Run SpyBot in Administrator??

I've been using SpyBot S&D for a couple of years (and have donated to the cause). It's a GREAT program. However, I notice that I can run SpyBot under my user name (in WinXP) and have no problems to be fixed. But if I immediately log on to my son's user name, there WILL be problems to be fixed. My user name does have administrator access, but my son's does not. Isn't there a way I can run SpyBot just once to search my entire pc?

 

Spybot needs administrator privileges on all accounts. Why does your son's account do not have admin privileges?
If you want to search the entire computer, let me tell you that spybot will only scan accounts that have admin privileges, it will ignore accounts that do not have admin privileges.

 

The entire system is being scanned for malware....regardless if the user has Admin privileges or not. However....cookies and temporary internet files are only scanned for the current signed on user.

 

My son does not have Administrator priviledges because I don't want him to be able to make changes to the pc setup. But if giving his user name priviledges makes my spyware (spybot, spyblaster, mru, a2, mcafee, etc) run more thorough, then I will change my son's user setup. Thank you VERY much for your quick response!

 

No!!!!! Dont give your son admin previlages! Set up one for yourself and use it whenever you are scanning.

If you let your son have admin previlages pretty soon your computer will be so messed up you are going to need more than spybot to save you!

 

Thank you all so kindly..... but now I'm back to my original question. I have a user set up for me. But when I run spybot under my user, it doesn't thoroughly check my son's user name (nor my 2nd son's). There must be a simple way to delete cookies, temp files, and run spyware programs for ALL users at once.

 

Baconbits( hmmm, bits of bacon for me to eat! Yummy!), I hope you understand what Bubba means.
Cookies and temporary internet files are only scanned for the current signed on user.

 

Wrong. You must log in to each account in order to clean them all up. You can only clean one account at a time. You must log in to the other account if you want to clean it up.

 

The admin has access to all areas and so surely the admin should find everything.

Jimbob

 

That does not seem quite the case with spybot.

 

Strange . Not sure of the point.

Jimbob

 

I have now run spybod s&d from all 3 user names (all of which have administrator capabilities). Different spyware was detected from within each user name. All were fixed. However, it does appear that you must log into each user, individually, to successfully detect and fix ALL possibile problems (WinXP).

I then ran McAfee and a2 under each user account. All were fine. I'm hoping these programs will detect problems over the ENTIRE hard drive regardless of what user name I have logged into.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, as I am maintaining my own 3 pcs, plus my parents, my neighbors, and a list of friends that is growing. My goal is to get teach THEM how to maintain it themselves!!

 

AdAware SE can scan all user accounts. What I do is set SpyBot to run automated scans in the middle of the night (if the user has DSL then it can auto-update itself), and then run AdAware manually once in a while. The combination of the two is a lot more effective, and if SpyBot is running scheduled scans, the user only has to focus on one app.

If your group of people is anything like mine, good luck!!

 

Well, they've got to handle their computers themselves! Just teach them the basics on how to protect, secure and clean up their computers.
1) Get a firewall, this is COMPULSORY for ALL computers.
2) Anti-trojan software like TDS-3. Read more details at www.diamondcs.com.au
3) Anti-virus software, you can try Norton Antivirus too, there're a lot of antivirus programs available out there, choose the one that suits your needs the most.
4) Anti-spyware software like Spywareblaster and spywareguard from www.javacoolsoftware.com including Spybot-S&D and Ad-aware SE.
5) Windows XP Service Pack 2, go to www.v5.windowsupdate.microsoft.com
and download all critical updates.

These are all the basics I can think of.

 

Thank you, Nadirah, Notok, Jimbob, Bubba, & Ronin!! I've done the following:

1. FIREWALL: I have excellent protection through my dsl provider.
2. ANTI-VIRUS: I run McAfee daily (also have bought Norton for future comparison).
3. SPYBLASTER: I update it daily.
4. SPYWARE GUARD: Is this necessary also??
5. SPYBOT S&D: I update & run every other day.
6. AD-AWARE SE: I've downloaded & run once. I'm still familiarizing myself with it.
7. WinXP: I always keep it updated.
8. ANTI-TROJAN: I will download & run TDS-3 right now.
9. A2: I run it twice a week.

Another "little" question. I've downloaded Mozilla & am using it periodically. Because of its inherent security, do I need to run ALL of the programs listed above (once I'm using Mozilla only)?

 

Its best to run everything and make sure that you are safe & secure.
SpywareGuard is necessary too. Better practise good security.

 

Baconbits,

I hope you did mean Spyware Blaster and NOT Spyblast! (nr. 3)

 

Yes, its SpywareBlaster.

 

Some things will still get through Mozilla/Firefox depending on your surfing habits, and (of course) if you download and install programs frequently. Running an AT with your AV is a good move, keeping the freebie ATs around is also not going to hurt anything. You can schedule scans with A2.

You should conisder hardening your Windows (see my sig), scheduling some scans with the free scanners, and running some behavior blocking software instead of JUST scanners. I actually dropped SpywareGuard for Prevx since it covers a lot of the same ground with a lot of additional protection from other, nastier, things. ProcessGuard, RegRun, Qwik-Fix, are also good additions, and there are a whole host of other great free applications like WinPatrol, MJ RegistryWatcher, System Safety Monitor, etc. that will stop an infection by blocking behaviors rather than trying to identify specific malware files with signatures.

How many programs you run all the time is up to you, just be aware that there are alternatives to just scanners of various types.

Also see the thread What is really sensible in terms of PC security?