nebulous
2010-04-17, 05:20
I've seen several requests in the forum for SpyBot as a portable application, to run from a memory stick / thumb drive / USB drive.
SpyBot isn't designed for that, but I did find a way that worked nicely.
Why? Because I unfortunately have a paid 2-year subscription to TrendMicro Internet Security (it came with the computer). TM's virus checker notoriously refuses to work when SpyBot is installed. It doesn't like one or more of the immunizations, but it also chokes when it sees SpyBot in the registry. Still, I had a great need for SpyBot -- it resolved a MAJOR problem for me (found and removed a keylogger that nothing else found -- I've been a user and fan for MANY years).
SOLUTION
----------
First, I plugged in my thumb drive and installed SpyBot as normal to that drive.
Next, I used removed the thumb drive.
Finally, I used the free REVO Uninstaller [http://www.revouninstaller.com] in the ADVANCED mode to uninstall SpyBot. It will tell you it can't find all the files (because, of course, they are on the unplugged memory stick), but if you tell it to proceed all the way through it will effectively remove everything placed on your Hard Drive and in your registry.
After going through this simple procedure, you can run SpyBot perfectly from the thumb drive to detect and remove malware.
Note: DON'T run the immunizations, and I'm not sure I'd use many of the other tools. But you can download updates as usual -- they'll be put on the thumb drive.
Hope this helps someone else!
~ N
SpyBot isn't designed for that, but I did find a way that worked nicely.
Why? Because I unfortunately have a paid 2-year subscription to TrendMicro Internet Security (it came with the computer). TM's virus checker notoriously refuses to work when SpyBot is installed. It doesn't like one or more of the immunizations, but it also chokes when it sees SpyBot in the registry. Still, I had a great need for SpyBot -- it resolved a MAJOR problem for me (found and removed a keylogger that nothing else found -- I've been a user and fan for MANY years).
SOLUTION
----------
First, I plugged in my thumb drive and installed SpyBot as normal to that drive.
Next, I used removed the thumb drive.
Finally, I used the free REVO Uninstaller [http://www.revouninstaller.com] in the ADVANCED mode to uninstall SpyBot. It will tell you it can't find all the files (because, of course, they are on the unplugged memory stick), but if you tell it to proceed all the way through it will effectively remove everything placed on your Hard Drive and in your registry.
After going through this simple procedure, you can run SpyBot perfectly from the thumb drive to detect and remove malware.
Note: DON'T run the immunizations, and I'm not sure I'd use many of the other tools. But you can download updates as usual -- they'll be put on the thumb drive.
Hope this helps someone else!
~ N