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Thread ID: 30189 2003-02-12 21:25:00 Gator - and how it gets on your system Biggles (121) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
120690 2003-02-12 21:25:00 Some folks have been caught out by Gator recently and wondered how it got on their system. Well here's and example:

image (deadman.co.nz)

I suspect many people click "yes" on these things without knowing what they are doing. And when you click yes, you just gave Gator permission to install itself on your PC - so you don't have much comeback. Moral of the story - read the fine print before saying yes to any dialogues like this.
Biggles (121)
120691 2003-02-12 21:33:00 unfortunatly some sites also exploit a few holes in IE. so those with unpatched systems won't see the sicurity warning at all. it will atomaticly install if you like it or not.

easy way to fix this is to disable activeX. however a few important sites like MS updates site requires it :(
tweak'e (174)
120692 2003-02-12 21:49:00 Which is doubly difficult, since in it is the site, not Gator, responsible for the security breach. So people can bleat at Gator all they like, but technically and legally, it aint their problem. Wonder what they pay these sites to host Gator stuff? Biggles (121)
120693 2003-02-12 21:55:00 Does Gator show up in Add/Remove programs or do you have to download Ad-Aware 6 (http://www.lavasoftusa.com) to remove it? Chilling_Silence (9)
120694 2003-02-12 22:13:00 "C:\Program Files\RegCleaner\RegCleanr.exe" I use this and remove from register,I noticed I received gator stuff when I downloaded icq lite,I have removed both. Thomas (1820)
120695 2003-02-12 22:17:00 LoadQM is another bit of excess stuff i have just gor rid of its part of messenger that isnt needed kiwibeat (304)
120696 2003-02-12 22:18:00 sometimes it will be in the add/remove but under the program name eg offer companion. i often see the uninstall is broken so the easyest way to remove it is adaware. tweak'e (174)
120697 2003-02-12 22:19:00 > I received
> gator stuff when I downloaded icq lite,I have removed
> both.

Errr... Ive got ICQ Lite too, but Ive never seen Gator come with it?!
Chilling_Silence (9)
120698 2003-02-12 22:19:00 Good idea to run spybot ad aware 6 and any other progs you can find kiwibeat (304)
120699 2003-02-12 22:57:00 Is adaware or similar the best or only way to know if you've got a Gator infection (i call it that even though its not virus, just plain noxious spyware)?

The only time I was sure I got it was when ZoneAlarm asked me if I wanted to allowe Gator to access the internet. I checked and found Gator had installed itself without my knowledge.

Does anyone know if Gator have upped their act since then, by installing in less obvious ways, eg just altering registry entries?

Sometimes I like to go through my win98 registry manually rather than leaving all the cleaning to something like adaware.

For example, does Gator go by any other name, or should I be secure that if I can't find the name "Gator" anywhere on my machine then I don't have it??
rugila (214)
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