What's your modus operandi?

[Susan Bugher]

Software is a "black box" - a door that's waiting to be opened. What's
the best way to find out what's behind the door? (Is it a lady or a tiger?)

What's your modus operandi before downloading/ installing a program?
What checks do you make? What order do you make them in? IMO (YMMV) the
first order of business is to find out about the author. If they are
well known and trusted little additional checking is needed. . .

I think this subject might make a nice web page - a guide for newbies to
the wonderful world of Freeware - perhaps organized somewhat along these
lines:

1. investigating the author
a)
b)
c)
2. investigating the program
a)
b)
c)
3. protecting your existing computer set-up
a)
b)
c)
4. recovering from disaster
a)
b)
c)

ISTM a guide should hi-lite the most importants steps and of course the
simpler the procedures are the more likely people are to actually
implement them.

Please climb on your soapboxes and offer your words of wisdom. Tidbits
of advice or essays on the whole process. . .

TIA

Susan
--
Posted to alt.comp.freeware
Search alt.comp.freeware (or read it online):
http://www.google.com/advanced_group_search?q=+group:alt.comp.freeware
Pricelessware & ACF: http://www.pricelesswarehome.org
Pricelessware: http://www.pricelessware.org (not maintained)

 

[bIGGy]

* Susan Bugher:

Software is a "black box" - a door that's waiting to be opened. What's
the best way to find out what's behind the door? (Is it a lady or a tiger?)

What's your modus operandi before downloading/ installing a program?
What checks do you make? What order do you make them in? IMO (YMMV) the
first order of business is to find out about the author. If they are
well known and trusted little additional checking is needed. . .

I think this subject might make a nice web page - a guide for newbies to
the wonderful world of Freeware - perhaps organized somewhat along these
lines:

1. investigating the author
a)
b)
c)
2. investigating the program
a)
b)
c)

I usually check the program and it's authour out on the slelect few
download sites that I trust, NoNags, SnapFiles, PricelesswareHome, and
John Hood's Best of Freeware. I may also investigate a freeware program
that has gotten a very good review in PC Utilities Magazine or PC World
Magazine.

The posting of adware, spyware, and other malware in this group (some,
but not all, of it by Tramp) has meant that I won't uncatagorically
trust the opinions offered in this group. If I find something
interesting posted here I will check it out on one of the above web sites.

3. protecting your existing computer set-up
a)
b)
c)

I don't expect others to protect my computer from viruses and malware,
so I run my own virus and anti-spyware scans prior to installation. I
would also recommend that those using Windows ME or XP create a restore
point with System Restore prior to installation. It is also a good idea
to use a tool like Total Uninstall to monitor the installation.

4. recovering from disaster
a)
b)
c)

Disaster recovery shouldn't be necessary if you followed the above. If
it does become necessary then you will have the options of doing an
uninstall with Total Uninstall or rolling back your OS.

ISTM a guide should hi-lite the most importants steps and of course the
simpler the procedures are the more likely people are to actually
implement them.

The above isn't perfect, but it should at least reduce the number of
problems some people have with freeware.

 

[Al Klein]

Software is a "black box" - a door that's waiting to be opened. What's
the best way to find out what's behind the door? (Is it a lady or a tiger?)

What's your modus operandi before downloading/ installing a program?

Everyone's MO is going to be different. I have a few spare boxes
(different OSs) that I try unknown downloads on. Not everyone has a
spare computer, though.

I also depend on what I read in acf - if enough people in whom I have
some trust pan a program, I don't waste my time downloading it.

 

[El Gee]

Software is a "black box" - a door that's waiting to be opened. What's
the best way to find out what's behind the door? (Is it a lady or a
tiger?)

What's your modus operandi before downloading/ installing a program?
What checks do you make? What order do you make them in? IMO (YMMV)
the first order of business is to find out about the author. If they
are well known and trusted little additional checking is needed. . .

I think this subject might make a nice web page - a guide for newbies
to the wonderful world of Freeware - perhaps organized somewhat along
these lines:

1. investigating the author
a)
b)
c)
2. investigating the program
a)
b)
c)
3. protecting your existing computer set-up
a)
b)
c)
4. recovering from disaster
a)
b)
c)

ISTM a guide should hi-lite the most importants steps and of course
the simpler the procedures are the more likely people are to actually
implement them.

