To all tech-heads...

[irishcream]

Okay, i'm a little stuck. I'm running on Windows XP, which gives me notifications of regular updates that are available for my computer, which i usually download. Today, a new one has come up called Windows Service pack 2. I was going to install it, and it recommended that i back up my entire system, and close any open applications. Two Questions. What is Windows service pack 2? What does it do? And how do i back up my entire system? There's some pretty important stuff on here that i wouldn't want to lose... Help would be appreciated. I read somewhere that Windows service pack 2 is something that makes your computer more efficient, which would be nice, being as it seems to run a bit slow sometimes, in spite of having done a defrag, and clear in the knowledge that i have no adware or spyware on this computer.

[Hate]

Service pack is a bunch of big updates for Windows, some of them are quite important, so I recommend installing that. The most significant update in SP2 is Security Center that gathers all Windows' security settings to one place. Recommending to backup your system is just a precautionary measure so that no-one could take it to court if they managed to mess their system in the update process. However, that's extremely impropable, and you should only backup your personal files if you're afraid that they could be lost (which is extremely impropable too). I hope this clarified things

[TB]

Service Pack 2 is a pack of security patches and crucial updates for Windows XP. You don't necessarily need to install it. I haven't installed it because I'm comfortable with Service Pack 1. It probably won't make your PC run faster. If you want to backup your stuff simply burn the files onto CD-R. TB

[irishcream]

Hey, thanks for that..i might install it tomorrow...i don't see what harm it could do...

[MSG]

Currently i havent installed SP2 because im goin on the philosophy that hackers target the newer softwares because those are the most commonly used once they become automatic in updating them. My grandma just got a computer, and for windows xp now when you click "shut down" it automatically installs the updates before shutting down the computer, which is lame. So far my idea has been working since i am poor and cannot pay for a firewall/virus protection. Ever since I got DSL ive been really paranoid about viruses and such because now they can enter my system almost instantly.

[kimpossible]

Except that all the security scanners that the script kiddie crackers use run through a check for all the published vulnerabilities...

[MSG]

Originally posted by kimpossible Except that all the security scanners that the script kiddie crackers use run through a check for all the published vulnerabilities... ....o.o i learned something today. Service pack 2 here you come. wait before I do that... does SP2 affect anything with teh GUI because Im a diehard skinner and if i lose the ability to customize then I become sad.

[Umbrasquall]

Yes always, always install the latest updates to keep protected. Originally posted by pOOp wait before I do that... does SP2 affect anything with teh GUI because Im a diehard skinner and if i lose the ability to customize then I become sad. It shouldn't. I suggest everyone do these steps if you haven't already. I had my computer infected many times and after I got serious about protection, I have not had a single problem with my computer. ----- 1. Scan you computer online at Panda. Note, you have to use Internet Explorer to do this. http://www.pandasoftware.com/Home/Particulares/ 2. Get AdAware SE Personal Edition if you haven't already. It is a MUST for good computer. Use it once a week and do a full scan. Update before each use. http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/ 3. Get Spybot S&D (Search and Destroy). Update, scan, and immunize every week. http://www.safer-networking.org/en/ 4. Get SpywareBlaster (A must have) and install it. Run it and update once in a while. You don't need it running for it to work. http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html 5. Get a virus scanner, there's a lot of good free ones out there. AVG free edition is good. If you have a paid one or are supplied with one through other means use that. Autoprotect scanning works fine if you have that feature. 5. GET A FIREWALL. If you have SP2 it has a built in firewall but it doesn't work all that well. If you are really picky about who's connecting to your computer and which programs are accessing the Internet from your connection get Zonealarm, a good free firewall. 6. Use Mozilla since IE has a lot of holes. If you do every single one of these steps, chances are that your virus scanner will stop all viruses and SpywareBlaster will stop all spyware before they ever get on your computer. It has been several weeks now that all my weekly scans have turned up absolutely nothing, which is pretty amazing.

[irishcream]

I downloaded SP2, and i have also downloaded Microsoft Antispyware, and got rid of a whole load of junk! So it seems to be working for me now... another question...if you want to download something off the net, how do you know you're not automatically downloading spyware or adware within the programme?

[CryoDragoon]

i have no idea does anyone know how to get rid of all the GODDAMN POPUPS???? every time i start up internet explorer i get like 3-5 popups, its getting really irritating now...

[Hate]

Originally posted by irishcream i have also downloaded Microsoft Antispyware, and got rid of a whole load of junk! Great choise! It does basically the same things as AdAware, Spybot and others, but better. You can't be 100% sure that you're not downloading spyware, but that's why you have an antispyware program does anyone know how to get rid of all the GODDAMN POPUPS????[/b] http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/index.html or http://www.opera.com/ and dump that damn IE.

[irishcream]

or you could just get an anti spyware programme...that seems to be helping me a lot...

