Welcome to the SgtGeek.com Tutorials section, where you will find complete, step-by-step guides for the operation and maintenance of your computer, and of various programs listed in our Freeware Section. Discovered and/or written by the Renegades, these walk-throughs will help you utilize your applications, hardware and software to their fullest extent. If you have questions or suggestions about any of these procedures, please visit our Technical Forums, where experienced and qualified professionals will offer you quick assistance.

1. Run updated cleaners.  Some of the best cleaners to be found are free: Ad-Aware SE, CWShredder, Microsoft AntiSpyware, and Spybot - Search & Destroy. Properly updated, these programs will clean your system of virtually any malicious files.

2. Refresh System Restore.  For Windows machines using System Restore, it's always a good idea to flush the restore points after cleaning, to prevent the reappearance of malicious files that may be hidden. To do so, go to Control Panel/System/System Restore, and check "Turn off System Restore on all drives". After replying "Yes" to the warning popup, reboot your machine, which will delete all previous restore points. Once Windows has restarted, return to the System Restore dialog, and turn System Restore back on. Next, manually create a restore point, by steering to Programs/Accessories/System Tools/System Restore. You now have a pristine configuration to fall back on in case of problems.

3. Use prevention programs.  There are many good adware and spyware prevention programs available: a², Bazooka, BHODemon, PhishGuard, and SpywareBlaster are excellent freeware applications. Using any or all of these will help safeguard your computer against adware and spyware.

4. Use security controls.  Turn off your browser's ability to download files and run scripts without your permission, and be certain to prevent the unauthorized transmission of data to and from your system by using a firewall.

5. Practice common sense surfing.  Most adware and spyware must be invited to invade your machine, by users clicking on fake "spyware alerts" through messages and popups, and by ActiveX scripts running from malicious websites. Stay away from the porn and "warez" sites: they are infamous for containing controls which will plant bad files within your computer.

Microsoft considers SP2 for Windows XP an "essential security update" and is distributing it as a "critical update" via Windows Update (WU) and the Automatic Updates (AU) delivery system in Windows XP. It is also available as a 272 MB "Network Install" package by direct download, and it can be ordered from MS on a (free) CD. If you use the WU/AU system, your machine will be scanned, and you will automatically download only the files that particular machine requires. Similary, if you get the CD or download the Network Install file, then when you run the installation program, it will check your machine and install only the changes that particular machine needs. The use of either the downloaded file -- an easy five- to seven-minute download on broadband, but an impossible download for dial-up users -- or the CD is by far the preferred way to go, because if anything goes wrong and you have the Network Install file saved or the CD in hand, you can undo everything and start over again. Microsoft doesn't make it possible for you to save and re-use your files when you get them through the WU/AU system, unless you have some fairly advanced third-party software that intercepts the files for you. (See the links below to order the CD or download the Network Install file.)

Microsoft is strongly urging customers with Windows XP and Windows XP SP1 to upgrade to Windows XP SP2 as soon as possible. But this is a major upgrade, rather like the jump from Windows 98 to Windows XP, and that means that some careful preparation for the upgrade will help to ensure that the upgrade will be successful. Preparation for the upgrade is the same for all XP users, no matter how you obtain the SP2 files. Do as much of this as you can, and consider getting help with anything you are not able to do by yourself.

Run through your desktop icons and your Start menu's Programs section, and check all of your applications (programs) and utilities for needed updates. Most programs offer a "Check for updates" function, or a link to a site that will tell you whether a newer version of your program is available. The list of programs that may stop working after SP2 is installed is long, but most of the entries are out-of-date versions. Updating your programs may fend off annoying program failures. Many software producers have released recent SP2-compatible versions.

Do routine maintenance before the installation. Update and run your anti-virus and your anti-spyware programs, make sure your firewall (if you have one) is the latest version and updated, empty your Temp folder completely, check and edit your cookies collection, empty your browser caches, empty your Recycle Bin, and then run your main drive's Error-Checking and Defragmentation programs. You get to the last two by double-clicking My Computer, right-clicking the name of the drive in the new window that opens, choosing Properties, and when a set of overlapping tabbed panels appears, choosing the panel with the Tools tab. Run the Error-checker first, with the "Automatically fix file system errors" options checked (but NOT the "Scan for ..." option, which can take hours to run, even on a fast machine), and reboot as required. Then go back to this same set of panels, and press the Defragment button. (The Analyze button can't always be depended on to produce a helpful report. Skip the analysis and just press the Defragment button.)

Making sure that your machine is virus- and spyware-free, and that your files are in good order and unfragmented, will help to ensure that the installation of the SP goes as smoothly as possible.

