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The "Not Quite Amiga but still computer related category" => Alternative Operating Systems => Topic started by: mgerics on August 24, 2005, 12:58:37 PM
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Warning - this is an anti M$oft rant, so if you are offended by anti microsoft talk, please go else where.
I have been infected for the last time by some fu=ki*ng spyware thingys and I've had it. Somethings or other have gotten on to my system and I can't get rid of them using my usual choice of tools (Ad-Aware, Spybot, manual edit of the Registry [even in safe mode]) and I've come to the realization that as long as I use m$soft (and there are co=ksu#ki%g morons out there who create these things [side note:these guys/gals are talented no doubt, just use these talents for good please!]), I'll have problems.
Any time I am asked to 'look at my pc, it's acting funny' by a friend or relative, it is almost always so heavily infected it'd almost be quicker to burn all their important data to tape/cd/backup media and format/reinstall, except that they have prog x for this, prog y for that, etc - I am do NOT wanna spend my free hours re-installing all these thingys for you no matter how important they as a person are to me. (Hmm, is there a prog to create an install media for a program that is alreay installed? Something that captures all the files needed for a proggy like a backup up archive so you can re-install it without going through the hassle of actually running the install executable?)
And if there is a grain of truth to the story of m$oft trying to patent smileys, I am truly pissed; it could be a hoax, but I wouldn't put it past them trying something like this...
Of course, I still have a trusty Amiga 4000, and WINUAE is fun to diddle with. (Anyone get respectable speed when using an Amiga formatted drive through emulation? It works for me, but is slower than a hardfile or even Windows folders)
That said...
I am planning a move to Linux - am testing Mandriva from a magazine dvd (damn that Frozen Bubble game!)
I want to move as quickly as possible away from anything microsoft, and much as I love the Amiga, I need/want an OS I can count on and run on a powerful modern machine (have no fear, as long as my hardware survives, I will use the Amiga 4k).
I do what we all do - Browse, email, music, videos, games.
I'd like to create network shares as well, a real home network.
Any suggestions as to the best distro and apps?
Specifically, I'd like any pointers to material/manuals that would help me set things up QUICKLY - e.g. how do I share a directory so others on my LAN can see it? I can learn the stuff, but I tend to snooze when reading a lot(is there a name for that condition?)
What I'm looking for a light weight manual that succintly states "Issue this command to share directory x" followed by the appropriate command string to type at the console.
There, not so bad, not a whole lot of m$oft bashing, eh?
p.s. the spyware thingys are ISTBar, Optimize, CPU Control (wuitgard), PSecure and a couple others that magically appear after a reboot and connect to the internet.
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I have been infected for the last time by some fu=ki*ng spyware thingys and I've had it.
Stop using Internet Explorer. You may also want to have a look at your browsing habits as well, generally, I find that to be the main cause for spyware infestations.
Edit...if you really want to move to Linux and still have a Windowsy feel, have a look at SuSE 9.3 Professional, thats a lovely desktop distro :-)
Edit 2...many also swear by Ubuntu as a great desktop distro, but not me.
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Already try to enforce that rule - Firefox is installed and set to be the default browser. And yes, I personally browse very carefully, but of course I can't be home with the kids as they do their cruising - arrgh!
Unfortunately, I have children who don't listen to me.
Partly my fault, as I had the system half re-installed without the safety software and didn't warn the kids to stay off the internet...:(
BTW, I need the ability to play Quake and Quake 2 on linux...
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mgerics wrote:
Already try to enforce that rule - Firefox is installed and set to be the default browser. And yes, I personally browse very carefully, but of course I can't be home with the kids as they do their cruising - arrgh!
Unfortunately, I have children who don't listen to me.
Partly my fault, as I had the system half re-installed without the safety software and didn't warn the kids to stay off the internet...:(
BTW, I need the ability to play Quake and Quake 2 on linux...
Simple solution there, buy them a Mac mini, thats what I did.
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I have to nod in sympathy, my XP machine got so riddled with spyware that I had to completely start from scratch and reinstall everything.
The safest method of browsing the web that I know of is not to use a PC at all, hence my Amiga being my main internet machine.
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Try Ubuntu Linux (http://www.ubuntulinux.org/).
I've had it as the only OS on my PC for a few months now, and not felt the need to revert back to XP since. I think it's excellent. (Quick edit: There isn't really any setting up with it either, it detects everything you have and that's that)
BTW where did you hear about MS wanting to patent smilies?!
