What to bring to "fix" a Windows box

Post #126,061 by drewk 11/17/03 1:06:14 PM Reply	What to bring to "fix" a Windows box I've got a relative who wants me to come over and make her computer work. Unlike many computer geeks, I don't have a problem with the fact that she doesn't really know or care what it's running. I don't know what software is on my TV, and if it ever breaks I want someone to just make it work. So anyway, the symptoms I've been told are: sometimes it won't even connect to the internet; when it does her email is always full of junk, to the point that she can't even get the stuff she wants. She knows she's running Windows, but isn't sure what version. I'm guessing 95 or 98. I'm going to bring a Knoppix disk to see if I can open everything she needs. (She's a school teacher, and occasionally brings work home.) I realize there's a risk of becoming her tech support if I put Debian on her system, but I'm apparently her tech support already, and it's for W9x. What should I bring along to check her for virii[1] and spyware? Is there any good, client side mail filtering software for Windows? Actually, is there anything short of running your own mailserver a Windows user can do to cut down on spam/virii[2]? I'd like to just clean up her system and get it functioning again, but if I do recommend switching, what should I put on so I can dial in to her modem and remote admin it? (If she's already conneccted to the net, I'll just use ssh.) [1] If you want to point out it should be 'viruses' please have that debate with someone who gives a damn. :) [2] What, you didn't read [1]? === Implicitly condoning stupidity since 2001.
Post #126,067 by Andrew Grygus 11/17/03 1:21:58 PM Reply	Re: What to bring to "fix" a Windows box I use Command antivirus because it's easy to install and remove. I leave it on and tell the client to register ($24/year) so they can get updates as I hand them the list of 132 infected files found on their "I know I don't have a virus" machine - or they can remove it and install Norton. I won't install Norton products myself. I use Adaware personal (free for personal use) to clean up the scumware. It's been greatly improved lately and it works. Generally a home machine with kids has about 450 scumware objects. I find more instability from these than from worms and viruses. For hoseholds with teens I sometimes have to put on the "pay-for" version ($36) which monitors attempts to infect, because a teen household will have 140 new scumware files within minutes of cleaning no matter how much you admonish them about safe browsing and music download programs. Several clients are happy with MailWasher for cleaning junk email. It needs to be trained, of course, but it saves a lot of time and works directly on the mail server, so it's independent of the email program. I think it's $36, but there may be a fee version with some limitations, I don't remember. [link\|http://www.aaxnet.com\|AAx]
Post #126,075 by drewk 11/17/03 1:55:47 PM Reply	Re: MailWasher ... works directly on the mail server, so it's independent of the email program. How does this work? My understanding is that the client would need to actually download the mail to evaluate if it's spam. Or are you assuming the ability to install something on the server? The person I'm going to be doing this for is probably on AOL. (Changing to a new ISP is among one of my possible suggestions.) Or is it something that runs in the background, downloads and evaluates mail, and only drops "good" messages in your inbox? === Implicitly condoning stupidity since 2001.
Post #126,204 by Andrew Grygus 11/17/03 8:27:36 PM Reply	How it works. It logs onto the server and reads the headers of all the mail. It checks the subjects against it's "likely to be spam" parameters and any filters you have constructed for it. It compares the from address against friends and foes lists. It displays a list of all the items it doesn't have a clear delete decision for showing from address, subject and its recommendations. You can review the list, make any changes you want by checking boxes, and recommend addresses to the friend/foe lists. It will then delete all unwanted mail from the server and call up your mail reader to download all that remains. The mail reader I use, PMMail, allows you to log onto the server, review what's there and mark it for delete, retrieve or retrieve copy, but it doesn't have the decision engine so you have to look at the whole list. One of my clients is using MailWasher Pro as a preprocessor for PMMail. [link\|http://www.aaxnet.com\|AAx]
Post #137,584 by drewk 1/24/04 10:23:26 PM Reply	Update: woooo, lots found I'm at the neighbor's house, not the relative. Got AdAware on and so far found 120 items. It's still running though. Before I did that I went to windowsupdate and found 28 critical updates and installed them. Other than the scumware, though, it might have been as simple as Outlook trying to use the dialup. IIRC Ross mentioned the possibility, and sure enough Outlook was still trying to use the modem, which was still plugged into the phone line. So every time it launched it started trying to phone home. Haven't locked up yet despite downloading and installing over 30MB of updates. (Currently at 118 infected files out of 191,000 in 4600 directories, and 2 infected registry keys out of 22,500.) === Implicitly condoning stupidity since 2001.
Post #137,593 by Andrew Grygus 1/24/04 10:53:29 PM Reply	2 registry keys were installed with Windows . . . . so if that's all, I suspect all the files are Tracking Company cookies. All pretty harmless. [link\|http://www.aaxnet.com\|AAx]
Post #137,605 by drewk 1/24/04 11:38:46 PM Reply	(&@#%)(&@)#(&$ Well I thought* I installed AdAware. Go to adaware.com and see what you get. Looks like you're getting adaware if you're not paying enough attention. It's malware. Fuckers. === Implicitly condoning stupidity since 2001.
