PrivaZer Discussion Thread

It's a bit late now for the AVs to issue warnings because the last time this file was changed was April 29 2014.
I'd say it's a false positive (or there's a lot of us with a Trojan on our systems).
J

 

It looks like that file along with with the patch.exe file are part of updates. My created date showed the date I updated. I have multiple versions on different computers and the created dates of those files on each match the date of installation. I also scanned a version on one of my VM's installed at the end of October and that was fine.

Also, it may not make a difference anyway since today I updated to the latest version 2.25 that was released yesterday, installed, re-scanned the file and it did not alert. So it very likely was a false positive with version 2.24.2

Thanks for your replay

 

Hello,

we contacted Bitdefender (= engine of Emsisoft AntiMalware). They admit that was a false positive.

 

Hi jwcca

Very good point there ! ( sorry about the **** s , I don't know how to highlight on here )
Now that I've read it , it makes part of my original question look a bit dumb !
Oh well .... live and learn
.....thanks again for the tips and advice
much appreciated.

 

I was poking around my PrivaZer settings after the most recent update (which is working well on W7x64) and found an anomaly. I have registry backups set to delete older than 1 month yet I see in the list of backups that this is apparently not happening, I have backups going back to September. Is this a bug or do I have something set incorrectly?

Regards

 

Guess it's a bug that hasn't been noticed until you did. I see that mine go back to Oct. 2013. Obviously there's no point in keeping them and it's easy to delete them manually.

(or the bug needs to be fixed, actually I can see this as a precautionary 'bug' i.e. "let's not really delete the old registry files just in case...." but over a years worth is a bit much of wasted MBs))

J

 

No, not dumb, sometimes it just need a second opinion... better to ask than get into trouble
J

 

Hi Guys & Gals,

I'm new to using PrivaZer (it seems to be a great little program by the way ) and am wondering if PrivaZer could be responsible for deleting my Windows Live Mail Calendar events? I think I have found how not to clean WLM, but I thought I'd check with you guys first.

TIA

Krusty

 

Hello Krusty,

great to have you on board !
PrivaZer is not intended to delete your calendar events (it is not even an option in PrivaZer).
I presume that your calendar database got corrupted for an unknown reason (faulty sector, write failure,...).
Did you manage to resync it?

 

Hello The PrivaZer Team,

Hmm, OK. Luckily I don't have a lot of information / events stored in WLM calender so I have been able to re-create them. I will have to keep an eye on things for a while in case it happens again. I'm sorry for suspecting your great program.

Cheers,
Krusty

 

What are the technical or operational differences between the donors version and the non-donors version?

 

Hello,

no difference yet except that it is harder for us to code & survive if we receive no donations.

 

OK.

Some bugs and suggestions:

1- Privazer presents me with a blank manila section I can't click out of when I select INDEXING and then OPTIONS>. This on a classic windows XP system. The LEARN MORE> and XP INDEXING> choices work correctly.

2- ShellBags Analyzer needs to have shift-click capabilities and some sort os .INI file to save the previously used configuration.

3- I think the whole layout of Privazer is just a little on the busy side. Too many sequential screens to work through. Make it more like ccleaner. We all have our personal opinions on how something should work, and that is all it is, an opinion.

4- Both programs should make more use of right click options.

5- ShellBags Analyzer seems to open in the center of my 2-screen monitor setup. Half on one monitor, half on the other. Not a dealbreaker, just an annoying detail - ya'gotta move it to one monitor or the other and maximize it to start working with it.

I make these comments and criticisms in hopes of improving the friendliness and quality of these programs.

 

I used CCleaner for years and liked it ..... and yes I agree , it's got an easy to use interface.
Then I discovered PrivaZer and found that it does a WAY better job .
Try running them both in sequence and see how much PrivaZer finds AFTER CCleaner has
supposedly removed all privacy related traces !

Personally I give credit to PrivaZer for NOT making a clone of CCleaner and it's interface ,
and going with their own design.
The only minor irritation for me is that I always forget to find and check the necessary box on the
occasions when I want to " Delete pagefile.sys on shutdown "

 

Oh I tend to agree!

CCleaner is about cleaning up free space and getting rid of temporary files. That they advertise privacy is just marketing speak getting out of hand. The only way to secure your system is by using FDE or conducting a forensic wipe of all sectors.

Privazer is more about cleaning up privacy traces and remnants. That it cleans some free space is almost an afterthought, too.

 

Hi,

Where in the program is the list of backups that privazer keeps...can,t find it..

Thanks

 

If you are talking about registry backups it is located in advanced options > general > registry backups (see).

 

If you are talking about registry backups it is located in advanced options > general > registry backups (see)......Was having a bad day.....thanks for that..should have known!!

 

After posting at Dec 12, 2014 I postponed this subject. With the help of your screenshot, I was able now to remove selectively the AppCompatCache key (I looked in the Registry before reboot). But PrivaZer did that only in the CurrentControlSet section and after a reboot it’s back with still the obsolete path that I want to cleanup.
Well, that path is also in the AppCompatCache key in the ControlSet002 section and in a ProgramsCache key elsewhere. And deleting that keys was much easier by using an advanced Registry editor and simply deleting that items.

So, I am still looking for a possibility to really cleanup or edit the content of that caches.

Note. I don’t think that obsolete paths will give any system trouble, but they are sometimes annoying during trouble-shooting. And perhaps it can be a privacy issue too.

 

Hello,

entries in ProgramsCache, ProgramsCacheSMP, ProgramsCacheTBP keys are also removed securely by PrivaZer.
See enclosed screenshot.

For AppCompatCache key in the ControlSet002 section, we will investigate.
Thanks @cdgmol, we keep you informed.

 

Using the “screenshot way” I could remove the ProgramsCache key, but after a reboot the same result as after manually deleting that key in the Registry. So, the “question” is where that data is stored or how the system can rebuild the cache .

Thinking about that question, I checked the Start Menu(‘s) and found some links to the old location. After removing that old links, deleting the caches (manually) and rebooting the ProgramsCache is OK now; however, the AppCompatCache keys still contain the obsolete path.

Note. Folder C:\Windows\AppCompat\Programs contains 2 files: RecentFileCache.bcf is unreadable and AEINV_PREVIOUS.xml does not contain that obsolete path. Looking with a hex editor in RecentFileCache.bcf, I think that the obsolete path (or actual path or program name) is not there.
Furthermore, I found 9x file appcompat.txt on my system, but none of them contains a related string.

 

This may have mentioned before but I just noticed today. If I set the pagefile delete option to "At next PC shutdown only", after a reboot the selection is set to "At each PC shutdown" and stays until manually unchecked.

 

Hello @focus,

please check "At next PC shutdown only" as pagefile delete option in PrivaZer and verify that the following value exists in your registry :
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce\000ClearPageFileAtShutdown

and that this file exists : %LocalAppData%\000ClearPageFileAtShutdown

Keep us informed.

 

Two registry entries (snapshot), and yes the appdata file is there.