# how do i get rid of scumware? (yuck) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 20, 2002, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-rid-of-scumware-yuck/104604 "2002-04-20T00:12:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![biker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ce7236/32.png) [@biker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/biker)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2002, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-rid-of-scumware-yuck/104604/21 "2002-04-20T17:03:50Z")
pardon me for being a computer dumbass but i went to your link. it says i am suppose to find a “key” that says “homepage.” i have looked and looked and i can not find it. it even gives an example of what it looks like and i still can’t find it. ---
**Author:** ![Racer1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee59a6/32.png) [@Racer1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Racer1)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2002, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-rid-of-scumware-yuck/104604/22 "2002-04-20T17:30:45Z")
Hmm, ok, it’s probably not you doing anything wrong, I think the homepage key would only be there if the scumware had added it (i.e. nothing there means it is not disabled in that particular way). As **NutWrench** suggests, there are other ways of doing it. I’ve just found what it is! Ok, it is just scumware, nothing more sinister (I know you never thought it was, but I wasn’t convinced before because I’d seen viruses that changed the homepage). To fix it, you need to do what [this](http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&selm=%23PTcwYprBHA.2780%40tkmsftngp05) page says. In case you’re interested, [this](http://ismedia.org/php/?function=articles) is where I found the info about it. Looks like it might be an idea to download all the latest security patches from Micro$oft. I hope this sorts it! ---
**Author:** ![robcaro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@robcaro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robcaro)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2002, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-rid-of-scumware-yuck/104604/23 "2002-04-20T18:19:21Z")
I just finished running AdAware with the RefUpdate installed and found 40 entries for DAP (Dowload Accelerator Plus). I was not aware that this program was a spyware program. What gives? ---
**Author:** ![Racer1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee59a6/32.png) [@Racer1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Racer1)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2002, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-rid-of-scumware-yuck/104604/24 "2002-04-20T18:26:18Z")
Yep, both Download Accelerator and Gozilla come with it. You have to be really careful these days, you can get it from just visiting a webpage if your settings are open enough… and of course, if you tighten your security you miss out on other innocent stuff on pages. It sucks. ---
**Author:** ![robcaro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@robcaro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robcaro)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2002, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-rid-of-scumware-yuck/104604/25 "2002-04-20T18:45:15Z")
I like DAP, but if it is spyware, perhaps I should get rid of it. What say ye Racer1? ---
**Author:** ![Racer1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee59a6/32.png) [@Racer1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Racer1)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2002, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-rid-of-scumware-yuck/104604/26 "2002-04-20T19:08:46Z")
Well, I guess it’s a balance between how much you like DAP and how much the scumware pisses you off. If you want a full report on what scumware actually does, do check out [Scumware.com](http://www.scumware.com/). Personally, I got rid of DAP when I heard, but then the idea of my bandwidth and computer resources being wasted on a load of crappy adverts really got my goat :mad: I haven’t heard of GetRight installing anything sinister, but it would probably be worth a google search to be sure. ---
**Author:** ![NutWrench](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nutwrench/32/20193_2.png) [@NutWrench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NutWrench)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2002, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-rid-of-scumware-yuck/104604/27 "2002-04-20T19:20:12Z")
[Star Downloader](http://www.stardownloader.com/index.php) is a nice freeware download accelerator that can do multi-part downloads, too. No Ad-ware or Spyware! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![biker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ce7236/32.png) [@biker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/biker)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2002, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-rid-of-scumware-yuck/104604/28 "2002-04-20T19:23:19Z")
we back in bidness, we back in bidness… thank you racer, thank you. mission accomplished. home page setting is once again enabled. first time i have ever messed with my register, you have unleased a monster! the saunders guy mentioned there still could be hidden programs in start up that may cause it to change again. i have a bunch of crap in there i don’t know what they are. one says “hidserv,” any idea what that is? p.s. where do i send the check, hahaha… ---
**Author:** ![robcaro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@robcaro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robcaro)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2002, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-rid-of-scumware-yuck/104604/29 "2002-04-20T19:35:43Z")
Thanks Racer1… I just got rid of the DAP offenders. They were only listed as suspicious offenders, but that was enough for me. I am not sure that DAP was that effective for downloads anyway. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2002, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-rid-of-scumware-yuck/104604/30 "2002-04-20T20:29:33Z")
Be careful with free filesharing programs such as Limewire which is a Gnutella network program. This loads spyware onto your system, I used Ad-adware which informed me of the spyware elements and used it to remove them, however I found that Limewire itself would no longer run, and the downloaded Java would not run either, so I had to uninstall those too. ---
**Author:** ![Mad\_Matt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Mad\_Matt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mad_Matt)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2002, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-rid-of-scumware-yuck/104604/31 "2002-04-20T21:20:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by biker \* > \*\*we back in bidness, we back in bidness… > > thank you racer, thank you. mission accomplished. home page setting is once again enabled. first time i have ever messed with my register, you have unleased a monster! > > the saunders guy mentioned there still could be hidden programs in start up that may cause it to change again. i have a bunch of crap in there i don’t know what they are. one says “hidserv,” any idea what that is? > > p.s. where do i send the check, hahaha… \*\* I find this site [http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup\_content.htm](http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.htm) useful when checking tasks in my startup routine (thanks **Lockfist** from this thread [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=104847](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=104847)). It says that “hidserv” is: This is the Human Interface Device Server for Win98SE/2000/Me/XP, it is required only if you are using USB Audio Devices you can disable via Msconfig. See here. Typical examples are USB mulitmedia keyboards with volume control and web-ready keyboards. For example - loaded by default with MS DSS80 Speakers because they have Volume, Mute and Bass controls on the speaker. Some users may experience problems disabling this - if this is the case then re-enable it. Equivalent to MMHid in Win98 Hope this helps. ;j [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-rid-of-scumware-yuck/104604.md?page=1)