forgive me if I snip.
Jan Il said:
Of all the good information you have posted here, I am truly surprised at
this part of it. The HiJackThis program is indeed a very powerful tool,
and *not*, I repeat, _NOT_ for use by a novice. Your advice on this
program
Now I'm truly surprised you didn't READ my post. If you read my post, what
I said is that it should either be used by a knowledgeable computer user, or
by A NOVICE WHO POSTS THE LOGS TO THE HIJACKTHIS FORUMS FOR OTHERS TO SORT
OUT. You read it, you even quoted it, but all me to re-quote as I don't
believe you able to comprehend :
" HijackThis is either a tool for use by a knowledgeable computer user or by
a novice posting it's scan logs to their forums and letting others sort it
out for you. "
It is indeed for use by a novice who posts logs .. isn't that what you
advised the OP to do? Post the logs in the appropriate place and let them
advice the OP on what to remove? I thought so.
the Internet. The fact is HiJackThis s of great benefit as there are
often times when scumware can be found or removed no other way.
Oh, there is another way, it's called the knowing the registry and the hosts
file. Before HijackThis we were doing it just fine; HJT made it easier for
a NOVICE to get help, however. On the other hand, HJT makes it easy for
some idiot posting in a forum to give advice on what to do with it, and can
potentially harm some log poster's system instead of help the problem.
The people who read the logs on the forums that I recommended are very
highly trained experts, not just casual users, as obviously you are. I am
Now you're really talking out of your butt crack. First, I've seen a lot of
bad advice from the HJT forums; second, this year will mark 10 years that
I've been a computer/support technician. If that makes me an obvious
novice, then you really are foolish as post suggests.
in training for the HiJackThis analysis myself, but, not far enough along
to risk advising the OP, that is why I referred them to those forums, I
know
....and *I* am the novice? You claim an MVP cert, in IE nonetheless, and you
can't tell the difference between what is good and bad in a HJT log,
something's DEFINITELY wrong there! Sorry, but I'm having a hard time
believing this.. I'll admit, I'd admire you for admitting that, because the
wise one always knows his/her limits and will admit to them; but the words
"training" and "hijackthis" do NOT belong in the same sentence spewed out by
someone who calls ME a novice! I am just shocked .. you surprise me even
more!
the MVP's and other experts who analyze the logs there, and I know they
are reputable and highly experienced in the use and analysis of this
program.
Considering you say you aren't as knowledgeable as them, how can you
possibly back their knowledge when you can't confirm it with your own?
That's like some of our customers thinking techs are gods and can do
anything -- you might take some malware off their system or setup a secure
wireless network, and they think you can hack a Russian satellite; people
with less knowledge than your own often do not know enough to realize your
limits, and maybe even don't realize that everyone has some limits.
While you are entitled to your opinion, please do not make such untrue
statements about tried and proven programs, or of those who are experts in
it's use, when you obviously don't know what you are talking about. You
are
And I can say the same to you... you admit to not being knowledgeable enough
but still make claims on others. I'm afraid you need to re-evaluate your
line of thought. I know exactly what I'm talking about, and what my advice
to the OP was, and I quote:
" Many people have searched the net for a suspicious file name, found
partial results of a hijack this log in a forum and automatically assumed
the file was bad. "
Because that happens on a regular basis. I get people bringing their
computers to my store that have tried to use HijackThis themselves or went
on what they read in a HJT forum and now they can't log onto windows... an
example from a few weeks ago: some hijackers can replace the userinit value
from HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon - the
hijacked program in question is executed instead of userinit.exe, then the
hijacker runs userinit.exe itself... when this malicious entry is found and
removed with HijackThis there will be NO value for that registry key, and
the user will not be able to logon to Windows! People have brought in
machines several times for that specific thing that I've personally seen,
and according to one of them, he got his advice on removing that key from
those "trained experts" in a HJT forum.
But it doesn't just stop there. There are all sorts of people running
around with MVP's and A+'s who post on usenet or message boards, or even
work in tech shops, that will ruin a system in a heartbeat based on their
self-proclaimed "expert" status and a few certs to supposedly back it up.
In fact, working for a friend of mine before my last move, he had one such
guy working for him that would remove even the required or beneficial items
from startup.. like scanreg on a 98 box... and this is something you
couldn't tell him different on. It really was a shame, because at my time
there we interviewed dozens of people who had A+'s and some sort of MVP's,
and you couldn't hold a conversation with one of them on even the most basic
level about technical skills, they were all proven idiots within 5-10
minutes of conversation, except this one guy who actually sounded like he
knew his stuff. Well he didn't. My point is, the same thing happens on the
internet, my dear, even in HJT forums.
doing a very big disservice not only to those who post here, but, to those
of us who volunteer our own time and efforts here and on the forums to
help them.
If you advise people to do something that is damaging to their systems
without telling them the risks, THAT is the disservice. It is equally bad
when you tell them to take the advise of others (your HJT "experts") unless
you tell them that there is a risk they will be given bad advice. It DOES
happen. What I said in this case, is that the OP should go ahead and use
HJT and post his logs in their forums, but when they give him their advice,
he should try to personally research it before committing to the changes. I
only even mentioned it because you are the one that brought up HJT, and I
was surprised at that, because personally I think YOU are giving bad advise
by mentioning it, because I believe that a novice should avoid it altogether
unless it's the *VERY LAST* thing to try! I never flat out recommend it to
my customers! If that appears to be their last option, I tell them to bring
the system to me - of course, I do this for a living Mon-Fri, so that's the
whole point.
And yes, those of you who volunteer your own time and efforts here are doing
a service, unless you're giving bad advice. You have your opinion on that,
and you can keep it. My opinion is, you probably should stick to answering
people more simple questions. I am truly sorry I stopped to offer my time
to the OP and give my 2 cents, because there is always some semi-ignorant
person who may feel threatened but regardless is looking to stroke his/her
ego with the "I was here first / my advise is the only advice / when someone
else disagrees with me they don't know what they are talking about"
defensive attitude.
I am sorry for coming down on you so hard - I didn't intend to flame, but
rather to explain a few things to you, before you spout off some drivel on
your keyboard again; and no offense but that's exactly what you did with ME,
whether you do it to others or not... but this "know it all" attitude by
regulars in usenet is sickening; especially when it comes from people you
wouldn't expect it to. My standard (and unwelcome) advice to all of the
trolls of usenet who routinely leave their territorial pissings, is to
actually READ a post before you reply. I could add: never assume you know
it all (or know more than the next guy in your case,) because we all know
how assumptions label a person, and lastly to stop stroking your ego by
putting someone else down. I must apologize again for being harsh, and for
encroaching on someone else's marked territory by taking my time to help the
OP and offer my insight into the situation.
Smiles are meant to be shared,
that's why they're so contagious.
they truly are. 8~)
cheers.
