• Home
• Services
• Portfolio
• About
• Contact

how to

These are some program specific How To tutorials that I wrote to help people out. When using these programs exercise caution before removing any items they detect as possible problems. Also, I recommend checking for updates as frequently as possible, but at least once a week. Most people find it easiest to enable automatic updates if the program supports them.

Quick Links:

• Spybot Search & Destory - [Download] [Jump to section]
• Ad-Aware - [Download] [Jump to section]
• SpywareBlaster - [Download] [Jump to section]
• Windows Defender - [Download] [Jump to section]

Spybot Search & Destroy

How to Update

• Open the program if it isn’t already open
• Click “Update”
• Click “Search for Updates” and the program will do just that
• Select the checkboxes next to each update and click “Download Updates”
  • If “checksum” error occurs:
    Try selecting a different server and click “Download Updates” again

How to Scan Your Computer

• Open the program if it isn’t already open
• Click “Search & Destroy”
• Click “Check for problems” and a scan will run
• Once the scan has completed look over the list and choose which problems to remove
• Click “Fix selected problems”
  • If Spybot would like to start on the next boot of Windows to attempt to remove programs it couldn’t during the scan, it is wise to select “Yes”

How to Immunize Your Computer

• Open the program if it isn’t already open
• Click “Immunize”
• A green bar will run across and a pop up will display a message.
  • If it says “All known products are already blocked” click OK and you don’t need to go any further in this set of instructions for immunization. If it gives you any other message, such as there are protections possible, continue following these instructions.
• Make sure “Enable permanent blocking of bad addresses in Internet Explorer” checkbox is checked and I suggest selecting “Block all bad pages silently.” in the dropdown, if it isn’t already selected.
• Click “Immunize” at the top of the screen with the green plus next to it

Ad-Aware

How to Update

• Open the program if it isn’t already open
  Note: The program may ask you if you want to search for updates, you can say “Yes” there and skip the next step
• Click the Globe icon on the top right
• Click “Connect”
• When a dialog box pops up either with the update details or saying no update was found, click “OK”
• Update will download if one was found
• Click “Finish”

How to Scan Your Computer

• Open the program if it isn’t already open
• Click “Scan now” that is located on the left side
• To do a quick scan, choose “Perform smart system scan”
  It is recommended that you do a full scan about once every month or so. To do this select “Perform full system scan”
• Make sure there is a green check mark next to “Search for low-risk threats” If it’s not, click the red “X”
• It’s your decision whether to have the scan “Search for negligible risk entries” These are stored records of recent documents you have accessed. They pose no threat, but can be cleared if it makes you feel more secure.
• Click “Next”
• The scan will run
• When it’s finished, click “Finish” and if the scan found nothing you are done and may close the program
• If items are found click “Next”
• Put check marks next to things you want removed
  Note: You can view more details than the “Scan Summary” if you click on the corresponding tab name to view details of items detected
• After items you wish to remove have been selected click “Next”
• Click “OK” on the dialog box that pops up
• Items will be removed and you can close the program

SpywareBlaster

How to Update

• Open the program if it isn’t already open
• Click “Updates”
• Click “Check for Updates”
• If any updates are found click “Protection”
• Then click “Enable All Protection”

How to Protect Your Computer

• Open the program if it isn’t already open
• If you aren’t already on the “Protection” page, click “Protection”
• Click “Enable All Protection”

Windows Defender

How to Update

• Open the program if it isn’t already open
• Click the little arrow next to the blue and white “Help” icon
• Choose “About Windows Defender” from the menu
• Click “Check for Updates”
• Click “OK” (the program will download and install updates automatically if any are found

How to Scan Your Computer

• Open the program if it isn’t already open
• Click the little arrow next to the magnifying glass and choose “Quick Scan” to do a fast scan that only finds some items, or “Full Scan” to do a comprehensive scan. A Full Scan is recommended every month or so.
• The scan will run