OT - Malware experience

I have a good friend who asked me to come out and take a look at her
daughter's computer because it was really slow. Spybot Search and Destroy
came up with 1,401 malware programs and/or tracking cookies. The anti-
virus came up with 89 viruses and trojans. I got everything cleaned up,
installed a Hosts manager, Firefox and Opera (default). Then I told them
that IE was off limits.

Three days to fix this. Scarey.

--
Adrienne Boswell at Home
Arbpen Web Site Design Services
http://www.cavalcade-of-coding.info
Please respond to the group so others can share

Re: OT - Malware experience

In article ,
arbpen@yahoo.com says...
> I have a good friend who asked me to come out and take a look at her
> daughter's computer because it was really slow. Spybot Search and Destroy
> came up with 1,401 malware programs and/or tracking cookies. The anti-
> virus came up with 89 viruses and trojans. I got everything cleaned up,
> installed a Hosts manager, Firefox and Opera (default). Then I told them
> that IE was off limits.
>
> Three days to fix this. Scarey.
>
>
IE is partially to blame, but the viruses are the fault of a missing or
outdated anti-virus program.

Re: OT - Malware experience

Once upon a time *SAZ* wrote:
> In article ,
> arbpen@yahoo.com says...
>> I have a good friend who asked me to come out and take a look at her
>> daughter's computer because it was really slow. Spybot Search and Destroy
>> came up with 1,401 malware programs and/or tracking cookies. The anti-
>> virus came up with 89 viruses and trojans. I got everything cleaned up,
>> installed a Hosts manager, Firefox and Opera (default). Then I told them
>> that IE was off limits.
>>
>> Three days to fix this. Scarey.
>>
>>
> IE is partially to blame, but the viruses are the fault of a missing or
> outdated anti-virus program.

And how many other computers was infected by the daughter's computer?

There should be a law against unprotected computers and computers who
infect others! ;)

--
/Arne

Re: OT - Malware experience

On 2007-07-11, Adrienne Boswell wrote:
> I have a good friend who asked me to come out and take a look at her
> daughter's computer because it was really slow. Spybot Search and Destroy
> came up with 1,401 malware programs and/or tracking cookies. The anti-
> virus came up with 89 viruses and trojans. I got everything cleaned up,
> installed a Hosts manager, Firefox and Opera (default). Then I told them
> that IE was off limits.
>
> Three days to fix this. Scarey.

You could have installed GNU/Linux in a couple of hours or less.


--
Chris F.A. Johnson
============================================================ =======
Author:
Shell Scripting Recipes: A Problem-Solution Approach (2005, Apress)

Re: OT - Malware experience

On Jul 11, 3:11 pm, Adrienne Boswell wrote:
> I have a good friend who asked me to come out and take a look at her
> daughter's computer because it was really slow. Spybot Search and Destroy
> came up with 1,401 malware programs and/or tracking cookies. The anti-
> virus came up with 89 viruses and trojans. I got everything cleaned up,
> installed a Hosts manager, Firefox and Opera (default). Then I told them
> that IE was off limits.
>
> Three days to fix this. Scarey.


To many, a computer is now just another home appliance. It is expected
to work properly as delivered. Many do not know much about how it
works and do not care to know. A new major brand name computer usually
comes with some sort of trial virus protection these days. However
many likely do not pay for it after the trial period ends. In a few
years the computer then often becomes very slow and those, who do not
have a friend such as you, assume it is worn out or outmoded and buy a
new computer. If you have to hire someone to spend the required time
to evict all of the bugs, you often would pay about as much as many
used PCs are worth. However the hackers have become better and more
numerous in recent years, and the computer gets infected and slows
down much faster than often was the case in the past. Many would balk
at replacing a computer only 1 or 2 years old. This may force some
people to reconsider how they use a computer and paying for virus
protection software. Actually there is free virus protection software
that works fairly well. Some of the broadband isps are now pushing and
providing such software. For example ATT/Yahoo DHL does and makes
users of their service aware of it from time to time. Also Yahoo Mail
has fairly good virus scan software included in their free e-mail
service, and they scan all attachments before opening. This likely
prevents many virus and other problems from getting downloaded to less-
than-careful computer owners.

Re: OT - Malware experience

On 2007-07-11, Adrienne Boswell wrote:
> I have a good friend who asked me to come out and take a look at her
> daughter's computer because it was really slow. Spybot Search and Destroy
> came up with 1,401 malware programs and/or tracking cookies. The anti-
> virus came up with 89 viruses and trojans. I got everything cleaned up,
> installed a Hosts manager, Firefox and Opera (default). Then I told them
> that IE was off limits.

Another good reason to leave Windows behind? The Operating System /
Default browser should never be that insecure.

Andrew

--
Andrew's Corner
http://people.aapt.net.au/~adjlstrong/homer.html

Re: OT - Malware experience

Well bust mah britches and call me cheeky, on Wed, 11 Jul 2007 20:11:27
GMT Adrienne Boswell scribed:

> I have a good friend who asked me to come out and take a look at her
> daughter's computer because it was really slow. Spybot Search and
> Destroy came up with 1,401 malware programs and/or tracking cookies.
> The anti- virus came up with 89 viruses and trojans. I got everything
> cleaned up, installed a Hosts manager, Firefox and Opera (default).
> Then I told them that IE was off limits.
>
> Three days to fix this. Scarey.

I have good and current anti-virus software, but what are these 1401
malware programs you're talking about? Will using something like Ad-Aware
regularly prevent such things? Firefox is my favorite browser, but at
times I have to use ie (6) for various reasons.

--
Neredbojias
A self-made man who worships his creator

Re: OT - Malware experience

Gazing into my crystal ball I observed Neredbojias
writing in
news:Xns996ADB0D2AAD7nanopandaneredbojias@198.186.190.165:

> Well bust mah britches and call me cheeky, on Wed, 11 Jul 2007
> 20:11:27 GMT Adrienne Boswell scribed:
>
>> I have a good friend who asked me to come out and take a look at her
>> daughter's computer because it was really slow. Spybot Search and
>> Destroy came up with 1,401 malware programs and/or tracking cookies.
>> The anti- virus came up with 89 viruses and trojans. I got
>> everything cleaned up, installed a Hosts manager, Firefox and Opera
>> (default). Then I told them that IE was off limits.
>>
>> Three days to fix this. Scarey.
>
> I have good and current anti-virus software, but what are these 1401
> malware programs you're talking about? Will using something like
> Ad-Aware regularly prevent such things? Firefox is my favorite
> browser, but at times I have to use ie (6) for various reasons.
>

I use AVG Free from Grisoft - been using it for years, IIRC, I heard
about it here in alt.html many, many moons ago. It runs a complete check
every night.

