July 17, 2005 4:30 AM PDT
Corrupted PCs find new home in the Dumpster
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In the face of growing legions of digital pests, many PC owners are simply replacing embattled machines rather than fixing them.
The New York Times
The story "Corrupted PCs find new home in the Dumpster" published July 17, 2005 at 4:30 AM is no longer available on CNET News.
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64 comments
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BMR777
<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.rusnakweb.com" target="_newWindow">http://www.rusnakweb.com</a>
"software firewall, AV Free Antivirus, hardware router/firewall, no NOT download any software that you are clueless about, only surf the web with firefox on an XP account that does not have admin privlegdes, and do not let your kids PLAY WITH YOUR COMPUTER OR EVEN BE ON YOUR NETWORK."
Thank you. Or, just email me at jim@manico.net - I will take your infected computer and "dispose" of if properly for you.
Throwing out a computer because it had software problems is stupid and I was expecting a "Brought to you by Apple" at the end of this story.
money and that little sense that they can't stay off porn sited
and/or stop installing "freeware" programs deserve an Apple????
Not hardly. If they have no sense to manage their PC's, they are
not propective Appel users. As you say, they are obviously too
stupid . Give me a car and you could have it broken in under a
day. Give an idiot a computer and the same will happen, and it
does, apparently in quite high quantities.
Throwing out a computer because it had software problems is
very stupid. Apple doesn't need customers like that either....
But the PC world does pay a price with a large population
fraction of unskilled users and another large population of
people deliberately trying to screw up their computers. You can't
blame that on Apple............
You're intolerance of the Mac community humors me. Apparently your ignorance goes farther then your knowledge of computers.
- start my emailing me at jim@manico.net and I'll take it.
Afterall, it's trivial to reload an OS and secure up a new machine.
=)"
MicroSoft has been at this security thing for several years now
and they seem to have a different impression of trivial. When it
becomes trivial they will put all the third party stuff on their
install disk and get a better reputation.
Jim
So much for skills on paper, what about real world skill? I hope he doesn't look after a customer database - those poor people would be screwed.
have ever used a PC running Windows? They don't
use Windows... The whole notion of viruses and
spyware is completely foreign to those folks.
The question is, why not install one or another
UNIX variant? Today you've go everything you
could want except for the latest games. If it's
because of the games, buy a console unit to
complement your PC.
Seriously, stick Linux, FreeBSD, or whatever on
the thing and be done with it. Your a CS grad,
it's what you've lived and breathed for years
anyway... If you're married to Windows, learn the
ropes -- with a lot of work, you can get them
humming along nicely; and learning the reformat
reinstall mambo is not too much to ask (yes, it's
mind boggling that people do such a thing in this
age, but it's part of Windows' charm).
Here is the simple solution to that problem:
1. Firefox. Bypasses the bugs of IE.
2. Hardware firewall. Protects your Windows from Internet malcontents.
3. Web based email. Almost no need to worry about your email again. Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc. most often are able to delete virus laden emails. Furthermore (and this is another sore spot of mine), no need to whine and moan about spam. They handle it for you.
4. Beware of what you download.
5. Beware on ANY pop-up windows (although you shouldn't get many with the above configuration). READ before you say yes/no/ok/cancel.
6. Use a USER account, not an ADMIN (administrator) account.
I've been running like this for months without an infection. If you really feel insecure, then you could add an antivirus program. I'd suggest Norton since McAfee seems to be such a resource hog lately.
I've never used them, but they may be able to lend a hand for cheaper than a new PC. Or contact me if you're really desperate; challman@gmail.com
1. Re-partition your hard drive BEFORE you use your system...BEFORE any connection is made to any network. Yes, you will need a full copy of your OS and applications on CDROM...but you should have this as backup anyway. Leave enough room on the C: drive for the OS and essential parts of legitimate applications (2GB for most people will be PLENTY). Then add at least one more partition for applications and another little partition for swap space. This way you can make your C: drive NON-SHAREABLE and prevent a huge portion of the mischief.
2. Install a software firewall in addition to your hardware firewall. Using the software firewall, severely limit access to the web. If you don't know why an application needs access, DENY it.
3. Remove Windows Scripting Host: it is a beginning hackers' best friend.
4. Avoid use of anything which uses "Active X" (which we call "Virus X"). If you MUST run an application using this "technology," deny it access to the web. Use Eudora....not Outlook or Outlook Express (aka 'Virus Express). Use Firefox...not IE (aka 'Infection Enabler'). Use Open Office...not MS Office (aka 'MS security Orifice').
