Alexa

does anyone know what this is?

ad-aware finds this every few days? is this a normal part of IE?
Type: (a mint green box with a "K")
System: Alexa
Details: software\microsoft\internetexplorer\extentions\(c95fe080-8f5d-11d2-a20b-00aa003c157a)

I sound like such a dork! LOL

 

Well, I'm not the expert, but I'll tell you what I do know and someone else will fill in the blanks soon.

Alexa is a part of something that can be spyware with a little something else installed. I think it would then be a trojan of sorts. Mine never showed up after the first delete, except any time I upgraded anything that was MS, they always reinstall. I don't see why Alexa would be reinstalling unless you are constantly updating and/or installing MS products every few days. Anyway I'm pretty sure that's the basic idea about Alexa... Someone else will post more clearly soon I'm sure.

 

NO, I stopped updating MS after the third time I had to write zero's through the hard drive. It works fine the way it is! LOL

 

The Alexa subkey really can't be considered spyware in any real sense of the word.

It comes with Internet Explorer, where it's responsible for the 'related sites' feature on your Internet Explorer Tools menu.

If you have Ad-Aware remove it, the related sites entry disappears, but when you repair or upgrade IE, it's restored again.

It's harmless though, and it's up to you to decide whether to leave it, or to have it removed.

I've told Ad-Aware to ignore it.

Cheers,

 

Kewl!

Thanx for the info!!!

 

Hi Lori,

On a side-note:

Always tell AdAware to back-up before you let it delete something.
That way you can let it repair it in case you find out that you really need the deleted issue.

 

Hi Tony

Alexa may or may not be a spyware : the key which comes with a M$ update
is just about a cookie related to a MSN site and is harmless (but I deleted it nevertheless ) but if you download a "freeware" related with Alexa, you d/l a true spyware

Regards,

 

The only things I've downloaded have come from this forum. So I don't think I've d/l anything from Alexa.

 

Ah, anyway Jack said what I was thinking, I just said it a little wrong! Told ya people who knew better would be along ;-)

 

Here's the Lavasoft line:

"The Alexa key in and of itself is really quite harmless. The original thinking behind its addition to the target list was as a heads up to the user. It was added during the time of the Alexa lawsuit and might (?) become more if the user were to add the alexa tool bar. It will be reinstalled if you repair IE and/or upgrade. If this is a feature that the user wishes to keep, all they have to do is to add the key to their ignore list. If they removed it, restore from backup or use the IE repair tool. Removal of this key does not hamper the functionality of Internet Explorer and is easilly replaced."

 

More info about Alexa here :

http://www.imilly.com/alexa.htm

Cheers,

 

That's awesome!
Thanks a bunch!