As far as malware, I use Spybot Search and Destroy. It seems to do
better than Lavasoft. It runs a bot/ware check every Saturday night.

Here are some of the preventative measures I use:
1. Hosts file with DNS Client disabled - there's no place like 127.0.0.1.
I don't get to see a lot of adverts, I miss a lot of third party cookies,
and I don't get to go to a lot of sites (gambling, porn, etc.) that I
don't care about anyway. Of course, I could edit the hosts file, or
disable it if I _want_ to go somewhere strange. I just got Hosts Manager
from . Very nice program.
2. I use Spyware Blaster
, and I keep it up
to date.
3. I use Sunbelt Personal firewall (used to be Kerio). I like it much
more than others because it's not memory hungry, and it also alerts me if
one program is trying to start another.
4. StartUp Monitor and StartUp Control Panel from Mike Lin
. Startup Monitor sits nicely waiting to stop
anything the wants to change the startup options (Adobe, Quicktime, etc
all try to have themselves loaded at startup). Startup Control Panel is
great for managing what happens on startup.

All of the programs I use have little footprints. I don't usually like
using suites, and I stear very clear from Norton - it's a PITA to try to
remove and uses waaaaayyyy too much memory.

Well, those are my recommendations. I've been doing things like this for
a long time, and I've never had a virus or malware problem. I hope my
list will help someone else.

--
Adrienne Boswell at Home
Arbpen Web Site Design Services
http://www.cavalcade-of-coding.info
Please respond to the group so others can share

Re: OT - Malware experience

Neredbojias wrote:
> Well bust mah britches and call me cheeky, on Wed, 11 Jul 2007 20:11:27
> GMT Adrienne Boswell scribed:
>
>> ...Spybot Search and
>> Destroy came up with 1,401 malware programs and/or tracking cookies.
>> The anti- virus came up with 89 viruses and trojans....
>
> I have good and current anti-virus software, but what are these 1401
> malware programs you're talking about?

Well, she said "1,401 malware programs and/or tracking cookies." To me,
this is like saying, "New York Police arrested 1,401 rapists and
litterers." A distinction between the two would have been useful.

I presume the majority of the 1401 items Adrienne found were cookies.
Malware needs careful removal but cookies can be deleted by even my
least-technical supportees, even in IE. It's nice that Spybot S&D finds
the "tracking cookies," but I don't believe they belong in the same
category as malware. Otherwise the terrorists have won. ;-)

--
John

Re: OT - Malware experience

Gazing into my crystal ball I observed John Hosking
writing in news:4695c398$1_1
@news.bluewin.ch:

> Neredbojias wrote:
>> Well bust mah britches and call me cheeky, on Wed, 11 Jul 2007
20:11:27
>> GMT Adrienne Boswell scribed:
>>
>>> ...Spybot Search and
>>> Destroy came up with 1,401 malware programs and/or tracking cookies.
>>> The anti- virus came up with 89 viruses and trojans....
>>
>> I have good and current anti-virus software, but what are these 1401
>> malware programs you're talking about?
>
> Well, she said "1,401 malware programs and/or tracking cookies." To me,
> this is like saying, "New York Police arrested 1,401 rapists and
> litterers." A distinction between the two would have been useful.

There were about 20 malware programs, 20 BHOs, a few browser hijackers,
and the rest were cookies.

One of the malware programs was a virus/spyware remover/firewall program
that my friend paid for. She's disputing it with the bank, and they are
issuing her a new card. I told her to watch her credit report for signs
of identity theft.

>
> I presume the majority of the 1401 items Adrienne found were cookies.
> Malware needs careful removal but cookies can be deleted by even my
> least-technical supportees, even in IE. It's nice that Spybot S&D finds
> the "tracking cookies," but I don't believe they belong in the same
> category as malware. Otherwise the terrorists have won. ;-)
>

Actually, I don't mind _some_ tracking cookies. I like the ones at
Amazon that seem to follow me all over the place, reminding me that I
really need that thing that I can't afford, like gadgets for my Kitchen
Aid, or toys for my Weber.


--
Adrienne Boswell at Home
Arbpen Web Site Design Services
http://www.cavalcade-of-coding.info
Please respond to the group so others can share

Re: OT - Malware experience

Well bust mah britches and call me cheeky, on Thu, 12 Jul 2007 05:30:16
GMT Adrienne Boswell scribed:

> Gazing into my crystal ball I observed Neredbojias
> writing in
> news:Xns996ADB0D2AAD7nanopandaneredbojias@198.186.190.165:
>
>> Well bust mah britches and call me cheeky, on Wed, 11 Jul 2007
>> 20:11:27 GMT Adrienne Boswell scribed:
>>
>>> I have a good friend who asked me to come out and take a look at her
>>> daughter's computer because it was really slow. Spybot Search and
>>> Destroy came up with 1,401 malware programs and/or tracking cookies.
>>> The anti- virus came up with 89 viruses and trojans. I got
>>> everything cleaned up, installed a Hosts manager, Firefox and Opera
>>> (default). Then I told them that IE was off limits.
>>>
>>> Three days to fix this. Scarey.
>>
>> I have good and current anti-virus software, but what are these 1401
>> malware programs you're talking about? Will using something like
>> Ad-Aware regularly prevent such things? Firefox is my favorite
>> browser, but at times I have to use ie (6) for various reasons.
>>
>
> I use AVG Free from Grisoft - been using it for years, IIRC, I heard
> about it here in alt.html many, many moons ago. It runs a complete
> check every night.
>
> As far as malware, I use Spybot Search and Destroy. It seems to do
> better than Lavasoft. It runs a bot/ware check every Saturday night.
>
> Here are some of the preventative measures I use:
> 1. Hosts file with DNS Client disabled - there's no place like
> 127.0.0.1. I don't get to see a lot of adverts, I miss a lot of third
> party cookies, and I don't get to go to a lot of sites (gambling,
> porn, etc.) that I don't care about anyway. Of course, I could edit
> the hosts file, or disable it if I _want_ to go somewhere strange. I
> just got Hosts Manager from . Very
> nice program. 2. I use Spyware Blaster
> , and I keep it
> up to date.
> 3. I use Sunbelt Personal firewall (used to be Kerio). I like it much
> more than others because it's not memory hungry, and it also alerts me
> if one program is trying to start another.
> 4. StartUp Monitor and StartUp Control Panel from Mike Lin
> . Startup Monitor sits nicely waiting to stop
> anything the wants to change the startup options (Adobe, Quicktime,
> etc all try to have themselves loaded at startup). Startup Control
> Panel is great for managing what happens on startup.