[kimpossible]

What I find is that Microsoft Antispyware is about 75% of Spybot or Lavasoft's Adaware. My personal choices are Spybot with TeaTimer (freeware/begware), and the personal version of Adaware. To clean-up stubborn popups, you've probably had your stack violated. Best bet is to boot into Safe Mode and then run Spybot, then Adaware, then Spybot, then adaware again, then boot back into regular mode and repeat. 99+% of the time that will take care of you. As far as downloading safely, you'll want to run a decent commercial-grade antivirus/antimalware application that runs concurrently and scans everything as it comes in: downloads, disks, cds, etc. My personal choice is Trend Micro's PC-Cillian Internet Suite. Independant tests rate it 10/10 (the coveted 10 is hard to acheive, and most don't.) for catching malware, and similar independant tests show it to be the fastest/take the least cpu load for constant scanning. I'm not big on software firewalls, including Zone Alarm. It's trivial to write malware that disables software firewalls. Most if not all of them have been breached multiple times. I don't like the firewalling in Trend Micro's Internet Suite for the same reason. For my money - I'm going embedded at the source. A properly configured cable/dsl router's firewall can't be disabled in software. My home network is a bit complicated, but at the simplest: A dLink DI-614+ 2.4ghz wireless cable router and a DWI-5000AP for my point-to-point 5.8ghz network. Initial firewalling performed on the Di-614. From there, I end-up going to an embedded OpenBSD system with 4 network adapters that handle firewalling/routing rules and VPN for my various subnets. But that's overkill for most. I do a lot of work from home and have to run it like a secure commercial installation, since I have code, schematics, trade-secrets, financials, etc. on that network.

[Umbrasquall]

Actually AdAware and Spybot are way better then Microsoft AntiSpy. AntiSpy does search more detailed than the other two but that has lead me to some annoyances in the past removing stuff that wasn't really spyware. AntiSpy also has trouble removing some types of spyware. You could run it over and over again and it'd just find and not delete malware. Adaware and Spybot actually do their jobs. For popups I'd suggest going through the steps I listed above. More importantly, get SpywareBlaster, it stops almost all bad sites from touching your system at all. While scanners are good at finding and removing spyware already on your system, SpywareBlaster keeps them from being installed in the first place. If you're going to use AntiSpy anyways, definitely use it in conjunction with AdAware and Spybot S&D. Even Microsoft's site to download AntiSpy has links to the two on the right sidebar: http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/d...ds/default.mspx Also, isn't AntiSpy in beta? I think it might start costing money once they release the full version.

[kimpossible]

I fully agree. Invariably, Spybot and Adaware will clean stuff that Mickeysoft doesn't. Immunization with Spybot will stop sites from touching your machine (drops their routes in hosts table) and Tea Timer will require you to approve every registry change that is attempted.

[Umbrasquall]

Originally posted by kimpossible I'm not big on software firewalls, including Zone Alarm. It's trivial to write malware that disables software firewalls. Most if not all of them have been breached multiple times. I don't like the firewalling in Trend Micro's Internet Suite for the same reason. It helps! Zonealarm has several trojans trying to secure access to the Internet on my computer before.

[kimpossible]

Oh - I'm not saying it doesn't help! It's certainly "better than nothing". But when a hardware solution is the same cost (an SMC or DLink cable router can be had for sub-$40 these days) ? I vote hardware.

[dream-scape]

Damn, I switched to Mac OS X about a year ago and had forgotten how much effort one puts into just keeping Windows manageable and workable.

[kimpossible]

Yeah! Nearly 1/50th what a mac user has to put into finding a worthwhile title published to their platform! It's pretty sad when Adobe stops supporting the mac. I worked for Adobe. Sat in an office at Apple. Attended meetings at Apple. Lived at Apple. But my paychecks said Adobe. Now even they've dumped support. . . To point, though: When the market share is less than four percent, it's atleast as hard for a cracker to bother with an architecture as it is a legitimate publisher.

[MSG]

WOw... i run a pretty secure system and i dont do any of this stuff (except adaware). Maybe switchin to servicepack2 isnt such a great idea, cuz Ive never had any real problems with this machine for the 2 years and 4 months its been workin for me. (unless you count the 2 yr. and 3 months its been runnin on dialup...)

[dream-scape]

Originally posted by kimpossible It's pretty sad when Adobe stops supporting the mac. Uh, they haven't. They did pull out of the Mac version of Premiere, but only because Final Cut Pro killed it. But always if you feel like some pointless OS bashing, you might want to venture into the bowels of the internet where an "OS bashing caged match" is always going on.

[kimpossible]

Originally posted by pOOp WOw... i run a pretty secure system and i dont do any of this stuff (except adaware). Maybe switchin to servicepack2 isnt such a great idea, cuz Ive never had any real problems with this machine for the 2 years and 4 months its been workin for me. (unless you count the 2 yr. and 3 months its been runnin on dialup...) SP2 is unquestionably more secure. And shortly, you won't have a choice anyway. It will be a mandatory update in order to download security patches.

[Umbrasquall]

Kim actually on my desktop I have denied updating to SP2 for about a year now, it's still running SP1. Granted with about 50 thousand trojans on it. Originally posted by dream-scape Damn, I switched to Mac OS X about a year ago and had forgotten how much effort one puts into just keeping Windows manageable and workable. That's cause no one bothers to make viruses and spyware for macs.

[kimpossible]

I'd have the check the notices, but I believe in April it becomes mandatory.

[Ex Nine]

Originally posted by Squall That's cause no one bothers to make viruses and spyware for macs. No, there are plenty of viruses for Macs. It's just that Mac users don't tolerate shit. http://daringfireball.net/2004/06/broken_windows [/shameless Mac elitism] ------------ Kim, what are you talking about when you're saying Adobe is dropping support for the Mac...? Did I miss something? "Mickeysoft"... I've never heard of that one