esacnitsuj
1st Responder
Joined: Mar 06, 2003
Posts: 388
Location: Canada
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 Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2004 4:18 pm Post subject: Part One: Suggestions for New Users |
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Greetings from esacnitsuj 
I know that travelling the internet highway can be hazardous in
these times.
People are getting so angry w/ Microsoft because many people
blindly click on the EULA (End User Licencing Agreement) w/o
reading it fully.
There is a lot of legalese in a EULA that basically frees Microsoft
and other software companies against lawsuits because their OSes &
software have so many holes, bugs, etc.
Microsoft putting a bounty of $250,000.00 IMHO is not a good
idea.
They offered a bounty for the original composers of MSBlaster,
etc, but haven't found the original composers yet & more than
likely never will!
What MS should do is use those $$$ is to to build a more secure
OS, , but I guess that MS thinks that it's much easier to rat people
out who create these worms/virii/trojans, etc.
Many of these Crackers are professionals and cover their tracks
very well and would never tell anyone what they've done.
They're not the script kiddie types who have a web page & boast
to their friends re a newer version of worms/virii/trojans, so these
people who can make malicious worms, such as SirCam, Code Red,
Nimda, MSBlaster, Welchia, MyDoom, etc, etc. keep
their tracks covered very well and probably don't tell a soul who
they are or what they've unleashed, so finding the original composers
is really a waste of time!
If enough people got angry enough with MS for not properly securing
their software, then maybe, just maybe they would get into securing
their OSes, but people have to make a stand!
Microsoft has deemed every OS secure since Windows 95, NT, 98,
98SE, ME, 2000, XP & Server 2003.
They have lied to the consumers too often
They (MS) contract w/ DELL, Gateway, HP, etc. to load their latest
OS. This is what's called OEM (Original Electronics Manufacturer)
installed.
Another thing MS should do is offer new users an easier OS to
start on.
Starting a new user on XP isn't wise!
Many people just expect to be able to turn on their PCs and have
it work properly for them, but there is so much more.
Also MS should have an option to be able to uninstall both
Internet Explorer & Windows Media Jukebox and have all registry
entries go with the uninstall.
When you DL software and then decide to uninstall it, there are
still remnants of the s/w left in the system registry and sometimes
in your C:/Program Files
BUT...you must be an advanced user to do a regedit.
If one happens to delete the wrong entries in the system registry,
it can wreak havock on your system.
IMHO...New Windows users should never start on such an adavnced
OS as Windows XP.
There are so many system settings that have to be tweaked
properly.
Much of the new s/w & h/w are Windows XP compatable, but if you
have older s/w or h/w, always look on the install disc to make sure
that it is Windows XP compatable.
If not, then go to the software's web site & see if they have driver
updates for your software.
VERY IMPORTANT:
> Never open an unknown e mail attachment. Some are very
well socially engineered, so they can trick people into deleting
System files, e.g. setdebug (w/ the little "bear" icon)
People often fall for these tricks!
> In your system files, there are very funny looking files with
odd looking names & extensions, but usually all of them are required.
> Microsoft NEVER sends out critcal update info via e mail.
NEVER open an attachment & run it that says it's from Microsoft
andmakes you believe that there are files that need to be deleted.
> Even if the attachment has a friend's name in the from line,
DO NOT OPEN IT & click on any .exe, .scr, .pif, etc.
Download it to a file first & then scan it with your AV (Antivirus) s/w.
> Always make sure that your virus definitions are up-to-date.
Even if you have "Live Update", I find that it is always good practise
to do a manual update at least once a week.
> Any antivirus s/w that is pre-loaded (OEM installed) usually
doesn't come with the software and is not on the Windows re-install
disc, so make sure you purchase the latest AV s/w of your choice to
do a re-install just in case files become corrupted.
> Once an AV file becomes corrupt, you cannot do a scan
and depending on how many files are corrupt, run Live Update, etc.
This isn't good because you cannot do a system scan or update
virus definitions.
Once your AV software is properly installed and configured, make
sure a full system scan is done immediately!
> ALWAYS run firewall software, e.g. Zone Alarm
and or hardware, e.g. D-Link these days!
A good idea to make your downloads easy to find is:
1) Open your C drive and create a new file by clicking on
File, then go to new, then folder. Right click on
"new file" and go to rename. Rename it My Downloads or
MyDLs or something like that, then press enter.