5. Scan ALL media, downloads, and email attachments BEFORE using them. It pays to be Paranoid. Scan new shrink-wrapped CDROM's: do you KNOW the duplicator? Format your own floppy disks and Zip disks: there HAVE BEEN cases of infections from the factory in "preformatted" media. All of this is a lot less trouble than removing even one infection.
6. Disable ALL "automatic update" features in EVERY program. If you don't have a clear reason to update, DONT DO IT. If you MUST update, make sure you know where the update is coming from: use SSL connection if possible...and ALWAYS save the update to disk and SCAN IT COMPLETELY before installing.
And yes, it would be simpler to use Linux in the first place. But the measures outlined above will enormously improve the security of any Windows-based system.
I'm sorry, but I've only gotten one virus, ever. SirCam. And it was because I forgot that in Eudora a single-click opened an attachment. I tried to drag it to my desktop because I knew it was infected and wanted to look at it.
When it broke my computer and took over all .COM extensions, I just loaded REGEDIT.EXE and called my dad, hoping that his version of Windows had the same registry string. I made him read it over the phone to me three times, I plugged it in and regained enough control over my computer to get a full detection/prevention tool up and running to do the rest of the job.
I agree with all these other people on here who say that you can remain virus-free by just being careful and having a firewall, updated anti-virus software, etc. Only I would add to that that there's no reason to take drastic measures and switch to Firefox. You can be completely safe on IE, too, if you're smart.
Will someone please, please, please write some Mac virii to prove to these smug bastards that they're only safe because no one cares about Macs? I'm not suggesting destroying harddrives. I'm just suggesting something that brings up the SadMac and says "See? You're just as easy to infect. It's just usually not worth our time."
This is what makes "Macros"...which are intended to be a useful feature.. so deadly in Windows (and ONLY Windows).
Salesforce is supposed to be a software web services tech company, in the CRM space no less, and one of their VP's is so stupid as to be interviewed and admit to throwing away his PC because it is full of adware? How the hell did this clown get such a well paying job? He's an idiot and makes his company look horrible.
Amazing. Truly amazing.
He had a really old Windows 95 machine that was totally infected
with spyware. He did not have the Win 95 CD.
It was easier to have him toss the old machine and then take the
newer (but still old) Windows 2000 machine from me.
I then told him to use FireFox (especially when visiting porn
sites) and only use IE for sites that insisted upon it and which he
absolutely had to visit.
He is spyware free almost a year later.
For him trashing the old PC was exactly the right action to take.
,dave
reluctant to grasp/appreciate the advantages of Mac OS.
to suggest that the Mac may in fact be more secure or a better
value in general, the vilification that ensues is just mind-boggling.
And best of all, after wading through a string of invective that
would make a pirate blush, the conclusion is always that it is Mac
users who are smug antisocial zealots.
Surely, these people know how to secure a system?
I say that even the truly talented anti-geek will cause any myriad of problem to happen because they can't stop themsleves from doing what is wrong, or they just don't care. You can't stop them from their fate, and they should spend extra, like buying a new computer every so many months, because they don't know how to or won't stop doing what causes all those troubles.
That speaks for itself. I can find all the poor schmucks I need to write a story about anything, but it doesn't mean there is a trend or enough people in the same boat to claim there is a big problem.
The story also says, "Tucker, an Internet industry executive who holds a doctoral degree in computer science, decided that rather than take the time to remove the offending software, he would spend $400 on a new machine."
Note the text "take the time to remove.." This is important because it can take several hours to remove spyware. If you have to attempt to save some important data, and then reinstall the OS if you have never reinstalled the OS before, you could spend hours of days doing this. If the guy's time is valuable, I can see that it would be cheaper to just get a new PC.
kb
the Web its been done. During the test with Wintel box by a news
magazine both the Mac and Wintel received the same number of
hits per unit of time. Wintel was toast in a few minutes the Mac
remained unaffected.
About playing games. Who can play games on a non functioning
system?
benedictine67@yahoo.com
PS LCD monitors would be nice too!
OOOOHHH, honey, I need a new computer. This one is all full of nasty spyware and adware and stuff. See those wacky popups? I need a new computer. Can I have one please please please?
Right. Like this is gonna pass the test in THIS house!