What are ya'll's thoughts/experiences regarding automated on-line analysis of "HiJackThis" logs.

I have used a couple sites before, primarily IamNotaGeek.com's parse program. They seem to be reasonably effective, and have not advised me to fix anything that has screwed up my system.

I understand that HiJackThis is a powerful tool, and can easily damage your system if the wrong items are "fixed". But with a little research and understanding of the log items before applying "fixes", it seems to have a place as a quick means of ID'ing malicious items.

Or is this a case of "a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing"...

Any thoughts...:fb:

Another case of "a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing".

Would you trust your taxes to some script someone created online? You plug in your numbers, and it generates a log that tells you what to do with your taxes, then you file based on that? You'll need to wonder: Is it up to date with current tax law? What happens if I get audited due to its screw up? What if they miss something that ends up costing me out the ass later?

I have seen several automated systems, one is at hijackthis.de. I don't use them, because they always miss the nastiest of the nasties. The worst of the worst that you need to worry about typically use random filenames that the automated scripts just can't detect.

Hijackthis is a serious piece of software that you can really screw up your system with. I think it's always best to run the logs by someone who deals with them daily before you use the program. If you trust your system's health to a log parser on the web, more power to you. I think it's in poor judgement though. I'd tell people to go to Google.com and lookup the *.exe *.dll or other file in each line first before using a script. at least then you'll know what each item is and whether you should keep it. But it still won't tell you what you need to do if, for example, something malicious shows up in the O20, O21 or O23 lines. Usually special tactics are required in those cases.

Shifty, thanks for the quick response. I agree with you 100%. The reason I asked is because before I found this board, I had 2 options available. Either use the auto-parse, or post a log to an unfamiliar board/forum. I had no clue who or what would review it and whether their recommendations could be trusted. I saw the auto-lyzer as the lesser of 2 possible evils. :crazy:

I have learned a great deal in the past few months simply by reading all of the various posts in this forum. You seem to give solid advice, and I respect you for that.

You must love your work, to spend your free time helping folks like me work out their screw-ups (or preferably avoid them in the 1st place). It seems like you carry a heavy load of responses in this forum. But, I guess this IS a truck board, after all. I can appreciate the time you, and others, spend reviewing logs, walking us thru procedures, referring to FAQ's, ect.

I know I have left others out by not recognizing their contributions. It is by all means unintentional. :)

The GOOD NEWS is I don't have any issues with my 'puter now. I hope by following the good advice here, I can keep it that way. :c2:

:metal: :metal: :metal:

This is one of two forums that I spend a lot of time helping out on. I do enjoy it, and I love teaching (or trying to teach) people new things about something that is in many households and has such potential to be misused/abused/etc.

Thanks for the props. I've seen both Shane and CPNE chip in a lot of opinions and advice, to name a couple. Both are typically really solid. There are a lot of guys around here I'm probably missing as well, there is a huge knowledge base. I would have never stuck around if so many peopel weren't willing to help me with my issues (i.e. the truck :D), so ... it all balances out, right?

There is a lot of good info here. If you ever have any questions, I'm always happy to try to answer them, and I'll go look them up if I don't know the answer (helps me learn more).

I recognize I'd never be where I am today if it were not for people asking questions and having problems ;)