Use Ad-Aware to Cover Your Tracks

PC World Staff

You probably know that Lavasoft's Ad-Aware program sniffs out adware on your system, but did you know that the free utility can also erase your browser's search and Address histories, eliminate Word's list of recently opened documents, and clear the record of files played in Windows Media Player? These privacy protectors, and many others, are available every time you complete an Ad-Aware scan.

After you download and install the program, choose the second button from the top-right corner to open the integrated WebUpdate tool, and ensure that you have the most recent list of adware definitions. With your new definitions in place, click the Scan now button on the left, choose Perform smart system scan, and click Next. When the scan finishes, click Next again to see the scan results.

The entries listed under the Critical Objects tab are files that Ad-Aware has identified as potential threats to your privacy. Use the program's Knowledge Base and Threat Assessment Chart to determine whether to delete the files: Click Help, Contents, double-click Support, and choose either entry to view more information. (Note that many of the "threats" may be relatively harmless tracking cookies that you might find useful when you return to the sites that left them. For example, a cookie left by a shopping site may display items similar to those you've recently purchased on the site.) Check the files you want to delete, and choose Quarantine.

Now click the Negligible Objects tab to see the 'Most Recently Used' files list. The list tracks the documents you've opened lately in such applications as Adobe Reader and Microsoft Office, the terms you've entered in your browser's search and Address fields, and your file-download history, among other activities. Check the items you'd like to erase, click Quarantine, give the file a name (such as old history), and click OK twice. Choose Next and OK once more to view the scan results.