Please climb on your soapboxes and offer your words of wisdom. Tidbits
of advice or essays on the whole process. . .

TIA

Susan

1) check out the software / author on reputible sites
2) install on a non-networked spare box
3) virus check
4) spyware chceck
5) phone home check

JMHO / YMMV
--
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
El Gee Www.mistergeek.com <><
Know Christ, Know Peace -- No Christ, No Peace
Remove .yourhat to reply
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

[Susan Bugher]

* Susan Bugher:

I usually check the program and it's authour out on the slelect few
download sites that I trust, NoNags, SnapFiles, PricelesswareHome, and
John Hood's Best of Freeware. I may also investigate a freeware program
that has gotten a very good review in PC Utilities Magazine or PC World
Magazine.

I'm not sure which sites *test* apps or what they test for (I know
Softpedia tests for Malware). . . be nice if we could spell out who
tests what. . . maybe link to a page with that info if there is one. . .

PLEASE NOTE: the Pricelessware List is a *recommendation* - the ACF list
most emphatically is NOT - some of those programs have only been
*mentioned* in ACF - and opinion may be divided on those that have been
discussed. Google the newsgroup archives to see what was posted. When
there is a consensus that an app is bad it may "earn" a NR (not
recommended) notation on the ACF pages - NR is pretty much reserved for
the worst of the worst).

The posting of adware, spyware, and other malware in this group (some,
but not all, of it by Tramp) has meant that I won't uncatagorically
trust the opinions offered in this group. If I find something
interesting posted here I will check it out on one of the above web sites.

I don't expect others to protect my computer from viruses and malware,
so I run my own virus and anti-spyware scans prior to installation. I
would also recommend that those using Windows ME or XP create a restore
point with System Restore prior to installation. It is also a good idea
to use a tool like Total Uninstall to monitor the installation.

The above isn't perfect, but it should at least reduce the number of
problems some people have with freeware.

Good advice. Thanks.

re organizing this topic. . . ISTM the questions people ask (or
*should* ask) about using free apps are something like this:

Is it really free? Are there any strings attached?
Is it safe (not Malware/Spyware etc.)?
Is it good/useful?
Will installing it harm my computer?

ISTM it would be nice if we could tell them how/where to find the
answers. . .

Susan
--
Posted to alt.comp.freeware
Search alt.comp.freeware (or read it online):
http://www.google.com/advanced_group_search?q=+group:alt.comp.freeware
Pricelessware & ACF: http://www.pricelesswarehome.org
Pricelessware: http://www.pricelessware.org (not maintained)

 

[ms]

Software is a "black box" - a door that's waiting to be opened. What's
the best way to find out what's behind the door? (Is it a lady or a tiger?)

What's your modus operandi before downloading/ installing a program?
What checks do you make? What order do you make them in? IMO (YMMV) the
first order of business is to find out about the author. If they are
well known and trusted little additional checking is needed. . .

I think this subject might make a nice web page - a guide for newbies to
the wonderful world of Freeware - perhaps organized somewhat along these
lines:

1. investigating the author

Here, I try to use trusted websites, sometimes a really interesting program
is a one-of from an unknown.

2. investigating the program

Desirable if someone else here has commented on it.

3. protecting your existing computer set-up

I try to only use no-installs, run AV check before unzipping. If a setup
file, I run it on another trial computer, copy the executable back to my
main box.

4. recovering from disaster Long subject.

ISTM a guide should hi-lite the most importants steps and of course the
simpler the procedures are the more likely people are to actually
implement them.

Please climb on your soapboxes and offer your words of wisdom. Tidbits
of advice or essays on the whole process. . .

TIA

Gradually, I find I am using less new programs, always a risk, if an older
program does my job.

Good topic, thanks, Susan.

Mike Sa

 

[Susan Bugher]

Everyone's MO is going to be different. I have a few spare boxes
(different OSs) that I try unknown downloads on. Not everyone has a
spare computer, though.

I also depend on what I read in acf - if enough people in whom I have
some trust pan a program, I don't waste my time downloading it.

