tgp1994

Off topic:Please make a topic and show how a proper poll should look like and please link the topic with the excellent poll in this topic so other users can learn how to create an interesting poll.

Umm... ok :\

Like this would be more preferable; the thing is, you really only want relevant answers in the poll.

Hope that helps

We are talking about the operating system backum. It's only the c: disk, without any date. It should be someting like no more than 30 gigs.And you store it on an external disk.
You store the intial backup, and then a rolling backup : the month 1, then the month 2. After the "month 3" you destroy "month2", and after month4 you destroy "mont2". You don't need to pay an online service, a USB disk close to your computer is enough.

Oh, I see. Well, I generally have about ~220 GB stored on my main drive, so... that would be about 600GB of data on my other drive. Ehh, I dunno.

It would be like that. And that's why I suggest using a LiveCD, because you will see that this way of working will start making you crazy, preventing you to write to the system disk each time a software wants to install something.

I think I might have really mistated something, I apologize.

 

What I meant originally was for the hard drive to only keep the core operating system files in a read only portion, while the rest of the hard drive is standard read and write.

you make a backup after a fresh Windows install.The second backup when all your application, spreadsheets, picture management and surfing softwares are installed correctly.
And then a monthly backup.
In case of problem, you go back to the previous month. If the problem is still there, you go back two or three monthes before the s supposed crash.

Keeping that many backups? I think that would total at least 1.6 terabytes of data for me. Much more than I could store, and much more than what I'd want to pay an online service to keep.

You don't really nead ghost to decrease your PC's performance. If you want, you can make your initial backup, and then remove the software from your PC, so you will not see it starting at boot time.And if you don't want the backup to use too much space on your hard disk, you still can put it on an external disk.
Of course, do not forget the free alternative to Ghost, which is name CloneZilla. You boot it off a CD, so nothing to be installed on your hard disk. The backup can be made on an external file server, maybe you already have on on your home network.

Hmm... I kind of like the one time idea. I guess the only problem is: I wouldn't be able to get into the habit of backing up often enough to make it worthwhile... and then, what if I backup an alreadt infected file?

You're right though, I should be backing up something.

The idea of an application or utility that scans windows file for corruption is very interesting, since I think I'm still infected. (Mysterious outgoing HTTP connections from the system idle process, some of which ESET blocks because they are known attack sites.)

Yikes Even though I'm not an OO user nyself, I'd hate to see any part of it go proprietary. I hope the fact that oracle's logo is on it isn't an indication of anything.

You get it exactly as usual. You plug your phone on a friend's PC in order to show him a picture. His computer will see your phone as a USB disk. If the computer is infected, the virus will put his auturun.inf on this USB disk. And that's it, you start propagating the infestation.

Ohh, tha does make sense. I think iPhones and iTouches would be safe, wouldn't they? I mean, I don't think there's even a jailbreak that allows windows to recognize them as usb storage disks (perhaps partially due to the filesystem)

Just use it and you will see what this means having an operating system which does not accept files to be writteN.

Umm, ya... that's my point. Having a drive like the one I suggested would sort of be like that.

Reinstall/replace is different from a real repair. Repair means to replace the broken files with a healthy one and flag for an update. Reinstall/replace is the thing you see on most windows setup CD which will replace or reinstall a certain module.

I have never seen any windows setup CD replace only a select few files before.

Having Windows XP pro SP1 installer CD does not mean I am running SP1. There is no limitation written with the installer that I can't upgrade upward to SP2 or SP3.
The point is, if I have Windows XP pro SP1 and Windows SP2 comes out, I wont bother buying that new installer instead I will just slip in a Live CD, slip stream that SP2 patch to my Original Windows XP pro SP1 and then burn. Now I have a Windows XP Pro SP2 installer which I can pop in and install (I never reinstall windows, upgrading the installer allows me to "repair" files correctly)

Ya, I know, I know, I confused what you had said for a second there and assumed you were actually running Windows XP SP1.