Well, I _thought_ I was familiar with the host file, but what do you mean
by DNS client disabled? -Putting 127.0.0.1 after (mis)appropriate links?

> All of the programs I use have little footprints. I don't usually
> like using suites, and I stear very clear from Norton - it's a PITA to
> try to remove and uses waaaaayyyy too much memory.

Yep. A month after I got my new 'puter, I took it off both I own and
used Kasperskys to replace it. Kas seems quite good.

> Well, those are my recommendations. I've been doing things like this
> for a long time, and I've never had a virus or malware problem. I
> hope my list will help someone else.

I've never had a problem (of that nature) either, but I like to keep
aware of all the possibilities.

Thanks for the list/recommendations. I've captured and saved it and will
investigate as time permits.

--
Neredbojias
A self-made man who worships his creator

Re: OT - Malware experience

Well bust mah britches and call me cheeky, on Thu, 12 Jul 2007 06:00:56 GMT
John Hosking scribed:

> Neredbojias wrote:
>> Well bust mah britches and call me cheeky, on Wed, 11 Jul 2007 20:11:27
>> GMT Adrienne Boswell scribed:
>>
>>> ...Spybot Search and
>>> Destroy came up with 1,401 malware programs and/or tracking cookies.
>>> The anti- virus came up with 89 viruses and trojans....
>>
>> I have good and current anti-virus software, but what are these 1401
>> malware programs you're talking about?
>
> Well, she said "1,401 malware programs and/or tracking cookies." To me,
> this is like saying, "New York Police arrested 1,401 rapists and
> litterers." A distinction between the two would have been useful.
>
> I presume the majority of the 1401 items Adrienne found were cookies.
> Malware needs careful removal but cookies can be deleted by even my
> least-technical supportees, even in IE. It's nice that Spybot S&D finds
> the "tracking cookies," but I don't believe they belong in the same
> category as malware. Otherwise the terrorists have won. ;-)

Yes, I can handle cookies. It's the malware I'm concerned about and
Adrienne's reference to it and ie didn't make me any more comfortable.

--
Neredbojias
A self-made man who worships his creator

Re: OT - Malware experience

On Jul 11, 9:11 pm, Adrienne Boswell wrote:
> I have a good friend who asked me to come out and take a look at her
> daughter's computer because it was really slow. Spybot Search and Destroy
> came up with 1,401 malware programs and/or tracking cookies. The anti-
> virus came up with 89 viruses and trojans. I got everything cleaned up,
> installed a Hosts manager, Firefox and Opera (default). Then I told them
> that IE was off limits.
>
> Three days to fix this. Scarey.
>

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is to update all windows service
packs, security updates etc. before going on the net without a router
with built-in firewall. A lot of people re-install Windows (without
service packs) and as soon as they plug in their unprotected usb or
cable modem, within a few minutes the computer is infected.

Re: OT - Malware experience

Adrienne Boswell wrote:
> The anti-
> virus came up with 89 viruses and trojans. I got everything cleaned up,
> installed a Hosts manager, Firefox and Opera (default). Then I told them
> that IE was off limits.
>
> Three days to fix this. Scarey.

if the computer was that infected, are you sure you have no rootkits
sitting on it? I know that most spyware-removal-tools and scanners are
not able to detected sophisticated rootkits (such as the infamous
BMG-sony-rootkit). Sometimes it's just best practice to wipe the HD and
make a clean install when you have encountered such a 'victim'.

cheers
bernhard

--
www.daszeichen.ch
remove nixspam to reply

Re: OT - Malware experience

On Jul 11, 4:11 pm, Adrienne Boswell wrote:
> Then I told them that IE was off limits.
> Three days to fix this. Scarey.

As soon as another browser becomes the most popular you will be saying
"Then I told them that [browser name] is off limits." Being #1 has
its bad side too.

Re: OT - Malware experience

On Jul 11, 10:14 pm, "Chris F.A. Johnson"
wrote:
> On 2007-07-11, Adrienne Boswell wrote:
>
> > I have a good friend who asked me to come out and take a look at her
> > daughter's computer because it was really slow. Spybot Search and Destroy
> > came up with 1,401 malware programs and/or tracking cookies. The anti-
> > virus came up with 89 viruses and trojans. I got everything cleaned up,
> > installed a Hosts manager, Firefox and Opera (default). Then I told them
> > that IE was off limits.
>
> > Three days to fix this. Scarey.
>
> You could have installed GNU/Linux in a couple of hours or less.
>
> --
> Chris F.A. Johnson
> ============================================================ =======
> Author:
> Shell Scripting Recipes: A Problem-Solution Approach (2005, Apress)

Have you even the slightest clue of how kids actually use machines? A
linux machine would be pretty much the least ideal platform, given the
lack of proper flash, games etc. I think the very first time she
realises she can no longer use her bebo or myspace or youtube pages
she'd be back on Windows.

Re: OT - Malware experience

On Jul 12, 8:40 am, SpaceGirl wrote:
> > You could have installed GNU/Linux in a couple of hours or less.
> Have you even the slightest clue of how kids actually use machines? A
> linux machine would be pretty much the least ideal platform, given the
> lack of proper flash, games etc. I think the very first time she
> realises she can no longer use her bebo or myspace or youtube pages
> she'd be back on Windows.

Ahhhh reality. Good to see that someone else understands that "best
way" and "right way" are not the same. So your daugher will not use
it because it can not do the kinds of things she wants a computer to
do. My parents won't use it because it is way to hard and don't want
to deal with something new. and most businesses won't use it because
the business world runs on windows.

