Re: Shuttting down

From: Shenan Stanley (news_helper_at_hushmail.com)
Date: 03/22/04 

Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2004 21:40:16 -0600

Paulo wrote:
> I just re-installed XP and formatted my drive. Now I'm trying to
> Download the security patches, but I get interrupted by Norton deleting
> 'worms' that are somehow ALREADY popping in, OR I get a shut down
> message that says at the end of it "authorized by NT AUTHORITY/SYSTEM"
> . This message is now also popping up when I'm not installing the
> patches!!! The message is something about the computer shutting down
> and give me a time limit, I can not get rid of it only move it
> around.

Get rid of Blaster first:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/incident/blast.asp

Once you get there - PRINT IT.. If the shutdown message appears, click on
START, select RUN and type in the following line:

shutdown -a

and click OK.

That will abort the shutdown and you can continue cleaning the machine.

After you have followed Microsoft's fine instructions, do these things to
really clean up the machine.. There is no telling what other parasites might
be hanging out in your computer:

Although some people complain about this "long list" of things I give, if
you do these things (some periodically) then you can keep your
machine spyware/adware/malware/virus/trojan free and running much better
than it likely does by the time you ask this question on a newsgroup like
this one.

So, that being said, here is the list:

Turn on that firewall...
http://www.microsoft.com/WindowsXP/home/using/howto/homenet/icf.asp
(It has been reported that it now works with AOL 9.0+)

Make sure you have all the updates (critical) installed from:
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/
(Scan for updates, Review and Install)

Get rid of the spy/ad/mal-ware..
(Yes - using MORE than one of these..
I recommend at least the first three. Also..
UPDATE the definitions for them before using.)

 Spybot Search and Destroy
 http://www.safer-networking.net/

 Lavasoft AdAware
 http://www.lavasoft.de

 CWSShredder
 http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html

 Hijack This!
 http://mjc1.com/mirror/hjt/

 I also like "The Cleaner" and "SpywareBlaster" and "SpywareGuard".
  - http://www.moosoft.com/
  - http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/

The first is a PAY product, but useable for 30 days - it has found and
eliminated problems in the past the others did not. The latter two are
prevention mechanisms. I like SpywareGuard for those with enough processor
to have something running like antivirus software - and it prevents browser
hijacking quite well.

 And Assortment of Others:
 http://www.merijn.org/downloads.html

After you cleanup your PC somewhat of spy/ad/mal-ware, verify your antivirus
software is updated and run a full scan of your computer. If you have no
antivirus software - get one NOW! Grisoft AntiVirus:
http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php

Empty your Temporary Internet Files and shrink the size it stores to about
80 to 120MB (seems to be an optimal size for the normal user)

 - Open ONE copy of Internet Explorer.
 - Select TOOLS -> Internet Options.
 - Under the General tab in the "Temporary Internet Files" section,
   do the following:
  - Click on "Delete Cookies" (click OK)
  - Click on "Settings" and change the
    "Amount of disk space to use:" to something between 80MB
    and 120MB. (Betting it is MUCH larger right now.)
  - Click OK.
  - Click on "Delete Files" and select to
    "Delete all offline contents" (the checkbox) and click
    OK. (If you had a LOT, this could take 2-10 minutes or
    more.)
- Once it is done, click OK, close Internet Explorer
- Re-open Internet Explorer.

Uninstall any software you do not use often/ever. (If you have something
installed but never use it, uninstall it.) If you go through Control
Panel -> Add/Remove Programs and see things you seldom if ever use, it is to
your advantage to remove it.

Also, if you are tired of Web Page Pop-Ups/Unders.. You could try the
Google Toolbar.
http://toolbar.google.com/

Stop loading applications at logon.. run MSCONFIG and look under the startup
tab for things you DON'T want to startup! Search the Internet with Google
to discover what things are safe to remove and what things may even be
malware infecting your computer.

Better control your email and lessen the amount of time you spend dealing
with SPAM:
 SpamBayes
 http://spambayes.sourceforge.net
or
 Spamihilator.
 http://www.spamihilator.com 

-- 
<- Shenan ->
--

Relevant Pages

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