There's no doubt about it -- adware and spyware is some nasty stuff! It overwhelms computer resources to the point where almost nothing works, and by design, it steals information that most people would prefer to keep private. To add insult to injury, it can be almost impossible to delete. Fortunately, an increasing number of anti-spyware and anti-adware programs contribute helpful solutions. But to be honest, they're not always enough. Even after installing the latest bug-killer on the market, we can still suffer from a persistent infestation thanks to dishonorable registry manipulation. Adware and spyware are notorious for manipulating Windows registry settings in such a way that it's extremely difficult to return a computer to normalcy. With a little registry knowledge however, you can quickly prevent an adware or spyware program from doing more damage that it has already done.

What's the Registry?

The Windows registry stores your computer's settings and file locations so that each time that you start your PC, it loads faster and it operates the way that you want it to. The entire database contains six main sections -- each of which store settings for specific functions. The HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT section for example, stores the settings (or preferences) for your computer's file associations and OLE functions (Object Linking and Embedding). The HKEY_CURRENT_USER section stores the preferences set for user. The HKEY_USER section stores user information and the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE section stores settings for your hardware, operating system, and installed applications. Your computer's display and printer settings are stored in the registry's HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIGURATION setting, while performance data sits in the registry's HKEY_DYN_DATA section.

Registry Manipulation

Whenever you change the way that your computer looks or responds to one of your commands, the Window's registry saves your preferences to one of the appropriate sections above. Installing software is an example change that will add data to the registry. During installation, the registry will record what was installed, where it was installed to, how long it should run (if it's a demo or shareware), and any other information that the software asked for, such as your company name or your start-up preferences for instance. In general, we trust programmers to develop 'registry-safe' software -- that is, software that won't screw up the registry with harmful instructions. The people who write viruses, adware, and spyware however, develop programs that write harmful registry settings. These are settings that could monitor keystrokes and secretly upload usernames and passwords, credit card numbers, or bank account numbers to an identify thief for example. Or they could make shutdown impossible without pulling the cord -- all while the computer is transmitting private and personal information!

The second part of this article, "Adware, Spyware, and The Windows Registry: Part 2" describes how to find and delete these settings. If you don't see the second part at this location, read it at http://www.savysoftware.com/registry_2.html where you can learn how to responsibly identify adware and spyware registry entries, and then safely delete them without corrupting your computer.