OT - Calling PC security gurus

Julie wrote:Get a Mac! They just don't ever have any problems

Never say never.

As the number of MAC users continues to increase...so will the virus & malware.

The McAfee unistalled easily without incident.

AVG installed easily too although I'm still learning how to use it.

I first ran McAfee full computer scan before doing the uninstall. After installing AVG I did it again and AVG only found 183 tracking cookies that McAfee did not warn me about or catch. I don't know if it was my fault for not having McAfee set up correctly or what but I'm glad AVG allowed me to send them to the vault ... where ever that is?

So far I do like AVG user interface better than McAffe although it has many more options/features I still need to learn how to use. I know it is shameful that I have not kept up with computer technology despite using it everyday. There was a time back in the early 90's when I was above average and capable of using DOS, Windows, Apple/Mac, and UNIX all within the same day ... I now understand what old people meant when they said "those were the good 'ole days" and I had no idea what they were talking about as a young'in

NightHawkeye wrote:

DreamStalker wrote:I plan to try out the AVG internet security product for now. I will also look into VMWare and Virtual Box and see about adding Linux once I get up to speed on the learning curve (well, up to moving along to where I can figure out what it takes to install and use).

All you need to get started with Linux are at: http://www.ubuntu.com
For Virtual Box: http://www.virtualbox.org

Virtual Box also has a version for Windows, just in case you want to run Linux in Windows rather than the other way around. If the Ubuntu website seems slow, its because they just released a major software upgrade with their second 5-year support version. Downloading an Ubuntu CD might be a tad slow right now.

Regards,
Bill

Thanks for the links Bill. Is there any advantage to using Virtual Box for Windows XP and running Ubunto w/in Windows or visa versa?

I only briefly browsed through the web links and liked what I saw ... will definitely pursue the VB/WinXP/Ubunto set up ... thanks again.

Some of those 183 "tracking cookies" may have been non-malicious stuff like a userid for a site that you ok'd saving. I find that some software that removes all of them becomes very annoying when I have to go look up userid and password all over again .... my 1 cent's worth.

Mindy

mindy wrote:Some of those 183 "tracking cookies" may have been non-malicious stuff like a userid for a site that you ok'd saving. ........
Mindy

Yes Mindy, there are good cookies like the ones for cpaptalk.com.

Gumby likes Oreo's or chocolate chips...mmmm

DreamStalker wrote:Thanks for the links Bill. Is there any advantage to using Virtual Box for Windows XP and running Ubunto w/in Windows or visa versa?

Depends on what you need the system to do, I guess. As far as security is concerned, the general idea is to isolate Windows from the internet. Either way, I'd think you'd want to do your web browsing in Linux. I suppose running Linux under Windows still leaves an opening for bad stuff to come in, but I'm sure it's a much smaller hole.

DreamStalker wrote:I only briefly browsed through the web links and liked what I saw ... will definitely pursue the VB/WinXP/Ubunto set up ... thanks again.

Have fun with it.

I just did a fresh install of Linux 8.04 today on a new Athlon 64 6000, dual-core, with 3 GBytes of RAM. Vista even runs decently on it. My former PC got smoked in a thunderstorm a few days ago. The local BestBuy had this box marked down to the price of an entry PC so I snatched it up. .


Regards,
Bill (who wishes replacing PC's was an easier proposition than it is ... )

I've used almost all of them on multiple computers for a non-profit.
The best thing I've found is F-Secure in the full security suite flavor.

It's great because it doesn't hog system resources like Norton, and isn't buggy like Grisoft AVG.

It's also available through a site license from both the University where I go to school and my home ISP. It's one thing they agree on. F-Secure has been fairly stable for me on XP and Win2K, laptops and desktops since 2003.

NightHawkeye wrote:

DreamStalker wrote:Thanks for the links Bill. Is there any advantage to using Virtual Box for Windows XP and running Ubunto w/in Windows or visa versa?

