Thanks for the information.
Grateful for your time
Bruce
| Bruce Lawrence wrote:
| > BlankCan someone help me with a Windows 98 problem.
| > I know this is a XP site but all I really know is XP & 2000. I am
| > trying to help a friend build a computer for his daughter and I am
| > trying to put in 98 it is not big enough for XP maybe 2000? it is 366
| > with 2 hard drives 8 & 4 GB.
| > I formatted it with a 98 disk and it installed all the drivers but
| > when the system reboots a message comes up about making sure to
| > install virus software and when it tries to start up the screen goes
| > all fuzzy like a distorted TV
| > The monitor works good for anything else it has two CD's but only
| > takes one and not the other.
| > Any help gratefully appreciated.
| > Is anyone else get all the porn sites in here, they were not here
| > last time I was here before new computer a month ago. How do you get
| > rid of them?? Thanks Bruce
|
|
| A little on the low side for Windows XP - not because of Hard Drive size,
| but mainly the Processor.
|
| Suggestions on what you can do to secure/clean your PC. I'm going to try
| and be general, I will assume a "Windows" operating system is what is
| being secured here.
|
|
| UPDATES and PATCHES
| -------------------
|
| This one is the most obvious. There is no perfect product and any company
| worth their salt will try to meet/exceed the needs of their customers and
| fix any problems they find along the way. I am not going to say Microsoft
| is the best company in the world about this but they do have an option
| available for you to use to keep your machine updated and patched from
| the problems and vulnerabilities (as well as product improvements in some
| cases) - and it's free to you.
|
| Windows Update
|
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/
|
| Go there and scan your machine for updates. Always get the critical ones
as
| you see them. Write down the KB###### or Q###### you see when selecting
the
| updates and if you have trouble over the next few days, go into your
control
| panel (Add/Remove Programs), match up the latest numbers you downloaded
| recently (since you started noticing an issue) and uninstall them. If
there
| was more than one (usually is), install them back one by one - with a few
| hours of use in between, to see if the problem returns. Yes - the process
| is not perfect (updating) and can cause trouble like I mentioned - but as
| you can see, the solution isn't that bad - and is MUCH better than the
| alternatives. (SASSER/BLASTER were SO preventable with just this step!)
|
| Windows is not the only product you likely have on your PC. The
| manufacturers of the other products usually have updates as well. New
| versions of almost everything come out all the time - some are free, some
| are pay - some you can only download if you are registered - but it is
best
| to check. Just go to their web pages and look under their support and
| download sections.
|
| You also have hardware on your machine that requires drivers to interface
| with the operating system. You have a video card that allows you to see
on
| your screen, a sound card that allows you to hear your PCs sound output
and
| so on. Visit those manufacturer web sites for the latest downloadable
| drivers for your hardware/operating system. Always (IMO) get the
| manufacturers hardware driver over any Microsoft offers. On the Windows
| Update site I mentioned earlier, I suggest NOT getting their hardware
| drivers - no matter how tempting.
|
| Have I mentioned that Microsoft has some stuff to help secure your
computer
| available to the end-user for free? This seems as good of a time as any.
| They have a CD you can order (it's free) that contain all of the Windows
| patches through October 2003 and some trial products as well that they
| released in February 2004. Yeah - it's a little behind now, but it's
better
| than nothing (and used in coordination with the information in this post,
| well worth the purchase price..)
