The Steel Guitar Forum

How do I go about gettin a good virus protection for my computer. my computer was wiped out when I visited that steel guitar site that was virus infected. cost me $49 to have a total system restore done.
I have run the Norton anti virus disc through my computer, is this enough, or do I need to do more. thanks
Terry

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84 SKH Emmons Legrand D10
session 400'rd Steelin for my Lord.

Get a good firewall in addition to Norton AV. ZoneLabs' "ZoneAlarm" is considered one of the best and is quite cheap considering the security you get. I also use a real time cookie control program called "Pest Patrol", also from ZoneLabs.
With these three activated I feel pretty safe even when I'm online for 12-15 hours a day.

Steinar

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www.gregertsen.com

There is no good 100% protection,even with a good Virus protection program such as Norton you have to update it almost daily.I never open forwards and I only open Links when I am certain it is safe.
Don

Don, I do the same, but I got this from the steel guitar froum that Nick Reed, a member here, invited all of us to visit. I wadn't the only one on the forum that got screwed.
don't blame Nick, wadn't his fault. but I bet you one thing, I'll think twice before I open another link, whether it's a forum member that invites us to visit it or not.
Terry

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84 SKH Emmons Legrand D10
session 400'rd Steelin for my Lord.

Terry, I feel your pain. I still haven't put my computer together completely. This was the nastiest thing that ever hit my system.
I'm sorry it happened to you.
Duncan

I use ZoneAlarm. It prompts me whenever a program I don't recognize tries to access the internet, and I deny access manually. This lets me know whenever something is trying to attack me.

I also never open email attachments, and I don't use an email program like Outlook on my computer (I use a WebMail service instead). I don't use any virus detection software. The combination of ZoneAlarm and safe email precautions keeps 100% of all viruses out of my computers. Really it does!

In contrast, my corporate machines rely on XP's firewall and Norton virus protection. The company hasn't bought into ZoneAlarm, so I'm not allowed to install it. I've been bitten twice on those machine this year.

Your milage may vary. I'm not recommending that anyone not use virus protection, because most people use Outlook and can't resist the temptation to open an email attachment now and then. Virus writers (the scum!!) have even figured out a way to embed code downloaders into JPEG images, a problem that Microsoft is now having to deal with because of their flawed ActiveX protocol policies (don't get me stated on that).

Maybe the popular virus software packages will catch the JPEG threat, I don't know. But I do know that ZoneAlarm will raise an alert whenever an unknown program on my machine tries to access the Internet, and I will deny access.

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<font size="1"><img align=right src="http://b0b.com/Hotb0b.gif" width="96 height="96">Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
Sierra SD-12 (Ext E9), Williams D-12 Crossover, Sierra S-12 (F Diatonic)
Sierra Laptop 8 (E6add9), Fender Stringmaster (E13, C6, A6)</font>

Terry,

The thing with virus protection is that its only as good as the las time it was updated. New viruses are being released daily and virus protection software is playing "catch up" to a certain extent all the time.

I use AVG anti virus software which is free and I update the software (also free) every couple of weeks and more often if I know there are new viruses about. Check out www.grisoft.com or do a search for AVG anti virus and you should find what you need.

The other thing to remember with viruses is to be really suspecious of any e-mail (especially attachments, pictures etc) where you do not recognise the sender. Delete them with out opening and then delete them from the deleted folder.

Apart from anti virus software a spywere detection software is a good idea because you would not believe the amout of spywere that gets downloaded onto your pc from the internet. A good proportion of it is not actually malicious but its an intrusion just the same. There are various free programs available ( try ad aware from lavasoft ) although its often a good idea to have two different ones because they sometimes don't pick out all the spyware. These programs don't usually stop spyware in the same way as anti virus stops virus there need to be run regularly to "find" the spyware and then deal with it.

The other piece of security software you may want to invest in is a Firewall. This sftware will monitor everything going into and out of the pc and will basically stop anything that you havn't given permission for. There are several good ones on the market. Windows XP has a firewall built in but I think its not as good as the ones you buy. I may be wrong but I think the XP version will block requests for stuff from outside but will not stop a program that has got onto the pc from sending data out. Someone correct me if I'm wrong here.

Hope all of this is some help.

Chris.

PS back up your data often and also back up your registry often. This way if you have the same problem as before after visiting a site you have the means to restore your pc yourself and save your money.

what B0b said.
I use Firefox instead of IE.
I use a WWW email interface (which also cuts out 99% of the spam).

I have Zonealarm Firewall (free), plus Internet Sweeper (free) and Spybot (free).

I no longer bother with anti-virus at all.
Mind you, I'm still on W98, and that probably helps a bit

The best virus protection is a backup of a freshly installed Windows. Get DriveImage, make a backup, and keep it on CD. After a virus, a reinstall of the entire drive takes only about 10 minutes.

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Gary Shepherd

Sierra Session 12

www.16tracks.com

AVG is better than any of the better known programs and it's free.

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http://www.steelguitar.ca

Gary, thanks for the tip on Drive Image, which you recommended to me a while back. I took your advice and am using it to backup the 6 PCs on my home LAN. If you have to restore a whole drive (or even individual folders or files), this is the way to go.

