Since I moved to another location for the same company I’m now working by myself. I’m now back to working on removing spyware and viruses. I have to tell you, these guys who create this nasty stuff are brilliant yet evil at the same time. Brilliant because it is getting much more complex than using a program here and a program there to remove the infection. On top of that, they’re doing as much damage as they possibly can be making sure that if A gets removed then B will get removed to. Where B is equal to many important Windows system files.
It’s a very time consuming process and by reading and watching many anti-spyware forums out there it is a huge problem. I have to say that it’s extremely annoying and something I don’t particularly like since I can’t fix the damn thing as quick as I’d like. There are times where I am constantly researching a specific file or trying to use this program or that.
I give a lot of credit to the people who actually volunteer their time at these anti-spyware forums and dedicate quite a lot to help people for free.
I don’t know where I am going with this other than I have several posts in the works. I have a few going up to Notebookrepair.org and others that are coming here. I just wanted to say that I’m around, just busy and that I’ll have a few posts up shortly.
I read a great article via Digg.com this morning in regards to wireless security and many myths that surround it. Many people opt for MAC filter and or to not broadcast the SSID of the wireless network. I honestly didn’t know this but with one program, called Kismet, both of those items can be found out relatively easy. In closing, the article mentions to use WPA and WEP if it’s at all possible. I honestly did not know this – I don’t specialize in security but I hope this helps you or anyone else out who may be contemplating integrating a wireless network in a corporate environment.
- Do not depend on MAC address filtering.
- Do not depend on NOT broadcasting the SSID of the network.
- DO depend on WPA first and foremost.
- If you’re unable to use WPA please at least use WEP. WEP is the weaker of the two security measures but it’s definitely better than nothing.
I was browsing the web and a nice pop-up window indicated that there was an update to FireFox which then prompted me to download and install the new version of the browser.
According to the website PC Advisor the main reason for the early update was due to one major bug although they classify it as being minor.
Mozilla said that the patched bug, though rated as a low threat, could be used by attackers to run a rudimentary port scan of systems within the same perimeter as the victimized machine. The attacker, however, would have to craft a malicious website and host it on an FTP server and then con users into visiting the page.
Interesting nonetheless and you should always update your browser to the newest available version if at all possible. You never know as this fix may save you from being affected by the fixed bug in FireFox 2.0.0.3.
I apologize about the lacking updates. I am actually in the process of moving from one shop to another. We lost our contract and got outbid by another company. Thus I am left with not much work and not many fixes that I could jot down and report to each and every one of you.
I’m moving to an entirely new location where I have a lot more space. I think this is good and bad. For one, I’ll be leaving behind a work location that was not even five minutes from home. At this time I am actually at home on my lunch break writing this post out. I will go back to work in a few minutes after I finish this post. Like I said though it’s good and bad; I have a lot more room and space to fix computers and won’t be so overcrowded when I get there. I’ll be able to often times if I have to leave my camera overnight to make sure I have it the next day to take pictures of all of the things I’m working on. I know pictures help out tons when you’re trying to disassemble your notebook or even your desktop computer.
So in ending this, I just ask for your patience and I hope you continue to come back in the mean time. Until then, aloha.
I hope this won’t discourage anyone or inconvenience anyone from reading my site but I’ve opened a new site called Notebookrepair.org. I plan to have all notebook/laptop related stuff: fixes; disassembly instructions and so on over at Notebookrepair.org.
In doing so I hope to un-clutter Random Fix and leave this more for the general fixes that I’ll accumulate.
It looks like Brian Livingston has found a way via the Windows Registry to have Vista be able to push out the activation time by 120 days but the trick or flaw here is that with a registry tweak you can keep pushing it out by 120 days. That means that you could possibly never need to activate Windows by using this registry tweak and command line text.
I won’t delve into it here and I’ll link you to Brian’s blog as he explains it clear as day. But know that via a registry tweak and a command line prompt you can extend the activation of Windows Vista far past 120 days, you can extend that timeframe indefinitely.
I just woke up and attempted to run iTunes and was greeted with a box telling me that 7.1.1. is available for download. I’m downloading it as we speak and the servers do look like they are getting hammered. I guess this was actually released on Friday but I haven’t heard major news about it. I’m wondering if it fixes the rest of those issues with Vista. I’d hope it does as Vista has been out for over two months now. They need to get their act together.
I wrote about this earlier in which Microsoft’s antivirus program, OneCare hasn’t gotten rave reviews lately for catching many viruses and spyware. The AV Comparatives site which is does comparisons on all the different major antivirus makers listed OneCare in last place. This is definitely not good news for Microsoft; however, they plan to revamp the way OneCare looks for viruses and malware. I can honestly say that I am glad to hear that. Again, I run OneCare on two different computers, a home computer and a business computer. I hope that their improvements will work upon the ones already made to a really decent light weight all-in-one program.
According to this article, Microsoft plans to come up with virus signatures that are able to detect entire families of malware – something other antivirus programs already do.
I found this interesting new flash presentation about AMD’s quad-core processors. It’s a great little slide. Very informational – with that said I hope they come back with a vengeance and re-emerge as the number one stunna I mean take back the performance crown from Intel.
Although I’m not Irish I still celebrate a good St. Patrick’s Day. Hope everyone stays safe and does not get too plastered. Enjoy!