Depends on what you need the system to do, I guess. As far as security is concerned, the general idea is to isolate Windows from the internet. Either way, I'd think you'd want to do your web browsing in Linux. I suppose running Linux under Windows still leaves an opening for bad stuff to come in, but I'm sure it's a much smaller hole.

DreamStalker wrote:I only briefly browsed through the web links and liked what I saw ... will definitely pursue the VB/WinXP/Ubunto set up ... thanks again.

Have fun with it.

I just did a fresh install of Linux 8.04 today on a new Athlon 64 6000, dual-core, with 3 GBytes of RAM. Vista even runs decently on it. My former PC got smoked in a thunderstorm a few days ago. The local BestBuy had this box marked down to the price of an entry PC so I snatched it up. .


Regards,
Bill (who wishes replacing PC's was an easier proposition than it is ... )

I really hate to have to reinstall my XP and Windows software as I like that way I have everything set up right now.

If I create system and application recovery disks of my current XP setup, would I be able to easily load my XP back to run within Ubunto/VBox setup?

On my PCs I use Zone Alarm security suite having tried many over the years.

I 1st used ZA in 2001 & although there were times I wanted to throw it out the window (it has had its share of settling down) I now use it as my #1 defender.

It is pretty close to a commercial firewall in its range of settings - they will daunt most newcomers but it does have very good training software that tries to work out the best settings for you.

So my reco is ZA SS

DSM

DreamStalker wrote:I really hate to have to reinstall my XP and Windows software as I like that way I have everything set up right now.

If I create system and application recovery disks of my current XP setup, would I be able to easily load my XP back to run within Ubunto/VBox setup?

Don't think so. Sure would be nice if things were that easy though.

The optimum time to switch might be after a hard-disk crash or motherboard failure. At least that worked for me. Cursing M$ Windows made the transition a lot easier. .

As motivational bait for ya, I'll point out that getting XP back up and running on this new box was as easy as you are suggesting; I simply copied a virtual machine folder onto the new hard-drive. (Actually, that's even easier than you suggested.) The XP configuration on the new PC is exactly the same as on the old PC, even though the processor is different, video is different; in fact, all the hardware is different. Just one advantage of a virtual machine - runs anywhere the hosting software runs.

I hadn't really considered that aspect of virtualization before now. Kinda neat. I'm not sure that migrating Linux after a catastrophic hardware failure is much easier than migrating Windows, but it's no worse. Also, there's no data loss, as I always experienced with Windows.

Regards,
Bill

DreamStalker wrote:Thanks everyone. I new I could count on you for the right advice.

I plan to try out the AVG internet security product for now. I will also look into VMWare and Virtual Box and see about adding Linux once I get up to speed on the learning curve (well, up to moving along to where I can figure out what it takes to install and use).

I hope I'm able to remove McAfee without any issues. If not, I'll be back!

Thanks again everyone for your comments and suggestions.

Like Norton, McAffee often needs a special removal tool to entirely be rid of it. http://www.wikihow.com/Uninstall-McAfee-Security-Center

It's not like I'm entirely a Windows fan, but I have to admit, if you've got a working system where most of the software you need uses the windows architecture, you may not have to compartmentalize your workspace from the internet.

I use Firefox on WinXP with the Noscript add-on to keep all would-be 'rickrollers' at bay. Also, I'm not tracked by quantserve when I'm on cpaptalk.com. I'm not tracked by verisign.com or google-anaytics.com when I'm on cpap.com. Nor am i tracked by googlesyndication.com, revsci.net, yimg.com, tacoda.net or questionmarket.com when I'm on nytimes.com. Nor do I see most of the third-party ad generators on most sites. I see a blank space that says 'advertisement' in small letters. When I'm on a site I've never visited before, all scripting, including flash, silverlight, pdfs, java, and javascript are default inactive until I use a pull-up at the bottom of the browser to allow the site to use scripting. Some sites like CNET organize their content into subdomains that I recognize and allow. Other than if I allow it, nothing seems to get through Noscript.

I don't trust IE 7 for much other than to render a trusted page. I only use it to check for windows updates and to make sure new sites I create don't break in IE.

