DaveNJ
No Fear
join:1999-09-01
New Jersey | tell me about it
On saturday and friend had a party and asked if i could look at his machine 870 spyware 44 viruses, no window updates. He called and thanked me again this morning. |
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C0deZer0
Oc'D To Rhythm And Police
Premium
join:2001-10-03
Davenport, FL
 ·Verizon FIOS
| All too true.
At first, I used to wonder why Microsoft implemented that one feature for automatic updates on Windows XP.
With just looking at my brother's home computer, I had to look no further. He hardly updated Spybot: S&D at all, let alone ran it since I left...
Almost gets to the point that when I head down to check over his computer, I have to reload the OS and start from scratch, because - as he puts it - it gets very slow over time. 
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VIA sux 3K club GameCube online |
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Daemon
Premium
join:2003-06-29
San Francisco, CA
 ·Comcast
| We are like the gifted sages, walking earth to protect the weak from the domination of spyware.
I too, have fixed many computers with just a few simple programs. It's satisfying to anniliahte that stuff. Also, there are programs you can run now that will prevent spyware from getting reinstalled. I suggest you run them on your friend's computers so you don't have to return as often.
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-Ryan
Find me in the networking and Microsoft help forums |
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C0deZer0
Oc'D To Rhythm And Police
Premium
join:2001-10-03
Davenport, FL
·Verizon FIOS
| said by Daemon  :
Also, there are programs you can run now that will prevent spyware from getting reinstalled. I suggest you run them on your friend's computers so you don't have to return as often.
Is there something like that that can be set on a specific schedule? Like once a day/week?
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VIA sux 3K club GameCube online |
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Daemon
Premium
join:2003-06-29
San Francisco, CA
·Comcast
| you have your choice of methods. Some run via a .reg file that sets the kill bit of spyware and puts the sites that offer it in the restricted zone, or you have the more comprehensive approach of a scanner that sits resident in memory and activly fights installation of those programs. I like IE-SpyAD and SpywareBlaster
Now that I think about it, the .reg files are available naked off of the net and they are updated regularlly. It would be a simple matter to write a little program that fetches the .reg and executes it to merge it into the registry. Then, all you'd have to do it set the program up as a scheduled task and it would run on it's own. None of them have a sophisticated auto-updater like the better AV programs do.
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-Ryan
Find me in the networking and Microsoft help forums |
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anonn
@qwest.net
| reply to C0deZer0
i know, it's just like the gas guage in your vehicle. if it shows empty i guess you better stop & fill it up. When Microsoft sends out their Windows Critical Update Notifications then yup, install it NOW! If not then we call this a simple case of self-infliction. Some people like stress just so they can bitch about something because they obviously are not computer literate. |
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MEDIAN2k3
Where Ya Goin?
Premium
join:2002-12-04
Bronx, NY
clubs:  |  FDISK + FORMAT = Brand New PC!
format c: /y
all i gotta say |
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Eat Me
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ
 ·PenTeleData
 ·Future Nine Corpor..
·VOIPo
·Vonage
| I don't entirely blame users
I don't entirely blame users for their predicament.
Microsoft enables lots of features that are inherently insecure (although admittedly they've been getting better at NOT doing this) and leaves them open.
Spyware/virus authors have been getting extremely sophisticated in their methods of installing and keeping spyware on your machine. One piece of spyware I've come across (clientman) took great pains to disguise itself, by littering it's DLL's all over your disk, then randomly re-naming them. Couple that with a memory resident program AND a BHO to keep itself installed. Neither the latest versions of Spybot S&D nor Ad-Aware could have removed this pest. I had to manually go into the system and hunt for all the littered pieces to get rid of it. |
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rjackson
Premium,Mod
join:2002-04-02
Ringgold, GA
clubs:
Host:
SMC Networks
Automotive
VOIP Tech Chat
ViaTalk
Teleblend
| reply to Daemon
Re: All too true.
said by Daemon :
We are like the gifted sages, walking earth to protect the weak from the domination of spyware.
No kidding. You'd think after cleaning up some spyware and installing a few Windows updates that we're like these world famous surgeons or something performing life-saving operations. I wish I got paid like that anyways.
said by Daemon :
I too, have fixed many computers with just a few simple programs. It's satisfying to anniliahte that stuff. Also, there are programs you can run now that will prevent spyware from getting reinstalled. I suggest you run them on your friend's computers so you don't have to return as often.
