Replies

I’ve also noticed how Google “redirects” traffic. Haven’t been infected yet, but MBAM Pro alerted me to a redirect. This was a couple of months ago.

Since then, I’ve uninstalled Google from all of my computers. There are other worthy browsers.

And, Norton is no better. If it weren’t for the fact that it’s bundled into computers, Norton wouldn’t be a player any longer.

Cat

XP will still be quite usable for some time after 04/08/2014. Why do I know this?

Because I have a Windows 2000 Pro install that’s just 3 months old, still can get whatever available updates through Windows Update (after updating IE5 to IE6). Plus it’s secured with both ESET Smart Security + MBAM Pro. If ESET is going to support a OS with less than 1% usage (in the US), nearly 2 years after MS cutoff support, they certainly will support XP even longer.

Keep in mind that even if XP falls to 10% usage, this translates into tens of millions of users. Same with 2K, that 1% is still a lot of users, apparently enough to justify support by different vendors. The latest Firefox & Opera still installs on it, as well as many commonly used apps. I can even run the Microsoft Safety Scanner on it, as well as manually download a new copy of the Malicious Software Removal Tool every month.

But XP is going to be around a long time yet. Remember Windows 7 is supported until sometime in 2020, XP Mode will still be available to these users. Just won’t be any more updates released after then for the OS. One thing that can be done, is have a fresh backup available, completely updated, that way, you’ll have a “new XP” anytime you wish.

As far as computing security in general, look to see more & more “cloud” type AV/IS suites, or at least components of it. They are needed, because the split second that the security solution knows of a virus/malware site (streaming technology), it instantly covers all protected computers, w/o an update required.

Cat

I have a couple of 4GB SanDisk Cruser Flash drives with the U3 protection, it works great! But there is a U3 removal tool published on the net, I’m not sure how it affects any stored files, but the U3 protection can be removed.

Clint’s suggestion of TrueCrypt is the very best in protection (far superior to BitLocker), but as stated, it’s not 100% portable. Many people, including myself, isn’t going to create
an administrator account on our computers to allow one to open a TrueCrypt drive. That would be putting the computer owner at risk.

Transcend flash drives has their own encryption program that can be used. So do other brands.

If one is looking to keep it simple, there’s still plenty of SanDisk U3 drives available at Amazon. There is a wide selection of sizes & prices to meet any budget.

http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Cruzer-Micro-Flash-SDCZ6-4096-E11/dp/B000EWHEM6

Cat

Although I didn’t care for the DP version of Windows 8 at all, I’m now enjoying Win 8 CP. Didn’t think that I would at first, but after a couple of days of usage, and some tutorials provided by Drew, I got to liking it.

So much, that for everything besides making transactions, Win 8 CP is my default OS. After all, one can’t learn it, if not running it. It was the same with Windows 7.

Windows 8 will probably be a decent OS when it’s a finished product, but it’ll remain to be seen just how many desktop users will adapt to it. After all, for most users, Windows 7 is fantastic & will be supported until 2020. SP2 for the OS hasn’t been released as of yet, & I have no idea when it’ll be.

But there were many low-spec desktops & notebooks that were produced when Windows 7 was introduced. Many of these computers are running at high CPU usage. Well, so far, Windows 8 CP is taking care of that issue. My desktop that normally ran at no lower than 70% of CPU usage (w/Win 7 Pro x64) has been cut in less than half. As a result, my fan isn’t screaming all of the time, meaning less heat & wear & tear on my PC. Which by chance will be replaced when Windows 9 goes retail, but that’s 3 & a half years away.

So far, my experience with Win 8 has been a good one. Hope that it remains that way.

Cat

That alone makes a big difference; for example, an antivirus program is only as good as the latest definitions – and on rare occasions, they’re pretty troublesome in themselves!

Quite how the SmartScreen/SafeBrowsing type web reputation checkers are going to detect the latest round of exploit kits that don’t attempt to load unless mouse movement is detected I don’t know.

You’re correct, only difference between now & then (2 years ago) is that there are now more threats than ever! MSE, although free & used by many (still use version 4 Beta on XP Mode), is not the most optimal security solution available.

That’s why, after a few scans with the free ESET Online Scanner, I realized just how much trash that MSE ran by & missed. And I was keeping MSE updated & running scheduled scans. MSE is good for those who uses their computers for school work & general web viewing, but in good faith, I cannot recommend it for those who makes transactions, or otherwise has to reveal personal information on the net.

Just like everything else, we get what we pay for. But even with a top notch IS like ESET + MBAM Pro, all is no good with careless computing habits. That was not my problem on the night of the attack. I don’t know why it happened & probably never will. The only thing that I done different was to try Safari, & their “Safe Search” out. Mabye that was the problem.

Cat

This is just my two cents on the issue, please don’t take my point of view as being anything else.

What is wrong with simply accessing email through the browser? Works perfectly fine for me & I have 6 email accounts. All of these other options, Windows Live Mail, Outlook Express & Thunderbird is a pain to setup. Plus, all of them doesn’t allow for at least one of my email accounts mail to come through.

I have them bookmarked into a folder “eMail accounts”, & go to them when I wish to. Have been doing it that way for years. Why does email have to be so complicated?

BTW, there appears to be some sort of email built into Windows 8 CP, because when I sign in, using my Windows Live password, unread messages shows. But when one wants to check their email, the user must re-enter their password. There is the option to import email accounts, but once again, not all of them. I just checked.