There is no performance descrease when you have norton ghost, you can just run it via command shell or run if before windows boot up (shecduled), the space will still be used and the partition will be hidden. There are hundreds of replacement for ghost partition.

I would consider running it before bootup a performance decrease (adding time to the boot procedure). And like you said, the space will be taken up. Despite there being hundreds of replacements, I don't think there's anyway around it.

conflict with

 

 

 

And windows can always be tricked to download fake updates. I am using the same firefox version you mentioned and not a single viral attempt executes. By visiting the website, you are already engaging a viral infection, a viral website can always be setup to look like your own desktop using javascripts. You can then be tricked to click on the shaddy links and download an update or an activex file that will tell windows to update.

 

On the moment you visited that website, you already left your computer address and since you have no protection, your computer is way open to the whole world. In fact, if this forum will show your browser details, your IP address and MAC address to the world, any of us who visit here can plant a virus on your computer.

 

An antivirus is not a thing for bragging or something to waste your cash, it is their to provide a lock for your computer. Visiting a shaddy website with no firewall and antivirus is like walking to a field of snow wearing only a boxer shorts.

 

 

 

Since you said that you never do any of the above things, I will tell you that you are the single person I ever know that never inserted a CD, never connected a cellphone to a computer (including blue tooth), never listen to music, never watch a video and never used any form of USB device.

I didn't say I've never used any of the above mentioned mediums at all. I was using the word "was" to indicate the time at which I was infected. Thus,

Last thursday I was surprised to see a firefox update, but it downloaded and installed like usual, so I went about my daily business. At one point after that, a friend contacted me about a software website they thought was suspicous, so I followed the link. "Yup," I told him, "sure is."

Does not fall under your list And what can someone do with my IP? Sure, they could test my computer for an attack, but of what type?

 

P.S. I never clicked anything in the website. I don't fall for things like recreated UIs, I was merely looking at the front of the website to judge its appearance.

That's exactly what you have when you boot off a liveCD.Except the "fast boot" thing, booting off a Linux or Windows LiveCD makes you boot a clean, virus-proof Operating system.
And if you try using this, first of all everything is perfect : no virus can install things, if you read an infected mail it has no effect... So, you will see that evrything works correctly, but... you will start to continuously want to add things, add plugins, add software .... Which will be refused.
And you will rush back to a standard read/write operating system disk!

That still didn't make much sense.

Why would you want to use a LiveCD as a mainstream operating system?

That's exactly what you have when you boot off a liveCD.Except the "fast boot" thing, booting off a Linux or Windows LiveCD makes you boot a clean, virus-proof Operating system.
And if you try using this, first of all everything is perfect : no virus can install things, if you read an infected mail it has no effect... So, you will see that evrything works correctly, but... you will start to continuously want to add things, add plugins, add software .... Which will be refused.
And you will rush back to a standard read/write operating system disk!

Umm... wrong topic?

Agreeing with most of the users in this thread, a futureproof computer is impossible.That's the only reason why computer part manufacturers thrive: every year or so, they create a newer, faster part, and the software follows along to fill that new space. The user is eventually left with no choice but to buy that newer part, which in turn, may be incompatible, thus creating another market for other part manufacturers :DI mean, if you think about it, it's better that way. What would we do if both Intel and AMD went out of business?My suggestion to you is to get parts that have the latest support built into them, which should hold you over for as long as possible.Otherwise, keep that job, so the money keeps flowing

Hey everyone.While I was sitting here cleaning my infected computer and browsing Xisto on another, an idea came to me: what if the original operating system install could store its most valuable and critical operating files on a memory chip of the hard drive (regardless to whether it was a platter or SSD drive), then after installing the OS, the user could move a jumper to set that portion of the memory to read-only?One reason that's a nearly foolproof method for preventing the files from being written over with a virus is because that portion is read only! And the only way to change that would be to move a two pin jumper on the hard drive, which fortunately, viruses can't do yet Also, loading the operating system would be very fast for the first part, due to it being on a memory chip (again, regardless of whether it was a platter or SSD drive). Then, suppose you want to make a dual boot or n-boot drive, manufacturers could begin making drives with expanded "os-space" chips, allowing you install the os alongside. Of course, you'd have to trust that OS that it wouldn't install a virus of its own.What do you guys think?