Post #137,607 by Another Scott 1/24/04 11:53:07 PM Reply	Nasty. :-( Best of luck.
Post #137,608 by orion 1/25/04 12:00:56 AM Reply	Wrong website you got zonked, ala "Let's Make a Deal" and picked the wrong curtain. That looks like an imposter program that may actually do something else than try to remove Spyware/Adware. Try this one: [link\|http://www.lavasoftusa.com/\|http://www.lavasoftusa.com/] Of course AdAware removes spyware/adware but may make the system unstable. Spybot: Search and Destroy does a better job and has yet to make any system I used it on unstable. Download it if you want, at: [link\|http://www.safer-networking.org/\|http://www.safer-networking.org/] That zonk may have put malware on the system. Download a trial of The Cleaner to check for Trojans: [link\|http://www.moosoft.com/\|http://www.moosoft.com/] Or get a free Antivirus program from: [link\|http://www.grisoft.com/\|http://www.grisoft.com/] *"Lady I only speak two languages, English and Bad English!" - Corbin Dallas "The Fifth Element"*
Post #137,637 by Andrew Grygus 1/25/04 7:44:22 AM Reply	Spybot vs. Adaware Last week I ran an updated Adaware on a machine the guy had just downloaded and run spybot on and it found plenty more. I've never had Adaware leave a system unstable, though some time back it did remove a damaged TCP/IP file that forced removal and reinstallation of TCP/IP. That hasn't happened for some time now. [link\|http://www.aaxnet.com\|AAx]
Post #137,655 by deSitter 1/25/04 11:33:05 AM Reply	Re: Spybot vs. Adaware - seconded Ad-Aware doesn't muck with \\system at all, and if you're paranoid about changes, has generous undo capabilities. Of course it is very nice to be so completely off Windows that Internet issues are no longer in the foreground. -drl
Post #137,670 by orion 1/25/04 2:07:16 PM Reply	My past experience with Ad-Aware after removing Spyware/Adware with it, caused the system to become unstable and blue screen on me a lot. Fixed it by reinstalling the OS. This was not recent, but was a year or two ago. Ever since I switched to Spybot instead and have not had any problems yet, knock on wood. :) *"Lady I only speak two languages, English and Bad English!" - Corbin Dallas "The Fifth Element"*
Post #137,672 by deSitter 1/25/04 2:09:48 PM Reply	Re: My past experience with Ad-Aware Chances are you uncovered an existing instability. I've installed Ad-Aware on lots of machines without any problems at all. Windows is like a pit bull - feed it often and pet it occasionally, and it won't bite you. -drl
Post #137,676 by orion 1/25/04 2:22:39 PM Reply	ICLRPD (new thread) Created as new thread #137675 titled [link\|/forums/render/content/show?contentid=137675\|ICLRPD] *"Lady I only speak two languages, English and Bad English!" - Corbin Dallas "The Fifth Element"*
Post #137,684 by ben_tilly 1/25/04 2:42:13 PM Reply	No, Windows owners are like pitbull owners They always believe that they are in control of their pet. Cheers, Ben "good ideas and bad code build communities, the other three combinations do not" - [link\|http://archives.real-time.com/pipermail/cocoon-devel/2000-October/003023.html\|Stefano Mazzocchi]
Post #137,692 by andread 1/25/04 3:17:42 PM Reply	Re: Spybot vs. Adaware I like Ad-Aware myself but sometimes it does not do enough then you might want to go to HijackThis you have to have an understanding of the registry in order to use this tool as it does not work automatically and lets you delete any program from the reigistry A Play I Some Music w/ Papa Andy Saturday 8 PM - 11 PM ET All Night Rewind 11 PM - 5 PM Reggae, African and Caribbean Music [link\|http://wxxe.org\|Tune In]
Post #137,613 by deSitter 1/25/04 12:24:05 AM Reply	Re: Update: woooo, lots found Make sure you set up the modem to use IRQ 11 or whatever so it will not conflict with the Ethernet card. -drl
Post #126,095 by StevenYap 11/17/03 2:32:33 PM Reply	Spam filtering If she's using Outlook for email and want to stick with it, I can recommend the SpamBayes Outlook plugin. See [link\|http://spambayes.sourceforge.net/windows.html\|http://spambayes.sou....net/windows.html]. The page does provide for a way to make Spambayes work with non-Outlook clients. I have to use Outlook at work, and Spambayes helps to filter out the junk.
Post #126,106 by drewk 11/17/03 3:34:57 PM Reply	Thanks, I'll take a look === Implicitly condoning stupidity since 2001.
Post #126,129 by inthane-chan 11/17/03 4:30:09 PM Reply	Linking to an earlier post [link\|http://z.iwethey.org/forums/render/content/show?contentid=114132\|Four essential Windows lockdown tools]. Enjoy! Oh, and I've since added [link\|http://spambayes.sourceforge.net/windows.html\|Spambayes] to the list of useful Windows tools, iffn' you have to run Outlook. The universe makes no sense until you accept that God uses base 13. Even then, it's still pretty dodgy.
