Fastclick Tracking Cookie
Every time I run Spybot S&D I get "FastClick" in the results. I click "fix selected problems," and it gives me the green checkmark that it worked, but the next time I scan, it's right there again, even when I scan immediately after I just removed it.
How can I get this thing off my computer?
"FastClick" is a tracking cookie that apparently is being repetitively downloaded and stored on your system because it is not being blocked.
What browser are you using to access the internet (Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc.)?
Getting an answer is one thing, learning is another.
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition running on a 2.40GHz IntelŪ PentiumŪ 4 Processor with 512 MB of RAM and a 533 MHz System Bus.
I'm using firefox.... but I do have that cookie's status set to "block" under the Cookie options, so I don't know what's going on.
It appears that the blocking of third-party (tracking) cookies from within Firefox may not be 100% effective. See the last post in the following thread by Zenobia for a possible solution:
Originally Posted by Zenobia
Getting an answer is one thing, learning is another.
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition running on a 2.40GHz IntelŪ PentiumŪ 4 Processor with 512 MB of RAM and a 533 MHz System Bus.
Also,if you'd like to remove the fastclick cookie manually from within Firefox,you
can go to Tools->Options->click the Cookies tab,then click the View Cookies button.Scroll through the list until you find the fastclick cookie,then click on it with your mouse,and click on the remove cookie(s) button.(Make sure you don't click the Remove All Cookies button,by mistake.)
Thanks guys, that seems to have solved my problem.. much appreciated. :D
That's good,I'm glad you got it fixed.
Zenobia: Could it simply be that if the cookie has already been downloaded by Firefox, it must first be deleted manually before Firefox can block it?
I know Spybot has some issues with Firefox and other browsers related to cookies, but with Windows 9x/ME dropping off support this July and IE7 due out shortly after that, I don't see much effort going into further support for cookies in Spybot since the browsers do it well enough themselves.
In fact, I'm intending to drop all Immunization while testing IE7 Beta 2 on Windows XP SP2. I just lost my laptop hard drive and am currently rebuilding, so I'm leaving out anything not included within the core drivers and OS, plus all current Updates.
Yes,that could be.Though in this case,I suspected Spybot might be having troubles removing the fastclick cookie,since it was picked up again by Spybot even when truemper scanned again immediately,so it was just as easy to remove fastclick through firefox.
I can't say that with any certainty,though,since the last time somebody here was having trouble with Firefox cookies and Spybot,I threw on a red cookie,and it was removed okay,it didn't show up on the second scan.
I'm very sorry to hear you lost your laptop hard drive.
Yes, I should have stated that Spybot sometimes has issues with Firefox cookies on some systems, not all. I don't think we've ever found a specific reason, though I personally suspect either different Firefox versions or configuration are involved.
This is why I don't think it's worth messing with cookies with Spybot. It simply absorbs Patrick's time in development to keep up with changes in the internal cookie handling of each browser. Since the browsers generally manage cookies well enough themselves at this point, this is an utter waste of resources. Scanning and deleting cookies after the fact or 'managing' them is even more worthless as protection, since they've already performed their function between scans.
The rest of Immunize is static protection in that you must constantly update and re-immunize to keep current. This model is outdated compared to the newer dynamic protection provided by real-time agents similar to TeaTimer. And ActiveX blocking is already performed by Windows Updates for certain modules, a few of which Spybot overlaps. With the improved ActiveX handling in IE7, I don't see a need to fill my registry with hundreds of ActiveX 'KillBits' or 'Restricted Sites' 99% of which I'll never encounter anyway.
Obviously, Immunize isn't replaced by IE7 alone, but combined with a current Antivirus/Firewall/Antispyware with real-time protection for known ActiveX and other malware, it's not really necessary.
Wasn't happy to loose the hard drive, but it forced a 'spring cleaning' as a side effect, which is good since it hadn't been rebuilt since late 2004. It also avoids the issue of performing an Immunize 'Undo' which would have removed any ActiveX KillBits that overlap with past Windows Updates.
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