I keep Spybot, AVG, and a few other apps on a keychain drive because I use them so much. I work at an ISP and in the call center we frequently take in troubled computers from users who can't get them to work right. 99% of the time it's just spyware/virus related. |
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Megladon13
join:2003-09-05
Minneapolis, MN | reply to DaveNJ
Re: tell me about it
I just did a few windows updates, and now my computer keeps locking up at random times, i'm thinking of reformating my harddrive and doing a fresh install of everything. Windows updates arnt always that great. |
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mrchris
We don't miss you Bush
Premium
join:2002-10-01
North Babylon, NY | Try running a spyware and virus scans. |
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Happyrat
Google Is Your Best Friend
Premium
join:2002-07-01
Disneyland
|  I'm the B*st*rd Sysadmin From Hell,,,
At least when it comes to my friends and family. Once I set up a system for a friend, I MAKE them update virus scanners and system patches DAILY. And if I get there and find out they installed some piece of crap spyware without my approval, I wash my hands of the system and tell them to take it to a computers store. I wash my hands of it. Call it tough love, if you will, but I have better things to do with my life than clean up after my buddies' mistakes.
As for me, I don't even run windows at all anymore. It's only a matter of time before I get totally fed up and install linux on their pcs as well...
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Windows is the disease... Linux is the cure...»www.fuzzyrat.com |
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southietech
join:2000-12-02
Boston, MA
| reply to Eat Me
Re: I don't entirely blame users
Here's one I also like to use: |
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WALL_E
Premium
join:2003-05-28
USA
| What a coincidence
What a weird coincidence! I have never been asked to help anyone with tech support until today, about half an hour ago. I spent and hour on the phone with a friend and connected to his computer using remote desktop connection. His computer would frequently stall and restart, starting yesterday. At first I thought this was the Sasser worm, but av scans using online scanners (trend micro, norton, mcafee, etc) as well as his offline scanner (NAV) returned no infected results. A scan using ad-aware (which he donwloaded previously and never used. I guess he thought having it installed would be enough) returned about 550 cases of spyware, at which point ad-aware would stall. Spybot Search & Destroy wouldn't even run. He had about 5 popup "blockers" installed, and just about every other malware in existence. He actually told me he was buying a new computer because his old one was so slow. I tried to tell him that his new computer would be just as slow once he had been careless with it for a while. I recommended that he reformat his computer and reinstall Windows but he called me a idiot with too much time when I told him I reformatted etc. my own PC once a year just for housekeeping. He wanted me to try to salvage his PC while he left to eat dinner. I quit remote desktop and hung up the phone. |
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Johnny
Premium
join:2001-06-27
Atlanta, GA
·Comcast
| Unbelievable
Why you guys put up with this shit.
Microsoft found the secret to getting their OS into all corporations - IT recommends the systems, and of course they are going to recommend the one that keeps them with huge staffs "working" at removing all this junk. So bingo - huge IT staffs, IT boss gets a lot of control and power, and Microsoft sells even more upgrades. Brillliant. |
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jap
Premium
join:2003-08-10
038xx
·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to Megladon13
Re: tell me about it
Megladon, I echo MrChris' response. All the MS errors I've seen were for one of two reasons: pre-existing system infection or corruption OR failed installation via windows update - not because the patches themselves were bad. That's not to say patch compatibility issues don't occur just that the vast majority of patch failures get blamed on the patch when in fact it was delivery method or a flaw in the system it was applied to. As a second-tier tech who managed 200 public & quasi-public systems I've responded to hundreds of patch failures.
Mostly the pros DO NOT use windows update: the offline version of the patch is downloaded to the local network and applied from there. Despite improvements to the windows update site it still is second-rate: unless you are on dial-up it's always better to use the offline packages. Before you do a rebuild (unless you are due for one anyway) you might wanna download the offlines, un-install the recent patches that destabilized your system, clean the system, then re-apply the patches from the offline source.
G'luck! |
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simplyclueless
@charter.com | reply to MEDIAN2k3
Re: FDISK + FORMAT = Brand New PC!
what does the "/y" do in "format c: /y"?
sorry.. I've just never formatted a PC without the aid of a restoration CD or Windows CD. |
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verolom
join:2002-03-23
Eagleville, PA | reply to southietech
Re: I don't entirely blame users
Here's what I use:
»mozilla.org |
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Tomek
Premium
join:2002-01-30
Brooklyn, NY
·Packet8
| said by verolom :
Here's what I use:
»mozilla.org
Best solution.
No automatic installs or worthless stuff and no strange activex and plus integrated pop-out blocker and cookie/image handling.
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Resistance is Futile |
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Tomek
Premium
join:2002-01-30
Brooklyn, NY | reply to Happyrat
Re: I'm the B*st*rd Sysadmin From Hell,,,
I think that's what I'll start doing. Washing my hands or installing linux or simply charging for work.
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Resistance is Futile |
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