Re: programs wont run
From: CS (nomail_at_hotmail.com)
Date: 05/11/04
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Date: Mon, 10 May 2004 20:26:26 -0500
On Mon, 10 May 2004 14:18:43 -0700, "james"
<anonymous@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
>I have a machine with xp home on it. It will not run
>msconfig,regedit and ie will knock me off the internet
>after 3 to 10 web sites. I have also tried running IE
>repair which is not listed add remove programs and tried
>doing the run command to do this which wouldnt work.
>
>I have scan for viruses and spyware. which it had. After
>cleaning it up still does the same thing. I have tried
>reloading Xp upgrade. Any other Ideals?
You still have a virus and possibly some spyware left over. You need
to completely clean your machine.
Here's an excellent post and advice compliments of Mr. Shenan Stanley:
Follow his advice. Post is rather long but well worth reading.
***************************************
Suggestions on what you can do to secure/clean your PC. I'm going to
try
and be general, I will assume a "Windows" operating system is what is
being secured here.
UPDATES and PATCHES
-------------------
This one is the most obvious. There is no perfect product and any
company
worth their salt will try to meet/exceed the needs of their customers
and
fix any problems they find along the way. I am not going to say
Microsoft
is the best company in the world about this but they do have an option
available for you to use to keep your machine updated and patched from
the problems and vulnerabilities (as well as product improvements in
some
cases) - and it's free to you.
Windows Update
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/
Go there and scan your machine for updates. Always get the critical
ones as
you see them. Write down the KB###### or Q###### you see when
selecting the
updates and if you have trouble over the next few days, go into your
control
panel (Add/Remove Programs), match up the latest numbers you
downloaded
recently (since you started noticing an issue) and uninstall them. If
there
was more than one (usually is), install them back one by one - with a
few
hours of use in between, to see if the problem returns. Yes - the
process
is not perfect (updating) and can cause trouble like I mentioned - but
as
you can see, the solution isn't that bad - and is MUCH better than the
alternatives. (SASSER/BLASTER were SO preventable with just this
step!)
Windows is not the only product you likely have on your PC. The
manufacturers of the other products usually have updates as well. New
versions of almost everything come out all the time - some are free,
some
are pay - some you can only download if you are registered - but it is
best
to check. Just go to their web pages and look under their support and
download sections.
You also have hardware on your machine that requires drivers to
interface
with the operating system. You have a video card that allows you to
see on
your screen, a sound card that allows you to hear your PCs sound
output and
so on. Visit those manufacturer web sites for the latest downloadable
drivers for your hardware/operating system. Always (IMO) get the
manufacturers hardware driver over any Microsoft offers. On the
Windows
Update site I mentioned earlier, I suggest NOT getting their hardware
drivers - no matter how tempting.
Have I mentioned that Microsoft has some stuff to help secure your
computer
available to the end-user for free? This seems as good of a time as
any.
They have a CD you can order (it's free) that contain all of the
Windows
patches through October 2003 and some trial products as well that they
released in February 2004. Yeah - it's a little behind now, but it's
better
than nothing (and used in coordination with the information in this
post,
well worth the purchase price..)
Order the Windows Security Update CD
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/cd/order.asp
They also have a bunch of suggestions, some similar to these, on how
to
better protect your Windows system:
Protect your PC
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/
FIREWALL
--------
Let's say you are up-to-date on the OS (operating system) and you have
Windows XP.. You should at least turn on the built in firewall. That
will
do a lot to "hide" you from the random bad things flying around the
Internet. Things like Sasser/Blaster enjoy just sitting out there in
Cyberspace looking for an unprotected Windows Operating System and
jumping
on it, doing great damage in the process and then using that
Unprotected OS
to continue its dirty work of infecting others. If you have the
Windows XP
ICF turned on - default configuration - then they cannot see you!
Think of
it as Internet Stealth Mode at this point. It has other advantages,
like
actually locking the doors you didn't even (likely) know you had.
Doing
this is simple, the instructions you need to use your built in Windows
XP
firewall can be found here:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=320855
If you read through that and look through the pages that are linked
from it
at the bottom of that page - I think you should have a firm grasp on
the
basics of the Windows XP Firewall as it is today.
But let's say you DON'T have Windows XP - you have some other OS like
Windows 95, 98, 98SE, ME, NT, 2000. Well, you don't have the nifty
built in
firewall. My suggestion - upgrade. My next suggestion - look through
your
options. There are lots of free and pay firewalls out there for home
users.