Is windows the best way? Nope. Is it the right way? Yep

*Disclaimer: Nothing is best or right 100% of the time

Re: OT - Malware experience

Travis Newbury wrote:
> On Jul 12, 8:40 am, SpaceGirl wrote:
> > > You could have installed GNU/Linux in a couple of hours or less.
> > Have you even the slightest clue of how kids actually use machines? A
> > linux machine would be pretty much the least ideal platform, given the
> > lack of proper flash, games etc. I think the very first time she
> > realises she can no longer use her bebo or myspace or youtube pages
> > she'd be back on Windows.
>
> Ahhhh reality. Good to see that someone else understands that "best
> way" and "right way" are not the same. So your daugher will not use
> it because it can not do the kinds of things she wants a computer to
> do. My parents won't use it because it is way to hard and don't want
> to deal with something new. and most businesses won't use it because
> the business world runs on windows.
>
> Is windows the best way? Nope. Is it the right way? Yep
>
> *Disclaimer: Nothing is best or right 100% of the time
This is all very true, getting a Mac would have been a better
suggestion, as they can run most Windows applications, such as Flash
and others. Also have you read about the URL Handler bug in FF, it
users JS and maeans that external applications can be launched in IE.
--
Regards Chad. http://freewebdesign.awardspace.biz

Re: OT - Malware experience

On 2007-07-12, Chaddy2222 wrote:
>
> Travis Newbury wrote:
>> On Jul 12, 8:40 am, SpaceGirl wrote:
>> > > You could have installed GNU/Linux in a couple of hours or less.
>> > Have you even the slightest clue of how kids actually use machines? A
>> > linux machine would be pretty much the least ideal platform, given the
>> > lack of proper flash, games etc. I think the very first time she
>> > realises she can no longer use her bebo or myspace or youtube pages
>> > she'd be back on Windows.
>>
>> Ahhhh reality. Good to see that someone else understands that "best
>> way" and "right way" are not the same. So your daugher will not use
>> it because it can not do the kinds of things she wants a computer to
>> do. My parents won't use it because it is way to hard and don't want
>> to deal with something new. and most businesses won't use it because
>> the business world runs on windows.
>>
>> Is windows the best way? Nope. Is it the right way? Yep
>>
>> *Disclaimer: Nothing is best or right 100% of the time
> This is all very true, getting a Mac would have been a better
> suggestion, as they can run most Windows applications, such as Flash
> and others.

Just to squash a couple of rumours right here, Flash runs perfectly well
on Linux (but is also fortunately quite easy to disable) and so do
websites like MySpace and YouTube.

You install it by putting a CD in the drive and clicking on a few
buttons labelled things like "Yes" and off you go. Just as easy to use
as Windows, but you get a lot more software with the default
installation.

Re: OT - Malware experience

Ben C wrote:
> On 2007-07-12, Chaddy2222 wrote:
>> Travis Newbury wrote:
>>> On Jul 12, 8:40 am, SpaceGirl wrote:
>>>>> You could have installed GNU/Linux in a couple of hours or less.
>>>> Have you even the slightest clue of how kids actually use machines? A
>>>> linux machine would be pretty much the least ideal platform, given the
>>>> lack of proper flash, games etc. I think the very first time she
>>>> realises she can no longer use her bebo or myspace or youtube pages
>>>> she'd be back on Windows.
>>> Ahhhh reality. Good to see that someone else understands that "best
>>> way" and "right way" are not the same. So your daugher will not use
>>> it because it can not do the kinds of things she wants a computer to
>>> do. My parents won't use it because it is way to hard and don't want
>>> to deal with something new. and most businesses won't use it because
>>> the business world runs on windows.
>>>
>>> Is windows the best way? Nope. Is it the right way? Yep
>>>
>>> *Disclaimer: Nothing is best or right 100% of the time
>> This is all very true, getting a Mac would have been a better
>> suggestion, as they can run most Windows applications, such as Flash
>> and others.
>
> Just to squash a couple of rumours right here, Flash runs perfectly well
> on Linux (but is also fortunately quite easy to disable) and so do
> websites like MySpace and YouTube.
>
> You install it by putting a CD in the drive and clicking on a few
> buttons labelled things like "Yes" and off you go. Just as easy to use
> as Windows, but you get a lot more software with the default
> installation.

I actually had to go get a cup of coffee while some non-FOSS goodies
downloaded, since mine was not on CD.

But I will second that: Flash works perfectly, MySpace and YouTube also
work perfectly. I also have a nice free Flash authoring tool. With
whom *do* these rumors get started?

Re: OT - Malware experience

On 2007-07-12, mbstevens wrote:
> Ben C wrote:
[...]
>> Just to squash a couple of rumours right here, Flash runs perfectly well
>> on Linux (but is also fortunately quite easy to disable) and so do
>> websites like MySpace and YouTube.
>>
>> You install it by putting a CD in the drive and clicking on a few
>> buttons labelled things like "Yes" and off you go. Just as easy to use
>> as Windows, but you get a lot more software with the default
>> installation.
>
> I actually had to go get a cup of coffee while some non-FOSS goodies
> downloaded, since mine was not on CD.

It depends on the distribution of course, some already have non-FOSS
stuff in them and pop up licence agreements you have to agree to.

> But I will second that: Flash works perfectly, MySpace and YouTube also
> work perfectly. I also have a nice free Flash authoring tool. With
> whom *do* these rumors get started?

Sometimes I think from people who last tried Linux since about Red Hat
3.0. The rate of change is much faster than what Windows users are used
to.

Re: OT - Malware experience

On Jul 12, 11:17 am, Ben C wrote:
> >> > > You could have installed GNU/Linux in a couple of hours or less.
> >> > Have you even the slightest clue of how kids actually use machines? A
> >> > linux machine would be pretty much the least ideal platform, given the
> >> > lack of proper flash, games etc. I think the very first time she
> >> > realises she can no longer use her bebo or myspace or youtube pages
> >> > she'd be back on Windows.
> >> Ahhhh reality. Good to see that someone else understands that "best
> >> way" and "right way" are not the same. So your daugher will not use
> >> it because it can not do the kinds of things she wants a computer to
> >> do. My parents won't use it because it is way to hard and don't want
> >> to deal with something new. and most businesses won't use it because
> >> the business world runs on windows.
> >> Is windows the best way? Nope. Is it the right way? Yep
> >> *Disclaimer: Nothing is best or right 100% of the time
> > This is all very true, getting a Mac would have been a better
> > suggestion, as they can run most Windows applications, such as Flash
> > and others.
>
> Just to squash a couple of rumours right here, Flash runs perfectly well
> on Linux (but is also fortunately quite easy to disable) and so do
> websites like MySpace and YouTube.
>
> You install it by putting a CD in the drive and clicking on a few
> buttons labelled things like "Yes" and off you go. Just as easy to use
> as Windows, but you get a lot more software with the default
> installation.

My parents are not going to install it. My parents will use windows
because that is what they always used, and that is what comes with the
computer.

