Computer/microsoft issues!

Risen · Post by **Risen** » Sat Mar 20, 2004 8:47 am

David Ferstat wrote:I haven't used an e-mail client for about two years, thus eliminating the usual method of entry for virii.

E-mail clients are not the usual method of entry... Outlook is the usual method of entry!

I've run mail clients for years... but Mozilla never runs off and does something stupid with what it gets.

David Ferstat · Post by **David Ferstat** » Sat Mar 20, 2004 9:52 am

Risen wrote:... E-mail clients are not the usual method of entry... Outlook is the usual method of entry!....

And just what do you think Outlook is?

Post by **Graf Zahl** » Sat Mar 20, 2004 10:20 am

Chris wrote:
Since I installed ZoneAlarm on my computer I only got one virus every two weeks
Dude, what do you run on your computer? I've been computing and've been online for nearly 10 years and haven't gotten a single virus yet.

You probably just didn't notice. I only noticed that something was wrong because one of the viruses I got wasn't able to install properly and crashed the system. I didn't do anything in particular. JUst connecting to the internet and waiting up to an hour without doing anything was enough to catch a virus with XP. No security updates helped against that. The firewall was the only thing that was able to block these intrusions. I probably never had problems with Win98 because I never installed any network component on it (and those seem to be the most vulnerable parts of the system.)

Risen · Post by **Risen** » Sat Mar 20, 2004 11:43 am

David Ferstat wrote:
Risen wrote:... E-mail clients are not the usual method of entry... Outlook is the usual method of entry!....
And just what do you think Outlook is?

I'm well aware, but it needed singling out.

GameArena · Post by **GameArena** » Sat Mar 20, 2004 11:46 am

98 is just as likely to receive non-interaction viruses as XP. Assuming you had 98 a while ago, within the past years virus activity has increased significantly, last year 3000+ viruses (not including trojans) were released, yet the year before that the number was around 800. Viruses evolve just like any other technology, as time progresses they become more and more advanced. Along with them, detection tools are becoming better too. So while you may have not of received very many viruses on 98 compared to XP, if you switched back now you could very well see the number increase over the prior amount.

Ultraviolet · Post by **Ultraviolet** » Sat Mar 20, 2004 12:25 pm

For all those that swear they've never had a virus, you're probably wrong. Before a few weeks ago I wasn't running a firewall or antivirus program. I was running several anti spyware tools, though, and it seemed to be enough because everything worked for me. I found out I had a virus, though, when my dad came in from his office and said "What's your IP address? " To which I answered correctly, and he responded "Why are you port scanning me?"

HotWax · Post by **HotWax** » Sat Mar 20, 2004 12:49 pm

I've had maybe 5 viruses in my entire life on a system I maintain. I'm sorry, but you guys must run unsafe crap on your PC's *constantly* to have this many issues. ZoneAlarm keeps out attackers and also warns if there's some program on my computer trying to access OUT, which would have solved your problem, UV. I give access only to programs that absolutely need it -- no Media Player auto-updating, no help files searching the net, etc. (On a side-note, type "xp services" into Google and hit "I'm Feeling Lucky" to get to what is perhaps THE most useful site on the net -- full descriptions of every XP service and how to disable the ones you don't need running)

I virus scan maybe four times a year and it never finds anything. I run Ad-Aware once a month or when my system is showing signs of spyware and it usually picks up a bunch of cookies and the occassional newfangled spyware that snuch in with my last download. Other than that, I have no complaints, and I certainly haven't noticed a difference between XP and Win98 in regards to viruses or spyware (though it stands to reason newer spyware would be programmed to take advantage of security holes in the most popular OS of the time). Despite Microsoft trying to con me out of using my legally-owned OS, I still stand by it for its stability, speed, and functionality.

Post by **Graf Zahl** » Sat Mar 20, 2004 1:14 pm

GameArena wrote:98 is just as likely to receive non-interaction viruses as XP. Assuming you had 98 a while ago, within the past years virus activity has increased significantly, last year 3000+ viruses (not including trojans) were released, yet the year before that the number was around 800. Viruses evolve just like any other technology, as time progresses they become more and more advanced. Along with them, detection tools are becoming better too. So while you may have not of received very many viruses on 98 compared to XP, if you switched back now you could very well see the number increase over the prior amount.

