Acronis PRIVACY EXPERT SUITE 8.0 User Manual
User's Guide
Acronis
Privacy Expert Suite 8.0
Compute with confidence
www.acronis.com
Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2005. All rights reserved.
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2
END-USER LICENSE AGREEMENT
BY ACCEPTING, YOU (ORIGINAL PURCHASER) INDICATE YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THESE
TERMS. IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO ACCEPT THE PRODUCT UNDER THESE TERMS, YOU
MAY CHOOSE NOT TO ACCEPT BY SELECTING "I decline..." AND NOT INSTALLING THE
SOFTWARE.
The Acronis Privacy Expert Suite (the software) is Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2005.
All rights are reserved. The ORIGINAL PURCHASER is granted a LICENSE to use the
software only, subject to the following restrictions and limitations.
1. The license is to the original purchaser only, and is not transferable without prior
written permission from Acronis.
2. The original purchaser may use the software on a single computer owned or leased
by the original purchaser. You may not use the software on more than one machine
even if you own or lease all of them, without the written consent of Acronis.
3. The original purchaser may not engage in, nor permit third parties to engage in, any
of the following:
A. Providing or permitting use of or disclosing the software to third parties.
B. Providing use of the software in a computer service business, network, timesharing or
multiple user arrangement to users who are not individually licensed by Acronis.
C. Making alterations or copies of any kind in the software (except as specifically
permitted above).
D. Attempting to un-assemble, de-compile or reverse engineer the software in any way.
E. Granting sublicenses, leases or other rights in the software to others.
F. Making copies or verbal or media translations of the users guide.
G. Making telecommunication data transmission of the software.
Acronis has the right to terminate this license if there is a violation of its terms or default
by the original purchaser. Upon termination for any reason, all copies of the software
must be immediately returned to Acronis, and the original purchaser shall be liable to
Acronis for any and all damages suffered as a result of the violation or default.
ENTIRE RISK
THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SOFTWARE IS
WITH YOU THE PURCHASER. ACRONIS DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE SOFTWARE OR
ITS FUNCTIONS WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS OR THAT THE OPERATION OF THE
SOFTWARE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR FREE OR THAT ANY DEFECTS WILL
BE CORRECTED. NO LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES — IN NO EVENT SHALL
ACRONIS OR ITS VENDORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER (INCLUDING,
WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR THE LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS, BUSINESS
INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF BUSINESS INFORMATION, OR ANY OTHER PECUNIARY LOSS)
ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ACRONIS
HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
3
Table of Contents
END-USER LICENSE AGREEMENT.................................................................................................. 3
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................... 7
What is Acronis Privacy Expert Suite?................................................................................................ 7
Why is it necessary to keep PC work confidential?............................................................................. 7
Standards of guaranteed destruction of confidential information......................................................... 8
What's new in Acronis Privacy Expert Suite 8.0?................................................................................8
What Acronis Privacy Expert Suite enables you to clean up............................................................... 9
How to find information you need in this guide:................................................................................... 9
System requirements ........................................................................................................................ 10
Software use conditions .................................................................................................................... 10
Technical support.............................................................................................................................. 11
CHAPTER 1. INSTALLING ACRONIS PRIVACY EXPERT SUITE........................................... 12
1.1 Installing the system................................................................................................. 12
1.2 Updating and recovering Acronis Privacy Expert Suite ........................................... 12
1.3 Removing the software............................................................................................. 12
CHAPTER 2. WORKING WITH ACRONIS PRIVACY EXPERT SUITE .................................... 13
2.1 Getting started..........................................................................................................13
2.2 Working in the main program window......................................................................13
2.3 Basic operation principles ........................................................................................14
2.4 Working in Classic View...........................................................................................15
2.5 Acronis Privacy Expert Suite options .......................................................................16
2.5.1 General options.................................................................................................................. 16
2.5.2 Clean-up Options ............................................................................................................... 16
2.5.3 Scheduled tasks.................................................................................................................17
2.5.4 Explorer enhancements ..................................................................................................... 17
2.5.5 Invoking the scheduler ....................................................................................................... 17
2.5.6 Scheduled tasks preferences............................................................................................. 18
2.6 Using the Log ...........................................................................................................19
CHAPTER 3. SPYWARE REMOVAL AND SPYWARE SHIELD............................................... 21
How spyware gets on your PC.......................................................................................................... 21
How to recognize spyware?...............................................................................................................21
If you need to:.................................................................................................................................... 21
3.1 Spyware removal...................................................................................................... 22
3.1.1 Removing spyware with the Spyware Removal Wizard...................................................... 22
3.1.2 Setting up the Spyware Removal Wizard...........................................................................24
Selecting scanning mode .................................................................................................................. 24
Setting up Smart scanning mode ...................................................................................................... 24
Setting up Deep scanning mode ....................................................................................................... 25
Saving settings.................................................................................................................................. 25
3.2 Spyware protection...................................................................................................26
3.2.1 Enabling Spyware Shield.................................................................................................... 26
3.2.2 Setting up Spyware Shield ................................................................................................. 26
General options................................................................................................................................. 26
Advanced options.............................................................................................................................. 27
Saving Spyware Shield settings........................................................................................................ 28
3.3 Spyware definitions updates ....................................................................................28
3.3.1 Product registration............................................................................................................28