Finally, before you run the installation, close all running programs, including all of the programs that are running with icons in the "notification tray" next to the clock on the taskbar. Make sure you can see all of the icons (turn off the Hide Unused Icons function and click the double arrows to reveal all of them). Right-click each icon. If it has an Exit, Close, Stop, or Disable switch in the pop-up menu, use that switch. (If there is no such switch in the pop-up menu, just go on to the next icon.)

If you have the CD or the Network Install file, by all means disconnect your Internet access completely by unplugging the phone wire or the cable-modem wire from the back of your computer before you start the installation. Then stop your real-time anti-virus protection and disable your firewall.

If you have dial-up access, and you use the WU/AU method of getting SP2, you'll have to wait for the pop-up that tells you that the upgrade is "Ready to Install." That means that the files your machine needs are downloaded completely. Before you hit the OK button to start the installation, close your dial-up connection, then stop your anti-virus program and disable your third-party firewall, if you have one. You have no need for Internet access during the installation, and playing it safe by killing the connection is just good sense. Once you have disconnected, it's safe to kill your anti-virus and your firewall, so that neither of those powerful programs can interfere in any way with the SP2 installation.

MS points out that Windows Update won't work for you after SP2 installation if you don't have three previously optional services running. My suggestion is that you avoid any possibility of minor glitches by making sure that you have these three services enabled, set to automatic, and started before you start the installation. Here's how:

Follow one of the several pathways to the Windows Services list. For example, in the Start menu's Programs, Accessories, Admin (or System) Tools, you may find Services. If not, right-click My Computer and choose Manage, then double-click Services and Applications, and then click the word Services that appears directly beneath Services and Applications, and you'll see the list of Windows services in a panel display. When you've found the list of services, click the two tabs at the bottom to see which display option is better for your monitor setup. Now check these services in the alphabetic listing: Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS), Automatic Updates, and Event Log. For each, double-click the name of the service and examine the displayed panel. In the center of the panel, find Startup type, check the white panel next to it, and make sure Automatic is in that panel. If anything else is there, click the drop-down arrow to the right of the panel and select Automatic. Now look below those controls for the words "Service status." You want "Started" there. If anything else is there, the Start button should be highlighted. Click it. (If "Started" is already there, you're finished with that service. You'll see that the Stop button is highlighted. Don't click it.) Now click the OK button at the bottom of the panel, and go on to the next service until you've checked and adjusted the three. Exit the Windows Services controls by using the X button at the top right of the display.

It is important that you have XP's amazing System Restore system turned ON for the main drive before you start the installation, so that if anything goes wrong, you can (1) uninstall SP2 (using the Add-Remove Programs applet in your Control Panel), and (2) go back to the last Restore Point before the SP installation began. Then (after the required reboot), start at the beginning of these instructions again, and when you've prepared the machine, try the SP2 installation again. You can reach System Restore's control panel through Start, Settings, Control Panel, System, or through the right-click on My Computer, Properties, if that method works for you. Just make sure the checkbox that says Turn off System Restore is NOT checked. If you wish down the road to dispense with System Restore, just go back and check that box and Apply and ignore the warning.

For space conservation reasons, I'd suggest that you use your native Disk Cleanup utility to eliminate all but the latest Restore Point before beginning the installation. Access Disk Cleanup through Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and click the More Options tab and the Clean up ... button under System Restore, near the bottom of the panel.

XP will automatically create a new Restore Point at the beginning of the installation, before any changes are made to your configuration.

It is also important to say Yes if asked (during the installation) whether you want an UNinstallation folder created. If all goes well, you can delete that entire folder in a week or so. (And if all has gone well, you can also turn off System Restore and reboot, and by so doing clear out all of the Restore Points created by the process of updating the OS. But after that reboot, I'd strongly recommend turning System Restore back ON. It can save your soul and your sanity in almost magical ways if disaster strikes some day.)

When the installation finishes, you will have to reboot. Don't even think about opting not to. Do it. Then do it AGAIN, because the first reboot involved a lot of behind-the-scenes reconfiguration, and the second reboot will actually do the resetting and normal restarting of the machine.

After the installation, your main drive (the one from which SP2 installation just deleted 70 or more MB of files and to which it just added 70 or more new MB of files) will be horrendously fragmented. Even if you go back to the Defragmenter panel and run Analyze (and again, I never bother with that; I just click the Defragment button) and it tells you that the drive DOESN'T need defragmenting, you MUST run your defragmenter or your computer will slow noticeably.

