Have to reinstall PC, any thoughts?

[Ambular]

Then get zonealarm, spyware guard, microsoft antispyware, spybot, adaware and last but not least avast personal home edition.

Ack Nectere, having all that installed would probably be worse than having a slew of spyware on your machine.

Not at all.  I've got all of those except Spyware Guard (I use Spyware Blaster instead) plus Xclean Micro and the Blacklight Defender root-kit protection beta.  No problems AT ALL, I just update and run them all every couple of weeks or so and let ZoneAlarm and the Microsoft ASW run in the background at all times.  Also use Norton Systemworks (minus the antivirus) and CCleaner regularly to keep the bloat down.  My machine is squeaky clean.  XD

I do kill a bunch of processes with Process Explorer when I plan to do any intensive Simming, though.  (Though as long as I'm not running any large, Sim-heavy lots I can run it concurrently with ZoneAlarm, FireFox, AOL, and if I'm feeling particularly adventurous, Photoshop, and not take too bad a performance hit.)  Lots of RAM is a good thing.  XD

Anyway, windy_moon, reinstalling Windows isn't really such a big deal...just make sure you've got all your important stuff backed up and virus scanned, and keep telling yourself "It's only ones and zeroes!"  Letting the machine intimidate you is one of the biggest and most common mistakes people make.  You don't need to be an expert or have a degree to figure these things out, just pick up a good beginner's book on Windows, ask more experienced users or Google for answers when you're not sure, and if all else fails, you can always shell out the cash for a professional.  (Oh, you know what else you could do, is get a subscription to PC World.  It's an absolute gold mine of useful information.)

Good luck!  :)

[nectere]

angelyne it was through limewire, I thought I was dl a program (thats free for 30 days incidently) and it turned out to be a very very nasty trojan, unfortunetely at the time I didnt have an antivirus running and nothing else I had running caught it. I simply noticed it myself when it added a mess of cloaked trojan files in a couple of folders in limeware and elsewhere that werent there prior to dl the zipped package (and opening it, it was imbedded into the file I was trying to dl, it had cloaked itself as the program I wanted). It was a stupid mistake on my part. One I wont be making again, whats funny though is I know better...but still managed to pick up my very first virus/trojan (awwwe, little bugger). Needless to say I also wont be using Limewire anymore either, just too much of a risk to have on the machine with a teen in the house. Of course I made sure I told her about it, she was stunned that I got a virus, she also pointed and laughed....

[BlueSoup]

Yeah, that bug was a nasty one.  Too bad it had to happen to you.  I still feel bad that I didn't get it and you did. 

[nectere]

no biggie, I learned something, lil nectere learned something, I got avast and it did get cleaned up, I only lost my internet links which I had been planning to cull anyway.

[BlueSoup]

I know, it seems like every couple of days I delete a few Internet links, but in no time at all it's a massive list again. 

And it doesn't help when *someone* links about 5 tutorials for meshing, which of course necessitates its own link folder in my favourites. 

[angelyne]

oh heh.  Painful lesson.

There are no such thing as "innocent" looking software.  There are only safe downloading sites, site that stores a large number of programs (not P2P!!!) and that scans everything that it stores.  Also good when they allow feedback on a site as well.  I'm sure stuff can slip past, but it's unlikey it will stay there very long after people complain.

If whatever you are looking for is not on such a site, be sure to google the application +spyware and see if people are complaining about it.  Be especially wary about anything advertised that says "free".

If you must download from any P2P, know they are crawling with worms, viruses trojans ect.  For sure I'd turn on every single watchdog program I have playing with that.

Sometimes I venture forth in the more seedy part of the interet to find a serial number.  When I do it's with firewall on, security tightened to max, Antivirus on.  Even then I don't download cracked exe's.  That's asking for trouble.

This serves me well, as I have had no trojan, viruses, spyware of any kind in years, despite running no protection unless needed.

[ZephyrZodiac]

I remember a year or too back there was a problem at Paladin's Place, where if you went there you got bombarded with pop-ups.  My antivirus nuked everything and I decided not to hang around.  After that the site was down for quite a while, so I assume they were having to clean it up.  But after that, I always made sure I had a good pop-up blocker.

[BlueSoup]

I downloaded the same program as nectere did, but fortunately my Norton and Windows firewalls started screaming and wouldn't let me unzip the package.

