-=PCTechTalk=- Re: can someone try this??
- From: g.imrie@xxxxxxxxxx
- To: "Lyn Scott" <conrod@xxxxxxxxxxx>, pctechtalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, g.imrie@xxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 18 Oct 2005 00:54:31 +0100
Lyn
After your email this afternoon, you piqued my interest--BIG
time. I've spent the last few hours trying to get an answer on this,
and it's turning into a nightmare. The more I find out, the less I
like what I'm finding!!
OK. Here's the sum total of what I've found out and been able to
deduce from those findings thus far:-
1. As you suspected, every time you visit a site, a key
gets added to the registry. The main reason for this is that
the site coders are working on the assumption that you'll
either take out a subscription to the site, or bookmark it
for a revisit (for whatever reason). One rider I have
figgered out MUST be taking place is that site affiliates of
the original site are also adding registry keys (hence the
reason you're finding keys to sites you've never heard of).
There's no other way to explain what's going on. I'd have
serious words with your Internet Service Provider about
their security settings.
2. I'm running a dual boot system here, with Win98SE
being connected to the web and Win2K not. Would you
believe I found MORE of these keys in the Win2K side than
I did in the Win98SE side. Go figure!!!
3. On the above basis, it SHOULD be OK to delete 98% of
these, but I'd advise extreme caution here. Deleting keys
willy-nilly from the registry is NEVER a good idea--all sorts
of ramifications could result. I'd strongly advise backing
up your bookmarks for a start, and then using them to
reinstate sites you ARE intersted in. Also, be aware this
could impact on software you're currently running. If (for
instance) you're running ad-supported shareware on your
system and you delete the keys those ads require......
4. There are registry tools aplenty out on the Web which
should be able to help you with this, from Hijack This
(designed for a totally different job, but useful here in that
you'll get access to keys which the "normal" tools might
hide from you), to heavyweight beasts like Registry
Medic. Most of these are (surprise surprise) commercial,
but you should be able to get trial versions to at least let
you see what's going on.
As you can gather from the above, this is an area fraught with
pitfalls. You may be able to find a commercial outfit locally
willing to undertake this service for you, but bear in mind that
their normal way of dealing with things like this is simply to
delete the lot. It's up to you whether this would be a viable out
(though I somehow doubt it).
I'd advise reading up on everything you can lay hands on on
the Registry (even if it's only help files of the various utilities out
there). It's surprising just how much valuable information is
hidden in those files.
Good luck with this one--and many thanks for pointing it up. It's
something I'll certainly be keeping a much closer eye on from
here on out.
Hope This Helps
Geo.
Geo. Imrie MCSA ACI
Computer Scanned and Virus Database Updated Daily with Panda
Titanium AVG
--
<Please delete this line and everything below.>
To unsub or change your email settings:
//www.freelists.org/webpage/pctechtalk
To access our Archives:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PCTechTalk/messages/
//www.freelists.org/archives/pctechtalk/
Other related posts:
