Computer experts: I need your help please!

Raspy

yeah i see that it actually looks quite good. and tbh it certainly looks like it's non-technichal people friendly. i may have to introduce the other family members to it!! would i have to set up all my hardware again though on freespire as i can't be arsed with too much messing about!!

It really depends on your hardware, if you have quite eroteric stuff the drivers might not be built into the stock kernel. In general if you don't have any weird stuff it will autodetect and set it up for you though. (At least, I know that the ubuntu livecd has good support) never used winspire.

Reply 62

alex0o0

No like linux/bsd/solaris/osx.

Windows is a more secure OS out of the box. It's way easier to quickly access a n00b run linux system than a n00b run windows one.

See thats a bad thing in my opinion, KDE is bloatware .

Yeyeyeye. Desktops need useability. XP is a far better desktop operating system than fedora/osx etc.

Reply 63

samba

Windows is a more secure OS out of the box. It's way easier to quickly access a n00b run linux system than a n00b run windows one.

Haha rubbish, if were talking out of the box as pre sp2, seen how long it takes to get a blaster infection? If were talking post-sp2, see how long it took m$ to patch the WMF exploit when proof of concept code had been floating around for agies (They even managed to port this vulnerablity to vista...).

I partially agree with that a n00b setting up linux box can be very insecure at first, but most people have a clue who go about it. Where as the majority of windows users are noobs.

I think you want to read about OpenBSD, it is "the" most secure OS out there.

Reply 64

alex0o0

It really depends on your hardware, if you have quite eroteric stuff the drivers might not be built into the stock kernel. In general if you don't have any weird stuff it will autodetect and set it up for you though. (At least, I know that the ubuntu livecd has good support) never used winspire.

Device drivers aren't built into the kernel...When was the last time you needed a kernel recompile to install a printer?

Device drivers are the software interface between your hardware and your kernel. They are hardware specific low level programs that communicate with the hardware interface (ide,scsi, etc etc)

Reply 65

nah, there's nowt all that wierd on here (eroteric?? where do you learn a word like that??) the graphics card uses nVidia etc etc. what about my internet connection?? i use talktalk (god help me) through a USB modem, would that be easy enough to set up with freespire?? i just had a look on their website it certainly seems OK as an OS...

Reply 66

samba

Device drivers aren't built into the kernel...When was the last time you needed a kernel recompile to install a printer?

Device drivers are the software interface between your hardware and your kernel. They are hardware specific low level programs that communicate with the hardware interface (ide,scsi, etc etc)

Depends on what device it is, they all pass messages down the stack to lower level device drivers which run at ring0 (kernel mode).

"Linux is a monolithic kernel. Device drivers and kernel extensions run in kernel space (ring 0), with full access to the hardware, although some exceptions run in user space. The GNU/Linux graphics subsystem (the X Window System) is not part of the kernel, is optional, and runs in user space, in contrast with Microsoft Windows."

This said, thats one advantage vista is going to have - that sound card drivers and the like can no longer BSOD you.

You are likely thinking of loadable module support.

Anyhow, pointless argument :smile:

Wireless network cards are probably the worst supported in linux, your gfx card will be fine. No idea about the usb modem however.

Reply 67

alex0o0

Haha rubbish, if were talking out of the box as pre sp2, seen how long it takes to get a blaster infection? If were talking post-sp2, see how long it took m$ to patch the WMF exploit when proof of concept code had been floating around for agies (They even managed to port this vulnerablity to vista...).

I partially agree with that a n00b setting up linux box can be very insecure at first, but most people have a clue who go about it. Where as the majority of windows users are noobs.

I think you want to read about OpenBSD, it is "the" most secure OS out there.

I use freebsd on some of my production servers, and am pretty happy with it. Here's WHY it's secure though.

1. I only run sshd, httpd, sql, ftpd, and a firewall on them (mainly)
2. I run the correct versions of protocols etc
3. I don't have a GUI with a million applications
4. I have a background server constantly running tripwire and nagios waiting for any sign of abnormality.

I also have a windows server or two...they are pretty much almost as secure.

The perceived security of nix is that most spyware etc isn't aimed at it. It's aimed at windows. Honestly though, each service you run on a box makes the box more insecure. In the case of a linux desktop for example it runs ssh1 by default install. years and years ago the crc32 sploit was published, showing how to gain root through that. There are other vulnerabilities etc too of course.

The difference is these boxes arent targetted for mass spam etc, because there's not enough insecure ones to make it worth it. You really could root an average nix desktop faster than an average windows one though :p:

Reply 68

alex0o0

Depends on what device it is, they all pass messages down the stack to lower level device drivers which run at ring0 (kernel mode).

"Linux is a monolithic kernel. Device drivers and kernel extensions run in kernel space (ring 0), with full access to the hardware, although some exceptions run in user space. The GNU/Linux graphics subsystem (the X Window System) is not part of the kernel, is optional, and runs in user space, in contrast with Microsoft Windows."

This said, thats one advantage vista is going to have - that sound card drivers and the like can no longer BSOD you.

You are likely thinking of loadable module support.

Anyhow, pointless argument :smile:

Wireless network cards are probably the worst supported in linux, your gfx card will be fine. No idea about the usb modem however.

