DSSAGENT Application Program

ChrisRLG,

After working with Broderbund to see if they would fix their removal utility so that it worked on Windows XP, they finally said they would not do it because their older programs were not designed to work on Xp machines. Their newer programs will not have the DSSAGENT program. So, I installed Spybot, ran it, and it came up with a lot of suspect programs, including DSSAGENT. I only sellected the DSSAGENT for removal. After doing this, I ran McAfee VirusScan V.8 again and it only stopped on the C:|System Volume Information\_ restor... I got two hits in this area, but none in the Windows directory. It looks like these are in the protected area for system restore.  I guess if I clear the restore points by disableing restore, it would get rid of these two. However, I will probably wait for a little while before clearing my restore points in case this Spybot starts to cause a problem and I need to go back. Does this sound logical to you? Thanks again for your time.

Charles Ranheim

1) Start Spybot from the menu and choose the advanced menu item, not from the icon or easy menu item.

2) To uninstall you can use either - the same uninstall program would be called.

I deleted the restore points which got rid of the last two errors on McAfee Virus Scan. I have two other questions if someone can help me with.

1) On the main Spybot screen, I don't have the options shown in the tutorial on the lower left side (Such as tools). The first item is "Search & Destroy", and the last one is "Donations". It is blank after that. Am I missing something? I tried executing the install program again but nothing changed.

2) On the main Spybot screen under the File pull-down, I have the option to Uninstall which says: "Remove Spybot - S&D settings from the registry (part uninstall). When is that used? If I wanted to uninstall Spybot, can I just go to the system control panel and do a normal program uninstall as usual?

Did you reboot between scans?

Steve

Can anyone tell me why some of the entries (Red) come right back after I delete them? The three I am having trouble with are: "Advertising.com", "BFast", and "Fast Click". These are shown in the recovery list which seems to imply they were deleted, but when I scan the machine again, they are back.

Charles Ranheim 

Steve,

I had been running Spybot in the background while surfing the Internet. When I finished with Spybot, I did a restart, then went back to the Internet. When I did a scan later on (again while on the internet) some that I removed were back.

This time I did a restart, scanned and deleted the selected items, did another restart, and ran the scan again. Everything looked good. I then surfed the internet for a few minutes, disconnected, and did the scan. Two "Hit Box" entries came back that I previously deleted.  I guess these programs can just come back in at any time, depending what I am running. I thought they only got into my machine during the installation of a program. 

Thanks for your help,  Charles Ranheim

Yes, many of the things, especially cookies, get put on your system during normal internet surfing.  If you are surfing and runnning spybot at the same time, things are getting put on at the same time things are being removed.  Some of the things Spybot finds (cookies in particular) do little harm and all of us get them no matter what.  Others require no action on your part to get the spyware/parasites but most require some action from you in accepting the parasite onto your computer (a dialog box that asks if you want to have a feature enabled, a box that asks if you want to install some free software that will make your computer run better, or a box that asks if you want to use some "super search engine, etc.).

Steve

ChrisRLG

I installed Spybot on my Dell running under windows XP to delete the dssagent from my machine. It worked great. I still update it and use it without a problem. I just decided to install Spybot on my gateway running windows 98 first edition because this machine would try to make a connection and I could not determine why. After installing it, I tried to do an up date. It connected and listed some updates that applied. When I selected "install updates", it would try to start it, but then hang. I had to force it off via an end task operation. I finally decided to uninstall it via control panel and reload it. It said the uninstall was successful. When I went to install it again, I got a message that it was already installed in the Program Files folder. I continued with the second install anyway. It failed the same way on the update, so I decided to just uninstall it and forget about it. This time I uninstalled it with the uninstall option under the Start/Program path. Again, it said the uninstall was successful. However, when I go to the Program Files folder, there is a Spybot folder. with three subfolders under that: (Plugins, Skins, and updates). How can I completely get rid of the program? it doesn't appear to be hurting anything, but I'm afraid it is a sleeping dog.  Charlie Ranheim

ChrisRLG

I installed Spybot on my Dell running Windows XP to get rid of the dssagent from my machine. It worked OK. I then decided to install Spybot on my Gateway running Windows 98 first edition because this machine would try to connect to the internet from time to time and I didn't know why. After the installation, I had a problem downloading the updates. It downloaded the update list, but would not download the actual update files. It would hang and I had to do an end task to get out of it. I then removed the program via control panel and reinstalled it. I got a message saying it was already installed in the Program File folder, but I installed it again anyway. It failed to update the same way. I then decided to uninstall it via Start/Programs/Spybot/ uninstall. Again it said the uninstall was successful. However, when I look in the program files folder, it has a spybot folder and three sub folders: plugins, skins, and updates. Is there as safe way to completely get rid of this program? I am not a PC guru and don't want to play with the registry.  Charles Ranheim 

ChrisRLG:  Thanks for your response. I was afraid something might try to start the program and it would hang the machine if these folders were missing. I thought I saw a procedure on how to completely remove the program a while ago, but could not find it again.

  Have you seen or heard of my problem trying to download the updates? I turned off Mcafee VirusScan and firewall, and enabled all cookies. I might try it again after tax time when it is not as critical to lose the machine. Sorry if there is a duplicate post again. I must be hitting a wrong key and submitting the post without knowing it.  Charles Ranheim