Some time ago the website of the Youtube didn't exist. So some people wanted to share the videos they made on a party where they both were at. And they didn't find a website on the internet to show eachothers the videos they made at the party. So they started a website on which somebody can show a video to somebody else. And the Youtube became very popular.
So since there was a time when there was no the Youtube the question rises what will be the next big thing.
Will this be watching longer videos in a higher quality?
Or will the next big thing be something completely new?
Like for instance emailing. Some people wanted to talk about their new project without the possibility their bosses could read the emails about the project. So they thought there should be website where people can send emails to eachother without a main website attached to it. And this is how the website of the hotmail got invented. Nowadays some people like it more to send messages to eachother using websites like the facebook. The same can be said about the post office. Sending letters was popular. Then emailing became popular too.
So what will happen next?
Are there any signs about the new website that can become popular in the near future too?

The answer for watching longer videos in higher quality has already been made - Netflix I believe for the PS3 or xBox360 it supports HD.

I kind of feel like I'm in the future already - you can now play nice looking video games over the internet with a low end computer, you can view and control other peoples' computers at their consent, and even average users can make and host their own website from their own computers!

This just goes to show what kind of a catalyst the internet is: the more people using it, the more you can expect to come out of it.

I predict, in the future, that we'll never need hard drives in our computers - everything will be stored online. Perhaps Segate and Western Digital will just create gigantic data centers and charge you a minimalistic monthly fee to store it there. By then, I bet we'll be able to store petabytes of information on a chip the size of our thumb. (And maybe by then, all electronics will be made out of fiber optics, rather than copper and gold )

I guess I don't understand the business model for Oracle/OpenOffice. Open office is apparently now owned by a company, but how can it still be produced for free?

It is a big relief to be able to type in the usual way in the forum of the Xisto. The restrictions that appeared while the cursur was invisible and when it was not possible to move the cursor back in the text made it pretty hard to type in a more or less nice and acceptable way. So it helps a lot to have more fun at this forum with a cursor that works like usual in other applications and documents of word.

 

Till now the problem occured on Windows 7 with the latest FireFox 3.6.11 and the Internet Explorer 8.

AND IE8? I thought this was only a Firefox problem, which now indicates that it is Xisto. Btw, I was using Firefox 3.6.10 on Windows XP home.

 

And I don't think that's how you make a poll

It would be nice to get a bit of some more information. What is the version number of the Firefox we talk about?

What is the number of the update?

 

As far as I know there was a new version available at the official website of Firefox last week.

This newest and latest version is called:

 

v3.6.11, released 19-10-2010

 

Here is my source.

https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/

Yup, that's it.

If this is the same computer you mentioned on another thread that got infected, then it is possible that you have a corrupted OS due to viral attacks. Virus can stay in your computer for years and only activate at a certain time. I use to have that type of virus sitting on my work computer for 2 years without it ever activating. The virus was intentionally added by a jealous coworker and sad to say, it never completes the required trigger to run.

I don't think I have/had any kind of specialised viruses like that on my computer. Anyhow, the BSODs were happening before I was infected. (Oddly enough, the infection has almost seemed to have fixed my problem I'm still holding my breath.)

 

Until now I am guessing that one of the trigger is to contact a certain computer to activate, my computer at work on the other hand have firewalls installed to prevent my computer to connect to any machines on our network and only allows outgoing connection to the mail server and incoming connections was also limited to the update server and the mail server.