3.3.2 Running Spyware Definitions Updates Wizard................................................................... 29
3.3.3 Selecting update mode....................................................................................................... 29
4 Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2005
3.3.4 Entering the account information........................................................................................ 30
3.3.5 Setting the schedule........................................................................................................... 31
CHAPTER 4. INTERNET CLEAN-UP......................................................................................... 32
4.1 General information.................................................................................................. 32
4.2 Using the Internet Clean-up Wizard.........................................................................32
4.3 Internet Clean-up Wizard Settings ........................................................................... 34
4.3.1 «Data Destruction Method» settings .................................................................................. 34
4.3.2 «Internet Browsers» setting................................................................................................ 34
4.3.3 «Address» setting...............................................................................................................35
4.3.4 «File» settings....................................................................................................................36
4.3.5 «Data filter» settings........................................................................................................... 37
4.3.6 «E-mail clients» settings..................................................................................................... 37
4.4 Cleaning up separate Internet components............................................................. 38
CHAPTER 5. SYSTEM CLEAN-UP............................................................................................ 39
5.1 General information.................................................................................................. 39
5.2 Using the System Clean-up Wizard ......................................................................... 39
5.3 System Clean-up Wizard settings............................................................................40
5.3.1 «Data Destruction Method» settings .................................................................................. 41
5.3.2 «Files» settings .................................................................................................................. 41
5.3.3 «Computers» setting.......................................................................................................... 42
5.3.4 «Drive Free Space» setting................................................................................................ 43
5.3.5 «Commands» setting ......................................................................................................... 44
5.3.6 «System Password Filter» setting...................................................................................... 44
5.4 Cleaning up separate system components.............................................................. 45
CHAPTER 6. APPLICATION TRACES CLEAN-UP .................................................................. 46
6.1 General information.................................................................................................. 46
6.2 Using the Application Traces Clean-up Wizard........................................................ 46
6.3 Application Traces Clean-up Wizard settings .......................................................... 47
6.3.1 «Data Destruction Method» settings .................................................................................. 47
6.3.2 Select Applications.............................................................................................................48
6.3.3 «Files» settings .................................................................................................................. 49
CHAPTER 7. MY PRIVACY TOOLS........................................................................................... 51
7.1 General information.................................................................................................. 51
7.2 Using File Shredder.................................................................................................. 52
7.3 Paging file cleaner.................................................................................................... 52
CHAPTER 8. ACRONIS POP-UP BLOCKER............................................................................ 54
8.1 What are pop-ups?................................................................................................... 54
8.2 Acronis Privacy Expert Pop-up Blocker ................................................................... 54
8.3 Pop-up Blocker settings ........................................................................................... 54
8.3.1 Acronis Privacy Expert Pop-up Blocker general settings.................................................... 55
8.3.2 Last visited pages............................................................................................................... 55
8.3.3 Blocked URLs ....................................................................................................................55
8.3.4 White URLs........................................................................................................................ 55
8.3.5 Black URLs ........................................................................................................................ 56
CHAPTER 9. ACRONIS DRIVE CLEANSER............................................................................. 57
9.1 Acronis Drive Cleanser capabilities.......................................................................... 57
9.2 Working with Acronis Drive Cleanser....................................................................... 57
9.3 Using preset data destruction methods.................................................................... 58
9.4 Creating custom methods of data destruction.......................................................... 60
9.4.1 Creating custom methods .................................................................................................. 60
9.4.2 Method definition: template ................................................................................................ 61
9.4.3 Saving a custom method to file.......................................................................................... 65
9.4.4 Loading a method from a file.............................................................................................. 67
Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2005 5
9.5 Creating a bootable diskette or CD with Acronis Drive Cleanser ............................ 67
APPENDIX A. HARD DISK WIPING METHODS........................................................................68
A.1 Information wiping methods’ functioning principles.................................................. 68
A.2 Information wiping methods used by Acronis........................................................... 69
APPENDIX B. SPYWARE THREATS GLOSSARY.................................................................... 70
Adware.............................................................................................................................................. 70
Browser Helper Objects..................................................................................................................... 70
Browser hijackers.............................................................................................................................. 70
Commercial keylogger....................................................................................................................... 70
Dialers............................................................................................................................................... 70
Exploit/Security holes........................................................................................................................71
Remote Administration...................................................................................................................... 71
Sniffers.............................................................................................................................................. 71
Spyware............................................................................................................................................ 71
Toolbars ............................................................................................................................................ 71
Trojan Horses (Trojans) .................................................................................................................... 71
6 Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2005
Introduction
What is Acronis Privacy Expert Suite?