Re: OT - Malware experience

On Jul 12, 11:46 am, mbstevens wrote:
> Ben C wrote:
> > On 2007-07-12, Chaddy2222 wrote:
> >> Travis Newbury wrote:
> >>> On Jul 12, 8:40 am, SpaceGirl wrote:
> >>>>> You could have installed GNU/Linux in a couple of hours or less.
> >>>> Have you even the slightest clue of how kids actually use machines? A
> >>>> linux machine would be pretty much the least ideal platform, given the
> >>>> lack of proper flash, games etc. I think the very first time she
> >>>> realises she can no longer use her bebo or myspace or youtube pages
> >>>> she'd be back on Windows.
> >>> Ahhhh reality. Good to see that someone else understands that "best
> >>> way" and "right way" are not the same. So your daugher will not use
> >>> it because it can not do the kinds of things she wants a computer to
> >>> do. My parents won't use it because it is way to hard and don't want
> >>> to deal with something new. and most businesses won't use it because
> >>> the business world runs on windows.
>
> >>> Is windows the best way? Nope. Is it the right way? Yep
>
> >>> *Disclaimer: Nothing is best or right 100% of the time
> >> This is all very true, getting a Mac would have been a better
> >> suggestion, as they can run most Windows applications, such as Flash
> >> and others.
>
> > Just to squash a couple of rumours right here, Flash runs perfectly well
> > on Linux (but is also fortunately quite easy to disable) and so do
> > websites like MySpace and YouTube.
>
> > You install it by putting a CD in the drive and clicking on a few
> > buttons labelled things like "Yes" and off you go. Just as easy to use
> > as Windows, but you get a lot more software with the default
> > installation.
>
> I actually had to go get a cup of coffee while some non-FOSS goodies
> downloaded, since mine was not on CD.
>
> But I will second that: Flash works perfectly, MySpace and YouTube also
> work perfectly. I also have a nice free Flash authoring tool. With
> whom *do* these rumors get started?

Space girl started these evil rumors.... STONE HER!!!!

Hell.... stone me....

Re: OT - Malware experience

On 2007-07-12, Travis Newbury wrote:
[...]
> My parents are not going to install it. My parents will use windows
> because that is what they always used, and that is what comes with the
> computer.

Mine have learned that if they want tech support from me they use what I
tell them to use.

Re: OT - Malware experience

On Jul 12, 2:12 pm, Ben C wrote:
> > My parents are not going to install it. My parents will use windows
> > because that is what they always used, and that is what comes with the
> > computer.
> Mine have learned that if they want tech support from me they use what I
> tell them to use.

And this is the reason that there are multiple choices.

Re: OT - Malware experience

Arne wrote:
> Once upon a time *SAZ* wrote:
>> In article ,
>> arbpen@yahoo.com says...
>>> I have a good friend who asked me to come out and take a look at her
>>> daughter's computer because it was really slow. Spybot Search and Destroy
>>> came up with 1,401 malware programs and/or tracking cookies. The anti-
>>> virus came up with 89 viruses and trojans. I got everything cleaned up,
>>> installed a Hosts manager, Firefox and Opera (default). Then I told them
>>> that IE was off limits.
>>>
>>> Three days to fix this. Scarey.
>>>
>>>
>> IE is partially to blame, but the viruses are the fault of a missing or
>> outdated anti-virus program.
>
> And how many other computers was infected by the daughter's computer?
>
> There should be a law against unprotected computers and computers who
> infect others! ;)
>

Then Microsoft's computer shall be the first one to take the blame. Or
the virus-generator's computer. Don't kid.

Re: OT - Malware experience

Well bust mah britches and call me cheeky, on Thu, 12 Jul 2007 17:37:59
GMT Travis Newbury scribed:

>> But I will second that: Flash works perfectly, MySpace and YouTube
>> also work perfectly. I also have a nice free Flash authoring tool.
>> With whom *do* these rumors get started?
>
> Space girl started these evil rumors.... STONE HER!!!!
>
> Hell.... stone me....

Eh? I thought you were stoned...

--
Neredbojias
A self-made man who worships his creator

Re: OT - Malware experience

Well bust mah britches and call me cheeky, on Thu, 12 Jul 2007 17:37:05
GMT Travis Newbury scribed:

> My parents are not going to install it. My parents will use windows
> because that is what they always used, and that is what comes with the
> computer.

Parents need to be trained. -With TLC, of course.

--
Neredbojias
A self-made man who worships his creator

Re: OT - Malware experience

Neredbojias wrote:
> Well bust mah britches and call me cheeky, on Thu, 12 Jul 2007 17:37:59
> GMT Travis Newbury scribed:
>
>>> But I will second that: Flash works perfectly, MySpace and YouTube
>>> also work perfectly. I also have a nice free Flash authoring tool.
>>> With whom *do* these rumors get started?
>>
>> Space girl started these evil rumors.... STONE HER!!!!
>>
>> Hell.... stone me....
>
> Eh? I thought you were stoned...

Everybody must get stoned.

--
Blinky RLU 297263
Killing all posts from Google Groups
The Usenet Improvement Project: http://blinkynet.net/comp/uip5.html

Re: OT - Malware experience

Travis Newbury wrote:

>
> My parents are not going to install it. My parents will use windows
> because that is what they always used, and that is what comes with the
> computer.
>

If you give them a computer with linux installed, I bet they won't
notice a difference.

I've tried this with a few people; most really don't care beyond
surfing, email, and text editing.

So linux works just fine.

Re: OT - Malware experience

On 2007-07-12, SpaceGirl wrote:
> On Jul 11, 10:14 pm, "Chris F.A. Johnson"
> wrote:
>> On 2007-07-11, Adrienne Boswell wrote:
>>
>> > I have a good friend who asked me to come out and take a look at her
>> > daughter's computer because it was really slow. Spybot Search and Destroy
>> > came up with 1,401 malware programs and/or tracking cookies. The anti-
>> > virus came up with 89 viruses and trojans. I got everything cleaned up,
>> > installed a Hosts manager, Firefox and Opera (default). Then I told them
>> > that IE was off limits.
>>
>> > Three days to fix this. Scarey.
>>
>> You could have installed GNU/Linux in a couple of hours or less.
>
> Have you even the slightest clue of how kids actually use machines?

Yes. My grandaughter has been using GNU/Linux for years. She
doesn't have Widoes on her computer.

> A linux machine would be pretty much the least ideal platform, given
> the lack of proper flash, games etc.

It does have flash 9; it does have games.

> I think the very first time she realises she can no longer use her
> bebo or myspace or youtube pages she'd be back on Windows.

I don't know what bebo is, but the others can be used just as well
with Linux.