They are offering a $30 rebate if you can prove ownership of a previous version fo Drive Image or another backup program (i.e. Norton Ghost).<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Lou[NE] on 09 October 2004 at 05:03 PM.]</p></FONT>

Here is what I use for Internet security:

• Norton Anti Virus 2004, with Automatic Updates activated, and I also do manual Definitions updates, whenever a major threat is announced before the Auto-Updates are released
• AVG Antivirus Free Edition, with both Automatic and manual updates done every day.
• Kerio Personal Firewall 2.15, configured to block all undefined Incoming or Outgoing traffic, with custom rules created for authorized programs. I watch the tray icon and investigate when it displays blocked traffic.
• D-Link Di-604 Broadband Router/Hardware Firewall, which blocks all Incoming TCP, IP, and ICMP traffic unless a rule is created to allow it. The Di-604 also uses NAT Translation, to conceal my networked computers from WAN scrutiny or Pinging.
• Spybot Search and Destroy, updated as often as they release updates (varies).
• SpywareBlaster, with similar updates and full protection applied.
• Ad-aware, current version, updated prior to each use, including updating the entire program regularly.
• I set Windows Update to automatically notify me when a new critical patch is available, which I then install.
• Mailwasher Professional email screener, with custom regular expressions rules, and a comprehensive blacklist and list of spam domains. I also subscribe to the FirstAlert! Spam Reporting system, which is part of Mailwasher, and which blocks known spam or viruses. Mailwasher Pro allows me to view the entire email, headers and all, in safe, plain text. It does not display images, but indicates if any are being called, and the URL of the image, and of any links. This allows me to see the destination of any link, in case the email is a Phishing scam. I can also see if a message body contains Base64 code, which might indicate a Virus, or Jpeg Exploit.
• Outlook Express is used to actually display any email that I allow to pass through Mailwasher Pro, and I use it in the Restricted Sites Zone, for higher security. All incoming email is further scanned by both NAV and AVG, as is all outgoing email. I turn off the Preview Panel, and must purposely open an email to view it.
• I am a Reporting Member of SpamCop, located at http://www.spamcop.net . I forward all spam directly from Mailwasher to Spamcop, for reporting and tracking. I sometimes perform a manual LART to the upstream of the spammer's or scammer's Internet or Hosting services.
• I use WinMx for Filesharing, with a non-obvious shared location. I automatically scan every single incoming file with both anti-virus products.
• I find that making security an important issue when computing keeps all of the past, present and most future threats off of my computers.
• I force my kid to run as a Standard User, to protect the OS in the event she allows a threat into the computer, from the hideous kid sites she visits. I run as a Power User, using the RunAs command when I need to do an Administrative function. Otherwise, I log off and log on as Admin.
• The only computer that still has a modem connected uses an external US Robotics V92 Modem, which is kept off, unless the DSL connection craps out, which is very rare. This makes it impossible for surrepticiouly installed hostile dialers to dial out to Muldavia, at $100 per hour.
• Because I am permanantly blocking UDP Ports 1026 through 1031 I don't get Windows Messenger Popup scams. I also have Windows Messenger, DCOM, and UPNP Disabled in the Local Machine Security Policy.
• I use Windows 2000 Professional, with the current Service Pack, and all critical patches and updates. I have Active Desktop turned OFF.

This may sound like paranoia to some of you, but as a Webmaster I can't afford to have data stolen from my computer, or it's security compromised. I am also into computer security consulting. I know of what I speak. I also run regular internal and removable media backups, and have two harddrives in each machine.

Wiz
<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Wiz Feinberg on 10 October 2004 at 01:00 PM.]</p></FONT>

Wiz, I've been running SpyBot 1.2 for six months or so now. I always check before scanning, but there is never an update for it. Adaware almost always has an update available. Are you or anyone really getting updates for SpyBot?

Jim Smith asked me:
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">quote:</font><HR><SMALL>
Wiz, I've been running SpyBot 1.2 for six months or so now. I always check before scanning, but there is never an update for it. Adaware almost always has an update available. Are you or anyone really getting updates for SpyBot?
</SMALL><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Jim; Spybot S&D is now at version 1.3. You will need to download this version in order to obtain new definition updates. http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html
The current definitions were released on Sept 30, as of this writing.

Wiz

Thanks Wiz, I have downloaded the latest version. It's odd that the 1.2 update feature didn't tell me there was a newer version. Zone Alarm and even WeatherBug do.

Jim;
Spybot S&D is a one-man operation, run by Patrick M. Kolla. He started this program as a University student, and was overwhelmed by it's world-wide acceptance. He has been struggling to support himself and this program, which seems to have a life of it's own. That's why the updates aren't automatic, nor frequent.

It wouldn't hurt if people used his PayPal Donate button and send him $20 for his efforts. I did.

Wiz

<SMALL>PS back up your data often and also back up your registry often. This way if you have the same problem as before after visiting a site you have the means to restore your pc yourself and save your money</SMALL>

Chris, how do you do a data back up and registry back up. thanks to all that replied.
Terry

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84 SKH Emmons Legrand D10
session 400'rd Steelin for my Lord.

Hi Terry,

What operating system do you use? The procedures are slightly different depending on your answer so let me know and we'll go from there.

Chris

Chris I have windows 98
Terry

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84 SKH Emmons Legrand D10
session 400'rd Steelin for my Lord.