multiple accounts question

[lunatic23]

hey guys,

im running xp pro with four user accounts with administrative rights and i've got a wee question..

do programs like spybot/adaware/virus scans etc. scan the whole pc [ie each user's account] or do i have to run the programs individually on the four accounts.

i'm only asking because i keep getting rogue toolbars in IE and i'm not sure that if i run it on my login that it clears everyones problems

i know it may seem like a silly question but someone's got to ask them.

thanks muchos

someone once told me to shut up...

 

[bcastner]

The programs you mention do different things.

Virus scanners generally focus on the files stored on the workstation, the MBR of hard disk drives, and resident memory. To this extent they are universal: scanning by one user is sufficient.

The rest of your software looks primarily at the registry, the windows configuration files (.ini files), and often static stores important to TCP/IP such as the HOSTS file. This again is nearly universal in coverage.

The only notable exception would be malware that writes to the registry hive HKEY_CURRENT_USER. This information is stored in a hive (ntuser.dat) that is user specific.

[tt]
Registry hive File names

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SAM Sam and Sam.log
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SECURITY Security and Security.log
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE Software and Software.log
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM System and System.log
HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG System and System.log
HKEY_CURRENT_USER Ntuser.dat and ntuser.dat.log
HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT Default and Default.log
[/tt]

To the extent that malware writes to the user-specific hive, it can be missed by a scan done by one user. Fortunately, this is rarely the case.

 

[lunatic23]

okay thanks,

i did think that about virus scanners but it was spybot & the registry issues that i was not sure about.

the thing that got me wondering was the rogue toolbars - i cleared them from my account but they are still in the other users IE windows - im guessing they are user specific


thanks
luni

someone once told me to shut up...