How do I disable IE in XP?
- Thread starter Sunfish
- Start date
Thommo,
Despite what MS say.. you can't really uninstall Internet Exploder.. get rid of the spyware properly then continue with Mozilla..
There's a few tools around to help...
Here's one
Despite what MS say.. you can't really uninstall Internet Exploder.. get rid of the spyware properly then continue with Mozilla..
There's a few tools around to help...
Here's one
Thommo,
If you still have problems, try CWShredder. It removes CoolWebSearch variants that Spybot and AdAware often don't.
GP
If you still have problems, try CWShredder. It removes CoolWebSearch variants that Spybot and AdAware often don't.
GP
Thommo said:
Thommo,
You certainly like living dangerously when it comes to the internet dont you
You MUST install a Firewall. XP has one built in, but its turned off my default (go figure).. but I much prefer the free Kerio Personal Firewall.
There's others like ZoneAlarm, but I've found Kerio to be superior. The firewall will tell you exactly what's going OUT of your PC and whats coming in.. You selectively open it up to allow certain applications access to the internet under your control. It will also warn you of Applications launching other applications and it will warn you if applications change..
We're networked with a hardware firewall in the modem.duncan_m said:Thommo,
You certainly like living dangerously when it comes to the internet dont you
You MUST install a Firewall. XP has one built in.. but I much prefer the free Kerio Personal Firewall.
There's others like ZoneAlarm, but I've found Kerio to be superior. The firewall will tell you exactly what's going OUT of your PC and whats coming in.. You selectively open it up to allow certain applications access to the internet under your control. It will also warn you of Applications launching other applications and it will warn you if applications change..
T
When it comes to Spybot, make sure you have the real Spybot. There are many sites advertising Spybot downloads but they are nothing but trojans, spyware and other ugly stuff in disguise. http://security.kolla.de is the home of the real SpyBot
I agree with Duncan, having a SW based firewall as well as the one in your router is the way to go.
Last but not least. Please don't confuse Nerds with Geeks. They are two very distinct breeds.
I agree with Duncan, having a SW based firewall as well as the one in your router is the way to go.
Last but not least. Please don't confuse Nerds with Geeks. They are two very distinct breeds.
I'd agree that Kerio and Zone Alarm are good choices. Have used both and don't have a preference. However, some websites need certain ports open and permissions to work.
I'd also recommend you get the paid version of either. They allow you to block most ads, thus conserving bandwidth and monthly download limits. Zone Alarm Pro also filters incoming and outgoing email.
With one of these installed, the only way to inadvertantly muff your PC is to visit some dubious website which asks to install a piece of software when accessing a certain page. Porno and warez sites are notorious for this sort of thing....not that I'd know first hand. New viruses can also get around the virus software when they first come out, but the software firewalls will alert you when they activate.
For general housekeeping, set XP to auto update, run adaware once every few weeks, keep Norton antivirus or similar uptodate, do a defrag every month if your data is on the same partition as your OS......and you should be trouble free. You could also do a partition backup or copy every couple of months.
I have't done a reinstall for about 2 years.
Of course the alternative is to treat your home computer like it was in a public library, and just have it restored to pristine state at reboot or logon. I've used a beautiful piece of software called deepfreeze for this purpose. there's another piece of software called clean slate that does the same thing. Remember to keep your data on a separate drive though.
Sorry for the ramble. I was a nerd for a decade there....but got over it.
I'd also recommend you get the paid version of either. They allow you to block most ads, thus conserving bandwidth and monthly download limits. Zone Alarm Pro also filters incoming and outgoing email.
With one of these installed, the only way to inadvertantly muff your PC is to visit some dubious website which asks to install a piece of software when accessing a certain page. Porno and warez sites are notorious for this sort of thing....not that I'd know first hand. New viruses can also get around the virus software when they first come out, but the software firewalls will alert you when they activate.
For general housekeeping, set XP to auto update, run adaware once every few weeks, keep Norton antivirus or similar uptodate, do a defrag every month if your data is on the same partition as your OS......and you should be trouble free. You could also do a partition backup or copy every couple of months.
I have't done a reinstall for about 2 years.
Of course the alternative is to treat your home computer like it was in a public library, and just have it restored to pristine state at reboot or logon. I've used a beautiful piece of software called deepfreeze for this purpose. there's another piece of software called clean slate that does the same thing. Remember to keep your data on a separate drive though.
Sorry for the ramble. I was a nerd for a decade there....but got over it.
Hi All,
Nothing is for free. Their is a reason these programs are free. The people who write those nasty ads that pop up , are the same people who writes the programs to get rid of them. And when you install these "free" programs, who knows what else it installs.
format your hard drive (save all files first) I format every three months, its a good feeling, clenses the body
GG
Nothing is for free. Their is a reason these programs are free. The people who write those nasty ads that pop up , are the same people who writes the programs to get rid of them. And when you install these "free" programs, who knows what else it installs.
format your hard drive (save all files first) I format every three months, its a good feeling, clenses the body
GG
On the contrary, there is a large amount of good free software available on the Internet. Only a relatively small proportion of it has spyware and adware bundled with it (notably file-sharing programs). In fact, there is a whole organisation dedicated to the cause of good free software (called rather predictably the Free Software Foundation).Gordon Gekko said:
I don't think so. I haven't yet heard of Lavasoft of Patrick Kolla writing adware.
