Questions about Ad-aware
 

Okay, so I read pdiggitydogg's post about computer problems and a few people suggested using Ad-aware. So I downloaded it and ran it, figuring it couldn't hurt. It turned up 26 files ranging from Windows regkeys to my one of my entire file sharing programs. Will any problems arise from deleting all this stuff? I don't want to screw up my comp trying to delete a few ad thingys.

Yes, you should not delete all of them..

A couple of years ago, when I did it for the 1st time, I deleted everything.. Many WINDOWS components started to screw up..

Search for info on each of the files, and if its nothing important, then kill it.

Oh and there's one that is listed as being safe to delete, but it'll screw up Win media player 9.x.. Its a microsoft something.. Sorry cant remember the exact name of the file/reg key.

Ive never had a problem with deleting everything. Maybe Ive been lucky. :o

Okay, glad I didn't delete anything then. I'll look through the files later and figure out which ones should go and which ones need to stay. Thanks for the info.

it'll mess up some of the file sharing progs cuz they have ad-ware built in and require it to run....like kazaa (not kazaa lite tho)

If the file sharing program you use has adware in it, deleting the entries will most likely render the program unusable. Other than that, I delete all entries, but I don't use WMP9 or filesharing programs.

i delete every thing every time...no problems as of yet...as of YET...bet ya I'll have to reformat soon :paranoid:

95% of it is safely deletable. I'd avoid deleting MS entries..

I remove it all, it messes up my file sharring apps but I don't care about that, just reinstall them and I'm good to go. Those file sharing apps suck a$$ when it comes to tracking programs and ads.

BTW as an FYI to all: The files and apps that Adaware fines are called "Spy Ware".

For future ref, apps like Kazaa install "Spy Ware" apps and that's why Kazaa doesn't work after you run Adaware.

Adaware = Makeing you "aware" of the "ad"s being run on your system.. Ad+aware.

http://www.tom-cat.com/adware.html

In the steps to clean my comp, I first manually delete and move files where I want them, put them in the right folder and what not. Then I run ad-aware, and most of the files that show up are tracking files, I delete those, then i run ashampoo winoptimizer suite, which gets rid of LOTS of files. Recently i've been having a lot of problems with mainly my internet browser. I would get a bunch of script error pop ups and the internet was just slow. In winoptimizer i was able to restore the windows defaults and my internet is working better now... i still get the occasional script error pop up. Then after I run winoptimizer I defragment my hard drive, uninstall unneccesary programs, then restart my comp. I do this every week :)

Okay, I ran this again today and go 19 files called "tracking cookies". Anyone know what they do and if they're safe to delete?

They basically track your presence on the internet. This can be done by ad companies, etc. Safe to delete.

ditto