Acronis Privacy Expert Suite is an integrated software suite that provides
confidentiality and protects standalone PCs or machines connected to the
Internet.
The following capabilities of Acronis Privacy Expert Suite ensure PC
confidentiality:
Clean-up of spyware that secretly operates on a user’s PC
Proactive protection from spyware threats
PC hard disk and Windows partition clean-up of any traces of user actions
Unwanted pop-up ad blocking for convenient Web browsing
Guaranteed confidential data destruction on selected hard disks or disk
partitions
Unlike other software, Acronis Privacy Expert Suite fully removes evidence of PC
usage through the use of guaranteed data destruction methods.
Introduction
It also increases PC performance by cleaning out temporary files.
Why is it necessary to keep PC work confidential?
Working with a PC creates a number of serious security problems for users:
While installing software on your PC, you might unknowingly install spyware
— programs that secretly change system settings, collect and transfer
personal information to external addresses, and perform other unwanted and
uncontrollable actions.
You have created and deleted many files on your computer. You do not want
anyone to view them. But is a deleted file really gone? No! The problem is
that deleted files can be easily recovered under the Windows operating
system to gain access to information a user would like to conceal.
Windows and the most widely used browsers, Internet Explorer and Netscape
Navigator, provide very weak protection on keeping trace Internet data
private.
While working with a PC, you leave thousands of bytes of evidence showing
your actions (records in various system files) that you don’t even know
about. This could include user names and passwords.
When replacing your old hard drive with a new, higher-capacity one, you
unwittingly leave lots of important and confidential information on the old
drive that can be recovered, even if you have reformatted it.
Acronis Privacy Expert Suite provides a solution to all of these problems. It
assures complete confidentiality of your PC and Internet actions and prevents
situations that threaten your computer and general security.
Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2005 7
Introduction
Standards of guaranteed destruction of confidential information
The software offers the guaranteed destruction of confidential information on
hard disk drives with the help of special tools.
Acronis methods comply with most national standards:
American: U.S. Standard, DoD 5220.22-M
American: NAVSO P-5239-26 (RLL)
American: NAVSO P-5239-26 (MFM)
German: VSITR
Russian: GOST P50739-95
Besides methods corresponding to national standards, Acronis supports
predefined methods proposed by widely known and authoritative specialists in
the field of information security:
Peter Gutmann’s method – data on a hard disk is destroyed with 35 passes
Bruce Schneier’s method – data is destroyed with seven passes
The suite also supports simple but fast methods of information destruction that
zero all sectors on a single hard disk pass.
Another major feature of this version is the opportunity for you to create your
own methods for data destruction.
The most popular at the moment is the U.S. Standard, Department of
Defense 5220.22-M method. Therefore, Acronis Privacy Expert Suite utilizes it
by default for all user trace removal operations.
Detailed information on data destruction standards is given in Appendix A «Hard
Disk Wiping methods» of this guide.
What's new in Acronis Privacy Expert Suite 8.0?