Cat

Thank you all for your inputs. Clearly I don’t have a life because I don’t have any interest in tweeting, facing, blogging or tubing. Frankly I don’t know of anyone whose life would be sufficiently interesting to follow their petty likes and dislikes, what they had for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I seem to be stuck in what you might call “the real world,” grandchildren, hobbies, and helping people with real world problems. That’s my loss I suppose.

However, life without Flash is just fine, except that there’s just one minor flaw, I keep getting pop-ups tell me I need to install Flash. I’ll try the suggested ad blocking. hopefully that will block Flash reminders too. Things are looking up!

David

Not sure if the ad blocker will stop the Flash, sooner or later you’ll need it for something else, the reminder will be there again. Flash in itself isn’t a security issue, just as Java isn’t. It’s what’s done with the apps that is.

Plus, it’s a good idea to remove the prior version of Flash or Java before upgrading the the newest version. Oracle even recommends this.

http://www.java.com/en/download/faq/remove_olderversions.xml

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13554_3-9837179-33.html

This way, all of the leftovers gets removed. Revo Uninstaller (the free version) is good for this.

Cat

Flash is needed to view videos, among other things. There’s even 64 bit Flash for IE & non-IE. Here are all 4 versions. Note that these are the latest betas, once you click onto one, each prior version can be seen. It’ll be 1 or 2 links below the latest one (the stable version). I’ve always used the very latest, haven’t had problems with them.

http://www.filehippo.com/search?q=adobe+flash

I used to use 64 bit IE sometimes when I didn’t want to see ads, but some things that I needed still weren’t there. 64 bit Flash corrected the issue. There is 64 bit Java & Silverlight also, on the same site.

Cat

Thanks Ted! Somehow or another I found this forum while reading, when reading an article.

Glad that I did, as many versions & brands of OS’s are covered here. On most of the Linux sites, there’s too much Windows bashing, & that’s not what I’m looking for. I’m go to those forums for support, not to bash what other users runs.

Anyway, Windows 8 CP is a lot different from the DP version, which I only ran a couple of times on an old hard drive, then after seeing it wasn’t ready for me, formatted it. Figured that the CP would be better, & so far it has been.

Cat

Welcome to the Lounge!

Chrome and Mozilla-based browsers use Google’s Safe Browsing feature which seems to be much better (or at least more frequently and thoroughly checked) than IE’s SmartScreenFilter protection at giving an advanced warning of a known attack site (I’m not sure that Safari and others have an equivalent).

Integrated ‘full protection suites’ are perhaps of lesser value than a well thought out and implemented layering protection, using the best available active and passive tools from multiple (even free) makers.

Go on, tell us who ‘protected’ you

A couple of years ago, the nastiest virus/malware attack of my life happened using Google’s “Safe Browsing” that Safari (at that time) had. It was the very first & last time that I used Safari also.

At the time, MSE was my AV, with MBAM as a scanner. Windows 7 Pro x64 w/all updates. Still, not good enough. It was one of those attacks that stopped everything in my arsenal to scan with. Couldn’t even run the MRT tool from the Start Menu.

Finally, I rebooted into XP Pro beside of Windows 7, started scanning with MSE, it went right to cleaning. I ran it 2 times. MBAM also found some things. Ran it twice. By that time, I was tired, and went to bed.

The next morning, when I booted into Windows 7 to check my email box (my daily routine), there was a box, it looked exactly like a MSE box. Said something to the effect that my system wasn’t totally clean yet, to click it to finish. So I did. And BOOM! It started all over again.

I wasn’t going through that crap again. Being that it was a TechNet install, it wasn’t backed up. I simply booted from my Mini Tool Partition Wizard partition disk, formatted the space, then deleted the space, then did a DOD (3x) wipe of the space. Then started over again with Windows 7 Pro. Whatever it caught was finally gone.

As a result of this, I had to review my security stance. Went with ESET NOD32 AV & MBAM Pro, haven’t been infected since. Early this year, when my NOD32 subscription ran out, I switched to ESET Smart Security 5, along with MBAM Pro. Still no problems to this day. I’ll stick with this regime until something happens (I hope that it won’t).

But Google’s Safe Browsing or Safe Search as it was called in Safari, isn’t perfect.

Cat

flyfisher, wish I were there with you! I love to do installs/virus cleaning. My two specialties.

The secret is all in the preparation. Having the proper drivers (preferably the latest), pre-formatting the drive to keep that 100MB partition form installing. One must have a game plan when doing a clean install. Having access to a good forum helps too, as we all can run into a snag at times.

When you get that computer back, be sure to back it up, that way, you’ll always have a good install to revert to when needed.

Best of Luck,
Cat

Probably because Windows 8 is now CP, when Ted started this thread, it was still DP. There are other differences as well, such as the trick to bring the old Start Menu back. These are gone with Windows 8 CP.

Cat

I haven’t had any problem with Windows/Microsoft Update, even using those Dell XP Pro SP2 re-install disks. Being that I have XP SP3 on a flash drive & CD, it’s no problem updating to it. But I go through the motions before installing SP3, there’s a couple of other updates that must be done first. I wait until SP3 is offered, then install it.

But one thing about it, Dell is very lax with those re-install disks. Because one can use them to upgrade a Home version to Pro with them w/o any problems at all. And they pass WGA perfectly fine. I’ve even seen Vista PC’s downgraded with them, as long as it’s a Dell MB, it passes.

Cat

Who needs IE on Windows 2000? When we can have a modern browser like Firefox 11 & Opera 11.62. Both of which are fast & secure. W2K is not dead, yet!

Unfortunately, Google or Safari no longer supports W2K.

Cat