|
| Order the Windows Security Update CD
|
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/cd/order.asp
|
| They also have a bunch of suggestions, some similar to these, on how to
| better protect your Windows system:
|
| Protect your PC
|
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/
|
|
| FIREWALL
| --------
|
| Let's say you are up-to-date on the OS (operating system) and you have
| Windows XP.. You should at least turn on the built in firewall. That
will
| do a lot to "hide" you from the random bad things flying around the
| Internet. Things like Sasser/Blaster enjoy just sitting out there in
| Cyberspace looking for an unprotected Windows Operating System and jumping
| on it, doing great damage in the process and then using that Unprotected
OS
| to continue its dirty work of infecting others. If you have the Windows
XP
| ICF turned on - default configuration - then they cannot see you! Think
of
| it as Internet Stealth Mode at this point. It has other advantages, like
| actually locking the doors you didn't even (likely) know you had. Doing
| this is simple, the instructions you need to use your built in Windows XP
| firewall can be found here:
|
|
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=320855
|
| If you read through that and look through the pages that are linked from
it
| at the bottom of that page - I think you should have a firm grasp on the
| basics of the Windows XP Firewall as it is today. One thing to note RIGHT
| NOW - if you have AOL, you cannot use this nice firewall that came with
| your system. Thank AOL, not Microsoft. You HAVE to configure another
| one.. So we continue with our session on Firewalls...
|
| But let's say you DON'T have Windows XP - you have some other OS like
| Windows 95, 98, 98SE, ME, NT, 2000. Well, you don't have the nifty built
in
| firewall. My suggestion - upgrade. My next suggestion - look through
your
| options. There are lots of free and pay firewalls out there for home
users.
| Yes - you will have to decide on your own which to get. Yes, you will
have
| to learn (oh no!) to use these firewalls and configure them so they don't
| interfere with what you want to do while continuing to provide the
security
| you desire. It's just like anything else you want to protect - you have
to
| do something to protect it. Here are some suggested applications. A lot
of
| people tout "ZoneAlarm" as being the best alternative to just using the
| Windows XP ICF, but truthfully - any of these alternatives are much better
| than the Windows XP ICF at what they do - because that is ALL they do.
|
| ZoneAlarm (Free and up)
|
http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp
|
| Kerio Personal Firewall (KPF) (Free and up)
|
http://www.kerio.com/kpf_download.html
|
| Outpost Firewall from Agnitum (Free and up)
|
http://www.agnitum.com/download/
|
| Sygate Personal Firewall (Free and up)
|
http://smb.sygate.com/buy/download_buy.htm
|
| Symantec's Norton Personal Firewall (~$25 and up)
|
http://www.symantec.com/sabu/nis/npf/
|
| BlackICE PC Protection ($39.95 and up)
|
http://blackice.iss.net/
|
| Tiny Personal Firewall (~$49.00 and up)
|
http://www.tinysoftware.com/
|
| That list is not complete, but they are good firewall options, every one
of
| them. Visit the web pages, read up, ask around if you like - make a
| decision and go with some firewall, any firewall. Also, maintain it.
| Sometimes new holes are discovered in even the best of these products and
| patches are released from the company to remedy this problem. However, if
| you don't get the patches (check the manufacturer web page on occasion),
| then you may never know you have the problem and/or are being used through
| this weakness. Also, don't stack these things. Running more than one
| firewall will not make you safer - it would likely (in fact) negate some
| protection you gleamed from one or the other firewalls you ran together.
|
|
| ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE
| ------------------
|
| That's not all. That's one facet of a secure PC, but firewalls don't do
| everything. I saw one person posting on a newsgroup that "they had
| never had a virus and they never run any anti-virus software." Yep - I
used
| to believe that way too - viruses were something everyone else seemed to
| get, were they just stupid? And for the average joe-user who is careful,
| uses their one-three family computers carefully, never opening unknown
| attachments, always visiting the same family safe web sites, never
| installing anything that did not come with their computer - maybe, just
| maybe they will never witness a virus. I, however, am a Network Systems
| Administrator. I see that AntiVirus software is an absolute necessity
given
| how most people see their computer as a toy/tool and not something
| they should have to maintain and upkeep. After all, they were invented to
| make life easier, right - not add another task to your day. You
| can be as careful as you want - will the next person be as careful? Will
| someone send you unknowingly the email that erases all the pictures of
your
| child/childhood? Possibly - why take the chance? ALWAYS RUN ANTIVIRUS
| SOFTWARE and KEEP IT UP TO DATE! Antivirus software comes in so many
| flavors, it's like walking into a Jelly Belly store - which one tastes
like
| what?! Well, here are a few choices for you. Some of these are free
(isn't
| that nice?) and some are not. Is one better than the other - MAYBE.
