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Manage and Configure Ad Watch Preferences





In an effort to make Ad-Watch both easier to use and to configure, we have separated most of the Ad-Watch configurations and placed them within the Ad-Watch user interface .





Buttons

  • ? - show quick help for Ad-Watch
  • Events - Switches to the Ad-Watch Event Log screen
  • Options - Takes you to the Options screen
  • Rule Editor - Takes you to the Rule Editor
  • Filter - Takes you to the Filter screen
  • Pop-ups - Takes you to the Pop-ups screen
  • Statistics - Takes you to the Statistics screen
  • Active - This will turn Ad-Watch OnOff without closing it
  • Automatic - Suspicious activity will be blocked automatically

Options

Activity
  • Load Ad-Watch on Windows start up - If activated, Ad-Watch will start with Windows
  • Ad-Watch Window always on top - This option will force the Ad-Watch event log to stay on top of all other open windows when restored
  • Restore Window on new events - This will cause the Ad-Watch event log window to open only if a new event has been detected
Realtime Performance

These settings do not imply that Ad-Watch will not protect your system with lower priority levels, just that the frequency of background scans will be fewer. The lower settings are appropriate for older systems or those with limited resources. Adjust according to your requirements and preferences.

  • Low - Ad-Watch will monitor your system with the lowest priority level
  • Medium - Ad-Watch will monitor your system with a normal priority level
  • High - Ad-Watch will monitor your system with the highest priority level
Blocking Options
  • Lock Start-up sections - The start up (run) sections of the registry will be locked. No changes will be permitted.
  • Lock Executable File Associations - Blocks (only) the most common associations (used by worms and viruses) so that they cannot stealthily change executable, shortcut, and registry file associations.
  • Block Possible Browser Hijack Attempts - Stops suspicious files from attaching to and taking over the browser.
  • Block Suspicious Processes - Ad-Watch will block all suspicious processes on the system.
  • Block Tracking Cookies - Ad-Watch will block known tracking cookies. If Ad-Watch is turned off and known tracking cookies are installed, when you next activate Ad-Watch these cookies will automatically be detected and deleted (blocked).
  • Activate Pop-up blocker - The pop-up blocking capability in Ad-Watch will be turned on
Logging & Maintenance
  • Log Blocked Registry Activities - Attempted changes to your registry will be shown in the event log window. If Event History logging is active, the event(s) will be appended to the Event History log.
  • Log Blocked Tracking Cookies - Blocked tracking cookies will be shown in the event log window. If Event History logging is active, the event(s) will be appended to the Event History log.
  • Log Blocked Memory Activities - Blocked processes will be shown in the event log window. If Event History logging is active, the event(s) will be appended to the Event History log.
  • Log Blocked Pop-ups - All pop-ups blocked will be shown in the event log window. If Event History logging is active, the event(s) will be appended to the Event History log.
  • Log Internal Events - Ad-Watch initialization information will be shown in the event log window. If Event History logging is active, the event(s) will be appended to the Event History log.
Event-History
  • Create Event-History - Creates a continuous log of blocked content in the specified location
  • View Current Event History - Opens the Event History log.
  • Clear Event History: Clears the contents of the Event History log.




Rule Editor

By defining rules the user can configure Ad-Watch to pre-allow changes to the registry. You can set up rules to allow certain registry keys and/or registry values to be changed.

  • Use smart IE event filtering - Ad-Watch ignores/allows standard IE events which occur whenever any IE setting changes such as font size, toolbar layout etc.
  • Use custom ruleset - Ad-Watch uses rules defined by the user. This can be used with the smart filtering option
  • Delete Rule - Deletes the selected rule
  • New Rule - Opens the dialog window Add New Rule where you can create new rules




Filter

This is where the processes are listed if you choose to allow them when they are reported by Ad-Watch.

Note! You must have the Automatic setting disabled before the Allow or Block options will be available when Ad-Watch reports an event.

If you have a program that attempts to load a process in the computer's memory and is on the target list, it will be blocked unless you set Ad-Aware and Ad-Watch up like this:

  1. Double click the Ad-Watch Tray Icon to open the Ad-Watch window
  2. Uncheck the "Automatic" button
  3. Go to the Ad-Watch options, make sure that "Block suspicious processes" is checked
  4. Click "Proceed"
  5. Launch the program you want to allow. If suspicious activity, i.e. a memory process of a targeted object attempting to load is detected a warning will appear. You will then be allowed to choose to Block or Allow that process.

    a. To allow the process click "Allow". Allowed processes will be added to the Ad-Watch Filter list.

    b. To deny or block the process click "Block".





Pop-ups Screen

This is the "black list" of web sites that Ad-Watch blocks. The URLs are stored in the sites.txt file in your Ad-Aware SE directory.

The pop-up blocking is designed to be user configurable and sites can easily be added to or removed from the sites list. You can also create a custom sites file in Notepad. The file should contain one partial or full domain name per line. You cannot put two domains on the same line. Also when manually editing the sites.txt file or creating a custom file, do not use the enter key at the end of the edited line. Tip! If there is a site t hat you do not want to be viewed on the computer, add the URL of that site to the sites list. This can be useful for Parental Blocking, etc

  • Delete URL - Delete the selected URL from the site list.
  • New URL - Opens a dialog window where you enter a partial or complete URL. Click on "Add URL" to include it in the site list.




Statistics

    Shows the total statistics for Ad-Watch blocking and filtering.

    • Total Ad-Watch Events - Total number of Ad-Watch Events (internal, accepted and blocked)
    • Blocked - Total number of events that have been blocked by the user
    • Accepted - Total number of events that have been accepted by the user
    • Processes Blocked - Total number of processes blocked
    • Browser Hijack Attempts Blocked - Total number of attempted browser hijacks blocked
    • Other Registry Events Blocked - Total number of blocked registry changes not specifically defined in the definitions file
    • Tracking Cookies Blocked - Total number of tracking cookies blocked
    • Pop-ups Blocked - Total number of pop-ups blocked
    • Internal Events - Initialization events, warnings and Ad-Aware specific events
    • Export As Text file - Exports the Ad-Watch statistics to a text file
    • Reset Statistics - Resets the statistics to zero


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