I have downloaded at least 3 full programs from Limewire (not to mention countless songs) and never had a problem, but I have learned my lesson that a full-size program is not going to be only 858mb.

[ZephyrZodiac]

Surely it depends on the program?

[Renatus]

Yeah, it definitely depends on the program! I remember OpenOffice being a bit over 200mb, and it's a full-featured office suite.

[BlueSoup]

Well, I'm sure there are programs that are exactly 851.8mb, but there are several all over Limewire, that are totally different programs (for instance, I saw Milkshape and Photoshop, both at the exact same size, but both should be a lot bigger), but it's unlikely.  For instance, Photoshop is about 37000mb when zipped up into a full package.

[nectere]

I think you might need a decimal point in there somewhere Blue 

[ZephyrZodiac]

It also depends what you mean by a full program.

[Regina]

This is great info!  I'm going to have to C&P the info about the programs I don't have.

We've been online for about a gazillion years now and so far no one has ever landed a virus (knock on wood!).  We have rather set-in-stone rules about what goes onto the computers and only once in a while does something get past (like I said earlier, the 8-year-old's done a number on his dad's).

First off, no one is allowed to ever use browser mail.  Everyone has on-line accounts and the only way I ever access my ISP mail is through their website.  No one's allowed to download anything that's attached to an e-mail unless they've spoken with the person specifically and know it's coming.

We use Zone Alarm and Google's toolbar which also has a pop-up killer.  I have SpyBot and AdWare installed on my computer but have to admit I don't use them very often.  As a general rule I do routine maintenance every couple of weeks which includes deleting all cookies, emptying my internet cache, temp folders, etc. and defragging the hard-drive.

I know I probably sound like a meanie, but really am not.  The older kids have a computer in their room with an internet connection and they know if they mess it up they're going to have to fix it so they're very careful.

[angelyne]

Those are very sound rules Misty.  That's one big port of entry for viruses eliminated. (email).

The other area of entry for viruses are downloading software from P2P networks.

Spyware is a little more difficult to avoid, as there are more ports of entry.  Common tactics are exploiting vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer, so that's why you must be careful to always have the updates installed.  That's why I switched to Firefox.  It's a better browser anyway.  However the most common method of getting spyware is by installing so called "helper" software, like toolbars, Smillies, system Optimizers, and ironically enough, spyware removers.  Any software that is offered to you "free" from a popup should never be downloaded.  Advertising isn't free, and people usually don't give away things for nothing.  Apart from the Sim Community

[diamonde]

IRC is a pretty good way to get viruses as well.  There was a comedy of errors over that in the first days of our home network - the mac user could use IRC as much as she liked and never have a problem.  But the connection she opened meant the PC running the DSL kept getting her viruses.  Took us a while to figure out that was where they were coming from, though.

I have one or less virus scanners running in the background of my computers, but I have four virus/adware/spyware scanners that I crack out every time there's so much as a hint of odd behaviour, or after I've installed a program from LimeWire or gone to dodgy Russian websites.  If I see ads for porn on any site I'm at, I scan.  Doesn't stop me using P2P programs or going to those sites, of course, I'm just aware of the risks.  Which, since I use Firefox, are actually quite small - I haven't had anything in months.  Anyway, the most massive, hard to remove infestation of nine or ten different things I ever had?  Came from Tripod, who were supposedly a legitemate webhost.  It took me over six hours to get rid of it all.

Spyware and adware are gonna happen, whether you use P2P and go to dodgy places or not.  I'm the dodgy one, my sister's browsing habits are mostly clean.  I spent over an hour removing spyware from her computer last weekend, which only one out of her three scanners picked up.  (The two programs she paid for, Ad-Aware and her virus scanner, both missed it.  Bazooka, the teeny weeny freeware program, picked up four seperate infections.  The more scanners you have, the better.)

[ZephyrZodiac]

Well, Yahoo used to pick up loads of things on mine, stuff the Midcrosoft Antispy ahd missed!  But now I have the McAfee package installed, it doesn't find anything!  So as far as I'm concerned, one payment to McAfee to upgrade was more than worth it!

[flowerchile]

I had PC-cillin for a year and thought it was pretty good till my darlin' neighbor installed NOD32.  Well, I kept getting these really annoying messages telling me of some dodgy file I had.  Everything started slowing right down and I'm thinking that Mr Neighbor put a crap Virus Scanner on my poor lil' puter; so yank Mr neighbor back and I found out that this dodgy file had been sitting there for about 7 months without being picked up by Pc-cillin!  Not happy Jan.  It's all good now though.