Acronis Privacy Expert Suite has many new features that make it a fully
integrated software suite. They include:
User-friendly and simple wizards to quickly remove all traces of user actions
from PCs
Improved Spyware Removal Wizard
Spyware Shield – continuous spyware protection
Frequently updated spyware definitions base
Windows prefetch directory clean-up
System password clean-up
Applications traces clean-up
Additionally, improvements have been made to provide even more convenience.
8 Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2005
What Acronis Privacy Expert Suite enables you to clean up
The suite enables you to remove the evidence of your work in any Windows
section. It allows you:
to remove secretly operating spyware threats using the Spyware Removal
Wizard
to protect your PC from spyware threats using Spyware Shield
to clean the Internet cache
to delete cookies
to delete downloaded components
to clean up the last visited pages and typed URLs lists
to delete forms autocomplete and password lists for Web sites that require
authorization
to delete e-mail messages in Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Outlook Express
and clean up the contacts and address book lists
to remov e Windows registry backups that retain evidence of a user’s work
with PCs and the Internet
to delete temporary files from standard Windows folders
Introduction
to delete custom folders/files from any disks connected to a PC
to clean the Windows Recycle Bin
to clean hard disk free space
to clean the Windows prefetch directory
to clean system passwords
to clean the opened/saved files history
to remove evidence from the find files list and find computers list
to block unwanted pop-up ads using Acronis Pop-up Blocker
to destroy securely all data on hard disks or partitions using Acronis Drive
Cleanser, if needed
to clean up the Windows paging/swap file using Paging File Cleaner
Acronis Privacy Expert Suite permanently removes evidence of user PC activity.
To clean up a PC, it uses strict methods for guaranteed confidential data
destruction that meet or exceed most national/state standards (see Appendix A
«Hard Disk Wiping methods» for details).
How to find information you need in this guide:
This guide contains the following chapters:
Chapter 1«Installing Acronis Privacy Expert Suite» — contains detailed
information about the installation of this software.
Chapter 2 «Working with Acronis Privacy Expert Suite» — describes common
principles and settings.
Chapter 3 «Spyware removal and Spyware Shield» — describes spyware
removal and Spyware Shield settings.
Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2005 9
Introduction
Chapter 4«Internet Clean-up» — describes Web and
Chapter 5« System Clean-up» — offers detailed information on how to clean
Chapter 6«Application Traces Clean-up» — describes how to remove
Chapter 7«My privacy tools» — provides general information on additional
Chapter 8«Acronis Pop-up Blocker» — describes how to use the Acronis Pop-
Chapter 9«Acronis Drive Cleanser» — provides tools for guaranteed data
Appendix A«Hard Disk Wiping methods» — contains more detailed
Appendix B «Spyware threats glossary» — contains supplemental information
e-mail traces removal.
up your Windows system of all user traces
application usage traces from Windows using the Application Traces
Clean-up Wizard.
tools and wizards that provide the means to completely delete data from
your PC, either with the suite installed, or just from a bootable diskette.
up Blocker.
destruction on selected drives or partitions.
information about methods of guaranteed confidential data destruction on a
PC hard disk.
on the most popular spyware and spyware parasites that Acronis Privacy
Expert Suite protects you from.
System requirements
To take full advantage of Acronis Privacy Expert Suite, you should have:
a PC-compatible computer with a Pentium CPU or equivalent
32 MB RAM
a floppy or a CD-RW drive
VGA monitor
a mouse (recommended)
Microsoft Windows 98/Me/NT/2000/XP/;
Microsoft Windows NT Server/2000 Server/2000 Advanced Server/Windows
2003 Server.
Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher for correct Pop-up Blocker operation
Software use conditions
The conditions for use of Acronis Privacy Expert Suite are listed in the supplied
«License Agreement». The registration card that came with the software is your
proof that you legally purchased the suite. Each registration card has a unique
number.
Based on current legislation, the «License Agreement» is considered as a
contract between the user and software vendor. Violation of the contract may
lead to prosecution.
Illegal use or distribution of software is a violation of the law and will be
prosecuted.
10 Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2005
Technical support
Users who have legally purchased and registered their copy of Acronis Privacy
Expert S uite will receive free e-mail and fax technical support from Acronis. If
you have problems installing or using the system that you cannot resolve with the
help of this guide and rea dme file, please contact technical support. You will need
to provide the registration number of your Acro nis Privacy Expert Suite supplied
with this package.
