To protect against malware is better, than having to clear it out afterwards. Keep both your OS and browser software up to date and with all the critical patches. Never add any site to your trusted sites zone.
Make sure you have a fully updated AV program, and keep it that way. Do not use the big two, because they are very system-resource hungry. ONLY RUN ONE AV, whatever you choose. And we think you should use AVAST.
Use a firewall or you can get infested quicker than you can download the tools for fixes. Get a temp file cookies.index. dat cleaner URLViewer suits fine or CCleaner. For prevention use SpyWareBlaster, Microsoft@Windows Anti-Spyware, SpySweeper, PestPatrol. SpyWare Scanners to use AdAware and Spybot S&D. Take ActiveX out or change the settings in IE,
or use Firefox. Get a spamfighter like Mailwasher or SpamFighter. This is a good line of defense,
Thank you for those great hints to avoid malware polonus.
I see you’re recommending Firefox, but how do you feel about the latest Opera browser? Is it as safe/safer or less safe than Firefox? I use both but like the easy log-ins via Opera’s wand but wonder if this is a security risk?
happy days to all
Hi, Kakapo!
I’ve downloaded Avant Browser and Opera this week: Opera is wonderful but I prefer to keep deactivated Wand. Better to delete all passwords and tracking cookies to be in peace of mind. The net is… a net! The word explain well the level of the danger… eh eh eh… ;D
I agree with my friend Kamulko ;), that Opera is also a very safe browser, only the free version show ads. It is a way of appreciation. Whatever works good for you, you can choose of these two. Opera is advised by the good old search-guru FRAVIA, go to www.fravia.org for his views. In FF I have con-query installed, where I can load a 100 search-engines, so FF for me is the search-browser par excellence. I do not like toolbars for obvious reasons. Once the google toolbar had a gigantic security hole in it, and some toolbars are renowned mal- or spyware.
Stay free of mal- and scumware, go to the forums to stay informed.
Assuming you are trying to avoid malware but do get hit, if you are browsing as a user with administrator right, then the malware also has admin rights and can reap havoc. However, on an account with restricted rights the damage is greatly limited.
MS has the tool so you don’t have to switch user accounts all the time, just modified shortcuts, that when launched restrict the rights for that program only. For more information and full instructions see:
For ease of use I would suggest that you create a folder called DMR (on the C:\ drive) rather than the default location buried in the documents and settings folder. This makes the path in your shortcut much shorter, but this is your choice.
For each program (browser, email program, etc.) that you want to run with restricted rights you need to create an alternative desktop shortcut to launch it via DropMyRights.exe.
The target location in the alternative shortcut would look something like this - C:\DMR\DropMyRights.exe “C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe”. What this is doing is calling the DropMyRights.exe, which launches the program with restricted rights.
You will need to change the icon as it will look like a plain old MS DOS icon, rather than the original programs icon.
Thank you all very much for this useful info. We do need to be pro-active when it comes to malware which is what brought me here in the first place, but I didn’t have avast! than…
I appreciate the way you all share your knowledge.
I’ll deactivate that wand Kamulko. (Always looked silly with my jeans anyway)
Good to meet you polonus - one Capricorn to another… I had never explored con-query but will do so as I do a lot of research. Fravia’s going to take a little more time, but thank you for the excellent link.
DavidR, that looks like a good idea using DMR. Again, I’ll have to read more to understand how it works with FF and Opera, but it’s a lot easier than what I did -I set up a guest account to use while websurfing!
Wishing you all happy, sunny days - we’re drying out here now.
It really isn’t that difficult, here is a very simplified explanation of creating the shortcut that executes DropMyRights, which in turn calls firefox, but it is best to print off the instruction on the MS web page of the link I gave.
Firefox example - Create a second shortcut for firefox (copy the first) and check the path to the executable and compare the difference here D:\DMR\DropMyRights.exe “C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe” it is just a case of putting the ‘D:\DMR\DropMyRights.exe’ without the quotes in front of the existing path and changing the Start In folder to D:\DMR.
Repeat the exercise for each program that accesses the internet, once you have that done you just click the ‘Firefox (non-Admin)’ shortcut. Notice I have tacked on (Non-Admin) to the shortcut name to make it easier to see the difference. If you ever need to have full administrative permissions, close the non-admin occurance and start again with the normal shortcut.
This sounds fishy. I hope they are not putting in FP’s to lure potential customers to download their software. My position now-a-days is trust no-one until prooven trustworthy.
Thanks for the link, polonus. Webroot is (as of now) still one of the legitimate ones according to SpywareWarrior. I used to use the free version, which was without updates. Seems like I had a few more false positives with it than usual, but I can’t remember for sure.
But I share your hesitation about trusting them … there are so many scams in this area today, and so many things going on, that I am becoming habitually suspicious.
I just ran the Webroot Scan. Everything seems clear except for some cookies.
I don’t want to get rid of all my cookies. I did that once and got confused (again)
But I don’t know how to find and get rid of the several that are mentioned.
I use IE usually only for updating or for something I can’t seem to do with Mozilla.
Thanks for any simple help telling me how to rid myself of these cookies.
I use a “cookie manager”, the good & FREE “CookieWall”
available from www.analogx.com . However, after
installation & configuration, any time a “New cookie
detected…” screen appears, ALWAYS click “Temporary
Accept”, then right-click the yellowish cookie icon in the
System Tray, selecting “Add/Remove”. When that screen
appears, move all items in the middle column either to the
left to “Delete/Kill” for the future or to the right to “Keep/
Save” for the future . The “Always Delete” & “Always
Accept” tabs do not seem to work, especially concerning
future occurrences .
What is according to you the best cookie policy? I leave my cookies on, as far as they are necessary to come to certain sites. All cookies that ad-aware shows are deleted. In FF I have chosen not to accept third party cookies. Some anti-ad experts say that is bad, but then you don’t know what’s on your system. Persistent cookies and tracking cookies are some kind of risk. Can you give a rule of fist? After a while I take all sorts of crap from my machine using System Security Suite 1.04 (IE files. temporary files, history files, cookies the lot) Works great for me.
If you use SpywareBlaster, there’s an option to block all spy/tracking cookies (both IE and Firefox). Ad-Aware will remove any that get through, as you said.
If you use a program like IE Privacy Keeper, you can create a list of cookies you want to keep- say from sites you visit regularly, especially when you want the site to recognise you we you come back. When you do an internet cleanup, all the rest will be deleted. (Despite the name, it does the same with Firefox.)
But malware is a growing problem, not so much for the malware aware user, but the man and woman, who are not aware of the modern threats on the internet, are endangered. They start to complain, when their machines have some 20 or more nasties on it. These “Jack and Jills” have a strange policy, you click yes, and if that is giving the unwanted result, you can always click no., or can’t ye? These are the potential zombie owners, the spam spreaders, the virus goggler’s. Is there still hope?
Keep a patched system and programs. Once an advisory has been released apply available patches, else stay informed.
Be informed. Find out the severity, impact and where it is exploitable (network/local etc.). If no available work-around, use an alternative product until the problem is fixed.
Receive last security advisories from:
In this way you have not missed a thing ;).
For the ones who want to filter internet networks and server, used for malware servers and find blocking scripts or check a certain address for these activities check The Malware Filter List at: http://www.spylist.org/
I had never explored con-query but will do so as I do a lot of research. Fravia’s going to take a little more time, but thank you for the excellent link.
I use a “cookie manager”, the good & FREE “CookieWall”