Acronis PRIVACY EXPERT SUITE 9.0 User Manual
User's Guide
Acronis
Privacy Expert Suite 9.0
Compute with confidence
www.acronis.com
Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2005. All rights reserved.
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DOCUMENTATION IS PROVIDED «AS IS» AND ALL EXPRESS OR IMPLIED
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IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT, ARE DISCLAIMED, EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT
THAT SUCH DISCLAIMERS ARE HELD TO BE LEGALLY INVALID.
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 9.0?................................................................................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 program............................................................................................... 12
1.2 Recovering Acronis Privacy Expert Suite................................................................. 13
1.3 Acronis Privacy Expert Suite extracting ...................................................................13
1.4 Removing the software............................................................................................. 14
CHAPTER 2. WORKING WITH ACRONIS PRIVACY EXPERT SUITE .................................... 15
2.1 Getting started..........................................................................................................15
2.2 Working in the main program window......................................................................15
2.3 Basic operation principles ........................................................................................16
2.4 Acronis Privacy Expert Suite options .......................................................................17
2.4.1 General options.................................................................................................................. 17
2.4.2 Clean-up Options ............................................................................................................... 17
2.4.3 Scheduled tasks.................................................................................................................18
2.4.4 Explorer enhancements ..................................................................................................... 18
2.4.5 Invoking the scheduler ....................................................................................................... 18
2.4.6 Scheduled tasks preferences............................................................................................. 19
2.5 Using the Log ...........................................................................................................20
CHAPTER 3. MALICIOUS SOFTWARE REMOVAL AND MALWARE SHIELD...................... 22
How malware gets on your PC.......................................................................................................... 22
How to recognize malware?.............................................................................................................. 22
If you need to:.................................................................................................................................... 23
3.1 Malicious software removal......................................................................................23
3.1.1 Removing malware with the Malicious Software Wizard.....................................................23
3.1.2 Setting up the Malicious Software Wizard.......................................................................... 25
Selecting scanning mode .................................................................................................................. 25
Setting up Deep scanning mode ....................................................................................................... 26
Saving settings.................................................................................................................................. 26
3.2 Malicious software protection...................................................................................26
3.2.1 Enabling Malware shield..................................................................................................... 27
3.2.2 Setting up Malware shield .................................................................................................. 27
Setting up the system protection level............................................................................................... 27
General settings................................................................................................................................ 28
Process analyzing............................................................................................................................. 29
Registry protection ............................................................................................................................ 29
Memory protection............................................................................................................................. 30
File protection.................................................................................................................................... 31
Specified rules................................................................................................................................... 31
History............................................................................................................................................... 32
4 Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2005
Show alerts........................................................................................................................................ 32
3.3 Quarantine................................................................................................................ 33
3.4 Malware definitions updates..................................................................................... 34
3.4.1 Product registration............................................................................................................34
3.4.2 Running Malicious Software Definitions Updates Wizard................................................... 35
3.4.3 Selecting update mode....................................................................................................... 35
3.4.4 Setting the schedule........................................................................................................... 36
CHAPTER 4. INTERNET CLEAN-UP......................................................................................... 37
4.1 General information.................................................................................................. 37
4.2 Using the Internet Clean-up Wizard.........................................................................37
4.3 Internet Clean-up Wizard Settings ........................................................................... 39
4.3.1 «Data Destruction Method» settings .................................................................................. 39
4.3.2 «Internet Browsers» setting................................................................................................ 39
4.3.3 «Address» setting...............................................................................................................40
4.3.4 «File» settings....................................................................................................................42
4.3.5 «Data filter» settings........................................................................................................... 43
4.3.6 «E-mail clients» settings..................................................................................................... 43
4.4 Cleaning up separate Internet components............................................................. 44
CHAPTER 5. SYSTEM CLEAN-UP............................................................................................ 45
5.1 General information.................................................................................................. 45
5.2 Using the System Clean-up Wizard ......................................................................... 45
5.3 System Clean-up Wizard settings............................................................................46
5.3.1 «Data Destruction Method» settings .................................................................................. 47