Introduction
Support URL: http://www.acronis.com/support/
E-mail:
support@acronis.com
Fax: (650) 875-7587
Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2005 11
Installing Acronis Privacy Expert Suite
Chapter 1. Installing Acronis Privacy
Expert Suite
1.1 Installing the system
Insert the installation CD-ROM into your drive and run the program. Please
carefully follow all instructions shown in the installation wizard.
During the installation, you will be prompted to create a bootable diskette or CD
with Acronis Privacy Expert Suite. Using this disk, you will be able to easily and
securely destroy information, even on a PC that doesn’t have Acronis Privacy
Expert Suite installed. If you don't want to create this diskette immediately, you
will be able to do it later using the Bootable Media Builder feature included with
the suite.
Having answered all the questions in the installation wizard and copied Acronis
Privacy Expert Suite files to the hard disk, you must reboot your PC.
Do not forget to remove the installation CD from the drive before you restart your PC to
avoid booting from this CD.
1.2 Updating and recovering Acronis Privacy Expert Suite
You can update or reinstall Acroni s Privacy Ex pert Suite i f needed. To do this,
launch the installation program again.
After that, the software will determine that the suite has already been installed to
your PC and ask if you want to recover (update) or remove it from the disk.
In the installation wizard window, select Repair/update Acronis Privacy Expert Suite
and click Next. All files will be copied to your hard disk again to restore or to
update the software.
1.3 Removing the software
Select Acronis Æ Privacy Expert Suite Æ Remove Acronis Privacy Expert Suite
from the Programs menu. You will see the dialog box to confirm removal of the
software from your PC hard disk.
To confirm removal, click Yes. Acronis Privacy Expert Suite will be removed
completely from your PC.
12 Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2005
Working with Acronis Privacy Expert Suite
Chapter 2. Working with Acronis Privacy
Expert Suite
2.1 Getting started
The Acronis Privacy Expert Suite user interface features standard Windows XP
icon graphical user interface (GUI) elements.
2.2 Working in the main program window
Work takes place in the main program window that is invoked after the suite is
launched by selecting Start
Acronis Privacy Expert Suite or double-clicking the respective desktop
shortcut.
Æ All programs Æ Acronis Æ PrivacyExpert Æ
Acronis Privacy Expert Suite main window
Users can choose between two window layouts. By default, the program offers
the standard Category View traditional for Windows XP, in which all functional
elements are grouped by their category. If needed, a user can switch to the
Classic View that is more familiar to users of previous versions of Acronis Privacy
Expert Suite. To do this, select View settings
Later in this guide, the differences related to the Classic View of Acronis Privacy Expert
Suite will be marked by
In the main program window, you will see two major groups of PC cleaning tools.
The Spyware group includes:
Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2005 13
icon.
Æ Switch to classic view.
Working with Acronis Privacy Expert Suite
Spyware Removal – removes spyware, including applications and parasites
that threaten information confidentiality by operating without the user’s
knowledge.
Spyware Shield – monitors your PC and prevents spyware from getting into
it.
The Privacy group includes:
Internet Clean-up – completely removes traces of Internet and e-mail
usage.
System Clean-up – guaranteed to clean Windows components of any
traces of user work.
Application Traces Clean-up – removes traces of application usage.
My Privacy Tools – provides additional means of enforcing user data
confidentiality, including Acronis Privacy Expert Pop-up Blocker (see Chapter
8«Acronis Pop-up Blocker») and Acronis Drive Cleanser that completely clean
up user hard disk without the possibility of recovering information (see
Chapter 9«Acronis Drive Cleanser»).
Use Go back, Go forward and Home Toolbar buttons to switch between
categories and to return to the main program window. You can also return
to the main program window using Other categories Sidebar button.
2.3 Basic operation principles
In Acronis Privacy Expert Suite, the primary operations are performed using
user-friendly wizards:
Spyware Removal Wizard – removes unwanted spyware and parasites
System Clean-up Wizard – completely cleans Windows components of
traces of user work, including temporary files, recently used files list, file
search string, Windows Recycle Bin, etc
Internet Clean-up Wizard – quickly removes traces of Internet and e-mail
usage
Application Traces Clean-up Wizard – removes traces of application
usage.
All wizards are under user control. Using wizards, you can clean either the entire
category or any of its components.