2) Right click on your new file that is created for your DLs & go
down to "send to"
3) Choose desktop (create shortcut)
4) Press enter & then go back to your desktop to make sure your
that the file icon is there.
5) When you go to a site such as http://www.download.com, always
DL the s/w to the My Downloads file you've created. NEVER open a
DLed file. Always save it, so it can be scanned by your AV software
before installing it.
6) When you go to DL software (s/w), drivers, etc. Make sure that
the s/w you're DLing goes to C:/My Downloads. Once that is done,
when you do another download (DL), it should go into
C:/My Downloads by default.
7) Always make sure that your DLs off of the Internet go to that
file. This makes it much easier to find your DLs, especially if
you've created the shortcut to your desktop as I mentioned above.
If you are a new user and don't know how to tweak settings,
create new files, shortcuts, etc, then ask someone who is more
of an advanced user to do it for you and watch closely at what
they do so you can learn for yourself.
This will help make life working on a PC much easier.
THIS SECTION IS IMPORTANT!
If you get a trojan horse, try to rid it ASAP because if a
malicious user gets hold of your BIOS (Basic Input/Output), you're
basically screwed big time!
Before you even go online, make sure your Antivirus s/w &
Firewall s/w
is installed & working properly and make sure you have the latest
virus definitions you'll have to go online for that, so be sure that
your firewall s/w is installed & properly configured.
Zone Alarm Free is great for the new user.
You can tell by my Avatar that Zone Alarm is my firewall of
choice.
If you have the $$$, I suggest the Pro version of Zone Alarm®
as it has cookie control, popup/under, banner ad & animation
blocking as well as "Mobile Code Control where you can disable
scripting, etc.
If you do run Zone Alarm and make changes, make sure you
reboot after the changes you've made. This will ensure that
Zone Alarm has saved your settings.
Also DL spyware s/w such as SpyBot S&D, Adaware, etc, but
you don't have to use that immediately.
Now you go to Windows Update & make sure all critical patches
are DLed. There are some non-critical that are not required, so
scrutinize the patches very carefully before you click on the EULA.
Many of Microsoft's patches have caused other apps to break &
MS still hasn't released a patch that works for I.E. 5x.
There are workarounds, such as disabling Active Scripting,
Active X, etc in I.E, but then your web pages won't load
properly.
After you've DLed all your critical patches & other patches,
DL your software for the hardware you are using & like I
mentioned, make
sure that your h/w & s/w is Windows XP compatable. If not,
go to
the hardware's site & select Downloads/Drivers and make
sure that they have Windows XP drivers. DL the driver to your
My Downloads file that you've created.
If you've DLed a lot of s/w and have DLed drivers
and aren't quite sure what they are, just right click on the icon,
go to properties and that will tell you what it is.
A PC really needs to be programmed in a certain order.
Always make sure you scan any new DLs off the internet with
your
AV software.
You can do this by right clicking on the icons & selecting scan
with Norton or whatever AV software you are using. If it's clean,
which it usually is, but is always good practise to scan all downloads.
Also, Windows can become unstable if you install & un-install too
much software.
Be extremely careful what sites you go on these days. I just
repaired a friend's WinXP DELL desktop & he had Ilookup
as his home page and I tried setting his home page to MSN, Yahoo, etc.
I'd then reboot, but Ilookup would set itself as his default home page again.
Be extremely careful with toolbars (BHOs) Browser Helper Objects!
DLing toolbars is not a wise thing to do.
It makes it easier to find things, e.g. the Google toolbar, but it's
much safer to just go to the site & do your search from there.
Where some of his AV s/w was corrupt, I couldn't do a full system
scan and it had never been done since he bought his puter.
He didn't have firewall s/w, but says to me:
Doesn't Windows XP have a firewall? Yes...but it is turned off by
default, plus like I mentioned above, XP's firewall is a piece of cr*p
IMHO
I cleaned his system, but it was too far gone. He had so much
spyware, adware, trojans, and I wouldn't doubt if he had a virus!
I did an online scan, but they're not as reliable as a scan with your
own AV software that is working properly.
I hope this helps the new users out a bit?
I'll type some more later, if you want? My fingers are almost getting
numb, I've been typing so much today, so gotta take a break!
Regards,
esacnitsuj |
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