|
| Symantec (Norton) AntiVirus (~$11 and up)
|
http://www.symantec.com/
|
| Kaspersky Anti-Virus (~$49.95 and up)
|
http://www.kaspersky.com/products.html
|
| Panda Antivirus Titanium (~$39.95 and up)
|
http://www.pandasoftware.com/
| (Free Online Scanner:
http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/)
|
| AVG 6.0 Anti-Virus System (Free and up)
|
http://www.grisoft.com/
|
| McAfee VirusScan (~$11 and up)
|
http://www.mcafee.com/
|
| AntiVir (Free and up)
|
http://www.free-av.com/
|
| avast! 4 (Free and up)
|
http://www.avast.com/
|
| Trend Micro (~$49.95 and up)
|
http://www.trendmicro.com/
| (Free Online Scanner:
|
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/housecall/start_corp.asp)
|
| RAV AntiVirus Online Virus Scan (Free!)
|
http://www.ravantivirus.com/scan/
|
| Did I mention you have to not only install this software, but also keep it
| updated? You do. Some of them (most) have automatic services to help you
| do this - I mean, it's not your job to keep up with the half-dozen or more
| new threats that come out daily, is it? Be sure to keep whichever one you
| choose up to date!
|
|
| SPYWARE/ADWARE/POPUPS
| ---------------------
|
| So you must be thinking that the above two things got your back now - you
| are covered, safe and secure in your little fox hole. Wrong! There are
| more bad guys out there. There are annoyances out there you can get
without
| trying. Your normal web surfing, maybe a wrong click on a web page, maybe
| just a momentary lack of judgment by installing some software packages
| without doing the research.. And all of a sudden your screen starts
filling
| up with advertisements or your Internet seems much slower or your home
page
| won't stay what you set it and goes someplace unfamiliar to you. This is
| spyware. There are a whole SLEW of software packages out there to get rid
| of this crud and help prevent reinfection. Some of the products already
| mentioned might even have branched out into this arena. However, there
are
| a few applications that seem to be the best at what they do, which is
| eradicating and immunizing your system from this crap. Strangely, the
best
| products I have found in this category ARE generally free. That is a
trend
| I like. I make donations to some of them, they deserve it!
|
| Two side-notes: Never think one of these can do the whole job.
| Try the first 5 before coming back and saying "That did not work!"
| Also, you can always visit:
|
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
| For more updated information.
|
| Spybot Search and Destroy (Free!)
|
http://www.safer-networking.net/
|
| Lavasoft AdAware (Free and up)
|
http://www.lavasoft.de
|
| CWSShredder (Free!)
|
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html
|
| Hijack This! (Free)
|
http://mjc1.com/mirror/hjt/
| ( Tutorial:
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/htlogtutorial.html )
|
| SpywareBlaster (Free!)
|
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/
|
| IE-SPYAD (Free!)
|
http://www.staff.uiuc.edu/~ehowes/resource.htm
|
| ToolbarCop (Free!)
|
http://www.mvps.org/sramesh2k/toolbarcop.htm
|
| Bazooka Adware and Spyware Scanner (Free!)
|
http://www.kephyr.com/spywarescanner/index.html
|
| Browser Security Tests
|
http://www.jasons-toolbox.com/BrowserSecurity/
|
| The Cleaner (49.95 and up)
|
http://www.moosoft.com/
|
| That will clean up your machine of the spyware, given that you download
and
| install several of them, update them regularly and scan with them when you
| update. Some (like SpywareBlaster and SpyBot Search and Destroy) have
| immunization features that will help you prevent your PC from being
| infected. Use these features!
|
| Unfortunately, although that will lessen your popups on the Internet/while
| you are online, it won't eliminate them. I have looked at a lot of
options,
| seen a lot of them used in production with people who seem to attract
popups
| like a plague, and I only have one suggestion that end up serving double
| duty (search engine and popup stopper in one):
|
| The Google Toolbar (Free!)
|
http://toolbar.google.com/
|
| Yeah - it adds a bar to your Internet Explorer - but its a useful one.
