I also read about "Malwarebytes" and their ASSASSIN. Cost is about
$22. Recommended for my Vista? I read a lot on the web, am careful,
Sorry to be so long getting back to you on this. I'd never heard
of Malwarebytes having an Assassin program. From what google shows,
it's just a program or feature that will delete files that are
normally locked.
I just boot a linux live cd (free), and use that to delete any
files that won't delete while windows is running. A BartPe disk
would give the the same ability, running windows off of the cd,
rather then the hard drive.
</rant mode>
I primarily use linux, and only run windows (usually once a month)
to keep it updated, or when I need to work with people who are too
impatient to learn the minor differences in how to get their stuff
done using linux instead of windows.
I hate the fact that when I startup windows in a virtual computer,
it's at least 10 minutes before it's "usable", as it has to update
it's anti-virus and m$ updates before it will respond to user input.
Even with all of the third party "protection" software, any software
written by m$ cannot be considered to be safe.
Install secunia psi from
http://secunia.com/vulnerability_scanning/personal/
In the advanced settings, turn on the secure browsing feature,
and check out the various browsers.
Opera and firefox both fail because they load java and other plugins
that have known vulnerabilities, that haven't been patched, unless
you've disabled those plugins.
Internet explorer fails not only for the plugins it loads, but
because the browser itself is not secure.
Just in case the above doesn't make it clear, there are quite a few
people here who consider me to be a troll, due to my m$ bashing.
While I do bash m$, I do it for good reason, having spent many years
using their software, and working at reverse engineering viruses and
trojans, in order to figure out how to block/remove them. I used to
be a regular participant of this group, trying to help people. Now I
mostly just lurk here, and only post about new threats and workarounds
I find out about, or if a thread happens to catch my interest.
I eventually realized that nothing from m$ can be used safely, and
found a much better designed and maintained system with linux. Unlike
m$, it's designed to be secure, instead of trying to add security after
the fact.
Yes there are security vulnerabilities in linux (as with any software),
but they are few and far between, compared to m$ crapware, and they
get fixed within hours or days of disclosure, instead of months or
years, or never.
I am slowly getting more people to switch to linux, usually when a
virus or trojan has made their system unbootable, and they didn't
bother burning a recovery dvd when they got their system.
<rant mode/>
Regards, Dave Hodgins
)