Sure, but *somebody* has to go first and ISTM there's often a certain
reluctance to do that - perhaps because people don't know how to do it
safely. . . Where/how to start and what precautions to take is the
topic under discussion.

Susan
--
Posted to alt.comp.freeware
Search alt.comp.freeware (or read it online):
http://www.google.com/advanced_group_search?q=+group:alt.comp.freeware
Pricelessware & ACF: http://www.pricelesswarehome.org
Pricelessware: http://www.pricelessware.org (not maintained)

 

[Susan Bugher]

@individual.net:

Here, I try to use trusted websites, sometimes a really interesting program
is a one-of from an unknown.

dunno what your definition of "trusted websites" is. Could you expand a
bit on that?

Susan
--
Posted to alt.comp.freeware
Search alt.comp.freeware (or read it online):
http://www.google.com/advanced_group_search?q=+group:alt.comp.freeware
Pricelessware & ACF: http://www.pricelesswarehome.org
Pricelessware: http://www.pricelessware.org (not maintained)

 

[MLC]

lunedì 22 maggio 2006 Susan Bugher ha scritto:

What's your modus operandi before downloading/ installing a program?
What checks do you make? What order do you make them in?

First, I check if the program was never mentioned here in acf (I use a
bookmarklet to automatize this search in Google) and read what was written
about it. Sometimes I search also other users reviews on the web.

If I decide to download and install it, I make a registry backup with Erunt
and monitor the install with Total Uninstall.

Then I look closely at the registry entries (especially at the changes, if
they can be dangerous for other programs, or I don't like them...) and at
the RAM used by the new running program, because I prefer not bloated
software.

Passed these tests I'll keep it, otherwise I uninstall it immediately with
TUN, and only if needed I restore the registry with Erdnt.

That's all from my soapbox ;-)

 

[Susan Bugher]

lunedì 22 maggio 2006 Susan Bugher ha scritto:

First, I check if the program was never mentioned here in acf (I use a
bookmarklet to automatize this search in Google) and read what was written
about it. Sometimes I search also other users reviews on the web.

Hi Maria,

Could you be specific about what you search *for* when you're trying to
locate posts about a program? (I've seen a lot of reviews/
recommendations that don't include the program's name. . .

Susan
--
Posted to alt.comp.freeware
Search alt.comp.freeware (or read it online):
http://www.google.com/advanced_group_search?q=+group:alt.comp.freeware
Pricelessware & ACF: http://www.pricelesswarehome.org
Pricelessware: http://www.pricelessware.org (not maintained)

 

[philo]

Software is a "black box" - a door that's waiting to be opened. What's
the best way to find out what's behind the door? (Is it a lady or a tiger?)

What's your modus operandi before downloading/ installing a program?
What checks do you make? What order do you make them in? IMO (YMMV) the
first order of business is to find out about the author. If they are
well known and trusted little additional checking is needed. . .

I have quite a few older computers here with no real value...
If some software comes out that I'd not want to test on one of my good
machines...
I try it on one of my old junkers...
If worst comes to worst...I can just format the drive and reinstall the OS.

Heck...out of curiosity I even tried one of those free AOL cd's...
and can assure you that you DO NOT...want to even try one.
There is NO way to cancel out once you start

 

[Ivan Tisljar]

What's your modus operandi before downloading/ installing a program?
What checks do you make? What order do you make them in? IMO (YMMV) the
first order of business is to find out about the author. If they are
well known and trusted little additional checking is needed. . .

Nothing special; my antivirus checks software while downloading, I
have System restore switched ON, I have firewall which tells me if
software wants to visit some site, always work (and install software)
as power user, so it can't mess up my system files (there are few
exceptions, but filemanager or archiver doesn't really have to need
admin rights for installation), using Total Uninstall for monitoring,
and most important, a bit of inteligence.

Most important thing is, as I see it, regular updating and NOT WORKING
as Administrators (or root) on computers. There is no need for that.
You can install about 95% of everything as Power user, and no messing
up system files.

Ivan.

 

[MLC]

lunedì 22 maggio 2006 Susan Bugher ha scritto:

Hi Maria,

Could you be specific about what you search *for* when you're trying to
locate posts about a program? (I've seen a lot of reviews/
recommendations that don't include the program's name. . .

