Microsoft through IE installs Alexa spyware on your system right from the get go. Thats usually the first file that Spy Sweeper removes.

"Microsoft through IE installs Alexa spyware on your system right from the get go. Thats usually the first file that Spy Sweeper removes."Now the thread's getting out of hand... Microsoft does not install the Alexa spyware--otherwise I would have 1500 infected workstations that prove otherwise. Going back to Jeroen's comments, Alexa is one piece of spyware that gets installed via the "lack of common sense" method--by clicking a prompt and/or through P2P packages. -JohnBTW, here is a link which explains where this bit of misinformation comes from:http://www.felgall.com/brsie9.htm

At work I wanted to get a copy of a wireless phone manual for a panasonic phone.. so being the knowitall that I am I typed inwwsdotpanasonicusadotcom and was immediately blasted with sypware.... gues what not panasonic's usa web site.So you don't have to try to get infected, it can and does just happen.I hear some sites are getting very dirty almost to the point of having to reinstall to clean your PC.

Well, having written the above post, I thought ,"what the hell.....givwe it a try!!"Downloaded Firefox and am using it right now... it's nice!! Very nice!!Looks like IE6 on screen...everything seems to fit properly and tet is wel resolved, and best of al, it transfers all you IE settings automatically; cookies, login passwords, favourites, etc, the lot, and NO spyware so far after several hours of being online!!How is the Thunderbird email? Any good? If it integrates and operates as smoothly and slickly as Firefox, then it could be a blessing 'cause my email is bombarded with spam, and I have to use Mailwasher to vet all incoming messagesCheers....!!

I just found one of those self-protecting things on my daughter's machine tonight. There were multiple exe's running, and as each was terminated another was spawned. Likewise, they re-created their Registry entries as soon as I flushed them out. When I find these things, I re-boot in Safe Mode with a DOS Command Prompt and manually delete the offending files. They sometimes put these in as Hidden or System files, so you might need the "attrib" command to find and alter the file visibility and permissions before you're able to delete them. Then, I use Hijack This, but this time it's permanent because the exe's are gone.

I'll keep pushing this little "secret" since this seems like a good place- Use MS Virtual PC to do all your surfing. If you work for a company that has an MSDN subscription, you can download it. It's 24 megs. Then you just need a Windows 98 image to load on it. Screw the spyware- even if you get it, close the window and start it again- spyware gone. It takes 15 seconds to close and reload it. You could even install spysweeper, adaware, BHO daemon and anything else you want to help, and you don't have to have them on your PC. Yes, it's 150 bucks US if you buy it, but it is the best way to keep your PC safe, and you don't have to have all these programs installed on your host PC. Plus, since the whole disk virtual harddisk is saved in a .vhd file, you can copy the image to another machine with Virtual PC installed, and run it there too. This program is the best thing to come out of Redmond (although they didn't make it) in a long time.

I use PestPatrol and keep my mind at ease!http://store.ca.com/dr/sat3/ec_MAIN.Entry1...CACHE_ID=179788Stelios

Now that you have Firefox, let me introduce you to two things.1) tabbed Browsing. While you may enjoy multiple windows open when you used IE, with Firefox, you get Tabbed Browsing.Hit CTRL T to open a new tab, and walla, no more multiple windows only multiple tabs.2) Extensions. Tools, extensions, Then choose Get More extensions. look for Tabbed Browser preferences 0.6.5, or whatever version it is up to.The great thing about Firefox is your abaility to customize it with different things. makes browsing the web more effficient than using IE, and a bit more fun too, IMHO.Same goes for Thunderbird, it learns what is spam, and you can run filters, junk mail controls, etc... And extensions for it as well. Thunderbird is an excellant tool, and because it is not Outlook, it is less exposed to viruses, IMHO.And before the MS Minions come in. If, and I mean If, Mozilla's products get attacked as often as MS's products are right now, I will switch from it. I am loyal to whatever product keeps me clean at the moment.Welcome to a more enjoyable web experience.Regards,Joe

Going back to>Jeroen's comments, Alexa is one piece of spyware that gets>installed via the "lack of common sense" method--by clicking a>prompt and/or through P2P packages. Well,I guess if installing Win XP is a "lack of common sense" then so be it,because thats how Alexa gets on your system.Spin it any way you want but its put on your system during the install routine of Windows XP.I love that link which tells users that its no big deal but...here's how to edit the Registry to get it off your system--LOL. Bottom line here:Alexa Tool bar IS installed,placed,inserted (call it what you want) on your system and into the Registry without ever clicking on IE6 and getting on the Web.Don't believe me? Do a clean install of XP and then run a Spy Ware program before you get on the web and see what pops up first.If Alexa is not active until you dig through the menus and click on it doesn't change the fact as to what it does. Much like the Google toolbar can also be used for site tracking info they wisely give USERS the opportunity to opt out from being tracked and info sent back to Google. Does Alexa do this? Not from what I've seen. Alexa is site tracking spyware which sends info to make a data base for web traffic on sites. Whether users construes that as malicious or not is up to the USER,not Microsoft. MS could have taken the high road and asked if the user agreed to this being installed,explained what it was for and an opportunity to opt out but they don't.Is it a threat? Webroot's Spysweeper thinks it is or it wouldn't search it out and remove it when it does a sweep. I'll send an E-Mail to Webroot later today,I'd like to see their take on this,I'll post a response if I get one.If you want to leave it on all 1500 of your systems then go ahead,thats your choice but.. and as a paying customer For Windows XP it should have been your choice and mine as to whether or not it was ever installed on your system in the first place.