Hi Peter:
Your biggest problem seems to be getting through the initial scan. Here's a
pretty simple way to handle it. You might want to print this out so that you
will have it handy while you're working.
Start MAS and select File -> Check for Updates (let's make sure you have
current definitions before doing anything)
Now restart your computer in Safe Mode:
Start -> Shut Down -> Restart
When you see the white progress bar that says "Loading Windows," press the
F8 key
You will get a text menu that lists a lot of boot options, but the first one
should be "Safe Mode". Select it and let Windows finish loading (you
shouldn't need network support since you updated your definitions before you
went into Safe Mode). You'll probably see a long list of text lines scroll
down the screen - don't worry about it; that's what is supposed to happen. A
Safe Mode boot takes much longer than booting normally, but eventually you
will get the initial logon screen (at 640x480 resolution). Log on to Windows
with any account that has local administrator privileges (use the
Administrator account, if necessary). You'll be at a 640x480 desktop with
"Safe Mode" in the four corners of the screen and your operating system,
build number and service pack number at the top of the screen. Other than
the low resolution and color depth, the desktop should be what you'd
normally see for the account you are using.
To speed up what we're about to do, let's clean up your hard disk before we
start on anything. Click Start -> Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools ->
Disk Cleanup. You definitely want to clean out Temporary Internet Files and
the Recycle Bin, but if there is anything else in there that will free up
some disk space aside from compressing files, go ahead and select it. The
whole point of the exercise is that MAS doesn't have to scan something if it
isn't there and those Temporary Internet Files folders carry a lot of
useless junk. Repeat the process for any other drives (you can ignore
floppies and CD drives).
Launch MAS again. Click the link on the right side that says "Spyware Scan
Options". Select "Run a Full System Scan". Make sure that all three boxes
are checked. Click the "select" link and make sure that all of your hard
drives are selected. Click OK. Click "Run Scan Now" and let it do its thing.
Get rid of anything that it detects, restart the system into Safe Mode again
and run another scan. Keep doing that until MAS says that it finds nothing
on your system. Once that happens, shut down completely. Then power up again
and let Windows boot normally.
As for the popup message, read it. The message says, basically, "something
wants to change your browser settings from xxxx to yyyy." If this is
something that you want to happen, click "Allow", otherwise click "Block".
For some things, checking the "remember this" box won't help you very much
and you'll get the same pop-up over and over again, but those usually come
up when you log on instead of later (hopefully this will be fixed in the
final version).
There is a Broswer Setting Restore tool that should come up shortly after
installing. Check through the URLs for your current settings and default
settings. Make sure that they are what you want them to be. For the most
part, you should be concerned with the settings for your current home/start
page, current search page, default home/start page, and default search page
as almost everything else points to files on your local drive (which is
normal).
The default setting for IE 6's homepage is
http://www.microsoft.com/isapi/redir.dll?prd=ie&pver=6&ar=msnhome (which is
a simple redirect to msn.com)
The rest of the *default* settings should point back to someplace within one
or more of Microsoft's websites. (Yo, devs! The ability to copy/paste these
settings from the Restore Browser Settings window would be really nice -
hint, hint) Your current settings may be different. Just check them to make
sure that they are what you want them to be.
Mark
