spyware removal on w95 machine

[dtex]

Went to spybot and lavasoft. Both have something like this:
"Ad-aware is compatible with Microsoft® Windows® 98/Me/NT/2000 and XP Home and Professional."

No mention of 95.
I have not tried to dl the progams yet to see if they will work-figured I better ask here 1st.

I have W95osr2.(is that the same as W95B?) Are there any spyware removal programs that still work on 95?
Thanks folks.

[TheJackal]

Just download spybot and or Adaware. I have used Spybot on Windows 95 machines and it does work. So you might as well try Adaware as well.

And yes, Windows 95 OSR2 is the same as Windows 95B.

[GaryRouth]

Here's a link to the download.com "Adware Removal" section:
http://download.com.com/sort/3150-8022-0-1-4.html?

Lavasoft doesn't specifically support Win95 anymore for it's newer versions. That may have been different in the past: and you might by OK with build 181 or not - the download.com list includes Win95, but the Lavasoft website only lists Win98/Win2000 or newer.

There are several other programs that claim compatibility with all versions of Windows. They just aren't as popular, so it's harder to judge how well they work.
. . . Gary

[HAL9000]

I've used both AdAware and Spybot on 95 machines no prob.

[GaryRouth]

[ Hal - were those the currently available download versions? (version 6 for Adaware, etc? ] If so, dtex, those two are the most recommended titles

[dtex]

Thanks everyone. It says "windows(all)", so I'll give it a try tomorrow. Can't be anyworse than spyware.
Adaware & spybot are exactly what I have in mind. I'll let you know if they dl ok & work.
Don

[dtex]

Welllll, not my lucky day. Adaware6.0 dl and install went fine. Clicked the icon on desktop and promptly got the hated-Error starting
'A required file, ws2_32.dll not found'.
I can probably get the dll ok, but I seem to remember this from way back somewhere. I suspect as soon as I copy that dll, another error indicating a different missing file will pop up. I'm guessing it is files W98 has that W95 does not. Options I see:
1. Try to get this and any other files I need for 6.0, and hope they don't interfere with W95.
2. Un-install 6.0 and try to find an older version that will run on W95.
3. Format drive & install W98SE. (I have both a full version w98cd and an upgrade version CD) I really don't want to do this one. For my uses w95 has been virtually trouble free since 2000.
Any suggestions from the oraacles out there?
Thanks folks!!

[GaryRouth]

That looks like a winsock file. You could try downloading a 32-bit version for Win95 ("WinSock 2.0 32-bit") and see if that helps. Microsoft still provides the download:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows95/d...s2/default.asp

If your hardware runs Win95b, you could probably run Win98/Win98se OK. . . You wouldn't have to do a complete reinstall if you didn't want to, you could do an "over-the-top" upgrade http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.p...threadid=70846 ....make backups first if you decide to go that route
. . . Gary

[I'd try the winsock update first, since 95 has been good to you]

[dtex]

Did a little looking around and found the same thing you suggest Gary, as far as the winsock2 update goes. I've never done any of the service pks or MS updates since the initial install, and have never had a problem, so Yeah-w95 has been fine for this old faht. No music or video dls, just shoot the bull with my old Marine friends from the 60's mostly. I'll give the winsock2 thingie a try.

Ok, I dl'd the MS Socket2 update. Before I click the setup.exe file, will win 98se run on this?
233mmx 64mb ram. currently 650mb free space on a 1.3gb hard drive. I could probably free up another 100mb if I had to.

[GaryRouth]

The cpu and memory are OK [My five year old daughter still plays on a P233mmx with Win98: that system has 192mb ram] -- Fry's has 128mb of PC100 on sale for $19 till Tuesday -- . . . the hard drive is smallish/OK - just remember if you go Win98, leave out stuff you don't need (like screen savers and desktop themes, or nonsense like WebTv and Personal WebServer - weed out any utilities you're not going to use ---you can do all of this by running a "Custom" install & carefully checking through the Details for each category).

Win95 will probably be your best match for your current hardware - and even if AdAware doesn't run on it, there are others that will.
. . . Gary

[dtex]

Been away a couple of days, for breaking the law.The big one-number 1 in the galaxy:

If it ain't broke-don't fix it! (& for God's sake don't try to fix it with anything from MS.)

Downloaded the winsock32 update and installed it. Read all the suff about how to use the ws2bak.bat uttility to get my old configuration back if anything went wrong. Adaware 6.0 worked like a charm. Iran the whole big scan. BUT, when I next tried to get in line, I kept getting a "Cannot read ip configuration" error. It would go ahead and connect, but every web page showed the "cannot find server" message.
Tried everything. Different dns cinfigurations, different Ph #'s (even tho I knew my modem was connecting 'somewhere'. Then, I went to use the back.bat utility, and it wouldn't work. 'Error reading file'. No help from Earthlink either. Finally uninstalled Earthlink, since it was an earthlink, not a windows error message. Then decided to heck with it, I'll install w98 upgrade. Install errors!!! Locked up computer. Tried several times. Just as I had about made up my mind to format and do a clean install, I tried the wsback.bat file for the 9th or 10th time-it worked!! Evidently eartlink was sharing some of the files, and wouldn't let the utility do it's job. Reinstalled Earthlink, leeping my old profile and everything and here I am. On top of all that, Adaware only found one key and 2 suspicious registry entrys. All related to win media player. Now, I just gotta clean up the mess win setup left from the failed install attempts. Have to see what it has done to my startup configuration, since it now boots to C:/ prompt and then I have to type in 'win' to get windows to load. I'm kinda scared to turn it off now.
Now of course, Adaware won't run again either. Such is life...

[GaryRouth]

Wild time of it! Sorry it didn't go well . . .

The strangest part is the locking up and install errors when you tried the Win98 upgrade. What sort of errors?

I should've thought to ask if you had a dial-up ISPs software: that probably does need to be uninstalled/reinstalled to accomodate the new WinSock. [Might even insist on it's own version]

Since the 98 setup didn't finish, it might just have left you with a bunch of temp files that you can clean up. Then again, other interesting things are possible [once into Windows, take a look with Windows Explorer & see if you have a couple of \Windows, \Windows.000, \Windows.001, etc . . .] You might have a few incomplete Win98 folders (not just temporaries) . . .

Good time to backup any data you wish to keep! The stalling during the 98 installation could be a sign of hardware trouble about to get worse. . .

Take a look at your current autoexec.bat, too - and see if there's an autoexec.old in your root directory to compare it to. If the old version seems to make more sense than the current one, you can try renaming them & try the older one. [adding the "win" statement is something I don't remember having to do since the Win3.1 days]

Hal has a lot of experience with Win95 and installs, maybe he'll notice something I'm overlooking . . .

Hope the system is humming along fine soon
. . . Gary

[dtex]

No problems to speak of cleaning things up. Winsetup had created a folder to copy all the files to & I just deleted sent that in entirety to recycle bin, but didn't empty it. Setup had also altered the autoexec.bat file, to force the little dos message indicating I should not use ctrl-alt-delete if the setup failed. Just a couple of lines to change. Yeah, I'm familar with the win.000-win001 thing, but it didn't happen this time, since setup didn't get far enough along. Since I have a win98se full install cd, I'll probably just bite the bullet & go that route this weekend. Getting too hard to find progs that will run on 95, as much as I've liked it. Thanks for the help folks!!