[windy_moon]

Report from the re-installation front:

Well, you all were right. It's not that hard, just tedious.  Time collecting and sorting all of the installation disks, time figuring out what should really be installed and left beihnd...time trying to read teeeeeny numbers with 44 year old eyes.

Good news is:  a smooth running PC with the basics all installed, more programs (like Photoshop and Premiere) to follow.

Bad news is;

I lost my %%$#% Sims!

 

Stupid communication glitch between me and the 12 year old.   He was in charge of backing everything up while I was doing other things last night.  He kept running to ask me questions about this and that he was backing up, kept telling me how long things were taking to copy, told me about the final file he made..... I assumed he put them on the external drive which we'd hooked up to the computer.

Turns out, he'd made another big folder on the C drive, which at some point he intended to move to the external.   

This was perfectly logical to him, but never occurred to me.  I tried to check the contents of the external before I started reinstallation, but the computer was giving me such a fit at that point, I decided to assume he'd done what (I thought) he said he'd done.

Sigh.  89 Sims were lost this early this morning, kinda like the death star in Star Wars.  My onlly neigborhood for a entire year. 

Trying to tell myself how lovely it will be to have a fresh start. I swore I wouldn't have the heart for it, and then I turned around and reinstalled all of my Sims disks...and just spent an hour on the MATY fixes and hacks.

Game is running beautifully at the highest specs.  If only I had my Sims to enjoy!  

[BlueSoup]

Well that sucks the big one, Wndy Moon.      But cheer up, it can be nice to just start over and perhaps do something new (this may not be a help to you at all, but I try)

[ZephyrZodiac]

And never trust a 12-year-old with anything IMPORTANT!

[windy_moon]

Well that sucks the big one, Wndy Moon.      But cheer up, it can be nice to just start over and perhaps do something new (this may not be a help to you at all, but I try)

You're very sweet.

I never knew what to say to folks here who lost their Sims, other than to offer sympathy.  What can you say....(other than a silent prayer of gratitude that it wasn't your Sims. 

I'm keeping a stiff upper lip.  The kid cried, I felt bad for him...and even my husband was properly horrified at the 89 deaths. (which surprised me!)  He did chuckle when I wailed "And Maria and Penelope were pregnant!"

Downloads...downloads, checklist downloads...MATY, Inge, Merola....still need CEP and SimPe .... some clothes off of AroundTheSims2, haven't done the furniture there (which I cannot live without).

Bad News:
a couple hundred downloads down, must be a thousand to go

Good News:

They are going to be hyper organized this time around.

ZZ wrote:

And never trust a 12-year-old with anything IMPORTANT!

I suck. Put that in the newsbox!! 

[angelyne]

Spyware and adware are gonna happen, whether you use P2P and go to dodgy places or not.  I'm the dodgy one, my sister's browsing habits are mostly clean.

I disagree.  Spyware is not gonna happen unless you let it happen.  That stuff has to get installed on your pc somehow, and it doesn't happen by magic.   You either have to a) get it as a tag along program you have yourself installed or b) get it via a drive-by install.

A is prevented by being extremely careful about what you install (google and a good AV is your friend there) and B is prevented by locking down your machine.  If you go to dodgy sites, make sure you have all patches installed on your machine.  If you use Firefox get the NoScript plugin.  It disallows scripts being run by your browser, unless you specifically allow it.  If it can't run, it can't install can it?  If you use IE, setting your security settings to their highest, when going to a dodgy site.  Not only will this tactic prevent drive-by install, but you get way less pop ups too.

And never trust a 12-year-old with anything IMPORTANT!

Windy_moon,  I'm sorry to hear about your sims.   I'll go further than ZZ, never trust ANYONE  but yourself with a backup.  When I reinstall a computer at work for someone, I always make a full backup even if they said they backed up their data. 

[Sleepycat]

never trust ANYONE  but yourself with a backup.

I'll second that! and if you use floppys or cd-rws or dvd-rws, never wipe them and reuse them unless it is a much older backup and you have a more recent backup!


I once trusted my now-ex-husband to backup my stuff(stupid shit computer needed to be reformatted again) using floppys (it was before cd-rws) First he wiped out my old backup(which I asked him not to do) and attempted to make my new backup...and couldn't because the damn computer wouldn't let him and I lost everything!


*hugs Windy_moon*