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July 16, 2008

Aaron Toponce
atoponce
Aaron Toponce
» Windows Replaced

Last week, my wife called me to tell me that we had been infected by a virus and that she couldn’t get online without her browser being forwarded to inappropriate sites. Further, there were new icons on the desktop, nasty messages popping up all over the workspace, and a saturated network. Sounds like more than just a virus. We were hit, and hit bad. Immediately, I told her to shut down the computer, and remove the network cable. I would address it when I got home from my trip.

When I got home from Pittsburgh, it was worse than I thought. We were not only infected by one virus, but many, trojans and worms included. Complicate that with malware, spyware, adware and dialers, and you can imagine my pain trying to clean up the operating system. Whoever attacked us, got us good, however, just on the Windows XP machine. My Linux machines remained completely, and totally unaffected. Fortunately, for us, not much is on that computer of personal worth, and my wife responded quicker than I thought, pulling the network cable as soon as she noticed the attack. If the attacker got anything at all, it wasn’t much, and certainly of no value or cause of concern.

After spending several hours Friday night and early Saturday morning, I made no progress in removing the infection from the operating system. At this point, I told my wife that it was probably time to say goodbye to Windows, relying on our digital lifestyle with Ubuntu Linux and Mac OS X. The decision has nothing to do with Freedom of software, but rather, everything to do with security and peace of mind. See agreed, and Sunday afternoon, the Windows partition was wiped clean (after backing up necessary data of course) replaced with Ubuntu 8.04.1.

For me, this is a big win, being an advocate of security and Free Software. However, I believe I sense some reluctance and fear from my wife. I’m not sure if she’s going to enjoy this, as she has developed a strong relationship with Microsoft Office, in particular, Word and Powerpoint. I am confident though, that through OpenOffice.org, she will find new life in a competing office software suite, and find Ubuntu Linux not as scary as she thinks it may be.

So finally, after 5 years of being Microsoft-free personally, my family has now made that switch as well. Good Fortune is headed our way.

by Aaron at 5:07 AM under ubuntu , windwoes
January 4, 2008

Aaron Toponce
atoponce
Aaron Toponce
» Why I Don’t Run Windows, 8

Digital Restrictions Management.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, of which I am a member, recently pointed in their Deep Links site how DRM is is punishing paying customers rather than “pirates”. Clip from the article:

Netflix subscriber Davis Freeberg ran headlong into an incompatibility between Microsoft DRM and … Microsoft DRM.

The trouble all started when Freeberg bought a new monitor for his Vista computer. When he decided to watch streaming movies from Netflix, Netflix documentation warned him that the recommended means of fixing a problem with DRM-restricted Netflix programming “may remove licenses to other content using Microsoft DRM” — including, in particular, restricted programming he had already purchased through Amazon Unbox. Trying to resolve this problem just got Freeberg a tech-support runaround, with each company involved pointing the finger at another.

Tech support problems are not unfamiliar to PC users, but where did this problem come from? Freeberg was just trying to use a new monitor with his computer; his reward, apparently, was broken DRM software, which couldn’t be sure the new monitor met movie studios’ arbitrary requirements (or perhaps just couldn’t be sure whether it could be sure). Furthermore, the DRM industry — which has already spent countless engineer-hours making “approved” and “licensed” products (seemingly at the expense of “compatible” and “interoperable” devices) — couldn’t even offer Freeberg a clear path out of this jam.

Ahh, the joys of running equipment and software is DRM-laden. Unfortunately, I suspect that we’ll see a lot more of these stories in the coming year, without the the media market caring one iota, and as the article suggests, DRM is only affecting paying customers, not the so-called “pirates” that are making this DRM content available- without DRM. In other words, biting the hand that feeds you. Good strategy Microsoft!

by Aaron at 2:30 PM under windwoes
September 15, 2007

Aaron Toponce
atoponce
Aaron Toponce
» The 10 Golden Rules Of Windows Administration

I’m cleaning up a Windows laptop for a friend, and boy, is it infected. These being the results of running Windows Defender, LavaSoft AdAware, MacAfee Virus Scan and Spysot Search & Destroyer. Luckily, no worms.

  • 8 trojans
  • 144 adwares
  • 71 spywares
  • 39 viruses

So, I couldn’t help but come up with the 10 Golden Rules of administering, or just flat out running a Windows box.

  1. Keep your virus definitions up to date.
  2. Keep your spyware definitions up to date.
  3. Keep your adware definitions up to date.
  4. Keep other malware definitions up to date.
  5. Do not install 3rd party software from untrusted sites.
  6. Do not open email attachments from people you don’t know.
  7. Stay away from warez, porn, and other shady sites.
  8. Do not use Internet Explorer.
  9. Configure and enable Windows Firewall.
  10. Enable the guest account for everyone other than yourself.

All-in-all, just use your head. Think logically and critically. When using the Windows operating system, you have to be on your toes 24/7, and you have to be protected out the gate before ever getting online. When online, in one form or another, be skeptical of everything. Windows is such an insecure operating system, you can’t afford to make any mistakes, or you get eaten alive, as is the case with this poor owner and their laptop. When systems get this bad, it’s time for one of two things:

  1. Take a training course in administering/running your system.
  2. Run a secure operating system, such as Mac OS X or Linux.

My tolerance for people who can’t effectively keep their Windows system clean is becoming nonexistent. I’m getting to the point now, where if you foul up your Windows box, and you want me to fix it, I’ll just wipe the hard drive clean, and install Ubuntu. I’m not there yet, but getting close.

by Aaron at 2:26 PM under windwoes