Yup, they're available for the kernel to load (as a module). You CAN actually compile them into the kernel itself for faster access, but I dunno many people who do that on a regular basis. (memory overhead etc etc etc) :smile:

Reply 69

alex0o0

Anyhow, pointless argument

Well i must admit, that had occured to me lol!!

i think that people running Windows do so as they want their computer to work and couldn't care or less how it does: i am not one of these people, i want to know why everything happens, but am kinda restricted by a lack of knowledge!! and for god's sake, how do you find out all this stuff about kernal rings or whatever you are chatting about lol. It seems like complete swahili to me, and i thought i knew a fair bit about PC's!!

Reply 70

samba

The difference is these boxes arent targetted for mass spam etc, because there's not enough insecure ones to make it worth it. You really could root an average nix desktop faster than an average windows one though :p:

Yeah I heard what your saying, a lot of the vulnerable code I find these days is left over legacy stuff, m$ is more security conscious now. Most exploit coding I do is aimed at the windows platform because the majority of the userbase uses it. I agree, as more people start using different os's more exploits will be targeted at that platform. Grsec/Selinux definatly help more than windows could ever get though.

Anyway we should probably stop derailing this thread to a security debate :smile:

Raspy

and for god's sake, how do you find out all this stuff about kernal rings or whatever you are chatting about lol. It seems like complete swahili to me, and i thought i knew a fair bit about PC's!!

Basic CS knowledge really.

Reply 71

fair enuf: rep coming the way of you and spysect btw: cheers for your help guys

Reply 72

username37847

Talking of which, we did take over theepw question here! Hows the computer now?

@Raspy

Thax for the rep! :biggrin:

Reply 73

OP

alex0o0

Download hijackthis from -> http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/programs.php#hijackthis

Then post the log, adware/ewido/spybot can all miss things. Even restorying from a system restore can be pointless (if its stored in the hd) since that can also be infected.
Programs miss things for very good reasons, trojans/virus's are polymorphic not to mention the fact new strains appear every day much before the anti-virus/malware companies get a chance to update their sigs.

Norton AV is pretty crap in my opinon (resource hog), if you want a decent AV look at nod32.

What is in that link? What does it do exactly which is different from the Spybot?

Would you recommend me using that in my situation? Or is everything sorted...

Im a bit confused as to what to do. My computer seems fine, but how do I know 100%

Reply 74

OP

spysect

Talking of which, we did take over theepw question here! Hows the computer now?

@Raspy

Thax for the rep! :biggrin:

lol, no worries.

Computer seems fine now, but im still worried about this talk going on here about trojans and key loggers...

Reply 75

username37847

Ignore alex, that program should only be used as the last resort if the computer is STILL not working! SpyBot, Adaware will detect keyloggers and Avast Antivirus (or whatever u use) will detect viruses and trojans. In other words, keep them updated and use them at least once every month!

Reply 76

OP

Okay thanks.

2 last questions (I promise)

1)

I want to mention one situation on initial startup when I first turn on my laptop and the desktop starts to load. It came up with something I have not noticed before, where it says 'norton is not working, click this baloon to sort it out'. With a few minutes loading, the balloon then disappears. But all this time, norton says its connected. That seems a bit fishy to me, but am I looking too deeply into things? Is that initial message something to do with the spybot scan, as it did remove some files called:

Windows Security Center.AntiVirusDisableNotify
Windows Security Center.FirewallDisableNotify

..is that the reason why my computer comes up with the 'norton is currently disabled' baloon? Or are those files completely unrelated. Its just the bizarre situation that it comes up with that notice ballon (it appears as a little red shield in the bottom right on the screen), yet the Norton Symbol is present and does not have the 'disable logo' on it.

2)

Also, should I have links on my start up menu 'all programmes', called:
online scurity guide
online troubleshooting

They appear as icons, which link to the respective webpages:
thesecuritypages.com
testonsecurity.com

Are they safe links, or something that was put on by spyware? I just dont remember those icons being there before the spyware.. but it could just be the case that they have always been there i just havnt noticed them. Just wondering whether anyone can put my mind at rest with these issues, or whether there is something to possibly worry about.

Btw, I dont mind people being honest, if I appear to have further probems with my PC then I would rather get them sorted.

Thanks for your help so far everyone. You have been a great help.

Reply 77

bloodyhell this IS what i had!!!!
Spybot got rid for me!! does your computer still put these balloons up now you've run it??
if no then all you need do is delete these icons and they're gone for ever (or until you get them again lol). what actually happened with me is that when i hadn't run Spybot, the icons actually had a picture, but then when spybot dealt with them, the picture disappeared and that windows broken link icon appeared there instead. if that is there i would guess it means that spybot has removed the malware and the icon along with it and therefore the program has been removed!! as for the fact they have only appeared after running spybot, are you sure about that?? try updating your spybot again, make sure it does so successfully, and do full system scan again, and see what that comes up with!!

Reply 78

oh yes, and don't IGNORE alex, just put it to the back of ur mind as its highly unlikely u'll ever have to do this. the links are malware btw...

Reply 79

OP