I need instructions to disable Office XP parasites: find fast, mdm, fast search, etc.

Find fast--every instance of it takes about 3MB ram while running , mdm does squat all except create numerous temp files it doesn't delete , and the "fast search feature (New with XP ) seems to be redundant to "find fast" and is useless if you actually have some idea where a file is.

I'm running Win 98 SE.

Links that explain in clear English how to nuke all of these would be great!

Good news: ctfmon is easy to get rid of.
<http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q282599>

If you've found other parasites in Office XP, report 'em here and we'll help each other!

 

Hi Steve,

This seems to work great for mdm!

It doesn't work for ctfmon. Once an Office program is opened, ctfmon always appears and doesn't go away on its own. It reappears after rebooting even if it isn't in start up.

If "find fast" and "fast search" are similar in set up to ctfmon, they might load forever afterword if Office decides to call them for some reason.

Any other ideas?

 

All ya' need to know about ctfmon:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q282599

Disable findfast:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q199787

 

Thanks for the findfast link.

Update--somehow mdm has reappeared on our computer again...

 

Do a find for mdm.exe ad rename it something like mdm.bak. after doing the belows.....

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Forgive the length but I.m having a heck of time with asp extentions and vbs redirects. Have to paste this in:

OFF2000: Files Whose Name Begins with "fff" Appear in Windows Folder (Q221438)

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The information in this article applies to:


Microsoft Office 2000 (Setup)


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IMPORTANT : This article contains information about editing the registry. Before you edit the registry, make sure you understand how to restore it if a problem occurs. For information about how to do this, view the "Restoring the Registry" Help topic in Regedit.exe or the "Restoring a Registry Key" Help topic in Regedt32.exe.


SYMPTOMS
After you install Office 2000, you may notice files whose name begins with "fff" appearing in your Windows folder. For example, the file name may be similar to "fffeeecf_{44BE8B61-235B-11D2-8E66-D59A4E66D32D}.tmp ". Also, every time you restart your computer, two more files beginning with "fff" appear in your Windows folder.



CAUSE
When you install the Microsoft Script Editor, a program called Mdm.exe (Machine Debug Manager, which is used to provide application debugging) is also installed. Mdm.exe creates these files in your Windows folder.



WORKAROUND
WARNING : Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys and Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it. If you are running Windows NT or Windows 2000, you should also update your Emergency Repair Disk (ERD).


To work around this issue, remove Mdm.exe to be started as a service on Window 95 and Windows 98 platforms. To do this, remove Mdm.exe from the list under the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices
After all running instances of Mdm.exe are ended and no longer listed within Task Manager, you can delete any of the TMP files from the root of the Windows directory without affecting either the Microsoft Script Editor or Mdm.exe. The effect of taking this step is that remote debugging is disabled, provided that an instance of Mdm.exe is not started at the time an error is encountered. However, if another application reinstalls Mdm.exe, or if Mdm.exe /Regserver is run on a computer that is running Window 95 or Windows 98, Mdm.exe is re-added to the RunServices registry key (see above for full path).

NOTE : Running the Detect and Repair feature within Office 2000 causes Mdm.exe to be re-registered on the system.

Additionally, if the system has Internet Explorer version 5 or later, Mdm.exe can still be configured to start at the startup of Window 95 or Windows 98, if the script debugging feature in Internet Explorer is turned on. You can turn off this feature within Internet Explorer. On the Tools menu, click Internet Options . On the Advanced tab under Setting , make sure that Disable script debugging is selected.



MORE INFORMATION
When Mdm.exe is registered on the Windows 95 or Windows 98 platform, the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices registry key is modified to include Mdm.exe to start as a "service ".

Windows 95 or Windows 98 starts each application listed under this key when Windows starts. This is done because DCOM on Windows 95 and Windows 98 does not support remote starting of DCOM components, which include Mdm.exe, although the implementation of DCOM on the Windows 95 or Windows 98 platform does permit connections to running objects. Therefore, upon installation, Mdm.exe registers itself to start each time Windows is started to enable the option of remote debugging with Mdm.exe.

Due to the way DCOM is implemented on the Windows 95 and Windows 98 platforms, Mdm.exe creates temporary files in the Windows folder that DCOM uses for access and decline of user rights to the DCOM component. Typically, DCOM calls Mdm.exe for startup as a proxy for another application that requires debugging support. Upon the shutdown of this application, a call is made through DCOM to shut down the registered DCOM server and, on Windows 95 or Windows 98, clean up any temporary files created by Mdm.exe. Because Windows 95 or Windows 98 is starting Mdm.exe directly as a program and not as a DCOM server, no registration is performed in DCOM. Therefore, on the shutdown of Windows 95 or Windows 98, DCOM is not aware that the Mdm.exe program needs to be shut down and the TMP files created are in need of clean up. Because DCOM does not perform cleanup, the temporary files remain after shutdown, and Mdm.exe creates a new set of TMP files every time Windows 95 or Windows 98 is restarted.

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Found a link that breaks this done in fewer words:
http://www.forrestandassociates.co.uk/pcforrest/mdm.html

Bet your sayin' to yourself, "NOW she puts the link in "!

I figured reading the longer detailed MS.com explanation was a better brain cell excercise and supplied a better understanding of the functions and disable-do's. In a word it was better for you, like green vegetables versus desert.