--
Chris F.A. Johnson
============================================================ =======
Author:
Shell Scripting Recipes: A Problem-Solution Approach (2005, Apress)

Re: OT - Malware experience

Gazing into my crystal ball I observed Bernhard Sturm
writing in news:f74ott$5r4$1@aioe.org:

> Adrienne Boswell wrote:
>> The anti-
>> virus came up with 89 viruses and trojans. I got everything cleaned
>> up, installed a Hosts manager, Firefox and Opera (default). Then I
>> told them that IE was off limits.
>>
>> Three days to fix this. Scarey.
>
> if the computer was that infected, are you sure you have no rootkits
> sitting on it? I know that most spyware-removal-tools and scanners are
> not able to detected sophisticated rootkits (such as the infamous
> BMG-sony-rootkit). Sometimes it's just best practice to wipe the HD
> and make a clean install when you have encountered such a 'victim'.
>
> cheers
> bernhard
>

There are probably rootkits sitting on it that I'll have to go back later
and fix. For now, she's okay, and with the other files I installed, and
strict instructions not to use IE or go anywhere strange, she should be
okay for a while.

--
Adrienne Boswell at Home
Arbpen Web Site Design Services
http://www.cavalcade-of-coding.info
Please respond to the group so others can share

Re: OT - Malware experience

Gazing into my crystal ball I observed Travis Newbury
writing in news:1184235673.700614.154930@
22g2000hsm.googlegroups.com:

> On Jul 11, 4:11 pm, Adrienne Boswell wrote:
>> Then I told them that IE was off limits.
>> Three days to fix this. Scarey.
>
> As soon as another browser becomes the most popular you will be saying
> "Then I told them that [browser name] is off limits." Being #1 has
> its bad side too.
>
>

Yup, and I'll be saying - use IE - Firefox is off limits.

--
Adrienne Boswell at Home
Arbpen Web Site Design Services
http://www.cavalcade-of-coding.info
Please respond to the group so others can share

Re: OT - Malware experience

SpaceGirl wrote:

> Have you even the slightest clue of how kids actually use machines? A
> linux machine would be pretty much the least ideal platform, given the
> lack of proper flash, games etc. I think the very first time she
> realises she can no longer use her bebo or myspace or youtube pages
> she'd be back on Windows.

Flash 9 is available for Linux. It came a little later than the Windows
version, but it arrived eventually. (Flash 8 for Linux didn't exist, so we
were stuck on 7 for a while, which was a little annoying.)

YouTube works fine here. Sadly, so does MySpace. Not sure about Bebo --
never visited it.

As for games, Transgaming Cedega makes it possible to play most of the
popular Windows games on Linux. (Cedega is a commerical version of the open
source Windows compatibility layer WINE, which forked off before WINE
became GPL.) A Cedega subscription costs £3 per month, with a minimum
subscription period of 3 months. That's a drop in the ocean compared to
the cost of most games these days!

Some would argue that the experience of playing a Windows game through
Cedega is preferable to playing it natively. While many games in Windows
forcibly take over your entire screen, Cedega allows you to play them in a
window. Although it's unlikely you'd want to use this to work on your
business accounts spreadsheet while in the middle of Doom 3, it might be
useful to look up hints and tips on the web while playing.

And yes, Mir:
http://games.cedega.com/gamesdb/games/view.mhtml?game_id=351 8

--
Toby A Inkster BSc (Hons) ARCS
[Geek of HTML/SQL/Perl/PHP/Python/Apache/Linux]
[OS: Linux 2.6.12-12mdksmp, up 22 days, 12:10.]

demiblog 0.2.0 Released
http://tobyinkster.co.uk/blog/2007/06/28/demiblog-0.2.0/

Re: OT - Malware experience

On Jul 12, 3:58 pm, Neredbojias wrote:
> > Space girl started these evil rumors.... STONE HER!!!!
> > Hell.... stone me....
> Eh? I thought you were stoned...

It's been a little dry around here for a while...

Re: OT - Malware experience

On Jul 12, 7:29 pm, CptDondo wrote:

> > My parents are not going to install it. My parents will use windows
> > because that is what they always used, and that is what comes with the
> > computer.
> If you give them a computer with linux installed, I bet they won't
> notice a difference.

You are probably right. If it were not for the money I have invested
in Windows software I might even take a shot at *nix. But alas, I can
not. And you know to tell you the truth, I really don't have a
problem with windows. It has always run well for me, I have AVG virus
checker running, and I use FF. Windows has worked fine for me (and
apparently millions of others) so I see no need to change right now.

It is all a matter of personal preference. Each OS, has its good and
bad side.

Re: OT - Malware experience

On Jul 13, 1:04 am, "Chris F.A. Johnson" wrote:
> > A linux machine would be pretty much the least ideal platform, given
> > the lack of proper flash, games etc.
> It does have flash 9; it does have games.

It doesn't have all the new games. The last time I was in a Best Buy,
or Circuit City I notices a plethora of Windows based games, and a few
obscure titles in the the Mac and Linux section. So it may well have
games, but does it have the games all your buds are playing?

Re: OT - Malware experience

Well bust mah britches and call me cheeky, on Thu, 12 Jul 2007 20:30:53 GMT
Blinky the Shark scribed:

>>> Space girl started these evil rumors.... STONE HER!!!!
>>>
>>> Hell.... stone me....
>>
>> Eh? I thought you were stoned...
>
> Everybody must get stoned.

I wonder... If being stoned was one's normal state, would getting straight
seem like a high?

--
Neredbojias
A self-made man who worships his creator

Re: OT - Malware experience

Well bust mah britches and call me cheeky, on Fri, 13 Jul 2007 09:32:20 GMT
Travis Newbury scribed:

> On Jul 12, 3:58 pm, Neredbojias wrote:
>> > Space girl started these evil rumors.... STONE HER!!!!
>> > Hell.... stone me....
>> Eh? I thought you were stoned...
>
> It's been a little dry around here for a while...

What we need are more characters. -Like Luigi. Wouldn't hurt having a
dolphin or two, too, to keep Blinky from getting complacent.

--
Neredbojias
A self-made man who worships his creator

Re: OT - Malware experience

On Jul 13, 5:43 am, Neredbojias wrote:
> > It's been a little dry around here for a while...
> What we need are more characters. -Like Luigi. Wouldn't hurt having a
> dolphin or two, too, to keep Blinky from getting complacent.

I remember a few interesting characters. There was a fellow named
"Chip" that did Christmas stories that was always interesting, a "Dan"
from Spain that was kind of fun. I remember he was a JavaScript
hater, but all his sites were packed with essencial JavaScript. (I
actually wrote him and asked why he did not follow his own philosophy
in his professional sites, he said becasuse he had a family to feed.)
And of course there was brucie (may he rest in peace)

Re: OT - Malware experience

Travis Newbury wrote:

> And of course there was brucie (may he rest in peace)
>


I was away when this happened...or are you being metaphorical?
I miss Brucie's comments.

Re: OT - Malware experience

mbstevens wrote:
> Travis Newbury wrote:
>
>> And of course there was brucie (may he rest in peace)
>
> I was away when this happened...or are you being metaphorical?
> I miss Brucie's comments.

