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Bill819

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Off topic but read
« on: February 25, 2005, 12:24:35 am »
My pc's crashed last night, both my desktop and my laptop. I am using a DSL line and have had no problems. Called the DSL people and they showed me how to get on line. Was told to type 'www.download.com' in the address window and go to their site. Then I downloaded their Spyware software and ran it. I use Norton Utilities 2005 so I did not expect any great discoveries but to my supprise I had 5036 pieces of spyware on my system. The software is free and I think that everyone shoud try it or someting similar. I have seen others post messages here about the subject but I never took them to seriously before.
Any more suggestions and I WILL listen.
Bill819 [:0]
 

KnyteTrypper

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« Reply #1 on: February 25, 2005, 02:38:26 am »
I think the best suggestion is don't trust any one remedy too much. I use SpySites, SpywareBlaster and SpySweeper for blocking (as well as ZoneAlarm firewall), and  I still get infected with spyware and malware, so I use the SpySweeper, AdAware, and Spybot S&D for detection and removal. While they all pick up the more common bugs, each one detects a few nasties the others miss. And new detection methods would probably reveal my pc to be still infested with a whole host of bugs that the others in combination couldn't detect, because the onslaught of that stuff is relentless.



lambar

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« Reply #2 on: February 25, 2005, 10:26:29 am »
And make sure you keep the definition files for all spyware and virus programs updated.  

Another good tip is to run spyware and virus tools in SafeMode.  This eliminates any conflict issue with spyware being lauched by an active dll.

Ron
 

Art

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« Reply #3 on: February 26, 2005, 07:32:00 pm »
Bill819,

In addition there's also Bazooka and Tauscan although Tauscan costs $29 USD it works pretty well.

What you REALLY need to do is invest a few dollars on a HARDWARE FIREWALL ROUTER (4 port is fine). Check to see if it has SPI (Statefull Packet Inspection) and whether it is upgradable (via downloads). This router connects between your modem and your computer. It has it's own address so basically your computer's address (MAC address) for all intents becomes "invisible" on the net.

Once you feel your computer is secure and you've cleaned out all the pesky "bugs" and varmits, go to www.grc.com and click on SHIELDS UP. Let it "Probe" your ports and check out your machine. (it's completely safe). This guy really has it IN for the bad guys out there. If you've done everything right, his probing should report your computer as being in stealth mode or hidden while online ( a very good thing).

Lastly, I have several anti-everything programs like mentioned by KT and others AND I UPDATE ALL of the at least TWICE A WEEK! It only takes a few seconds. Remember, with all it's richness and resources, the internet can still be a dangerous place to snoop around. There are, on average 1,000 viruses (virii?) written worldwide every day! Fortunately only a few of these actually get released into the general population. Update early and often...protect yourself and consider investing in a backup drive for your most important files. Something like an external firewire hard drive that can hold your data AND can also be unplugged when not needed, eliminating the risk of being compromised by virus or hacker.

Be smart...be safe!
In the world of AI it's the thought that counts!

- Art -

onthecuttingedge2005

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« Reply #4 on: February 26, 2005, 09:16:15 pm »
quote:
Originally posted by Bill819

My pc's crashed last night, both my desktop and my laptop. I am using a DSL line and have had no problems. Called the DSL people and they showed me how to get on line. Was told to type 'www.download.com' in the address window and go to their site. Then I downloaded their Spyware software and ran it. I use Norton Utilities 2005 so I did not expect any great discoveries but to my supprise I had 5036 pieces of spyware on my system. The software is free and I think that everyone shoud try it or someting similar. I have seen others post messages here about the subject but I never took them to seriously before.
Any more suggestions and I WILL listen.
Bill819 [:0]



Hi Bill.

In my 22 year tour of computers as a Computer Technician and operator
I have learned several techniques to out smarting Bugs and is very simple in most cases but there are only a few bugs that are really smart and they require more attention Than What I can write in here, But for the simpler bugs, No problem.

Topic:COOKIES

Lets start here and I will teach you the simplest trick to keeping bugs out of your system.
1. Go to your default cookies folder and look inside it, There should be an Index file and some cookies, These cookies are simple text files that serve no other purpose than to monitor activity and are un-necessary for the actual user.
2.Remove all of the cookies from the cookie folder and leave the index file within the folder intact, Close the Cookies folder and right click on the cookies folder and choose properties, In the Properties panel choose read only or in some cases deny any change to the folder under system Administration permissions depending the operating system you are using.
3.After Write protecting the cookie folder you will no longer be invaded by them ever again. Anytime you browse to a site the site will think that it sent the cookies sucessfully and will not bother you about not accepting cookies.
This method above is how I keep all keep all cookies and data miners out of my system.

Topic:Adware,Spyware,Malware
This is only for the experienced Computer operators and I do not advise anybody without the Knowledge of O/S registries should not attempt to change or alter any registry keys in the case that your Operating system may become unstable or become corrupted.

1.The trick to getting rid of Adware,Spyware,Malware is their weakness is that most of these bugs are only designed to write themselves or install themselves into a specific folder everytime, Most of these bugs were not designed to change the folder directories when installing themslves, So the trick is working on their weakness and that is:

When removing Adware, Spyware, Malware just remove the contents of its folders leaving only the programs folder shells and then Write protecting the folders or deny all access to the folders through Administration permissions by right clicking on the folder sets and choosing Properties then depending on your operating system write protect them, This is the harder part, You must track down all the Registry keys that are involved with these programs and Clean out their registry folders and then Write protecting them as well, Any attempts for these infectious programs will be a failed installation and will not be able to install themselves, Unless someone writes them to be really smart bugs, Smart bugs require a different method and that's to deny all access to registries and Hard drives unless given permissions and that in itself is a big head ache.

All this doesn't mean that you can get rid of all your Anti-bug software it just means you have lock out some from never coming back.

I would do some hard research on registries and become familiar with them as safely as possible because it's very easy to mess it up.

By the way: This technique also works for Nag programs and some other things I will not discuss because of ethics and moral values.

It comes in handy having a program that can write protect any folder.

Best of wishes and brand new discoveries.
Jerry.
[8D]
« Last Edit: February 26, 2005, 09:34:36 pm by onthecuttingedge2005 »

KnyteTrypper

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« Reply #5 on: February 27, 2005, 08:26:01 pm »
Another thing not mentioned thus far, is to stop using Internet Explorer, which is like walking around with a "Kick Me" sign taped to your backside. Get Firefox, or one of the other alternative browsers which are engineered not to be so vulnerable to attacks and infections.