Repair Windows XP

lid declared for all the world to hear...
I don't, because anyone with a clue knows it's true. *Rare* is the
home Windows user who has not had their PC compromised at one time or
another.

Nobody I know (personally) has ever been done over. That includes non-PC
literate family members.
--
Regards
Jon

On 2007-08-21, Jon wrote:

Nobody I know (personally) has ever been done over. That includes non-PC
literate family members.

Well, sure! And all your friends and family members regularly visit
websites like crackhookers.com, drinking.gambling.net, seedyseamy.org,
warezcrackersanon, and other wholesome family sites. I'm sorry, but
Shopping.With.Barbie and Betty Lou Thelma Liz's Quilting blog don't
really present much of a threat, do they.

nb

declared for all the world to hear...
On 2007-08-21, Jon wrote:

Nobody I know (personally) has ever been done over. That includes non-PC
literate family members.

Well, sure! And all your friends and family members regularly visit
websites like crackhookers.com, drinking.gambling.net, seedyseamy.org,
warezcrackersanon

These are all my favourite sites man! Have you hijacked my browser and
had your trojan email you all my favourites?!

and other wholesome family sites. I'm sorry, but
Shopping.With.Barbie and Betty Lou Thelma Liz's Quilting blog don't
really present much of a threat, do they.

Maybe they do, maybe they don't. I was merely contributing to the
discussion.
--
Regards
Jon

Jon wrote:

declared for all the world to hear...
I don't, because anyone with a clue knows it's true. *Rare* is the
home Windows user who has not had their PC compromised at one time or
another.

Nobody I know (personally) has ever been done over. That includes non-PC
literate family members.

Sure. And I've got a bridge to sell.

Jon wrote:

lid declared for all the world to hear...
I don't, because anyone with a clue knows it's true. *Rare* is the
home Windows user who has not had their PC compromised at one time or
another.

Nobody I know (personally) has ever been done over. That includes non-PC
literate family members.

You must have significantly less computer owning family members than I then!

Chris

--
Remove prejudice to reply.

"chrisv" wrote in message
...
Simon Finnigan wrote:

"chrisv" wrote in message
. ..

If it were that
bad, it'd be happening to everybody.

It's happened majority of home Windows machines connected to the
Internet, cretin.

What a well reasoned, credible arguement. I`m so glad you chose not to
back
up your statements with any mere facts or statistics, because you
obviously
don`t need them :-)

I don't, because anyone with a clue knows it's true. *Rare* is the
home Windows user who has not had their PC compromised at one time or
another.

Out of about 10 familes that I help with their PC`s, one has had a machine
compromised. But then again they just plugged a machine running Windows
98SE straight onto the net - so they where using a very outdated OS. The
same kind of situation that got a number of PC`s hosting Linux distro`s
pulled offline recently actually, which I thought was quite interesting.

Everyone else got themselves a router and a firewall, and haven`t had any
problems at all. I still check their machiens out now and again, but have
never found anything on any of them.

I suppose the problem is that you simply don`t know how to secure a
computer.

"kony" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 20 Aug 2007 23:05:49 +0100, "Simon Finnigan"
wrote:

"chrisv" wrote in message
. ..
Conor wrote:

In article , notbob
says...

I see no one has mentioned the biggest reason why Windows sucks. I
just experienced the 3rd drive-by download/infection in three years on
my little used Windows box. It wiped my main scsi drive. This
occured via Firefox with both java and java scripts disabled. I've
never experience this with Linux. It was a dual boot system I use for
little used Windows applications and linux hacking. Now, the whole
box is compromised and must be wiped clean.

That says more about your incompetency than anything.

Idiot. What percentage of the population, currently connected to the
Internet, would you say are "competent" in regards to computers?

Starting to see the problem with Windows' insecurity, cretin?

If it were that
bad, it'd be happening to everybody.

It's happened majority of home Windows machines connected to the
Internet, cretin.

What a well reasoned, credible arguement. I`m so glad you chose not to
back
up your statements with any mere facts or statistics, because you
obviously
don`t need them :-)


While I have no idea if it has happened to the "majority" of
home windows machines, statistically speaking, I can tell
you that windows vulerabilities have cause infestation on
the majority of other people's systems that I have seen.

However, we're talking about Windows vs Linux, and failing
to distinguish the actual vulnerability in these "drive-by"
infections which is not windows itself per se but rather the
integrated browser which a windows user is not forced to
use.

Nevertheless, even ignoring that at any given moment there
are always holes exploitable on windows, and a few
inevitably there for Linux as well, there is one remaining
factor relating to security: While nothing is 100% secure,
the prudent security level depends on the risk.