I use Acronis True Image version 8 to make an image of my entire hard drive every two weeks on to an external hard-drive. Once, I had to send my laptop off to get a new touchpad/keyboard assembly - I'd worn it to uselessness within the warranty. Because I had a lot of business data on the drive, I wiped it and restored an old hard-drive image including only non-personal information on my computer. When i got the computer back, I wiped it again and restored the most recent backup I'd made just before sending off the hard-drive. It worked like a charm. 60GB of data on a 120GB hard drive, backed up and verified in less than 2 hours, then restored in about the same time. True Image is the easiest software I've found for full backup of everything on your hard-drive quickly, intuitively and efficiently.

I also like True Image because if I damage a big document that I've had since the one of my previous backups, I can open the hard-drive image as an archive and retrieve data by drag and drop right on the desktop.

And once again, I have to plug F-Secure. Charter thinks it's worth it enough to pay for three licenses at our home. The university has a site license. Any laptop or campus computer that students, staff or faculty use on site can install it free. The firewall is intuitive and unobtrusive. Email is checked for viri as it goes out or comes in. And if you choose to uninstall it, it doesn't only 'mostly' uninstall like Norton or McAfee.

DreamStalker wrote:I first ran McAfee full computer scan before doing the uninstall. After installing AVG I did it again and AVG only found 183 tracking cookies that McAfee did not warn me about or catch. I don't know if it was my fault for not having McAfee set up correctly or what but I'm glad AVG allowed me to send them to the vault ... where ever that is?

Thats because cookies are not virus's. Cookies are used for many, many things and as mentioned above, even around here. A common use is the "remember me" feature when signing on to web forums. Thats how your browser "remembers" your user name.

DreamDiver wrote:I use Firefox on WinXP

Absolutely. Light years better than IE and there are ton of add-on's out there...Greasemonkey being one of my favorites.

DreamDiver, you posted a link for removing MacAfee do you know of a link to remove Norton. I tried to delete it but parts of it are still there.

Jerry

6PtStar wrote:DreamDiver, you posted a link for removing MacAfee do you know of a link to remove Norton. I tried to delete it but parts of it are still there.

Jerry

http://basconotw.mvps.org/SymRem.htm

You'll note that like the other, there are directions and a link to symantec's total removal tool.

I hope this helps.

wow... I stop lurking here for a while and come back to find a thread like this

I've been on Ubuntu linux since August of 2005. I use VirtualBox on linux with a WindowsXP installed into it. I do not give WindowsXP access to the internet although you could, if you wanted to, install it with internet access and let it update and all that and then disable the network access. You can run whatever windows apps you need in there and do anything that requires internet access from the linux side. I run the software for my cpap machine in the virtual WinXP. As soon as I get the virtual WinXP install done, set up, running as I want it, in VirtualBox, I take a "snapshot" of it. (VirtualBox has this built in). Now if anything happens to screw up my WinXP virtual machine, I just start it from the snapshot and it's fixed... done.. no reinstalling or fiddling around. just *boom!* ... done.

Now I will say that if you were buying a new machine, and didn't want to do all this "linux stuff" then you would be doing yourself a favor to look at Macs. HOWEVER... there's an investment there of dollars. And not an insignificant investment. Linux can almost certainly be installed on your existing machine and I have not seen a case yet where it didn't run quite a bit faster than that same machine with windows on it. One of the SAFEST ways to do this involves a SMALL investment.... buy another hard drive for your machine. Remove your existing hard drive, install the new one... install linux. No risk to your previous setup. Just reinstall the old hard drive if you don't like linux and you're back to what you had.

If you get that new hard drive and install it WITH your old windows hard drive, you then install ubuntu and it will see your windowsXP and install itself to the NEW hard drive and you'll be able to CHOOSE whether you want to boot to windows or linux. Kinda gives you that comfort zone while learning.

Probably WAAAaaay more info than you needed (or wanted) but there you have it. You can live virus free, trojan free, and not have to buy software because everything is free.