Yes - you will have to decide on your own which to get. Yes, you will
have
to learn (oh no!) to use these firewalls and configure them so they
don't
interfere with what you want to do while continuing to provide the
security
you desire. It's just like anything else you want to protect - you
have to
do something to protect it. Here are some suggested applications. A
lot of
people tout "ZoneAlarm" as being the best alternative to just using
the
Windows XP ICF, but truthfully - any of these alternatives are much
better
than the Windows XP ICF at what they do - because that is ALL they do.
ZoneAlarm (Free and up)
http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp
Kerio Personal Firewall (KPF) (Free and up)
http://www.kerio.com/kpf_download.html
Outpost Firewall from Agnitum (Free and up)
http://www.agnitum.com/download/
Sygate Personal Firewall (Free and up)
http://smb.sygate.com/buy/download_buy.htm
Symantec's Norton Personal Firewall (~$25 and up)
http://www.symantec.com/sabu/nis/npf/
BlackICE PC Protection ($39.95 and up)
http://blackice.iss.net/
Tiny Personal Firewall (~$49.00 and up)
http://www.tinysoftware.com/
That list is not complete, but they are good firewall options, every
one of
them. Visit the web pages, read up, ask around if you like - make a
decision and go with some firewall, any firewall. Also, maintain it.
Sometimes new holes are discovered in even the best of these products
and
patches are released from the company to remedy this problem.
However, if
you don't get the patches (check the manufacturer web page on
occasion),
then you may never know you have the problem and/or are being used
through
this weakness. Also, don't stack these things. Running more than one
firewall will not make you safer - it would likely (in fact) negate
some
protection you gleamed from one or the other firewalls you ran
together.
ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE
------------------
That's not all. That's one facet of a secure PC, but firewalls don't
do
everything. I saw one idiot posting on a newsgroup that "they had
never had a virus and they never run any anti-virus software. Yep - I
used
to believe that way too - viruses were something everyone else seemed
to
get, were they just stupid? And for the average joe-user who is
careful,
uses their one-three family computers carefully, never opening unknown
attachments, always visiting the same family safe web sites, never
installing anything that did not come with their computer - maybe,
just
maybe they will never witness a virus. I, however, am a Network
Systems
Administrator. I see that AntiVirus software is an absolute
necessity. You
can be as careful as you want - will the next person be as careful?
Will
someone send you unknowingly the email that erases all the pictures of
your
child/childhood? Possibly - why take the chance? ALWAYS RUN
ANTIVIRUS
SOFTWARE and KEEP IT UP TO DATE! Antivirus software comes in so many
flavors, it's like walking into a Jelly Belly store - which one tastes
like
what?! Well, here are a few choices for you. Some of these are free
(isn't
that nice?) and some are not. Is one better than the other - MAYBE.
I
personally love Symantec AV.
Symantec (Norton) AntiVirus (~$11 and up)
http://www.symantec.com/
Kaspersky Anti-Virus (~$49.95 and up)
http://www.kaspersky.com/products.html
Panda Antivirus Titanium (~$39.95 and up)
http://www.pandasoftware.com/
(Free Online Scanner: http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/)
AVG 6.0 Anti-Virus System (Free and up)
http://www.grisoft.com/
McAfee VirusScan (~$11 and up)
http://www.mcafee.com/
AntiVir (Free and up)
http://www.free-av.com/
avast! 4 (Free and up)
http://www.avast.com/
Trend Micro (~$49.95 and up)
http://www.trendmicro.com/
(Free Online Scanner:
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/housecall/start_corp.asp)
Did I mention you have to not only install this software, but also
keep it
updated? You do. Some of them (most) have automatic services to help
you
do this - I mean, it's not your job to keep up with the half-dozen or
more
new threats that come out daily, is it? Be sure to keep whichever one
you
choose up to date!
SPYWARE/ADWARE/POPUPS
---------------------
So you must be thinking that the above two things got your back now -
you
are covered, safe and secure in your little fox hole. Wrong! There
are
more bad guys out there. There are annoyances out there you can get
without
trying. Your normal web surfing, maybe a wrong click on a web page,
maybe
just a momentary lack of judgment by installing some software packages
without doing the research.. And all of a sudden your screen starts
filling
up with advertisements or your Internet seems much slower or your home
page
won't stay what you set it and goes someplace unfamiliar to you. This
is
spyware. There are a whole SLEW of software packages out there to get
rid
of this crud and help prevent reinfection. Some of the products
already
mentioned might even have branched out into this arena. However,
there are
a few applications that seem to be the best at what they do, which is
eradicating and immunizing your system from this crap. Strangely, the
best
products I have found in this category ARE generally free. That is a
trend
I like. I make donations to some of them, they deserve it!