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I use Firefox and Kerio firewall, and don't have any problems now. Try 'Adware Away' its good. 'Process Explorer' is a very nice program that will show you a lot of information about active tasks. check every run key in registry to see what starts at bootup (search for 'runonce' and then look at 'run' key above it). most important is to not install anything suspicious, of course, just use programs that are best/safe especially those with 'green' install (just unpacking).
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I'll throw in a "me too" for Ubuntu. I prefer pure Debian actually, but Ubuntu is like "Totally Painless Ultra Sexy Debian". To give an idea of how well it works, it automagically configured all the power management stuff on my laptop correctly. Out of the box. This can be a somewhat arduous task by hand, depending heavily on the laptop. So, I use it on my laptop :-)
If you flip back and decide to stay with Windows, yet another "me too" for Firefox...
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Why don't realise a switch to a NewGen Amiga (pegasos or Aone) ?? These are "real" Amiga :-) and you'll be able to enjoy quake 1/2/3 and much more ! If you need a special application : use MAC ON LINUX :-) .
But if you still need lot of waisted GHz,
keep your Pc,
burn on a disk : drivers, antispyware (PestPatrol, SpyBoat, AdAware), XP AntiSpy, iOlO system mechanic 5.x, manual "updates" for your antivirus (Pc cillin i suggest), winzip, winace, and some M$ security update, Tiny Firewall (with "ask each time a non registred packet.."), Sun JAva VM, get the M$ tool MSCONFIG and the old TweakUI, and all software updates you need ...
SAVE YOUR DATA and PARAMETERS !!!
unplug any internet connection
do a fresh install (use win2K SP4 instead of Xpet, less things to kick :lol: ans less undetected packet on the network), try to make a 2nd partion of 10/15 Gb, a second HDD would be better
take a look at what is "ON" in MSconfig (switch off the APS and unneeded services ..)
Only install the things you burnt !!! Turn them ON, one per one.
no others apps yet !!!
Reboot 3 times to check if it goes well.
Turn on IE without net connection, take a look on the parameters in "security" and turn to "ASK" every case.
Then go to the net install, and pickup the MS updates you need and Antivirus updates too ! Don't go anywhere else !
Tiny Firewall will be boring, but usefull :lol:
You will wonder about the hundreds of warning receive, and also about IE what will ask you at each netpage if you want to execute a script and an app ... and you'll see that 99% of time it is unneeded to execute them
Do a backup of your working system with Norton Ghost or the Seagate freeware Discwizard (just give a model of one of their drives). :lol:
And begin to live in danger :lol:
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you're probably infected because of your browsing habits. I've never had a problem that bad as you describe. You know what they say, when you point a finger at someone, you have 3 pointing back at you. just my opinion of course.
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Have a look at kanotix. It's a very nice distro. Very easy to install. It's based on Debian and it's 100% compatible.
The nice thing about Debian is it's packetmanager. Start synaptic. You just have to make a cross before the software you want and it'll download everything you need for it to run from the internet and install it. So there's no need for compiling your software yourself.
Have A Look at the wiki and the forum at www.kanotix.com. It's very helpfull.
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@tangletown
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/business/0,39020645,39210396,00.htm
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Some other nice things about kanotix:
-You can also use it as a live CD. So you can find out if it supports your Hardware and Play around with it
-There are Scripts who make things like kernel-update and installing 3d-drivers very simple
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All right. I've had it!
Stop looking at porn and warez sites with IE then.
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For people who are not familiar with Linux, I suggest
http://www.opensuse.org (http://www.opensuse.org)
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adz wrote:
Simple solution there, buy them a Mac mini, thats what I did.
Nooooo, mgerics should buy the Mac for himself and give the kids the PC with a clean install of Windows.
Then tell them that removal of any virus/trojan etc on it will be charged at professional rates, deducted from their allowance (to go into mgerics beer fund)
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I hate spyware too, but there is a simple solution to your problems, which don't involve bashing m$..
1) Take control of your security settings.
a) watch your web browsing habbits, don't go to sites that leave cookies, do be more careful about your browsing habbits. You can set security zones higher in IE, making it more of a pain to browse with.. Turn off activeX and automatic installs in the preferences etc.
b) Change your web browser.. Move away from IE to firefox. Most people never have a problem with firefox at all.
If it makes you feel any better I have got to explore the Windows Vista beta and so far I am finding that very secure. They have a new security model system in place called UAP.. It reminds me a lot of Linux and MacOS, because with UAP on, anything that has to write to the Registry or requires administrator priveledges, it will come up asking you to log in with administrator rights.
Combine that with IE 7's more robust pop up protection and phishing filters, it seems a whole lot more secure. It was neat to go to a website that screws with your registry and find the OS asking you to log in as an administrator before the site did it's dirty work to trash your computer.