5.3.2 «Files» settings .................................................................................................................. 47
5.3.3 «Computers» setting.......................................................................................................... 48
5.3.4 «Drive Free Space» setting................................................................................................ 49
5.3.5 «Commands» setting ......................................................................................................... 50
5.3.6 «System Password Filter» setting...................................................................................... 50
5.4 Cleaning up separate system components.............................................................. 51
CHAPTER 6. APPLICATION TRACES CLEAN-UP .................................................................. 52
6.1 General information.................................................................................................. 52
6.2 Using the Application Traces Clean-up Wizard........................................................ 52
6.3 Application Traces Clean-up Wizard settings .......................................................... 53
6.3.1 «Data Destruction Method» settings .................................................................................. 53
6.3.2 Select Applications.............................................................................................................54
6.3.3 «Files» settings .................................................................................................................. 55
CHAPTER 7. MY PRIVACY TOOLS........................................................................................... 57
7.1 General information.................................................................................................. 57
7.2 Using File Shredder.................................................................................................. 58
7.3 Paging file cleaner.................................................................................................... 58
CHAPTER 8. ACRONIS POP-UP BLOCKER............................................................................ 60
8.1 What are pop-ups?................................................................................................... 60
8.2 Acronis Pop-up Blocker............................................................................................ 60
8.3 Acronis Pop-up Blocker settings .............................................................................. 60
8.3.1 Acronis Pop-up Blocker General Settings.......................................................................... 61
8.3.2 User List............................................................................................................................. 61
8.3.3 Black List............................................................................................................................ 61
8.3.4 History................................................................................................................................ 62
8.3.5 Acronis Pop-up Blocker options ......................................................................................... 63
CHAPTER 9. ACRONIS DRIVE CLEANSER............................................................................. 65
9.1 Acronis Drive Cleanser capabilities.......................................................................... 65
9.2 Working with Acronis Drive Cleanser....................................................................... 65
Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2005 5
9.3 Using preset data destruction methods.................................................................... 66
9.4 Creating custom methods of data destruction.......................................................... 68
9.4.1 Creating custom methods .................................................................................................. 68
9.4.2 Method definition: template ................................................................................................ 69
9.4.3 Saving a custom method to file.......................................................................................... 73
9.4.4 Loading a method from a file.............................................................................................. 75
9.5 Creating a bootable diskette or CD with Acronis Drive Cleanser ............................ 75
APPENDIX A. HARD DISK WIPING METHODS........................................................................76
A.1 Information wiping methods’ functioning principles.................................................. 76
A.2 Information wiping methods used by Acronis........................................................... 77
APPENDIX B. MALWARE THREATS GLOSSARY...................................................................78
Adware.............................................................................................................................................. 78
Browser Helper Objects..................................................................................................................... 78
Browser hijackers.............................................................................................................................. 78
Commercial keylogger....................................................................................................................... 78
Dialers............................................................................................................................................... 78
Exploit/Security holes........................................................................................................................79
Backdoor...........................................................................................................................................79
Sniffers.............................................................................................................................................. 79
Spyware............................................................................................................................................ 79
Toolbars ............................................................................................................................................ 79
Trojan Horses (Trojans) .................................................................................................................... 79
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 malicious software that secretly operates on a user’s PC
Proactive protection from malicious software 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 malware
— malicious 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
potentially could leave lots of important and confidential information on the
old drive that can be recovered, even if you reformat the drive.
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 9.0?
Acronis Privacy Expert Suite has many new features that make it a fully
integrated software suite. They include:
User-friendly and simple wizards that quickly remove all traces of user
actions from PCs quickly, efficiently and effectively
Improved Malicious Software Wizard that scans your computer for
malicious software and moves it in the Quarantine folder
Fully new Malware shield – continuous malicious software protection that
now offers multiple levels of security
Daily updated malware definitions base
Quarantine feature enables the user restore and remove malicious objects
(files, registry keys etc.), deleted by malicious software removal operations
Updated Acronis Pop-up Blocker - convenient and powerful tool protecting
you from importunate pop-up advertising
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 malicious software threats using the Malicious
Software Wizard
to protect your PC from malware threats using Malware 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 «Malicious software removal and Malware shield» — describes
malicious software removal and Malware 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-
0«Options
Acronis Drive Cleanser» — provides tools for guaranteed data destruction on
Appendix A«Hard Disk Wiping methods» — contains more detailed
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.
selected drives or partitions.
information about methods of guaranteed confidential data destruction on a
PC hard disk.