Post #126,140 by drewk 11/17/03 5:03:11 PM Reply	Thanks to all, will be trying this all out on Sunday === Implicitly condoning stupidity since 2001.
Post #126,225 by orion 11/18/03 12:22:26 AM Reply	I second that I also will add that you need to clean up any programs that she is not using. Take anything out of startup that isn't needed. If she has Windows 98 run MSCONFIG to control what programs get loaded on startup, if not then use Regedit but be careful there. Worst possible case is that she has a virus that can't be removed or has a messed up hard drive or bad system files that requires a RRR. Make sure that she has all of her original disks before you do anything like that. Nothing like reformatting only to find a missing CD, or a CD Key missing. Should she have Windows 95, it could be good to download whatever 95 updates Microsoft has to a CDR disk so you can install them. I'd hate to see you download them over a dial-up. Also download the 98 updates too just in case she has that. 95 Updates: [link\|http://www.microsoft.com/windows95/downloads/\|http://www.microsoft...dows95/downloads/] 98 Updates: [link\|http://www.microsoft.com/windows98/downloads/corporate.asp\|http://www.microsoft...ads/corporate.asp] Not sure if anyone suggested this, but get a 30 day trial of The Cleaner to check for trojans: [link\|http://www.moosoft.com/thecleaner/\|http://www.moosoft.com/thecleaner/] Maybe someone emailed one to her, and she clicked on it? Good luck. *"Lady I only speak two languages, English and Bad English!" - Corbin Dallas "The Fifth Element"*
Post #126,181 by andread 11/17/03 7:07:21 PM Reply	Re: What to bring to "fix" a Windows box I usually go with AdAware HijackThis ScriptSentry and a good anti-virus (anyone that has free updates forever is good) A Play I Some Music w/ Papa Andy Saturday 8 PM - 11 PM ET All Night Rewind 11 PM - 5 PM Reggae, African and Caribbean Music [link\|http://wxxe.org\|Tune In]
Post #126,254 by CRConrad 11/18/03 8:18:21 AM Reply	Wasn't it Peter Gabriel who said it best: "Sledgehammer..." :-) [link\|mailto:MyUserId@MyISP.CountryCode\|Christian R. Conrad] (I live in Finland, and my e-mail in-box is at the Saunalahti company.) Resident [link\|http://z.iwethey.org/forums/render/content/show?contentid=119792\|zIWETHEY pilkunnussija]
Post #126,257 by pwhysall 11/18/03 8:32:48 AM Reply	Installed Linux yet? Muahahahaha! Peter [link\|http://www.debian.org\|Shill For Hire] [link\|http://www.kuro5hin.org\|There is no K5 Cabal] [link\|http://guildenstern.dyndns.org\|Blog]
Post #126,259 by CRConrad 11/18/03 8:38:19 AM Reply	Naah... I get my command-line jollies on real Unix boxen. Will he rise to the bait? Will he, won't he, will he, won't he, will he, won't he...?
Post #126,353 by pwhysall 11/18/03 11:38:29 AM Reply	s/real/legacy/ Peter [link\|http://www.debian.org\|Shill For Hire] [link\|http://www.kuro5hin.org\|There is no K5 Cabal] [link\|http://guildenstern.dyndns.org\|Blog]
Post #126,557 by folkert 11/18/03 3:26:41 PM Reply	Blaphemer! -- [link\|mailto:greg@gregfolkert.net\|greg], [link\|http://www.iwethey.org/ed_curry\|REMEMBER ED CURRY!] @ *i_wethey*
Post #126,560 by drewk 11/18/03 3:31:49 PM Reply	What, do you have a burnt tongue, too? (nice lisp) === Implicitly condoning stupidity since 2001.
Post #126,564 by Steve Lowe 11/18/03 3:35:36 PM Reply	DON'T PANIC oh wait, this isn't the LRPD thread.... ----- Steve
Post #126,568 by folkert 11/18/03 3:36:44 PM Reply	Nope... ObLRPD believe it or not. And if I'm just going for effect, I might as well wear a tie. And pants. -- [link\|mailto:greg@gregfolkert.net\|greg], [link\|http://www.iwethey.org/ed_curry\|REMEMBER ED CURRY!] @ *i_wethey* [insert witty saying here]
Post #126,502 by orion 11/18/03 12:53:43 PM Reply	I rather like Gallagher and his Sledge-O-Matic For more info visit: [link\|http://gallaghersmash.com/\|http://gallaghersmash.com/] He is even trying to run for President: [link\|http://gallaghersmash.com/html/presspresident.htm\|http://gallaghersmas...resspresident.htm] An example of the Sledge-O-Matic and computers: [link\|http://computertimes.com/sep03GallagherIBM.htm\|http://computertimes...3GallagherIBM.htm] Well he more of less smashed the IBM Execs more than the computers or watermellons. :) You get the point that it can be used on computers as well. *"Lady I only speak two languages, English and Bad English!" - Corbin Dallas "The Fifth Element"*
Post #126,741 by Ashton 11/19/03 4:45:05 PM Reply	Gallagher always did Get it (for most any it)

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