Is Wild Tangent spyware? | DELL Technologies (2025)

Sandy,

I think you can safely put your mind at ease about ALL the particular "problems" you've just mentioned:

1) Wild Tangent, as we've explained, is only "debatably" spyware... and even if it is, then, as Joe indicated, it's rather "low risk", and "fairly benign".

2) DSO Exploit:I think I could write a book about this one... Here are the key points:

a) there used to be a "hole" in Internet Explorer, which Microsoft issued a "patch" (fix) for in March 2002. If you've been keeping Windows up to date, then ( after applying ANY of the subsequent 'cumulative' updates for Internet Explorer) this problem should not impact your system any more.

b) spybot 1. 3 [i.e., the PREVIOUS version of Spybot] started reporting finding DSO Exploit several months ago (could even have been over a year)... but it was UNable to fix things properly --- if you told spybot 1. 3 to fix it, it would try, but FAIL to do so. SpyBot eventually issued a [optional] patch of its own, upgrading the program to 1.3. 1 TX , which was able to correctly fix things... and that was the last anyone heard of DSO Exploit... until last week.

c) Starting last week, spybot 1. 4 [i.e., the current version] starting reporting finding DSO Exploit. Caught many people, including myself, by surprise to see this again. As already indicated, if you've been keeping Windows up to date, you have nothing to be concerned about here. Accordingly, you can do one of three things:

1- wait another week or two, to see if Spybot continues to pick this up in its next updated reference file(s)... or if the author"reconsiders", and decides toremoveDSO exploit fromthe detection scheme.

2- explicitly use the IGNORE feature, to tell spybot NOT to search for DSO exploit again.

3- FIX the problem, as(unlike1. 3) spybot 1. 4WILL correctly fix the problem.... and on subsequent scans, it won't keep coming back.

3) Windows security Center....

Another recent change implemented in Spybot.... Basically, they now are simply ADVISING you that some of the Windows Security Center settings have been changed from their expected/default values. If EITHER you,OR your antivirus program, changed this setting, then you have nothing to worry about.

There has been much MISunderstanding about this.... many people believedthis was a "false positive" being reported by SpyBot, and were hoping Spybot would remove this detection.Instead, they tried to "clarify" things, by saying it was NEITHER a false-positive.... NOR an actual warning/problem... but rather, merely an "advisory" notification.

See

This brings us to your excellent question: " What good is the Spybot if I cannot delete any of the spyware or adware?" Unfortunately, the matter of adware/spyware removal has become overly complicated, especially for the average PC user. Spybot and Ad-Aware are both excellent programs. I've used them, in combination, to successfully "resuscitate" some machines that had previously become almost unusable. But over time, I've learned that there CAN be false-positives.... and I've learned to question them. Unfortunately,a sense of what is really spyware vs.false positives vs."advisories" can only come with experience.

Message Edited by ky331 on 08-25-2005 11:07 AM