Stopping those Viruses by not giving them a home

[Dangerousdave26]

I was told this little trick today by one of our Network Administrators where I work. He is usually on top of all of the new stuff that comes out so I trust his opinion. That said I have only heard this from one source. Here is what he told me.

Many of the new Viruses that are coming our are hiding in your Java cache. If you delete all of your temp Java files (I did not know I had them) they get deleted. Then you turn off caching any Java related items.

Here is where you do it in XP. Sorry I have not done this in W7 yet I will do it later and update the thread provided one of you does not beat me to it.

Go to the Control Panel

Click on Java

On the General Tab in the Temporary Internet Files click settings

Delete Files make sure that Applications and Applets is checked and Trace and log files is checked.

Click OK

Once that is done Uncheck Keep temporary files on my computer.

At default Java is taking up 1 GB of space for the cache.

This is supposed to stop a certain type of virus that is specifically targeting the Java cache as its home from infecting your computer.

Are there any other issues that arise from deleting these files and eliminating the cache?

I don't know but he told me his computer was noticeably faster after he did it.

Right now I am not noticing any real difference myself but i have only just made the change this evening.

[awj112]

Nice tip.

Works the same way in Vista and Windows 7. You may either change the control panel view from category view to classic view to access the Java control panel faster or go to the programs category to access it. From there, the process is exactly the same.

[Tako_Kichi]

Thanks for that Dave. Just done it to both computers here.

[Wing_Z]

My computer was getting ever more busy "behind the scenes" and I had traced this to Java activity.

Now, the Spring is Back in Windows' Step!
Thanks.

[BurningBeard]

Thanks for the heads-up, got'er done.

Beard

[papab]

Thanks for the heads up!!

Rick

[stuartcox]

Cheers Dave!

I only installed Java on one of my client's computers today, and will pass this on to any future customer (or shall I say victim?)!
What a great tip!
Say a big thanks to your NA, I never heard of this before!

Thanks, Stuart

[paiken]

Thanks for the heads up. Just did this on my computer. Once the cache was deleted, my Microsoft Security Essentials popped up with a virus alert. Virus now cleaned, and (hopefully) all is well.

[alain95]

As software support I'm used to retrieve temporary files from my customers Pc, many times they experience troubles that didn't come really from our software but from windows "temps" :mixedsmi:, but wasn't aware about this Java cache.:jump:

If your computer goes faster after proceeding it means that this cache was heavily stuffed before... You can also use the defrag option in your C: drive properties, it can take a while to perform but your pc can turn faster after.

Thank you for the advice !
35172

[stansdds]

Thanks for the tip! Saving temp files will certainly take up system resources and slow Windows. :wiggle:

[TomSteber]

Thanks for the tip. Did it and things seem quicker while browsing the web. Have to see what else moves along faster.

[aeromed202]

This looks good. Now CCleaner, which I thinks does a helpful job, has a feature where you can specify files to include (I presume meaning delete) in the wipe. Does anyone know if these caches can be added in that program?

[Ickie]

i'll give it a try

[kilo delta]

This looks good. Now CCleaner, which I thinks does a helpful job, has a feature where you can specify files to include (I presume meaning delete) in the wipe. Does anyone know if these caches can be added in that program?


Download CCleaner Extended (from here... http://www.howtogeek.com/news/ccleaner-enhancer-adds-270-new-rules-to-ccleaner/174/ ) and point it to where you have CCleaner installed. When you restart CCleaner you'll notice the option to clean Java cache under the Applications tab