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    Virus in HP Games? :O

    Discussion in 'HP' started by ashwin421, Jun 5, 2011.

  1. ashwin421

    ashwin421 Notebook Consultant

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    I know this sounds totally stupid and i myself kinna feel foolish to read this topic ! But the strange truth is,i just got my laptop 2 days back and installed K7 anti virus today...just did a complete scan of my system and already got 5 virus threats :O And the surprising thing is,the reports suggest that 2 of the viruses are found in HP Games ( precisely,Dora thingy and Wheel of fortune 2 ) I deleted both the games immediately,but the other 3 viruses,which are due to WildTangent (which powers the HP Games) as the K7 shows, cannot be found :'( It just displays "File not found" ! What should i do now? Help please
     
    ashwin421, Jun 5, 2011
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  2. Beradon

    Beradon Notebook Evangelist

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    WildTangent is one of those gray area type game providers. A lot of manufacturers include them with their laptops, a lot of companies toss them into their installers. They arent exactly viruses, but they do have some adware/spyware type components to them.

    I dont like WildTangent and I remove it whenever I see it on any machine I use whether or not it is mine.
     
    Beradon, Jun 5, 2011
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  3. fcw0

    fcw0 Notebook Geek

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    It's probably your virus scanner giving false positives. download a free anti-virus like Avast and do another scan with that, and I can almost assure you that the files will not be shown as threatening.
     
    fcw0, Jun 5, 2011
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  4. Kahn20

    Kahn20 Notebook Consultant

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    Avast also picked up HP Games when I got my dv7. I was quite surprised when I found out the "HP Games" were from WildTangent, which is basically a known spyware company.

    I would recommend doing a Minimized System Image through your HP Recovery Manager and get rid of all the bloatware. Though just in case something happens during the process, I would create recovery disks and back up your SwSetup in C:\ first.
     
    Kahn20, Jun 5, 2011
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  5. ashwin421

    ashwin421 Notebook Consultant

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    Thanks for your advise guys ! What do you guys recommend me to do? Create a backup in one of the laptops drives itself? And after that,how do i remove Wild Tangent ?
     
    ashwin421, Jun 5, 2011
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  6. Kahn20

    Kahn20 Notebook Consultant

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    As I said, create your recovery disks (should take 3 standard DVDs), back up your SwSetup (HP applications) folder in C: to a CD or USB drive, and then use the HP Recovery Manager to restore your computer to a Minimized System Image. Seems to be what most people are doing here, and people have reported improved performance afterward.
     
    Kahn20, Jun 5, 2011
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  7. ashwin421

    ashwin421 Notebook Consultant

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    And what exactly does a "minimized sysytem image" mean? Does it actually mean that i get rid of that WildTangent crap? Excuse my ignorance !
     
    ashwin421, Jun 5, 2011
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  8. Kahn20

    Kahn20 Notebook Consultant

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    Yes. It removes a lot of the unwanted applications you get with the factory configuration, while still keeping the various drivers that were installed, so you don't have to hunt for them. Then you can use your SwSetup folder to reinstall only the HP applications that you choose.
     
    Kahn20, Jun 5, 2011
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  9. ashwin421

    ashwin421 Notebook Consultant

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    Gotcha ! Thanks :) Will do that ASAP ! Around 10 PM here and cant get some empty DVDs now ! And one last question,well..what about other stuff i installed on my laptop? Like i installed this anti virus which is just for 1 user..So obviously next time,i install it,the key wont be valid,right?
     
    ashwin421, Jun 5, 2011
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  10. fiveoneooo

    fiveoneooo Notebook Consultant

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    Get microsoft security essentials, it's a good lightweight antivirus
     
    fiveoneooo, Jun 5, 2011
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