Metaphorical, me thinks.

--
Toby A Inkster BSc (Hons) ARCS
[Geek of HTML/SQL/Perl/PHP/Python/Apache/Linux]
[OS: Linux 2.6.12-12mdksmp, up 22 days, 18:06.]

demiblog 0.2.0 Released
http://tobyinkster.co.uk/blog/2007/06/28/demiblog-0.2.0/

Re: OT - Malware experience

Well bust mah britches and call me cheeky, on Fri, 13 Jul 2007 12:31:37 GMT
Travis Newbury scribed:

> On Jul 13, 5:43 am, Neredbojias wrote:
>> > It's been a little dry around here for a while...
>> What we need are more characters. -Like Luigi. Wouldn't hurt having a
>> dolphin or two, too, to keep Blinky from getting complacent.
>
> I remember a few interesting characters. There was a fellow named
> "Chip" that did Christmas stories that was always interesting,

I remember him. "Chimichanga" or something like that, from New Mexico but
moving back east. Nice guy, wonder why he gave up the habit?

> a "Dan"
> from Spain that was kind of fun. I remember he was a JavaScript
> hater, but all his sites were packed with essencial JavaScript. (I
> actually wrote him and asked why he did not follow his own philosophy
> in his professional sites, he said becasuse he had a family to feed.)

I remember him, too. Could be acerbic but knew a real lot about certain
things (-networks, I think.)

> And of course there was brucie (may he rest in peace)

A fountain of information. You could tell Brucie was Australian; he had
that vociferous imperative. I heard he retired to raise wombats in
Woomera.

--
Neredbojias
A self-made man who worships his creator

Re: OT - Malware experience

Neredbojias wrote:

> Well bust mah britches and call me cheeky, on Thu, 12 Jul 2007
> 20:30:53 GMT Blinky the Shark scribed:
>
>>>> Space girl started these evil rumors.... STONE HER!!!!
>>>>
>>>> Hell.... stone me....
>>>
>>> Eh? I thought you were stoned...
>>
>> Everybody must get stoned.
>
> I wonder... If being stoned was one's normal state, would
> getting straight seem like a high?

I'm low on life.


--
Blinky
Killfiling all posts from Google Groups
Details: http://blinkynet.net/comp/uip5.html

Re: OT - Malware experience

Travis Newbury wrote:
>
> [re: switching from Windows to Linux]
> It is all a matter of personal preference.

Not entirely. I'd happily switch to Linux if they had sufficient
*usable* native applications, like a graphics editor beside the Gimp
(which I loathe). Not everything runs under Wine or Cross-over Office.

--
Berg

Re: OT - Malware experience

"Adrienne Boswell" wrote in message
news:Xns996A862F26A5Aarbpenyahoocom@69.28.186.121...
>I have a good friend who asked me to come out and take a look at her
> daughter's computer because it was really slow. Spybot Search and Destroy
> came up with 1,401 malware programs and/or tracking cookies. The anti-
> virus came up with 89 viruses and trojans. I got everything cleaned up,
> installed a Hosts manager, Firefox and Opera (default). Then I told them
> that IE was off limits.
>
> Three days to fix this. Scarey.
>
> --
> Adrienne Boswell at Home
> Arbpen Web Site Design Services
> http://www.cavalcade-of-coding.info
> Please respond to the group so others can share
>

I'll add my own horror story....keep in mind that I am an IT professional
with nearly 30 years experience. I have firewalls, AV programs, and spyware
programs running all the time.

Our daughter moved back home and began using our home computer. One day I
noticed that there were 32 browser windows open telling me I had a virus and
I should buy one of a variety of new programs to fix the problem. Yea,
RIGHT! I knew immediately that I had gotten some kind of a
virus/malware...( don't WANT to know WHERE that girl was surfing! )

Anyway, I started with my Norton's AV...it found nothing. So I ran AdAware,
Sysclean, Spybot Search and destroy, and did a manual search for various
known virus type files. They found a lot of cookies, and other mild type
threats, but nothing major. Meanwhile, the computer is possessed, opening
browser windows while we sleep, when trying to surf, when not trying to
surf, just whenever it wanted to.

Some of the adware clean up programs mentioned a virus, but none of them
could clean it. They would recommend one program or another. So I bought
Stopzilla and a couple of others that did me no good, other than telling me
there was a bug, but they couldn't fix them. After Googling a lot, I found
out I had SmitFraud. I found a website ( Geeks2go or something like that)
that mentioned a free program, SmitFraudFix. I figured since it was free,
why not. (now let me say, I am in no way affiliated with SmitFraudFix, so I
get nothing out of touting it.)

I downloaded it, ran it, rebooted and ran it again a few times, and low and
behold my problems were fixed. Since that time, we have not had any other
problems. Stopzilla has stopped a couple of subsequent intrusions in there
tracks, and SmitFraudFix keeps a vigilant eye on us.

Norton's scans every night, but in my opinion, it it just window dressing,
not doing a dammned thing to protect us. All in all I spent 3 weeks of
nights and weekends trying to clean up this mess. Just goes to show....

Mikey

Re: OT - Malware experience

In article <1184319417.760845.222010@n2g2000hse.googlegroups.com>,
Travis Newbury wrote:

> And you know to tell you the truth, I really don't have a
> problem with windows.

In article <1184319417.760845.222010@n2g2000hse.googlegroups.com>,
Travis Newbury wrote:

> I have AVG virus checker running ...

These two statements don't go together very well.

Personally I would throw the windows machine in the trash and use a Mac.

Re: OT - Malware experience

Tim Streater wrote:
> Travis Newbury wrote:
>
>> And you know to tell you the truth, I really don't have a
>> problem with windows.
>> I have AVG virus checker running ...
>
> These two statements don't go together very well.
>
> Personally I would throw the windows machine in the trash and use a Mac.

I hope you aren't implying that Macs are immune to attacks, because that
is patently false. Besides, a little prudence regarding AV is simple
common sense these days. I've been using MS stuff since before Windows
and have had exactly 1 virus in all that time, and that was many years ago.

BTW, I think Mac is the clumsiest box I ever had to work with. I don't
get the zeal some people have for them at all.

--
Berg

Re: OT - Malware experience

In article <5fq7v3F3demmdU1@mid.individual.net>,
Bergamot wrote:

> Tim Streater wrote:
> > Travis Newbury wrote:
> >
> >> And you know to tell you the truth, I really don't have a
> >> problem with windows.
> >> I have AVG virus checker running ...
> >
> > These two statements don't go together very well.
> >
> > Personally I would throw the windows machine in the trash and use a Mac.
>
> I hope you aren't implying that Macs are immune to attacks, because that
> is patently false.