It's sad it's got to this state, but after seeing this I feel that Microsoft has this well in hand.. Remember it's not Microsoft's fault that these folks are exploiting.. Also, you should keep a lists of sites that are putting this spyware on your computer and turn the tables on them.. They are the one's who should be getting your wraith..
-Don
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I really understand how you feel, I live that everytime I fix my sister's PC...
Now when I pass a few minutes on a PC I go to the admin tools and disabled all the useless XP services (check the web for references on that) & install Spybot WITH TEATIMER tool enabled.
I also give a short class on Firefox and Thunderbird and warn the owner to never ever use Explorer or Outlook crap again.
Then I cross my finger that I wont get a "help me" call for at least the next month ;)
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Welcome to the club. I won't run a Windows PC that doesn't have at least 3 items - antivirus, Spybot Search & Destroy and Adaware. It seems that each of these misses something that another will catch, so you can't use just one or two. :(
I haven't had any problems on my own machine, but you should see my mom's or my sister's machines. They've got every IM tool installed to load at boot and all kinds of other crap that they don't even use. I install antivirus and adaware and spybot but they don't update the things, I do it when I can but I'm not there to do it mroe than once or twice a year as I live so far away. My whole family is computer illiterate...
Then thre was that time my dad wanted to reinstall his machine as it was really messed up. So messed up it couldn't even make a boot floppy, the computer fair guy he bought it from way back when installed 98 first edition but gave him a 98 second edition full (not upgrade) install CD which refused to install over a different version. Dear god that was a long saturday on the phone but somehow we got it to happen. I never want to do that over a phone again!!
I'd really love to get an iBook when I get a laptop, but realities of what I need one for will force me to get an x86 one with Windows, but I do plan to have it dual-booting Linux as well. Hopefully in 2 months I'll have one, but I'm not looking forward to having Windows so conveniently nearby. At least I only use Solaris at work... Funny that the few people with Windows PCs have a couple times got infected with things that managed to munge the entire network though.
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@billt
You should install the microsoft anti spyware tool on your relatives pc's.
It auto updates and scans unlike spybot and adaware.
It catches things that they miss too.
Every windows PC I have has SpyBot, AdAware and MSAntiSpyware on it, combine with Firefox and antivirus+firewall.
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DonnyEMU wrote:
It's sad it's got to this state, but after seeing this I feel that Microsoft has this well in hand.. Remember it's not Microsoft's fault that these folks are exploiting..
Sorry Don, but I gotta disagree with you about it not being MS's fault.
If they'd made OE and IE secure in the first place there wouldn't be any exploits (yeah I know, over simplistic and ideolistic).
Eg. What bright spark at MS thought it'd be a good idea for OE to run scripts contained in an email? ..and has anyone actually used that feature legitimatly?
A while back I had problems doing a Windows Update, it couldn't connect to the server until I'd toned DOWN IE's security ..duh!
I'd be more interested in IE becoming standards compliant rather than added features 'inspired' by other browsers.
Also having IE not crash when it encounters a bad XML file would be nice..that one got me mad last week when a bug in one of my PHP scripts kept including illegal characters in an XML file :pissed:
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@mdma
How dare you insinuate I look at porn...hold it, need to clean my screen...
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Not forgetting antivirus/spyware/adware killers make the computer a lot slower.
Just move to Linux or a MAC :-)
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mgerics Beer fund! Now that's an idea! (Who wants to donate? I'm in Clio, MI and Fridays I host Karaoke in Otisville MI at Ada's, corner of Wilson and M-15 [Enough commercials ])
)
'Cept the major drawback is that I can't afford new equipment unless ABSOLUTELY mandatory - I do have used stuff I can engage in the project.
Thanks to all for your comments; some of you seem to miss the point, but that's okay.
I DO use spybot, adaware, and an antivirus religiously. I'm just tired of HAVING to do so. Call me stubborn, pig headed, ignorant, whatever makes you feel good about yourself and your points of view , but no one will ever convince me that m$soft is faultless or otherwise not liable for the bulk of my time spent - their product is simply too buggy and open to these kinds of attacks (regardless of whether these attacks should happen or not [and yes, I DO blame those bleepers for what they do] or as my Dad would have said 'IRregardless of whether')
My aim is to try to become linux literate enough that I can convince my family and friends to switch and show them it's not to be feared but rather embraced; they DON'T have to be helpless or otherwise afraid to even turn the da=n machine on. Heck, I JUST got my wife to start using peecees, and she's no dummy (and is quite a looker, too! ['course, I may be a bit biased, but RRRRRH my eyes like it]).