Spybot Search and Destroy (Free!)
http://www.safer-networking.net/
Lavasoft AdAware (Free and up)
http://www.lavasoft.de
CWSShredder (Free!)
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html
Hijack This! (Free)
http://mjc1.com/mirror/hjt/
SpywareBlaster (Free!)
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/
ToolbarCop (Free!)
http://www.mvps.org/sramesh2k/toolbarcop.htm
Bazooka Adware and Spyware Scanner (Free!)
http://kephyr.sureshot.xaviermedia.net/spywarescanner/
Browser Security Tests
http://www.jasons-toolbox.com/BrowserSecurity/
The Cleaner (49.95 and up)
http://www.moosoft.com/
That will clean up your machine of the spyware, given that you
download and
install several of them, update them regularly and scan with them when
you
update. Some (like SpywareBlaster and SpyBot Search and Destroy) have
immunization features that will help you prevent your PC from being
infected. Use these features!
Unfortunately, although that will lessen your popups on the
Internet/while
you are online, it won't eliminate them. I have looked at a lot of
options,
seen a lot of them used in production with people who seem to attract
popups
like a plague, and I only have one suggestion that end up serving
double
duty (search engine and popup stopper in one):
The Google Toolbar (Free!)
http://toolbar.google.com/
Yeah - it adds a bar to your Internet Explorer - but its a useful one.
You
can search from there anytime with one of the best search engines on
the
planet (IMO.) And the fact it stops most popups - wow - BONUS! If
you
don't like that suggestion, then I am just going to say you go to
www.google.com and search for other options.
One more suggestion, although I will suggest this in a way later, is
to
disable your Windows Messenger service. This service is not used
frequently
(if at all) by the normal home user and in cooperation with a good
firewall,
is generally unnecessary. Microsoft has instructions on how to do
this for
Windows XP here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/howto/communicate/stopspam.asp
SPAM EMAIL/JUNK MAIL
--------------------
This one can get annoying, just like the rest. You get 50 emails in
one
sitting and 2 of them you wanted. NICE! (Not.) What can you do?
Well,
although there are services out there to help you, some email
servers/services that actually do lower your spam with features built
into
their servers - I still like the methods that let you be the
end-decision
maker on what is spam and what isn't. If these things worked
perfectly, we
wouldn't need people and then there would be no spam anyway - vicious
circle, eh? Anyway - I have two products to suggest to you, look at
them
and see if either of them suite your needs. Again, if they don't,
Google is
free and available for your perusal.
SpamBayes (Free!)
http://spambayes.sourceforge.net/
Spamihilator (Free!)
http://www.spamihilator.com/
As I said, those are not your only options, but are reliable ones I
have
seen function for hundreds+ people.
DISABLE UNUSED SERVICE/STARTUP APPS
-----------------------------------
I might get arguments on putting this one here, but it's my spill.
There are
lots of services on your PC that are probably turned on by default you
don't
use. Why have them on? Check out these web pages to see what all of
the
services you might find on your computer are and set them according to
your
personal needs. Yeah - this is another one you have to work for, but
your
computer may speed up and/or be more secure because you took the time.
And
if you document what you do as you do it, next time, it goes MUCH
faster!
Task List Programs
http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm
Black Viper's Service List and Opinions (XP)
http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm
Processes in Windows NT/2000/XP
http://www.reger24.de/prozesse/
There are also applications that AREN'T services that startup when you
start
up the computer/logon. One of the better description on how to handle
these
I have found here:
Startups
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.php
That's it. A small booklet on how to keep your computer secure, clean
of
scum and more user friendly. I am SURE I missed something, almost as
I am
sure you won't read all of it (anyone for that matter.) However, I
also
know that someone who followed all of the advice above would also have
less
problems with their PC, less problems with viruses, less problems with
spam,
less problems with spyware and better performance than someone who
didn't.
Hope it helps.
-- <- Shenan -> --
- Next message: Bruce Chambers: "Re: New, Made PC - help"
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