See Also
© 2006 David R. Snow. All rights reserved.
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Instructions for Using WinMaven
WinMaven is an advanced Windows configuration utility for use with windows 2000, Windows XP and higher. It has been designed specifically for troubleshooting startup and browsing issues related to malware, and especially problems caused by spyware and adware. When troubleshooting Windows with WinMaven, the user can make changes in Windows over which startup programs, services and DLL's are loaded when Windows loads. WinMaven can also change the setting for which extensions are loaded when Internet Explorer is opened. With WinMaven it is also possible to check a number of other system settings. In this way it is possible to determine which items are causing problems. By turning off a startup item that is causing a problem it may be possible to get a non-booting system to boot, or get to where one can browse the Internet so as to be able to download software that is specialized in removing malware.
Upon starting, Windows uses values in the registry as well as information stored in certain .ini files and Startup folders to determine which items to load. Spyware, adware and viruses--collectively knows as malware--use these same files and keys to get themselves started. WinMaven examines a number of these registry keys, files and folders and lists the contents. WinMaven skips over known Windows system entries and a number of entries it knows belong there, and lists the rest. The remaining entries belong to programs the user has installed as well a malware. The user must then determine which are software he wants to run, and which belong to malware. This can be accomplished by looking up the items or by selectively disabling them to determine the results. Google is an excellent source of information about which items are malware.
When WinMaven displays the items it has found grouped by type in pages, with a separate line for each item. Next to the entries for these items there is a check box. If you uncheck an item, at first nothing happens. When you then click on Apply WinMaven removes the item from the corresponding registry key or file and backs it up elsewhere. This will have no effect on the current running state of Windows, but when you reboot this registry key or ini file entry will not be there, and the program will not start. You can then see what the effect there is when this particular program does not start. If the problem you were having has not gone away, or worse, it turns out you turned off something you want, then just recheck the item, click Apply, reboot and things are back the way they were. Changes to some many pertaining only to Internet Explorer do not require a reboot; you need only close Internet Explorer (if it is open) and reopen it for the change to take effect.
Once you have determined which items you wish to have disabled, right click on the item and select Delete. This step cannot be undone, so be sure this is what you want before you do it. You may wonder then, why delete it at all? Why not just leave it unchecked? There is a good reason for not doing this. As an illustration of what can happen if you just leave an item unchecked, let's presume you unchecked an entry that starts a program called UltraWebSearch (a fictitious name). A few days later you notice that it is showing in Add or Remove Programs and decide to remove it. The uninstall routine for UltraWebSearch looks for its entry in the registry in order to remove it, but cannot find it as WinMaven has removed it to a backup key UltraWebSearch cannot know about. The UltraWebSearch uninstall routine continues uninstalling the rest of the UltraWebSearch program. Later, perhaps the same day or perhaps months or days later, you run WinMaven and recheck the UltraWebSearch item, or perhaps you select Normal Startup on the General Page, which checks all items. Click apply and reboot. You will now get an error messafe that says that the UltraWebSearch file was not found. What happened? WinMaven restored the backed up UltraWebSearch key, Windows therefore tried to start UltraWebSearch, but since UltraWebSearch has been uninstalled its files are no longer there and you get an error message. There are other problems that can occur, but this is representative. The best practice is to not leave items unchecked. Always leave WinMaven in Normal Startup mode at the end of a troubleshooting session.
WinMaven checks a large number of startup and other settings and displays them in lists on separate pages ordered in groups of pages. You can select a page to view by selecting it in the tree on the left side of the WinMaven page. Click on the "+" to open a group and the pages in it will be listed. Left click on a member page and it will open in the right pane of the display. The items found by WinMaven corresponding to that page will be shown in a list. In most lists there will be check boxes you can uncheck to temporarily disable an item. You must then click "Apply" to make the actual registry or other changes necessary to disable the item. Some browser items do not become effective until after Internet Explorer, if open, has been closed and then reopened. Other browser items, and almost all startup items require that Windows be rebooted befopre the changes become effective. You can make temporary changes in this way to test what effect they have on your system, i.e. does the problem go away after you uncheck an item and then reboot? If so this item was the cause of the problem. Once you have determined the cause of the problem you can remove the key permanently by right-clicking on it and selecting Delete. This action cannot be undone, however so be certain this is what you want before you do it!
If there is an icon to the left of a line, there will be file information covering the software file related to this item. Right-click on the line and select Properties to view this information.
You can copy an item to the clipboard by right-clicking it and selecting Copy.
File -> New Local Opens an active view of your computer. This step is also performed automatically when you first load WinMaven.
File -> Open... Open a WinMaven log file. A log file viewed in WinMaven looks the same as an active view, but there is no General page and the check boxes in the lists are inactive.
File -> Save Save a WinMaven log file or active view to a WinMaven log file.
File -> Save As... Save a WinMaven log file or active view to a WinMaven log file to a new location.
File -> Exit Exit WinMaven as under OK below.
Help -> Using WinMaven This page.
Help -> Clean Boot A tutorial on clean boot troubleshooting. WinMaven was designed explicitly as a utility for performing clean boot troubleshooting, but is also useful for other purposes.
Help -> Safe Mode Instructions on how to reboot to safe mode.
Help -> About WinMaven version and copyright notice.
OK Apply pending changes and exit WinMaven. If there are pending changes, i.e.. items have been checked or unchecked, but not applied, they will be applied now. If an changes will require a reboot to become effective you will be asked if you wish to reboot now or wait until later.
Cancel Exit WinMaven as under OK, but pending changes are discarded.
? Help for the page currently shown
Item Pop-Up When you right-click on an item in a list on one of WinMaven's pages, a pop-up menu will come up offering several options:
Item Pop-Up -> Copy Copy the item to the clipboard.
Item Pop-Up -> Delete the item. This action cannot be undone, so be sure this is what you want before you do it. It is recommended that you first try out the change by unchecking it, then restarting Internet Explorer or rebooting your computer, whichever is necessary to make the change take effect. Then see if this change has the desired effect. If so, then delete it permanently using this option.
Item Pop-Up -> Properties If there is an icon to the left of a line, then file information is also available. You can view this information by selecting this option.
When WinMaven starts, it opens to the General page, which offers the choice of several setting useful in trouble shooting, as well as two list controls that offer an overview of the settings by group and a means to quickly make changes to whole groups or member pages. While the General page is open click on the question mark in the lower right hand corner of the WinMaven dialog to bring up instructions on the use of these settings.