You
| can search from there anytime with one of the best search engines on the
| planet (IMO.) And the fact it stops most popups - wow - BONUS! If you
| don't like that suggestion, then I am just going to say you go to
|
www.google.com and search for other options.
|
| One more suggestion, although I will suggest this in a way later, is to
| disable your Windows Messenger service. This service is not used
frequently
| (if at all) by the normal home user and in cooperation with a good
firewall,
| is generally unnecessary. Microsoft has instructions on how to do this
for
| Windows XP here:
|
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/howto/communicate/stopspam.asp
|
|
| SPAM EMAIL/JUNK MAIL
| --------------------
|
| This one can get annoying, just like the rest. You get 50 emails in one
| sitting and 2 of them you wanted. NICE! (Not.) What can you do? Well,
| although there are services out there to help you, some email
| servers/services that actually do lower your spam with features built into
| their servers - I still like the methods that let you be the end-decision
| maker on what is spam and what isn't. If these things worked perfectly,
we
| wouldn't need people and then there would be no spam anyway - vicious
| circle, eh? Anyway - I have two products to suggest to you, look at them
| and see if either of them suite your needs. Again, if they don't, Google
is
| free and available for your perusal.
|
| SpamBayes (Free!)
|
http://spambayes.sourceforge.net/
|
| Spamihilator (Free!)
|
http://www.spamihilator.com/
|
| As I said, those are not your only options, but are reliable ones I have
| seen function for hundreds+ people.
|
|
| DISABLE (Set to Manual) UNUSED SERVICE/STARTUP APPS
| ---------------------------------------------------
|
| I might get arguments on putting this one here, but it's my spill. There
are
| lots of services on your PC that are probably turned on by default you
don't
| use. Why have them on? Check out these web pages to see what all of the
| services you might find on your computer are and set them according to
your
| personal needs. Be CAREFUL what you set to manual, and take heed and
write
| down as you change things! Also, don't expect a large performance
increase
| or anything - especially on todays 2+ GHz machines, however - I look at
each
| service you set to manual as one less service you have to worry about
| someone exploiting. A year ago, I would have thought the Windows
Messenger
| service to be pretty safe, now I recommend (with addition of a firewall)
| that most home users disable it! Yeah - this is another one you have to
| work for, but your computer may speed up and/or be more secure because you
| took the time. And if you document what you do as you do it, next time,
it
| goes MUCH faster! (or if you have to go back and re-enable things..)
|
| Task List Programs
|
http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm
|
| Black Viper's Service List and Opinions (XP)
|
http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm
|
| Processes in Windows NT/2000/XP
|
http://www.reger24.de/prozesse/
|
| There are also applications that AREN'T services that startup when you
start
| up the computer/logon. One of the better description on how to handle
these
| I have found here:
|
| Startups
|
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.php
|
|
| That's it. A small booklet on how to keep your computer secure, clean of
| scum and more user friendly. I am SURE I missed something, almost as I am
| sure you won't read all of it (anyone for that matter.) However, I also
| know that someone who followed all of the advice above would also have
less
| problems with their PC, less problems with viruses, less problems with
spam,
| fewer problems with spyware and better performance than someone who
didn't.
|
| Hope it helps.
|
| --
| <- Shenan ->
| --
| The information is provided "as is", with no guarantees of
| completeness, accuracy or timeliness, and without warranties of any
| kind, express or implied. In other words, read up before you take any
| advice - you are the one ultimately responsible for your actions.
|
|