Uhmm, I search for the program name and read the thread.
I can miss some reviews, but I think it's unlikely to have an entire thread
with the name never mentioned.

 

[Mel]

Software is a "black box" - a door that's waiting to be opened. What's
the best way to find out what's behind the door? (Is it a lady or a tiger?)

What's your modus operandi before downloading/ installing a program?
What checks do you make? What order do you make them in? IMO (YMMV) the
first order of business is to find out about the author. If they are
well known and trusted little additional checking is needed. . .

I usually just take a quick look at the author's site. Sometimes
I google for the program name and look for any references
to spyware. Also if the author's site attempts to install any activex
components I check them out (one of the reasons I stopped
using kill-bits to block spyware in IE).

My hard drive is divide into three partitions, I have a small system
partition which I keep an image of on a cd-rw so I can revert back to
a known good install. This takes under 10 minutes + about half an
hour to install the latest Microsoft security fixes and to create an
updated image.

If I have some reservation or other about a program, I keep the last
partition on my hard drive as a small test partition which I can restore
from the same disk image.(I have a boot manager installed on floppy)

I also have windows 98 installed as a virtual machine
(using vmware player) which I can very quickly unzip a fresh
copy of and install stuff on. The virtual drive image expands
(and can be shrunk back down) so it doesn't take a huge amount
of space.

If I have problems with a program not uninstalling cleanly, and for
some reason or other don't want to revert to my image, providing
it wasn't installed when I made my image. I install and run the
program on my test partition while monitoring with Total uninstall,
then transfer the "tun" file to my data partition and use a script
to remove all the registry keys the program added. I can
usually manually recover any modified system files from my disk image.

Mel.

 

[Frank Bohan]

Software is a "black box" - a door that's waiting to be opened. What's the
best way to find out what's behind the door? (Is it a lady or a tiger?)

What's your modus operandi before downloading/ installing a program? What
checks do you make? What order do you make them in? IMO (YMMV) the first
order of business is to find out about the author. If they are well known
and trusted little additional checking is needed. . .

I think this subject might make a nice web page - a guide for newbies to
the wonderful world of Freeware - perhaps organized somewhat along these
lines:

1. investigating the author
a)
b)
c)
2. investigating the program
a)
b)
c)
3. protecting your existing computer set-up
a)
b)
c)
4. recovering from disaster
a)
b)
c)

ISTM a guide should hi-lite the most importants steps and of course the
simpler the procedures are the more likely people are to actually
implement them.

Please climb on your soapboxes and offer your words of wisdom. Tidbits of
advice or essays on the whole process. . .

TIA

Susan

A nice suggestion, Susan. Please post the webpage if it materialises. Here's
my procedure.

1. I usually install a batch of programs together one a month.

2. Backup registry with Erunt (Before MONTH installs).

3. Virus check setup files.

4. For each program:
(a) Set a restore point before installing.
(b) Install using Inctrl5 where appropriate.
(c) Rename Inctrl5 file to name of program.
(d) Test and evaluate (including virus and trojan checks).
(e) Where necessary remove (and restore if there are any problems).

5. Keep the setup files in a separate folder.

6. Backup registry with Erunt (After MONTH installs).

7. Virus/trojan check and backup hard drive.

Useful URLs:
For avoiding dodgy sites http://www.siteadvisor.com/
For checking programs before downloading http://spywarewarrior.com/
For checking suspect files http://virusscan.jotti.org/

===

Frank Bohan
¶ Some men are discovered; others are found out.

 

[Susan Bugher]

lunedì 22 maggio 2006 Susan Bugher ha scritto:

Uhmm, I search for the program name and read the thread.
I can miss some reviews, but I think it's unlikely to have an entire thread
with the name never mentioned.

It's been known to happen AND authors often use several name
variations for the same program - between those problems and spelling
mistakes if you only try *one* spelling for the program name I think
it's *very* easy to miss posts/threads about an app.

