click to expand picture

Quote from the website
Windows Communicator - universal chat client,based on ICQ and IRC functionality and solutions. Application can work on Local Area Networks as well as over the Internet.

Basic application functions:

• sending public messages
• private chat
• private message
• secure channels
• remote screenshot
• remote execution
• list running application
• remote shutdown/reboot/logoff/wake up
• others

Note : Each of listed above spy functions may be blocked by users.
Windows Communicator home page
 http://www.lockergnome.com/clifnotes/2006/12/11/are-registry-cleaners-safe-to-use/ A subscriber to my newsletter recently asked a good question …

The debate on whether or not you should use a registry cleaner has never been clearly won. I once got involved with a discussion of this at the DonationCoder forum. I think Carol’s response in that forum thread was a good warning. However, most folks never have a problem.

The best way to avoid registry problems is to make use of as many stand-alone or portable apps as you can. These types of programs generally don’t use the registry or other external files.

More free registry cleaners:
Click on the pictures to go to the website.

EasyCleaner
Quote from the website
EasyCleaner is a small program which searches the Windows registry for entries that are pointing nowhere. EasyCleaner also lets you delete all kinds of unnecessary files such as temps and backups. You can search for duplicate files and you can view some interesting info about your disk space usage! You are also able to manage startup programs, invalid shortcuts and add/remove software list. ToniArts may not be held accountable in any way if EasyCleaner affects your computer in a negative way.

RegSeeker
Quote from the website
RegSeeker is a perfect companion for your Windows registry !
RegSeeker includes a powerful registry cleaner and can display various informations like your startup entries, several histories (even index.dat files), installed applications and much more ! With RegSeeker you can search for any item inside your registry, export/delete the results, open them in the registry. RegSeeker also includes a tweaks panel to optimize your OS ! Now RegSeeker includes a file tool to search for duplicate files, bad shortcuts and more !

CCleaner
Quote from the website
CCleaner is a freeware system optimization and privacy tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. But the best part is that it’s fast (normally taking less than a second to run) and contains NO Spyware or Adware! :)

Eusing Free Registry Cleaner
Quote from the website
Eusing Free Registry Cleaner will scan your Windows registry for invalid or obsolete information and provide a list of the errors found. After fixing the invalid entries, your system will be more stable and run faster. For maximum safety, Eusing Free Registry Cleaner will make a backup of the repaired entries. You will be able to restore any changes made using the software by choosing Restore registry backup. Eusing Software products are free of spyware and adware.

jv16 Powertools (last freeware version)
Quote from the website
jv16 PowerTools is a full set of tools to keep your computer up and running. Until now your computer might have been the one who was in charge, but with jv16 PowerTools you can take control. The program contains all the tools you need for cleaning, controlling and tuning up your computer. Including a registry cleaner, duplicate file finder, temp file finder and much much more! Installation note: Do NOT run the program before you have copied it to its final destination. If you move the program after you have used it even once it starts asking for a password and you must re-install the program before you can use it again.

TweakNow RegCleaner Standard
Quote from the website

• Fast: using a high performance engine, TweakNow RegCleaner quickly scan your registry to find obsolete entries.
• Accurate: using complex algorithm TweakNow RegCleaner accurately identify obsolete entries.
• Secure: TweakNow RegCleaner automatically create backup file before deleting obsolete entries from your registry.
• Flexible License: TweakNow RegCleaner available in two licenses, commercial and non commercial (free).

Do you have any more suggestions?

In my last blog article here, I wrote a little about the “sponsored” links at Download.com and how Download.com is actually making money by sending folks off to these sponsored websites that are full of either adware, malware, or spam farms. It really isn’t safe to click on the ads there unless you know what you are getting into.

Why am I a hypocrite? This blog has ad links from Google on its pages and they aren’t any more trustworthy than the ads I was ranting about at Download.com.