 

I setup it that way since I don't trust our corporate antivirus which always end up spreading infections rather than fixing them.

That doesn't make much sense... I'll quote myself above and say that I doubt I have anything like that

 

Crack softwares can potentially destroy a windows registry hive that will cause BSOD. A virus attack from an outside source can trigger BSOD since it is really trying to shutdown defenses and the most common method is to shutdown windows to a certain level and still allow inbound/outbound communication. Windows is a multi-thread software and sometimes, a BSOD screen still allows incoming connection (tried and tested).

 

Hacking softwares can trash your partition and corrupt your windows registry including your device driver.

I'd like to try and keep the virus issue and BSOD issue in separate threads. No crack or hacking software has been installed recently.

 

Sudden power interruption while windows is being update can cause unknown random BSOD. This will persist since you already own a partially corrupted system files.

Haven't had any of those.

 

Try using windows repair kit, it is included on windows installer. I never know which edition have that kit since I only own windows XP pro SP1 which have dos repair shell which of course does almost nothing and Windows 7 which have installation fix.

You mean do a repair install? Afaik any windows version can do that when you pop in the setup cd, and I'd like to hold off on that as a last resort. And why in the world are you only running SP1?

 

What you should see on the kit is a windows file integrity scanner which will check bad files.

Oh, wait, that does sound different. Do you happen to remember the exact name?

 

To avoid problems in the future if ever you need to reinstall, make sure that you have a ghost partition. This will reinstall everything back up to the state when you created the ghost partition.

Bleh, performance decrease. And I don't exactly have the space to keep that ghost partition.

 

Thank you for all of your input! This did add some new angles to the whole thinking process.

Do you also know that all servers where websites are being hosted can track your IP, your Lan Card serial/address (MAC address) and using this info alone a script can be written to automatically test your computer for attack.
Virus don't come alone from internet and you can get them via the following.
1. infected CD be it an active virus or trojan.
2. from your cellphone (Surprise!)
3. from your music CD with hidden sectors from a shaddy source (Surprise!)
4. from a DRM encoding on one of your videos (Surprise!!) and windows download this DRM files without asking you (Surprise again!).
5. your USB devices
6. and the most common error that people say "iPod runs on a different OS and can't infect windows computer", it was funny since your iPod or iPad or even iPhone may not be harmed by that virus but once you sync it with your computer, you are executing that "autorun.ini" file. There is no other clean way to disable that completely other than partially hacking windows registry.

Very interesting, except I was doing none of the above

But, freshly installed PC's with Microsoft Internet Explorer or Firefox have no cursor problem, neither in standard mode nor in rich text editor mode.

Are you sure about that?

 

Then again, Xisto is the only place I've seen this problem, so that would seem to point towards the forum software its self...

Perhaps it would save everyone some trouble if the moderators got on the admin(s) back(s) and had them fix the forum

Did someone reply? I just got a notification email saying so.

For some reason the cursor doesn't appear in the window that is used to write a message. So it is pretty hard to type some text. It is a big question to me what causes this problem.

It's a bug in the forum software. In your control panel, change the default editor to standard mode.

Last thursday I was surprised to see a firefox update, but it downloaded and installed like usual, so I went about my daily business. At one point after that, a friend contacted me about a software website they thought was suspicous, so I followed the link. "Yup," I told him, "sure is."So he looked elsewhere for the application he was looking for, and I went back to my tasks.Then later, my screen was attacked by about 5 different antivirus applications saying I was infected by rogue software (probably reporting each other), at which point I quickly finished writing puppy linux to my cd, then I rebooted my computer.I have almost never run anti virus software on my computer; I always get the latest patches from microsoft, and I think I have enough common sense to know what bad software is from good software. This, and the fact that I had no idea websites could download and run executables to my computer, contributed to this occurance.Don't be like me: be VERY careful after getting this firefox update! It's user hunting season!