If you need to:
Check your PC for spyware and remove it if found, select Spyware
Removal in the Spyware group in the main program window
Set up automatic protection of your PC from spyware, select Spyware
Shield in the Spyware group in the main program window
Remove all traces of your work on the Internet and e-mail, select
Internet Clean-up in the Privacy group in the main program window
14 Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2005
Clean Windows components of any traces of user work, select System
Clean-up in the Privacy group in the main program window
Remove application usage traces from your PC, select Application Traces
Clean-up in the Privacy group in the main program window
Additionally, the My Privacy Tools category offers you a number of extra PC
clean-up and protection tools
Block unwanted pop-ups that appear when you load certain Web sites, use
Acronis Pop-up Blocker
Clean up the swap file, run Paging File Cleaner
Securely remove data in the selected partition and/or disk, run Acronis
Drive Cleanser
Remove selected files or folders, so they can't be recovered, run File
Shredder
For more information on wizard usage and settings, see the respective chapters
of this guide.
2.4 Working in Classic View
Working with Acronis Privacy Expert Suite
Unlike the Category View, which has cleanup tools grouped by category, the
Classic View situates them according to their purpose.
Classic View window
While working in this mode, you can use four complete clean-up presets.
If you need to:
Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2005 15
Working with Acronis Privacy Expert Suite
Completely clean the PC, including Windows and Internet components, run Entire
PC Clean-up
Clean your PC of spyware, run Spyware Removal
Clean Windows components along with user files and folders, run System
Clean-up
Remove all traces of your work on the Internet and e-mail, select
Internet Clean-up.
2.5 Acronis Privacy Expert Suite options
If you regularly use Acronis Privacy Expert Suite, you can provide custom
preferences for typical situations.
The Options window can be invoked in different ways:
From the sidebar of the Acronis Privacy Expert Suite main window
From Settings of the main menu
By clicking the Options icon on the Toolbar
2.5.1 General options
The General section contains the following items:
Start Clean-up/Removal Wizard – if you flag this item, Acronis Privacy Expert
Suite will ask each time before it runs the clean-up wizard for the given
component or the entire category. Otherwise, the clean-up will be performed
automatically without user confirmation.
Show Summary – if you flag this item, the program will show you the
clean-up summary after each session.
Treat shortcuts as separate files – if you flag this item, the shortcut target will
be left untouched. Otherwise, target files will be deleted along with the
shortcuts.
2.5.2 Clean-up Options
In the Clean-up Options group, you can set the common data destruction
method that will be used by default for any PC clean-up operation,
independently of category.
In this section, you will see all data destruction methods available in Acronis
Privacy Expert Suite by clicking your mouse on the drop-down list in the
righthand part of the editor.
If you need to ensure:
maximum security while destroying files, select Peter Gutmann’s method (35
data destruction cycles), but please keep in mind that this method requires
the greatest amount of time to complete the task
mid-level security at an average speed of clean-up, select VSITR or Bruce
Schneier’s method (seven data destruction cycles)
16 Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2005
Working with Acronis Privacy Expert Suite
fast PC clean-up with limited security in mind, select any methods that
overwrite in a single pass, two passes or three passes
If you haven't set the common data destruction method yourself, Acronis
Privacy Expert Suite will default to the most popular and generally accepted one:
U.S. Standard, DoD 5220.22-M algorithm (See detailed information in
Appendix A«Hard Disk Wiping methods»).
2.5.3 Scheduled tasks
The scheduled clean-up (see section 0 «Scheduling tasks») might lead to errors
if data to be deleted is used by other programs.
You can set up Acronis Privacy Expert Suite for such situations by selecting from
the following variants:
Ignore
Retry
Cancel
Ask user
2.5.4 Explorer enhancements
Acronis Privacy Expert Suite provides an easy way to delete files quickly and
clean up folders through the Windows Explorer context menu.
To enable these options and to add the context menu commands, mark the
Enable Explorer Enhancements check-box.
The context menu also allows you to clean up the Windows Recycle Bin securely.
For that matter, clean-up preferences can not only include the data destruction
method, but also the destruction method wildcard. Scheduling tasks
Each PC clean-up variant of Acronis Privacy Expert Suite can be executed either
manually o r automatically as scheduled.
Having set PC clean-up as a daily procedure to be performed, for example, at
the end of a workday before powering off the PC, you can be sure that all
evidence of your PC and Internet activity will be removed each day.
