Scan smarter with HijackThis Video
Scan smarter with HijackThis Video Transcript
>> Hijack This is a very popular tool for attacking malware by searching for registry entries. But the tool points to all the suspicious entries without really knowing which ones are actually harmful. I'm Tom Merritt, editor from CNET.com. On this edition of Insider Secrets, I'll show you how to weed out the good entries so you see only the bad ones you need to remove. ^M00:00:21 [ Music ] ^M00:00:32 If you're new to Hijack This, the best thing to do is just save a log file and don't touch anything till you find out more. But if you know what entries to ignore, let's say you've been using Hijack This for a while, you're Hijack This scale results might be longer than the screen. It's time you made friends will the ignore list. Here's how you do it. See those boxes next to the file names after you run scan? Select the items that you know are safe. But wait. How do you know they're safe? Well two buttons can help a little. Let's use this IE main start page entry as an example. I highlight it and press the button called info on selected items. It tells me that this indicates that something has changed the start page in IE. Yeah, I did. So its fine, it's safe. I can safely add that to my ignore list. So I'm going to check it. Once you've checked all the safe entries, press the add to ignore list button. Let's say I accidentally put an entry on the ignore list or I find out I was horror of horrors wrong. Click the config button and press ignore list. You can edit this list to remove files from it. Adding the items you know are safe to your Hijack This ignore list will make it much easier to notice new, malicious files and it will likely help you learn more about the processes and programs on your computer. I'm Tom Merritt for CNET.com. Be safe. ^M00:01:59 [ Music ]
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HijackThis is a free utility that generates an in-depth report of registry and file settings from your computer.
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If persistent spyware is bogging down your computer, you might need HijackThis. The tiny program examines vulnerable or suspect parts of your system, such as browser helper objects and certain types of Registry keys. Pressing the Scan button generates a log of dozens of items, most of which are just customizations. Don't check off an item and hit the Fix checked button unless you're sure it's malware. Clicking Info on selected item tells you why the entry was flagged as suspicious, but not whether it's actually malware. To find that out, search the Web for that item's name or go straight to a forum, such as SpywareInfo or Computer Cops. Saving the log creates a text document you can post to these forums.
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