[fred2028]

I ran AVG 7.5 before and it's never picked anything up on my system. Now, with AVG 8, it finds all these infections that it calls warnings (see thumbnail). Should I be worried, or remove them? They're all Active X controls and I'm afraid that removing them will somehow damage IE 7.

[TOGG]

I recognise one of the items listed in your screenshot as well known adware, namely NewDotNet ;http://research.sunbelt-software.com...&threatid=9108 Like so much of what is described as spyware or adware, it presents a moderate threat, but you would be better off without it.

It is interesting that all the things listed are described as 'potentially dangerous' rather than out and out malware, like virii or trojans. It is probably more relevant that all the items are Active X related. Active X is legitimate Microsoft software, but it is also used to deliver malware, so you would be better off with a browser that does not use it, such as Opera or Firefox. See this extract from a Wikipedia article;

"ActiveX controls can be compared in some sense to a Java applet, since both technologies strive to act as an abstraction layer between the developer and the operating system. From there, obvious differences surface. For instance, Java applets can run on nearly any platform, while ActiveX components are only compatible with a Microsoft web browser and a Microsoft operating system. ActiveX controls are also granted a much higher level of control over Windows than Java applets, making them both more powerful and dangerous. Malware, such as computer viruses and spyware, is often distributed as ActiveX applets in webpages."

If you can't, or won't, switch from IE, you could change the IE settings to disable Active X (and scripting) or set them to 'Prompt'. I guarantee that you won't be able to put up with that for very long though, due to the massive number of popups you will get asking you to allow things to run!

For many years now, people have been advised to stop using IE. I did it four years ago and it is a painless process. I now have Opera as my default browser and collect Windows updates with Firefox and the IETab extension.

[lunarlander]

New to AVG 8 is spyware / adware detection. I would quanranteen them.

[Kitch]

Have a look at FAQ 1319 here ....... http://free.grisoft.com/ww.faq.num-1319#faq_1319

[Byteman]

Hi,

That hit it right on the button Kitch! (Item #1319 at link above)

You can pretty much tell that all those ad and spyware items, wouldn't be found in that same location in the Registry.

The explanation there is very clear, it even makes sense to me....

Most online antimalware scans also will "detect" parts of other programs- two of the special tools we use in forums to remove malware, ComboFix and Smitfraudfix, have files that are detected as potentially dangerous, but in fact, they aren't.

[Kitch]

Hi Byteman,

I got the same when i first scanned with AVG 8, had an inkling it was to do with
Spywareblaster, then found that FAQ.