Appendix B «Malware threats glossary» — contains supplemental information
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
a mouse (recommended)
Microsoft Windows 98/Me/NT/2000/XP/ or
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.
10 Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2005
Introduction
Illegal use or distribution of software is a violation of the law and will be
prosecuted.
Technical support
Users who have legally purchased and registered their copy of Acro ni s P ri va cy E xpe rt Su it e
will receive free technical support from Acronis. If you have installation or working
problems that you can’t solve by yourself using this manual and the readme.txt file, email the tec hnical s u pport team. You will need to provide the serial number of your A c roni s
Privacy Expert Suite copy bundled with the program.
Before you do this, you will have to register your copy at
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/my/products/registration/
Support URL:
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/my/support/
Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2005 11
Installing Acronis Privacy Expert Suite
Chapter 1. Installing Acronis Privacy
Expert Suite
1.1 Installing the program
To install Acronis Privacy Expert Suite:
1. Run the setup file.
2. In the Install Menu, click on the Install Acronis Privacy Expert
Suite.
3. Read and accept the terms of the license agreement, then click Next.
4. Enter the serial number provided with product.
5. In the Choose setup type window, choose setup type:
Typical - installs most common program features (recommended
for most users).
Custom - allows users to choose program features to install and
select a location for setup (recommended for advanced users). If
you pick Custom, you can select components to install. You can
even install only one program component and it will work as a
standalone program (for example, you can install only the Acronis
Pop-up Blocker to block the annoying pop-ups).
Complete - all program features will be installed (requires the
most disk space).
6. In the Select Administrators Options window, choose Install for all
users or Install for the currently logged-in user, then click Next.
7. Click Proceed to begin installation. To make changes in the setup,
use Back and Next buttons.
8. After installation, reboot your PC. If you installed program from the
installation CD, please, do not forget to remove this CD from the drive
before you restart your PC to avoid booting from this CD.
12 Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2005
Acronis Privacy Expert Suite install menu
If you run the Acronis Privacy Expert Suite under Windows 98 or Windows NT 4.0, then
make sure that Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) version 2.5 is installed on
your computer. To install MDAC on your computer, run the "mdac.exe" file that could be
found on your PC in the Acronis Privacy Expert Suite installation folder. For example,
"C:\Program Files\Acronis\PrivacyExpert\mdac.exe
Acronis Privacy Expert Suite also supports the Microsoft Installer utility
(msiexec.exe) with all its commands.
1.2 Recovering Acronis Privacy Expert Suite
If the Acronis Privacy Expert Suite ceased running or produces errors, its files
might be corrupted. To repair this problem, you first have to recover the program.
To do this run the Acronis Privacy Expert Suite installer again. It will detect
Acronis Privacy Expert Suite on your computer and will ask you if you want to
repair or remove it.
1.3 Acronis Privacy Expert Suite extracting
Advanced users may save the .msi (Microsoft Installer) file needed for the
installation of Acronis Privacy Expert Suite on a local or network drive for the
further manual installation of the program.
To do this:
1. In the install menu, right click on the Install Acronis Privacy Expert
Suite and select Extract
2. Select the location where you want to save the setup file and press the
Save button
3. The following .msi file will be extracted: AcronisPrivacyExpert.msi
Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2005 13
Installing Acronis Privacy Expert Suite
1.4 Removing the software
To remove Acronis Privacy Expert Suite from your PC, select Start → Settings
→ Control Panel → Add or Remove Programs → Acronis Privacy Expert
Suite → Remove. You will see a dialog to confirm the program removal. Click
Yes to confirm and Acronis Privacy Expert Suite will be completely removed. You
may have to reboot your computer afterwards to complete the task.