I installed XP on my home machine a month ago.
I got the first virus in the first hour I was online. After cleaning up I also checked my Win98 installation just to be safe and it was clean. I still occasionally use it when I have to access some dubious internet sites but I never get viruses - without any protection software installed.

cccp_leha · Post by **cccp_leha** » Sat Mar 20, 2004 3:43 pm

Offtopic: if I stick LILO in the boot sector of my primary HD, I will still have the option to start up XP / ME, right?

ducon · Post by **ducon** » Sat Mar 20, 2004 4:14 pm

I play zdoom with Debian GNU/Linux testing (ooh, old zdoom version, 5 years old!). I never saw viruses in my box (chkrootkit is negative), no stability nor spyware problem except that I have no 3D (shitty video card) so no Quake 3.
I sometimes boot Windows ME (WHAT?) to play Quake 3, Serious Sam ou Duke Nukem 3D (NO deathmatches) but my actual uptime says that I didn't play them for more than 17 days.

Post by **Graf Zahl** » Sat Mar 20, 2004 4:23 pm

Linux doesn't help much if it doesn't run the software you need...

HotWax · Post by **HotWax** » Sat Mar 20, 2004 4:58 pm

It's also unfair to compare viral outbreaks on a system like Linux to a system like XP. First off, XP is much more popular, second it's the OS that everyone too stupid to deserve a computer is using, of course it's going to be targetted more and of course those computer are much more likely to get infected.

It's also unfair to compare security breaches, but this has never stopped the Linux community before.

GameArena · Post by **GameArena** » Sat Mar 20, 2004 5:20 pm

Graf Zahl wrote: I installed XP on my home machine a month ago.
I got the first virus in the first hour I was online. After cleaning up I also checked my Win98 installation just to be safe and it was clean. I still occasionally use it when I have to access some dubious internet sites but I never get viruses - without any protection software installed.

I have never seen anyone make a virus specifically for XP, unless it targets an exploit on a third party program. There are many ways to infect both 98 and XP with the same method, it'd be extremely odd to see someone go out of their way to attack users on XP. Spyware however is a different story, most spyware programmers are too lazy to make their software run efficiently on multiple systems.

Post by **randi** » Sat Mar 20, 2004 5:48 pm

What services can viruses use to install themselves remotely under XP? In the seven years I've had an x86-based machine (running 95/98/NT 4.0/XP), I've only received one virus, and that was only because I inadvertantly ran an infected executable somebody was sharing over the Network Neighborhood. I have never had a worm try to install itself across the network, so that sounds pretty strange to me.

Lexus Alyus · Post by **Lexus Alyus** » Sat Mar 20, 2004 6:19 pm

Okay, just to answer some of my preveose questions...

My hard drive WAS partitioned (and still is) so I had like 3 gig for 98 (drive C, that was installed first and worked fine) 5 gig for XP (installed after and did not work fine... that's the problem... why did XP work fine before, and wqhewn I upgraded my board, chip, memory and video card it doesn';t detect and USB device or LAN thingy? Yet all of this worked flawlessly in 98... and works flawlessly in 2000 now... I don't get that...). And then I had like 10 gig on drive E fo dos games, about 20 gig for newer games on drive F and like 32 gig on drive G for all of my music related stuff.

So far, 2000 is proving to be far better than XP because it ain't so damn annoying. XP was great, but what stopped it working fine in my newer system? This exact same setup worked effortlessly and flawlessly for ages with no problems, but now it doesn't. Im' sure its this shitty security thing where XP doesn't like my new motherboard because it's too new for the program...

As for virus, I've forgotten to install one and I have no protection ATM... I better at least enable my firewall

.

Man, I thin I'm gonna take the really long and hard option... I'm gonna completely format my drive and load up a duel boot of 98se and 2000... it's makes Dos games a lot easier to play and I get good performance from 2k...

For this, by-the-way, I set up my two partitions (98 will be about 5gig and 2k will be about 10 gig). I do this because that is all that will be on that drive, meaning that it only has to search through those files. I don't need to format my drives inany particular way because if I install 98 first on drive C and then set 2k to install on drive D then when the computer boots I am able to select wehich one I can load up... this SHGOULD work fine... stay tuned cus this is gonna be a lot of hassle

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