Acronis Privacy Expert Suite features a built-in scheduler.
2.5.5 Invoking the scheduler
To set up the clean-up schedule, click the Schedule task sidebar button in the
Acronis Privacy Expert Suite main window.
Having invoked the Scheduler, you will need to select a clean-up variant to
perform at the selected time.
You can:
Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2005 17
Working with Acronis Privacy Expert Suite
Schedule any Quick Task to perform complete or particular clean-up,
including Entire PC Clean-up, Spyware Removal, Internet Clean-up,
System Clean-up and Application Traces Clean-up
Schedule automatic clean-up of any PC components
Scheduler
2.5.6 Scheduled tasks preferences
Having selected the clean-up variant, you will need to set its schedule:
You can select the following variants of automatic clean-up launch:
Do not start automatically
Daily, according to the schedule with the ability to select only workdays or
once every few days
Weekly, according to the schedule with the ability to select particular days,
such as Tuesday and Friday, or once every two or three weeks, etc
Monthly, according to the schedule on the time and day set; The suite
supports clean-up on the <first, second, third, fourth, last> <day of the week>
(Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday), for
example
One time only, at a specific time (hours:minutes) on a particular day
(month/day/year)
When my computer starts
When I log on
18 Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2005
When my computer shuts down
When I log off
Having selected any variant, click Next to set additional parameters on the
second wizard page.
The scheduled clean-up might lead to errors if data to be deleted is used by other
programs.
You can set up Acronis Privacy Expert Suite for such situations. See section Global
settings Æ Scheduled tasks.
2.6 Using the Log
The Log keeps track of all actions performed by Acronis Privacy Expert Suite. It
can provide you with a complete history and reasons for any problems that have
occurred.
Working with Acronis Privacy Expert Suite
Log view window
Log settings enables you to keep track with different degrees of detail. You can
select one of the following variants:
Everything
Important information – error and spyware messages
Nothing
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Working with Acronis Privacy Expert Suite
Log settings
20 Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2005
Spyware removal and Spyware Shield
Chapter 3. Spyware removal and Spyware
Shield
There are many programs that, once on your PC, start working without your
knowledge. Such software can do such things as collect information or change
user settings for the Internet or your system. These programs are called
spyware. For more information on the main spyware types, see Appendix B of
this guide.
Acronis Privacy Expert Suite enables you to completely clean your PC of spyware
and protect it from future intrusions.
How spyware gets on your PC
One of the most common ways that spyware gets on your PC is from new
software installations, in particular freeware and shareware. When you install
such applications, they can implement software modules that collect information
on Web sites you visit, your PC configuration, etc.
Another common source of spyware is peer-to-peer networks, gaming portals
and other Web services.
Sometimes spyware is installed by commercial applications whose makers want
to collect additional information about users, their habits and preferences.
How to recognize spyware?
Though in many cases spyware works without users’ knowledge, there are signs
that you should watch for:
Hard drive LED is blinking even when no programs are run or documents
open
Your PC receives and sends unknown information via the Internet though you
aren’t using a Web browser or e-mail client
The home page setting of your browser has changed without your consent
When you work with certain programs or visit certain Web sites, you see ads
or pop-ups
If you notice some of these activities, you need to run Acronis Privacy Expert
Suite to find and eliminate spyware performing unauthorized operations on your
PC.
If you need to:
Find and remove any type of spyware from your PC, run Spyware removal
(see section 3.1.1 «Removing spyware with the Spyware Removal Wizard»)
Prevent spyware from getting on your PC, enable and set up Spyware
Shield (see section 3.2 «Spyware protection»)
Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2005 21
Spyware removal and Spyware Shield
3.1 Spyware removal
Using Acronis Privacy Expert Suite, you can find and remove spyware from your PC. To do this, select and click Spyware removal in the main program window.
After that, you can either initiate spyware removal with the Spyware Removal
Wizard at once, or set up this wizard.
In the Settings of this component, you can select the spyware type to clean up.
By default, it is set to remove any type of spyware.
3.1.1 Removing spyware with the Spyware Removal Wizard
To run the Spyware Removal Wizard, select Remove Spyware Now in
the Spyware Removal window.
Spyware Removal Wizard
After the wizard is run, your PC will be checked for spyware. The results will be
shown in the righthand part of the wizard window. You will see what spyware
applications are found and which files and registry keys are related to them:
22 Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2005
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