After the installation, IF you already have a third-party firewall installed, and IF you've been happy with it, THEN you won't want to use the Windows Firewall that's ON by default in SP2. In fact, it's the new Windows Firewall that's causing almost all of the post-installation blues we're hearing sung on the Internet tech-support sites. If you want to use the new WFW, you must disable and uninstall any other software firewall you have installed. Any hardware firewall you have (in a router, for instance) is okay. Most users choose to disable the new WFW instead, because it does much less for users than any of the ordinary standard firewalls most of us have chosen and used. If you want to use the WFW, open your Start, Settings, Control Panel, Security Center (you never noticed it before because you never HAD it before SP2), look it over, and choose settings for it. One of the pages cited below provides helpful information on settings for the WFW. If you already have a third-party firewall that you want to continue to use, you MUST open the Security Center and turn OFF the WFW.

The new Security Center contains settings for a number of things. One is pop-up warnings about anti-virus protection. Most users already have anti-virus settings that work for them. Turn off the warning settings if you know your anti-virus is working and you have taken a solemn oath to keep it up to date.

After all this, try a range of your installed software, and make sure everything is working. If anything fails to run, check for it in the list on Microsoft's "Programs that may behave differently" page (See the links below). You may have overlooked an update, and a visit to the Web site of the developer may be helpful. Many programs seem to need small tweaks that you may only be able to discover by checking with the developers of those programs.

The SP2 installation should come off without a hitch for you if you just prepare and then follow through.

Here's the URL for ordering the free CD from Microsoft: Link

Here's the URL for downloading the 272 MB Network Install file (for broadband users only): Link

And finally, here are some informative MS sites & Knowledge Base (KB) articles:

What to do after installing Service Pack 2 (SP2): Link

Some programs seem to stop working after you install Windows XP Service Pack 2: Link

Programs that may behave differently in Windows XP Service Pack 2 (A list of 200-plus programs that may, in cited versions, respond badly to the presence of the new Windows Firewall. Updating the programs may cure the problems. Turning off the WF may cure the problems, and I would recommend your doing so IF you have a third-party firewall installed, updated, and operating properly. --DAW): Link

Description of the Windows Firewall feature in Windows XP Service Pack 2: Link

Copyright © August, 2004
Dan A. Wilson
Computing Solutions Unlimited and The Editor's DeskTop

Reprinted by Permission

What is Spyware?

"Spyware" is software that is capable of performing certain operations on your computer without your consent, such as displaying advertisements, collecting your personal information, or changing the configuration of your computer.

Other types of unwanted software can alter your computer with results ranging from minor annoyances to causing your computer to slow down or crash. These programs have the ability to change your Web browser's home page or search page, or add additional components to your browser you may not need or want. These programs also make it very difficult for you to change your settings back to the way you originally had them. These types of unwanted programs are often labeled as spyware.

What is Adware?

"Adware" is software that displays advertisements. This does not mean that any software that provides advertisements or tracks your on-line activities is adware. For example, you may install a free ad-supported version of software, and you "pay" for the service by agreeing to receive targeted advertisements. If you understand the terms and agree to them, you may have decided that it is a fair tradeoff. You may also have agreed to let the company track your online activities to determine which advertisements to show you. To avoid installing adware if you do not wish to "pay" for the service by receiving targeted advertisements, we recommend that you carefully read the software’s Terms of Use and End User License Agreement.

What is Malware?

"Malware", or malicious software, is designed specifically to damage your machine or interrupt the normal computing environment. A trojan horse, worm or virus could be classified as malware. Some advertising software can be malicious by trying to re-install itself after you have removed it.

What is Parasiteware?

"Parasiteware" is the term for any adware that by default overwrites certain affiliate tracking links. These tracking links are used by webmasters to sell products and to help fund websites. The controversy is centered on companies like WhenU, eBates, and Top Moxie, popular makers of adware applications. These companies release their software to assist users in getting credit for rebates, cash back shopping, or contributions to funds. To the end user, parasiteware represents little in the way of a security threat.

What is a Hijacker?

A "hijacker" is an application that attempts to take control of the user's homepage and replace it with one that the hijacker chooses. It is a low security threat, but is annoying. Most hijackers use stealth techniques or trick dialog boxes to perform installation.

Browser hijackers commonly do one or more of the following: changes your "search" page and passes all searches to a pay-per-search site; changes your default home page to the company page (sometimes the software changes them to a portal featuring porn sites); may transmit URLs viewed toward the company server.

What is a Dialer?

A "dialer" is a type of software used by pornographic vendors. Once dialer software is downloaded, the user is disconnected from his/her modem's usual Internet service provider, is connected to another phone number and is then billed. While dialers do not spy on users they are malevolent in nature because they can cause huge financial harm to the victim.

