Tutorial Guide Using Ad-Aware SE to Remove Spyware & Hijackers From Your Computer

Using Ad-Aware SE to Remove Spyware & Hijackers From Your Computer Part II

2. Next click on the Advanced button on the left hand side:

1. Make sure the following items under the Logfile Detail Level category have a green check in them. If they do not, click once on the circle next to them to put a checkmark in it.

-  Include additional object information
-  Include negligible objects information
-  Include environment information
-  Include Alternate data stream details in log file

3. Next click on the Tweak button on the left hand side.

3.1. Then click on the + (plus) sign next to the Log Files section. This will expand the section. Make sure the following items under the Logfile Detail Level category have a green check in them. If they do not, click once on the circle next to them to put a checkmark in it.

a. Include basic Ad-Aware settings in logfile
b. Include additional Ad-Aware settings in logfile

3. 2. Then click on the + (plus) sign next to the Scanning Engine section. This will expand the section. Make sure the following items under the Logfile Detail Level category have a green check in them. If they do not, click once on the circle next to them to put a checkmark in it.

a. Unload recognized processes & modules during scan
b. Scan registry for all users instead of current user only

3.3. Then click on the + (plus) sign next to the Cleaning Engine section. This will expand the section. Make sure the following items under the Logfile Detail Level category have a green check in them. If they do not, click once on the circle next to them to put a checkmark in it.

a. Always try to unload modules before deletion
b. During removal, unload Explorer and IE if necessary
c. Let Windows remove files in use at next reboot
d. Delete quarantined objects after restoring

Once these settings have been completed, you should click on the Proceed button. This will bring you to the
preparation screen as show in Figure below.

Make sure you change the scan mode, designated by the red box in the figure above, to Perform full system scan. Then uncheck the Search for negligible risk entries.

Step 5: Start the Actual Scan

Now click on the Next button to have Ad-Aware SE start scanning your system. Ad-Aware SE will start scanning your system for Spyware and Hijackers. This could take a while, so you may want to do something else and come back and check on it occasionally.


Ad-Aware SE will scan various portions of your computer's configuration, file system, and memory for traces of known malware. As it finds infections, it will update the status of the scan with the amount of items it has found and what it is currently scanning. When it is finished scanning you will be presented with a screen similar to Figure below.


This computer has relatively few infections as you can by the fact that it found only 4 items. If you want to copy the contents of the scan log, you can click on the Show Logfile button, designated by the blue box in the figure above, to open the log file and copy and paste it into another program. To finish the clean up you should now click on the Next button designated. You will then be presented with a screen that shows all the objects found that are flagged as Spyware or Hijackers.

At this point you should either right click on the screen and and choose the Select All Objects option or individually put a checkmark in each objects checkbox, designated by the area surrounded , that you would like quarantined. When all the objects that you would like quarantined are checked, you should click on the Next button. Ad-Aware SE will now present you with a confirmation box as to whether or not you would like to remove the objects you have just selected. If you would like to do so, press the OK button, otherwise press the Cancel button to go back to the selection screen. If you press the OK button, Ad-Aware SE will move all the selected items into the quarantine. When it is done putting all the checked items into quarantine, you will be presented with the Startup/Status Screen.

 Step 5: Cleaning up the QuarantineWith the moving of the select objects to the quarantine now completed you will be presented with a screen. As was said before, when you fix items with Ad-Aware SE it does not automatically delete them, but adds them to a quarantine file that takes up hard drive space. Therefore it is not a bad idea to get rid of them. Before you do so, though, it is good to use your computer for some time to make sure any of the items you have quarantined did not break functionality of any programs that you need to use. If you find that it has caused no problems, then you should continue.

As you can see you now have all of the items you checked off in your quarantine. To access this quarantine you should click on the link that says "Open Quarantine List". This will present you with an image.

At this point you should select the quarantine file that you would like to delete and press the delete key. The
quarantine file is now deleted off your hard drive. When you are done deleting your quarantine files, you can exit the program.

Conclusion
Now that you know how to use Ad-Aware SE you now have another tool at your disposal to combat the growing threat of Spyware and Hijackers.