FWIW - the results of an ACF archive search I just did for a well known app:

zonealarm
Results 1 - 100 of 2,230 for "zonealarm"

zone alarm
Results 1 - 100 of 1,430 for "zone alarm"

If name searches don't work an additional search for the home page URL
may bring up something new. . .
Results 1 - 100 of 191 for "www.zonelabs.com"

FWIW - if you find an app on the ACF pages and can't find *any* ACF
posts/threads - as a last resort feel free to ping me (I usually save at
least one ACF post about each app).

Susan
--
Posted to alt.comp.freeware
Search alt.comp.freeware (or read it online):
http://www.google.com/advanced_group_search?q=+group:alt.comp.freeware
Pricelessware & ACF: http://www.pricelesswarehome.org
Pricelessware: http://www.pricelessware.org (not maintained)

 

[Susan Bugher]

1. I usually install a batch of programs together one a month.

2. Backup registry with Erunt (Before MONTH installs).

3. Virus check setup files.

4. For each program:
(a) Set a restore point before installing.
(b) Install using Inctrl5 where appropriate.
(c) Rename Inctrl5 file to name of program.
(d) Test and evaluate (including virus and trojan checks).
(e) Where necessary remove (and restore if there are any problems).

5. Keep the setup files in a separate folder.

6. Backup registry with Erunt (After MONTH installs).

7. Virus/trojan check and backup hard drive.

Useful URLs:
For avoiding dodgy sites http://www.siteadvisor.com/
For checking programs before downloading http://spywarewarrior.com/
For checking suspect files http://virusscan.jotti.org/

Great post! Clear, concise and specific. Keep those cards and letters
coming folks, I think this thread may lead to a very useful web page. . .

FWIW - my own "installation skills" are practically nil. . . IOW I have
a *personal* interest in the thread too. . .

Susan
--
Posted to alt.comp.freeware
Search alt.comp.freeware (or read it online):
http://www.google.com/advanced_group_search?q=+group:alt.comp.freeware
Pricelessware & ACF: http://www.pricelesswarehome.org
Pricelessware: http://www.pricelessware.org (not maintained)

 

[The Six Million Dollar Man]

* Susan Bugher

I'm not sure which sites *test* apps or what they test for (I know
Softpedia tests for Malware). . . be nice if we could spell out who
tests what. . . maybe link to a page with that info if there is one. . .

NoNags and Snapfiles both test their software, and assign easy to
understand ratings. John Hood also tests the software on his pages, but
has a much more limited variety.

PLEASE NOTE: the Pricelessware List is a *recommendation* - the ACF list
most emphatically is NOT - some of those programs have only been
*mentioned* in ACF - and opinion may be divided on those that have been
discussed. Google the newsgroup archives to see what was posted. When
there is a consensus that an app is bad it may "earn" a NR (not
recommended) notation on the ACF pages - NR is pretty much reserved for
the worst of the worst).

Thank you for that clarification. I did ofcourse mean to say that I
trust the results of the annual Pricelessware selection that appears on
the PricelesswareHome page.

 

[MLC]

martedì 23 maggio 2006 Susan Bugher ha scritto:

FWIW - if you find an app on the ACF pages and can't find *any* ACF
posts/threads - as a last resort feel free to ping me (I usually save at
least one ACF post about each app).

Thak you Susan, you'll be my second Google ;-D

 

[Ben]

Software is a "black box" - a door that's waiting to be opened. What's
the best way to find out what's behind the door? (Is it a lady or a tiger?)

3. protecting your existing computer set-up
4. recovering from disaster

3 & 4 - SandboxIE! It's been mentioned here before, but may be
considered to be borderline OT as many posters in previous discussions
seem to view it as more nagware than freeware - after 30 days use it
will remind you at every reboot that there is an improved version for
paying users. However, it's miles ahead of using System Restore, one
step beyond using Total Uninstall but just behind using a separate
virtual machine for testing. Although the name implies it's for running
IE in a safe mode, it is capable of running virtually any application -
including setup files - in a sandbox.

All changes made by an application are kept in a virtual sandbox - after
running an installer, it's easy to explore the sandbox and see exactly
which files have been added to the system. If it turns out the
application included any spyware or behaves in a way you don't approve
of, you empty the sandbox and you're back to square one - no traces of
the rogue application left on your system. If the application appears
clean, you can empty the sandbox and install it normally...

My 2c worth

Ben