The risk of being infected on a windows system is much
higher because windows is targeted. We could argue that
it's targeted because a hacker wants to do as much damage or
take control of as many bots as possible or a similar
argument that it only makes sense to focus on the masses
since the majority of home PCs run windows, but regardless
of the reason it is _really_ less secure as a result, and
Windows PCs will remain less secure even if the inbuilt
security measures become overwhelmingly better than on any
other OS.

While I agree that a major reason Linux and other minor OS`s are not hacked
as often because they simply aren`t worth spending the effort on, I`d say
this only really affects the very lowest common denominator. The people who
stick with out of date OS`s, don`t patch them and so on. Keeping up to date
on patches etc on any OS removes the vast majority of potential for
problems. I wouldn`t agree that Windows is less secure than any other OS
because of this attention - the sooner a problem is found and corrected, the
fewer remaining issues there are in the OS. I`d suggest that there are
still a huge number of problems waiting to be found in Linux style OS`s, and
if they ever manage to become popular, then I wouldn`t be surprised if the
users find themselves in a situation where a huge number of exploits are
found quickly, meaning that their "secure" choise of OS actually spends some
significant period of time being less secure than the Windows alternative
:-)

"notbob" wrote in message
. ..
On 2007-08-21, kony wrote:

Windows PCs will remain less secure even if the inbuilt
security measures become overwhelmingly better than on any
other OS.

Which they never will. This because each older version of Windows is
left in the lurch and each succeeding version becomes more and more
like the slimeware users would guard against. In fact the only
difference is perspective. What users considered intrusive several
years ago has now been spun into features by M$'s ever powerful
marketing machine.

That`s a nice well reasoned arguement. Would that be rabid droll dangling
from your chin there sir?

In ,
Simon Finnigan wrote:

Out of about 10 familes that I help with their PC`s, one has had a machine
compromised. But then again they just plugged a machine running Windows
98SE straight onto the net - so they where using a very outdated OS. The
same kind of situation that got a number of PC`s hosting Linux distro`s
pulled offline recently actually, which I thought was quite interesting.

If they'd been running inherently insecure public services with outdated
software on Windows XP with no service packs or updates would you still
be blaming the OS?

Everyone else got themselves a router and a firewall, and haven`t had any
problems at all. I still check their machiens out now and again, but have
never found anything on any of them.

I suppose the problem is that you simply don`t know how to secure a
computer.

Have you considered the possibility that some of your friends' PCs are
infected but you haven't spotted it? I think it's not just a
possibility, it's more likely than that your l33t anti-hAx0r skills have
kept them pristine. You're as good as admitting that you can't even spot
malware let alone secure against it.

I've seen 2 cases of Windows XP picking up infections despite being
behind routers, using Firefox and Thunderbird (in one case not being
used for email at all) instead of IE and OE, and running Avast, AdAware
and Spybot. I installed Linux on one of them and the owners are
perfectly happy with it and have never had to ask me for help with it -
admittedly much to my surprise.

--
TH * http://www.realh.co.uk

"Tony Houghton" wrote in message
...
In ,
Simon Finnigan wrote:

Out of about 10 familes that I help with their PC`s, one has had a
machine
compromised. But then again they just plugged a machine running Windows
98SE straight onto the net - so they where using a very outdated OS.
The
same kind of situation that got a number of PC`s hosting Linux distro`s
pulled offline recently actually, which I thought was quite interesting.

If they'd been running inherently insecure public services with outdated
software on Windows XP with no service packs or updates would you still
be blaming the OS?

Yes, because Windows XP as first released is an old OS.

Everyone else got themselves a router and a firewall, and haven`t had any
problems at all. I still check their machiens out now and again, but
have
never found anything on any of them.

I suppose the problem is that you simply don`t know how to secure a
computer.

Have you considered the possibility that some of your friends' PCs are
infected but you haven't spotted it? I think it's not just a
possibility, it's more likely than that your l33t anti-hAx0r skills have
kept them pristine. You're as good as admitting that you can't even spot
malware let alone secure against it.

Can you please clarify that statement, where have I said that I can`t spot
malware? Machines that run as fast now as they did a year ago when I first
installed the OS and software on them, that have no network I/O other than
that expected from the running programs, that come up clean using any
malware spotting program I installed and ran on them - do these sound like
machines that are infested with malware?

I've seen 2 cases of Windows XP picking up infections despite being
behind routers, using Firefox and Thunderbird (in one case not being
used for email at all) instead of IE and OE, and running Avast, AdAware
and Spybot. I installed Linux on one of them and the owners are
perfectly happy with it and have never had to ask me for help with it -
admittedly much to my surprise.

Wow, good for you. I suppose you`ll be off to solve the problem of world
hunger next will you?