm very worried about doing it w/o being helped. I'd appreciate any help that I can get.

[austin_o]

The best way to keep your system cleaned up, eliminate temp and other junk files is to run Cleanup on a regular basis. It is free. I use it regularly on all of my systems at home, and at work. Get it from the link at the malware removal guide, go to http://www.geekstogo...?showtopic=2852
Don't go poking around, deleting files on your own especially if you don't know what they are. Cleanup has never caused me any problems, nor has AdAware or Spybot. Keep your system clean and free of malware, it will run better!

Edited by austin_o, 02 November 2005 - 07:59 AM.