A couple of Spybot S&D questions

OK, I'll usually be one of the first here to chime in with "no such thing as a stupid question unless you don't ask it". But I'm thoroughly humbled at the moment.

I just put Spybot S&D back in for the first time in months (no such thing as too much protection, right?), and I'm rapidly re-discovering how unfamiliar I am with it. So these two questions came up immediately, and I'm sure there'll be more later, neither of which seems to be covered it its Help.

1) Is there any way to switch between Simple and Advanced modes from within the program? I know there's a choice in Settings for which mode its shortcut starts it in, but of course I can't get at Settings if I'm in simple mode.

2) Does it need to be running for download protection -- i.e., does it use resident protection? Or is it similar to SpywareBlaster, setting safeguards in the registry and needing started up only for updates or setting changes?

Thanks and best,
Mike

(Edit - oops) With regard to second question, obviously it's also gotta be running if you want to scan. I'm in Cana-duhhhhh, remember?

 

Once spybot is running you have to use that mode. Shut down and restart to switch modes.
Spybot does not have to be running for the immunize feature to be effective. It blocks installs of malware via registry settings. Spywareblaster does the same thing but with more control over what to block or allow. Running both doesn't hurt but if you allow something with Spywareblaster and have immunize enabled then Spybot may still be blocking it but then why would you want to allow malware to run anyhow.
I recommend you enable the "bad download blocker" feature also, it is another useful layer of protection. It sets a BHO in IE that monitors downloads and blocks known bad files from getting on your hard drive.

 

Thanks, rand (and of course for the info re how it protects, too).

Unfortunately I found it had somehow gotten set up to restart in simple mode, which seemed like a no-escape situation. But I finally discovered that deleting all parameters from the command-line in its shortcut seemed to do the trick -- and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it remembers the new settings, like it's supposed to.

Definitely not a user-friendly utility -- I can see it probably won't be long before I ditch it again and go back to the Ad-Aware/SGuard/SBlaster combination.

Thanks again, and best,
Mike

 

Hi Mike

START>PROGRAMS>SPYBOT S&D>SPYBOTS&D(advanced mode)



snowbound

 

Thanks, snowbound. I generally stay out of the Start Menu except to run a downloaded installer or to shut down, so didn't think to look there. So of course I didn't know there's menu entries for both modes.

And from the Properties of each, it looks like I stumbled onto a workable (ahem, "correct" ) solution anyway -- with no parameters, it starts in advanced mode.

Thanks again, and best,
Mike

 

Hey Mike, mind if I ride on your question? You'll notice when you are on the main screen, in the advanced button panel mode one of the three choices is immunized and the previous posters commented on them.

My question is this, if you click on tools, you will see something listed as "resident" which you can have either installed or not. (I think uninstalled is the default). Is this apart from the immuninzation protectections? Is this a good thing?

- HandsOff

 

Hi HandsOff, you'll probably get "real" answers soon enough, but in the meantime ...

I didn't really play with that one, just looked at it quickly in the process of exploring the menus once I had advanced mode back.

But it looks to be a direct equivalent of the "custom blocking" part of SpywareBlaster. The instructions are rather vague (I didn't check in Help), but I imagine you just enter the ID's of specfic things that aren't already blocked, same as you do in SB.

 

Immunization works through the registry and does not need to have anything running, it simply puts the CLSIDS in the registry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\ActiveX Compatibility\{CLSID} and sets the flag to 0x00000400 which basically says that activex control is not compatible with IE and it is not allowed to run.
The "resident" is a BHO (Browser Helper Object) and is a second line of defense that blocks known malware apps from being installed by means other than Active X. It runs whenever IE runs.

It is recommended that you enable both.

LOL, is that enough information for you ?

 

It is good information to know, Rand, thanks. I had been meaning to ask how the "kill bits" in spywareblaster work, and perhaps it the same?

Kudo's to Wilder's for even bringing Spywareblaster to my attention!

I noticed that in Spybots S&D in the IE immunization screen that it actually says "You have Spywareblaster installed. Updating it will give you much more protection..." (...then spybots alone i think he means).

anyway thats what makes me still not quite know...is the resident a different sort of protection than the active x blocking in spywareblaster or the ie immunization in spybots.

Don't feel bad...I may never understand...i may never have to. I plan on donating to both programs...only not now, i am running late!!

- HandsOff