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Cool! Foiled virus attempts

offerorofferor Member Posts: 8,625 ✭✭
edited June 2003 in General Discussion
You guys worrying about a virus in a .zip attachment are right. I got 3 e-mails this morning with .zip attachments from one of those "blind" NetZero addresses. This means of course that it was not passed on by the address book of anyone here, but from somewhere in the random cyberworld. Beware attachments, especially those that the sender asks you to open, no matter what they claim they are. With some virus software programs, you can highlight a suspicious file, right-click and do an instant "Check for Viruses" instead of waiting for the software to run on its own time and find it, by the way. Good virus software can check inside compressed files -- unless you have changed the settings so that it doesn't.

T. Jefferson: "[When doing Constitutional interpretation], let us [go] back to the time when [it] was adopted. [Rather than] invent a meaning [let us] conform to the probable one in which it was passed."

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Comments

  • IconoclastIconoclast Member Posts: 10,515 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Well, AV apps aside, somehow my firewalls were disabled (possibly another party using system was annoyed by interruptions?) and some clown was able to crap up my IE pretty badly (not that anything MS ever wrote doesn't self destruct pretty well on its own!). Everything else is functional, but it's giving me fits trying to put Humpty Dumpty back together. I've reached the point where I've backed up everything which matters and am about to purge the system and rebuild it, so I expect lots of "fun" the next few days.
  • spectre7spectre7 Member Posts: 965 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    *coughs* linux. Why rebuild something that'll just screw up again?
  • HappyNanoqHappyNanoq Member Posts: 12,023
    edited November -1
    (not that anything MS ever wrote doesn't self destruct pretty well on its own!). quote]

    [:D] Good one. =o)




    Don't do anything that I've allready done - That'd be just plain STOOOOOOPID.
  • IconoclastIconoclast Member Posts: 10,515 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    spectre - I am well aware of the stability of the Linux OS vs. MacroCrap! Problem is that I have some key apps, one in particular, which is not offered in a Linux flavor and for which I've yet to find a suitable substitute offered in a Linux-based app. It is a database program which contains all my data on my personal ammo collection and the extras I have to sell / trade. Plus I use it for many other purposes. I've given some serious thought to a dual OS set-up, but haven't reached the point where I'm ready to attempt it . . . nor, in all honesty, where I feel I have the expertise to do so (nor the time to acquire same).

    I was able to get things fixed without major construction because a guru befriended me and helped me clean up a DNS cache in the registry which was at the root of the problem. Now I have both firewalls operative again and some strong words for the individual who disabled them.
  • offerorofferor Member Posts: 8,625 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Macs are more stable too, but also generally more expensive. I was a Mac "guru" up until about OS 7.52 and then found myself in a PC world at work, so learned the PC and let the Mac slide. It used to be that if you wanted to trade for cheap/free stuff or find discounted peripherals you were a lot better off on a PC. Maybe in a Kazaa world that is no longer as much of an issue. I would guess there are a lot more viruses & hack programs written for PCs.

    Linux is fine for servers, but their acceptance in the consumer market is still miniscule, as you know. Try to find an over the counter PC equipped with it at Best Buy, for example.

    And of course if you need to share files with co-workers and clients out in the world you are the one who will have to convert your files as needed to assure compatibility and useability on their Windows systems. Then you have the learning curve of a new OS; I used Unix 10 years ago and it was a lot like writing DOS commands at that time. Linux is an offshoot of Unix -- I'm sure it's all icon-oriented now (Lindows even approximates a Windows environment) but it's still a journey into the unknown for most private users and compatibility with other people's systems and software is probably the biggest worry I would have.

    T. Jefferson: "[When doing Constitutional interpretation], let us [go] back to the time when [it] was adopted. [Rather than] invent a meaning [let us] conform to the probable one in which it was passed."

    lifepatch.giffortbutton2.gif
  • spectre7spectre7 Member Posts: 965 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Problem is that I have some key apps, one in particular, which is not offered in a Linux flavor and for which I've yet to find a suitable substitute offered in a Linux-based app. It is a database program which contains all my data on my personal ammo collection and the extras I have to sell / trade.

    That's the purpose of WINE (Windows Emulation); as long as you have a reasonbly capable computer, you can probably successfully emulate windows and run windows-only APPs to your hearts content. Regardless though, I'm glad you found someone to give you a hand and more or less get things up and running again. I feel pretty much crippled whenever more than one of my pc's goes down for any length of time.
  • IconoclastIconoclast Member Posts: 10,515 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    spectre - any suggestions on this WINE? A dependable emulation from a quality company? I would feel like Kurt Russel in Escape from New York[/i} if I could get away from this crap. I had this system made by a local company and the guts were selected for compatibility with Linux even though I've not made the switch.
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