I'm not the fastest cpu on the motheerboard, but I think i'm fast enough to learn. I just don't want to spend weeks trying to figure out how to use the thing. Yes, I KNOW there will be time spent to do it right and learn correctly and anything worth doing is worth doing right. Just get me going enough so Ican start using it QUICKLY and get that bug ridden thing called Windows OFF my hard drive!
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yes, antivirus usually makes computer slower, but NOT IF YOU DISABLE 'real time' scan. Install KAV, then prevent it from starting at boot up , and disable two services it creates. everytime you wish to install something scan it manually (updating the signatures first).
IMHO, antispyware isn't essential once you clean your system, you won't need it again if everything is configured right. of course, use EMULE for all er.. needs.. ;-)
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My aim is to try to become linux literate enough that I can convince my family and friends to switch and show them it's not to be feared but rather embraced
Then the distro for you is SuSE.
http://www.opensuse.org (http://www.opensuse.org)
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@orange
I don't know who you are, but your avatar=very nice to look at
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I presently Use Mandriva 2005 LE. I find it does exactly what I want. The big trouble with Mandriva is that the free distribution does not have any 3D graphics drivers. Yes you can DL them but are a pain to get up especially the ATI driver. If you are willing to pay $50.00 USD you can get Mandriva Discovery based on 10.1 release. It has drivers and Browser plugins installed and pre configured. And It works flawlessly.
I would get Acrobat 7.0, Firefox comes with the dist as well as Video editing software, Sound Editing software and Open Office 1.4 (a good Idea woud be to not install an office package at all KOffice or Open Office go to openoffice.org and DL and install OpenOffice 2.0 Beta).
For best windows compatability you can try CrossOver Office from CodeWeavers it will install Windows applications directly to your Linux hard drive and alow you to run them (This includes MicroSoft Office Profesional).
Another plus is that Limewire and EDonky work great and have no Spyware :).
For Gaming you can look at Transgameing the have a wine dist that is game specific and can play most Windows games. There are also many ports of Windows games to Linux (great thing is that a lot of the games will have better frame rate than on Windows). :-D
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Just an Addition:
The Mandrake install to a fresh hard drive is the easiest of any dist. If you use Discovery It will only ask you one question where you want to get you time from. When it is done you will be online and every thing working.
The distribution does not have any developer programs included but the include Mandrive Update and Install software funtions allow you to install them after you are up and running.
The biggest warning I can give you with any dist is to check your hardware carefully there are stuff that is not supported. Like most of the very new printers, a lot of modems, scanners can be a problem (parallel mostly the biggest problem) as well as USB Intenet type camera's.
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The main problem with Mandrake/Mandriva is it's lack of stability.
Supports less hardware out of the box than other distro's too.
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> I DO use spybot, adaware, and an antivirus religiously. I'm just tired of HAVING to do so.
That's a good point, but a side-effect of human nature. I'm sure banks are tired of HAVING TO buy expensive locks, security cameras, and other things to protect things in their building from being stolen. I'm sure Walmart and other stores would rather not have to buy all the sensor equipment and sensor tags in each item to catch theives. But it is what it is.
Problem is, banks and stores have more than one real option to shoose from for their security buying needs. If one product is unsatisfactory, they can buy a different one, perhaps from a different vendor. In the computer world, many people are stuck with whatever it is that MS feels like providing, as choosing a different vendor can very well prevent the use of a suitable application. For examplt, I have need for a good CAD program with certain specific features. This class of CAD software isn't available on a variety of OS platforms to choose from, it's only available for Windows. So either I choose to take the OS platform I'm personally unhappy with in order to use the app I need, or I choose to not be able to work on this particular project at all which would make me unable to do my job and thus become irrelevant to my employer. I don't actually have a choice in what OS platform I use, and I'm stuck with one I'd personally rather not use as the ones I'd prefer are unable to get done what I need to do, even if they are more secure.
Thus we're stuck trying to add on 3rd party hole-pluggers, something that would annoy the heck out of security systems buyers such as for bank vaults, camera systems, etc. I bet banks would hate to buy a security camera system only to be told the lenses on the cameras are all blurry and they have to buy new lenses from someone else for the things to work acceptibly, let alone work well.
Alas, we're all right where Bill Gates wants us, under his thumb. :( And there's little we can do about it. :(
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Here in Holland C'T magazine came bundled with a Suse Linux Personal 9.3 install DVD. Darn, installing that was as easy (if not easier) then windows!!
If anyone likes a copy just let me know (as far as I know this personal version is free, does come with Open Office, Firefox etc etc just not the server parts)