Actually, I don’t make a dime from these ads. I was offered the chance to become a “partner” in these ads with Lockergnome, but I’ve decided I don’t want the money unless they can clean up the ads.

There you have it … don’t click on the ads at Lockergnome unless you have some type of protection or foreknowledge. I use McAfee’s free version of SiteAdvisor while I surf. SiteAdvisor gives me a warning when I’m at a bad website and after clicking through some of the ads here, I found they are not all what they say they are.

Here (screenshot below) are some examples. The last one there is nothing but a spam farm to harvest email addresses.

I’d write to Chris Pirillo about this, but I’m curious if he’ll find it on his own.

Best wishes to you all, and remember, don’t click the “Ads by Google”.

Steven sent me a link to a thread at SpywareWarrior’s forums where he had posted his analysis of Kiwi Alpha. It looked bad, but naturally I had to try it for myself.

I created a clean Win98 virtual machine using Microsoft’s free Virtual PC program. Then I googled for the page at Download.com. I found Kiwi Alpha and installed it in the virtual machine so that I could safely test it without infecting my PC.

Over the next few days, I scanned the program with four different anti-spyware tools and really didn’t find much of anything. I wondered where Steven had gotten his copy of Kiwi Alpha because I noticed that the MD5 checksum was different from the one I had. It looked like we had scanned different files. Steven later confirmed that someone had replaced the infected Kiwi Alpha with a clean version. This apparently happened sometime between November 20th and November 23rd. Isn’t that interesting?

In this case, Download.com is redirecting you to the KiwiAlpha website to download the file. This means that Download.com cannot truthfully guarantee the safety of anything you download from some of their pages. This is common at Download.com, so be aware of it when you go there.

I checked Google’s cached copy of the Kiwi Alpha page at Download.com which was dated November 19th. At the time of this “snapshot”, 800,000 people had downloaded copies of Kiwi Alpha. How many of these downloads had the WhenU/SaveNow and Relevant Knowledge adware in them? What does this tell you about Download.com’s concern about the consumer who comes to their website?

Conclusion: Download.com claims to be “Safe, Trusted, & Spyware Free”. How can they possibly say that? Three strikes and you’re out. You can’t keep us safe, I don’t trust you, and you can’t keep your third party downloads spyware free.

In my opinion, this isn’t the worst practice there. They also provide “sponsored links” to websites that offer more downloads full of adware and other malware.

Example: (screen shot)

Make no mistake about it. Adware is big business and big money. Download.com is getting a piece of the action when they sponsor those websites that distribute adware or other malware.

I recommend that you stay away from Download.com. There are places I trust that offer almost everything I look for. You can find some of them here.

If you want details, I have a complete version of this article in my newsletter.

Drop on by sometime …

Autopatcher for Windows 98se to the rescue!

I recently tried it. It took about 50 minutes, and it’s just chock-full of goodies to keep a new Win98 install from becoming immediately infected due to the dozens of security holes they’ve found in Win98 by now.

Naturally, just like a Win98 install, you’ll be rebooting time and time again. But at least the autopatcher does it for you and you can actually go out and watch TV while it’s doing it’s job.

There is one downside. It’s a 182mb download. Oh well, just have a friend on high speed internet burn you a copy to a CD. You’ll be wanting to keep it anyway.

Quote from the website
Due to Microsoft recently officially ending support for Windows 98, it makes sense for me to do one more final update to the Windows 98 seven years later edition project. Now if you didn’t know, half of that project is in effect already an autopatcher for Windows 98. It searches for updates and add-ons you haven’t already got and applies them, and installs recent useful applications to bring Windows 98 into this millenium. And it doesn’t just bulk update, it searches for what you need and gives you the option of installing it. Basically, if you have used any of the versions of the official Autopatcher to patch your Win2000/XP system you’ll get the idea of what this can do.

Download the Autopatcher
http://www.msfn.org/board/?showtopic=80800

SEE ALSO: The Unofficial Windows 98SE Service Pack

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