Win: 114,000 and counting
Mac: None known.

> Besides, a little prudence regarding AV is simple
> common sense these days. I've been using MS stuff since before Windows
> and have had exactly 1 virus in all that time, and that was many years ago.
>
> BTW, I think Mac is the clumsiest box I ever had to work with. I don't
> get the zeal some people have for them at all.

Oh really? Funny, I do all my web development on one. having said that,
though, the Win version of Eudora is much the better so at work I keep
an XP lappy just for that.

And the Mac is not clumsy, either. I lost count of the number of times
under XP where it won't let me move a file, just because it's open. On
the Mac, you move a file elsewhere on a volume, the apps simply adjust
to the new reality. That's the OS working for me instead of the other
way around.

Re: OT - Malware experience

On 2007-07-13, Tim Streater wrote:
> In article <5fq7v3F3demmdU1@mid.individual.net>,

[...]

>> BTW, I think Mac is the clumsiest box I ever had to work with. I don't
>> get the zeal some people have for them at all.
>
> Oh really? Funny, I do all my web development on one. having said that,
> though, the Win version of Eudora is much the better so at work I keep
> an XP lappy just for that.
>
> And the Mac is not clumsy, either. I lost count of the number of times
> under XP where it won't let me move a file, just because it's open. On
> the Mac, you move a file elsewhere on a volume, the apps simply adjust
> to the new reality. That's the OS working for me instead of the other
> way around.

Perhaps Mac users should form an uneasy alliance with Linux users in
this malaware / virus debate :-) Somebody once said 'the enemy of my
enemy is my friend'. I just hope I am not quoting that Mario Puzo
novel ...

Andrew

--
Andrew's Corner
http://people.aapt.net.au/~adjlstrong/homer.html

Re: OT - Malware experience

Bergamot wrote:
> Travis Newbury wrote:
>> [re: switching from Windows to Linux]
>> It is all a matter of personal preference.
>
> Not entirely. I'd happily switch to Linux if they had sufficient
> *usable* native applications, like a graphics editor beside the Gimp
> (which I loathe). Not everything runs under Wine or Cross-over Office.
>
Perhaps you should consider Adobe Photo shop version 7. Version CS also
runs pretty well too, but has some issues keyboard shortcuts and plugins.

I'm surprised you find Gimp so distasteful, but it is a different
interface and takes a little while to get used to.

Perhaps with the rise in popularity of linux, developers will begin
writing or porting existing application.

--
Wayne
www.glenmeadows.us
"Faith means not wanting to know what is true." [Nietzsche]

Re: OT - Malware experience

andrew wrote:
> On 2007-07-13, Tim Streater wrote:
>> In article <5fq7v3F3demmdU1@mid.individual.net>,
>
> [...]
>
>>> BTW, I think Mac is the clumsiest box I ever had to work with. I don't
>>> get the zeal some people have for them at all.
>> Oh really? Funny, I do all my web development on one. having said that,
>> though, the Win version of Eudora is much the better so at work I keep
>> an XP lappy just for that.
>>
>> And the Mac is not clumsy, either. I lost count of the number of times
>> under XP where it won't let me move a file, just because it's open. On
>> the Mac, you move a file elsewhere on a volume, the apps simply adjust
>> to the new reality. That's the OS working for me instead of the other
>> way around.
>
> Perhaps Mac users should form an uneasy alliance with Linux users in
> this malaware / virus debate :-) Somebody once said 'the enemy of my
> enemy is my friend'. I just hope I am not quoting that Mario Puzo
> novel ...
>
> Andrew
>

Seems like a logical conclusion to me, especially since both Mac OS and
linux are *nix. The earlier post about 0 known viruses for Mac also
applies to linux.

Seems *nix programmers are more careful about security the some
proprietary companies.

--
Wayne
www.glenmeadows.us
"Faith means not wanting to know what is true." [Nietzsche]

Re: OT - Malware experience

Well bust mah britches and call me cheeky, on Fri, 13 Jul 2007 17:33:55 GMT
Blinky the Shark scribed:

> Neredbojias wrote:
>
>> Well bust mah britches and call me cheeky, on Thu, 12 Jul 2007
>> 20:30:53 GMT Blinky the Shark scribed:
>>
>>>>> Space girl started these evil rumors.... STONE HER!!!!
>>>>>
>>>>> Hell.... stone me....
>>>>
>>>> Eh? I thought you were stoned...
>>>
>>> Everybody must get stoned.
>>
>> I wonder... If being stoned was one's normal state, would
>> getting straight seem like a high?
>
> I'm low on life.

Life isn't important; self-awareness is. Just think how traumatic it would
be to die and still have to listen to all the bullshit surrounding us.

--
Neredbojias
A self-made man who worships his creator

Re: OT - Malware experience

Well bust mah britches and call me cheeky, on Fri, 13 Jul 2007 21:08:06
GMT Bergamot scribed:

> Tim Streater wrote:
>> Travis Newbury wrote:
>>
>>> And you know to tell you the truth, I really don't have a
>>> problem with windows.
>>> I have AVG virus checker running ...
>>
>> These two statements don't go together very well.
>>
>> Personally I would throw the windows machine in the trash and use a
>> Mac.
>
> I hope you aren't implying that Macs are immune to attacks, because
> that is patently false. Besides, a little prudence regarding AV is
> simple common sense these days. I've been using MS stuff since before
> Windows and have had exactly 1 virus in all that time, and that was
> many years ago.

Ditto, and I did it purposefully as a test.

> BTW, I think Mac is the clumsiest box I ever had to work with. I don't
> get the zeal some people have for them at all.

Can't say I have any experience there but what I heard about them isn't too
compelling.

--
Neredbojias
A self-made man who worships his creator

Re: OT - Malware experience

Bergamot wrote:

> Not entirely. I'd happily switch to Linux if they had sufficient
> *usable* native applications, like a graphics editor beside the Gimp
> (which I loathe). Not everything runs under Wine or Cross-over Office.

For what it's worth, I use the GIMP on my Mac -- I don't know of any
reasonably priced alternatives of equivalent power.

--
Toby A Inkster BSc (Hons) ARCS
[Geek of HTML/SQL/Perl/PHP/Python/Apache/Linux]
[OS: Linux 2.6.12-12mdksmp, up 24 days, 23:21.]

demiblog 0.2.0 Released
http://tobyinkster.co.uk/blog/2007/06/28/demiblog-0.2.0/