What are Browser Helper Objects and Plug-ins?

"Browser helper objects" and "plug-ins" are software programs that extend the capabilities of your Internet browser in a specific way. Not all browser plug-ins are harmful and some may be helpful. This category contains mostly dubious browser plug-ins such as "Search Assistant", toolbars, etc. that have been known to transmit user data to their creators or have been installed using covert means.

What is a Keylogger?

A "keylogger" is a program designed to monitor user activity. It may be used with or without consent. Since it is sold commercially, most anti-virus vendors do not detect it.

What is a Commercial Network Management Tool?

A "commercial network management tool" is mostly used in (large) corporations. It can log the network traffic passively (sniffing) or examine the logs of proxies, etc. Nothing is installed on the individual computers - the software runs on a central server. It can only log items that pass through the network, but not local items such as the entered passwords, keystrokes or screenshots.

What is a Data Miner?

A "data miner"’s primary function is to gather data about an end user. Some adware applications may employ data mining abilities.

What is a Loyaltyware?

"Loyaltyware" is a sub-form of adware. Loyaltyware is a type of software that works around the concept of user loyalty by providing incentives in the form of cash, points, airline miles, or other types of goods while shopping.

What is a Remote Administration Tool?

A "remote administration tool" is a program designed to be used by network administrators to remotely control a computer on a network, usually for support or inventory purposes. It may be used for spying purposes.

What is a Worm?

A "worm" is a virus-like program that spreads automatically to other computers by distributing itself via email or other means. A worm spreads itself by attacking other machines and copying itself to the affected machine. Both worms and viruses are self-replicating codes that travel from machine to machine by various means. Both worms and viruses have, as their first objective, merely propagation. Both can be destructive, depending on what payload, if any, they have been given. There are some differences in that worms may replace files, but do not insert themselves into files, while viruses insert themselves into files, but do not replace them.

How can I tell that I have Spyware on my computer?

You may have spyware installed on your computer if: you see pop-up advertisements even when you're not on a website; your homepage or your browser search settings have changed without your knowledge; you have a new toolbar in your browser that you didn't want, and find it difficult to get rid of; your computer takes longer than usual to complete certain tasks; you experience a sudden rise in computer crashes.

How does Spyware get on my computer?

There are several ways spyware or other unwanted software can intrude your computer. A common trick is to covertly install the software during the installation of other software you want, such as a music or video file sharing program. Whenever you are installing something on your computer, make sure you carefully read all disclosures, including the license agreement and privacy statement. Sometimes the inclusion of unwanted software in a given software installation is documented, but it may appear at the end of a license agreement or privacy statement.

What is the difference between Spyware and Viruses?

The average Internet user has difficulty distinguishing viruses from spyware. However, there are slight differences: both are malicious software, and both have the capacity to capture and destroy information, ruin performance, and disrupt business processes.

A virus seeks to infect a computer, to replicate, and to infect as many computers as possible, as quickly as possible. For example: an email-delivered virus (a worm) may search your computer's file system for your Outlook address book and send infected email messages to contacts it finds in the address book. A virus relies on email for propagation, but tries many attack vectors such as file sharing, telnet, FTP, IMs, or any services and programs on your computer that communicate with other computers.

Viruses seek to spread, but spyware tries to stay put as a parasite. Spyware disguises itself as a legitimate application or secretly resides as one more data link library (DLL) or registry setting the average user knows nothing about, so that it can collect information about you, your messaging, browsing behavior and your online preferences. Spyware will embed itself deeply into critical components of your operating system and bloat your memory with its monitoring and collection processing executables. So where virus activities are overt and sufficiently extensive in their impact to attract attention quickly, spyware activities are typically covert and their infestations are often long lasting.

Spyware will exploit your computer of anything it can use for monetary gain, for as long as it can remain attached to the host. Spyware is content to sit on a single computer, to monitor what the user does, as is the case with tracking adware; or influence where the user visits, as is the case with targeting advertisers who use browser helper objects that pop-up ads, substitute search engines, and hijack home pages.

Viruses can be intentionally destructive and have been known to erase or corrupt file systems or abet denial of service attacks. Spyware is more interested in having the host remain healthy: a non-functional computer has neither advertising value nor revenue potential to spyware. So spyware typically remains non-destructive, unless you try to remove it. But many spyware packages are removal resistant: you may uninstall them only to find they reappear when you reboot your computer. Others modify many critical components of a computer operating system, and incomplete removal often renders the computer inoperable.