14 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
In the main program window, you will see two major groups of PC cleaning tools.
The Malicious software group includes:
Malicious Software Removal – removes malware, including applications
and spyware that threaten information confidentiality by operating without
the user’s knowledge.
The Privacy group includes:
Internet Clean-up – completely removes traces of Internet and e-mail
usage.
Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2005 15
Æ Switch to classic view.
Working with Acronis Privacy Expert Suite
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, Acronis Drive Cleanser that completely clean up user hard disk
without the possibility of recovering information (see 0«Options
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:
Malicious Software Wizard – removes unwanted malware and spyware
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 malicious software and remove it if found, select
Malicious Software Removal in the Malicious software 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
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 (from your Internet Explorer session).
Clean up the swap file, run Paging File Cleaner
16 Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2005
Working with Acronis Privacy Expert Suite
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 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
2.4.1 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.
2.4.2 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)
Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2005 17
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»).
2.4.3 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
2.4.4 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.
2.4.5 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.
18 Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2005
Working with Acronis Privacy Expert Suite
You can:
Schedule any Quick Task to perform complete or particular clean-up,
including Entire PC Clean-up, Malicious software Removal, Internet
Clean-up, System Clean-up and Application Traces Clean-up
Schedule automatic clean-up of any PC components
Scheduler
2.4.6 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)
Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2005 19
Working with Acronis Privacy Expert Suite
When my computer starts
When I log on
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.
2.5 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.
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 malware messages
20 Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2005
Nothing
Working with Acronis Privacy Expert Suite
Log settings
Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2005 21
Malicious software removal and Malware shield
Chapter 3. Malicious software removal and
Malware 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
malicious software or malware. For more information on the main malware
types, see Appendix B of this guide.
Acronis Privacy Expert Suite enables you to completely clean your PC of
malicious software and protect it from future intrusions.
How malware gets on your PC
One of the most common ways that malicious software 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.
Also malicious software can penetrate your computer via e-mail, for example,
when you open e-mail attachments. In this way, malware is similar to a virus,
but your antivirus software might not find it.
Another common source of malicious software is peer-to-peer networks, gaming
portals and other Web services.
Sometimes malicious software is installed by commercial applications whose
makers want to collect additional information about users, their habits and
preferences.
Poorly secured networks, network shares and software vulnerability are the
elements, making easier for malicious software to get on a computer and spread
over the network.
How to recognize malware?
Though in many cases malicious software 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 malicious software performing unauthorized
operations on your PC.
22 Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2005
Malicious software removal and Malware shield
If you need to:
Find and remove any type of malicious software from your PC, run
Malicious Software Removal (see section 3.1.1 «Removing malware with
the Malicious Software Wizard»)
Prevent malware from getting on your PC, enable and set up Malware
shield (see section 3.2 «Malicious software protection»)
3.1 Malicious software removal
Using Acronis Privacy Expert Suite, you can find and remove malicious software
from your PC. To do this, select and click Malicious software removal in the
main program window.
After that, you can either initiate malicious software removal with the Malicious
Software Wizard at once, or configure this wizard.
With the Configurate M al ic io us S of tw ar e Re mo va l Options, you can select
the malicious software type to clean up. By default, it is set to remove any type
of malicious software.
Also you can Update spyware definitions and remove/recover malicious
objects stored in Quarantine.
3.1.1 Removing malware with the Malicious Software Wizard
To run the Malicious Software Wizard, select Remove Malicious
Software Now in the Malicious software Removal window.
Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2005 23
Malicious software removal and Malware shield
Malicious Software Wizard
After the wizard is run, your PC will be checked for malicious software. The
results will be shown in the righthand part of the wizard window. You will see
what malicious software applications are found and which files and registry keys
are related to them:
Malicious software scanning results
Information about particular malicious software applications will be available in
the lefthand part of the wizard window after you select malicious software from
the list with a mouse.
All malicious software found will be automatically checked for removal. If you,
want to leave some malicious applications or their components, uncheck them in
the resulting list. (Some common applications are sometimes identified as
malware. This option gives you the ability to keep those programs and/or
settings.)
24 Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2005
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