GP
Gordon Gekko said:Hi All,
Nothing is for free. Their is a reason these programs are free. The people who write those nasty ads that pop up , are the same people who writes the programs to get rid of them. And when you install these "free" programs, who knows what else it installs.
format your hard drive (save all files first) I format every three months, its a good feeling, clenses the body
GG
LoL..Format every three months.
Why would you do that if you dont install that nasty freeware.
Seriously if you are that paranoid then may i suggest running an image program like Ghost it will save you lots of time. Infact if your real keen to format you could run it every night.
Format every three months????
You should be on a Mac. UNIX based OS which is inherently more secure and for which nobody bothers to write crap anyway. I had intended to change by now and will still do so.
BTW I have just run AdAware for the second time this morning and there were three CoolWeb items there again.
Thommo
You should be on a Mac. UNIX based OS which is inherently more secure and for which nobody bothers to write crap anyway. I had intended to change by now and will still do so.
BTW I have just run AdAware for the second time this morning and there were three CoolWeb items there again.
Thommo
Sim
Administrator
I actually try to format every three month or so as a matter of course too - although in practice this somtimes takes longer depending on how busy I am.
For me, it's not about security - it's about keeping a clean, lean machine.
Over time, we all load new programs, upgrade old programs, load utilities, load all sorts of things we try (not just "free" utilities - I'm talking fully paid and "clean" software too). This tends to lead to a lot of junk on the computer, wasting space and affecting performance. We also tend to accumulate old data that is not useful and should be at best deleted and at worst archived.
I treat my quarterly (or so) reformat as a cleansing exercise, kind of like Gordon mentioned. Exactly the same thing you would do as cleaning out the filing cabinet or your office - archive the stuff you must keep, and trash the stuff you really don't need.
At the moment, I'm waiting for my new laptop to arrive, I'll spend my time building that up rather than rebuilding my current laptop. Once the new one is ready and all data I'm going to keep is transferred across, I'll be able to blat the current machine and rebuild it ready to use as a demo machine.
I consider ghost to be an evil tool for data. It's great for keeping images of operating system installs where you want to be able to take it back to a known state. But for data, it is very dangerous - restoring a ghost image will destroy all data on the machine that was created after the ghost image was created. Sure, you could store your data on a secondary drive or on a network (but how many people have a secondary drive on their laptops - I have 6, but that's not the point).
I much prefer to rebuild stuff by hand - lets me keep control of the process and make sure things are done cleanly - and allows me to reconsider the stuff I want to load on and work out whether I really want to do it, or whether I want to change the way its loaded.
There's one thing I really really hate doing, and that's trying to troubleshoot problems with a machine that has not been blatted in several years - especially from a non-techo user when they load all sorts of crap onto it. There's so many problems that can be introduced by the software people load - and uninstall or adaware won't necessarily fix it, that it's much easier to me to blat it and start again - but I do understand that most users won't feel confident in doing that. *sigh*
For me, it's not about security - it's about keeping a clean, lean machine.
Over time, we all load new programs, upgrade old programs, load utilities, load all sorts of things we try (not just "free" utilities - I'm talking fully paid and "clean" software too). This tends to lead to a lot of junk on the computer, wasting space and affecting performance. We also tend to accumulate old data that is not useful and should be at best deleted and at worst archived.
I treat my quarterly (or so) reformat as a cleansing exercise, kind of like Gordon mentioned. Exactly the same thing you would do as cleaning out the filing cabinet or your office - archive the stuff you must keep, and trash the stuff you really don't need.
At the moment, I'm waiting for my new laptop to arrive, I'll spend my time building that up rather than rebuilding my current laptop. Once the new one is ready and all data I'm going to keep is transferred across, I'll be able to blat the current machine and rebuild it ready to use as a demo machine.
I consider ghost to be an evil tool for data. It's great for keeping images of operating system installs where you want to be able to take it back to a known state. But for data, it is very dangerous - restoring a ghost image will destroy all data on the machine that was created after the ghost image was created. Sure, you could store your data on a secondary drive or on a network (but how many people have a secondary drive on their laptops - I have 6, but that's not the point).
I much prefer to rebuild stuff by hand - lets me keep control of the process and make sure things are done cleanly - and allows me to reconsider the stuff I want to load on and work out whether I really want to do it, or whether I want to change the way its loaded.
There's one thing I really really hate doing, and that's trying to troubleshoot problems with a machine that has not been blatted in several years - especially from a non-techo user when they load all sorts of crap onto it. There's so many problems that can be introduced by the software people load - and uninstall or adaware won't necessarily fix it, that it's much easier to me to blat it and start again - but I do understand that most users won't feel confident in doing that. *sigh*
The only problem I have with that is software legacy issues. I use a great deal of shareware/freeware stuff and as you'd expect, I review a great deal more. Formating is a big issue for me as I have to download/get new installion codes each time.
I set up a testing machine... but then Acey took it. I set up another... the one kid took it. I set up a third... the other kid took it.
I have plans for another... Acey has plans for PCs in other rooms...
So, I'm back to testing on my machine.
Jas
I set up a testing machine... but then Acey took it. I set up another... the one kid took it. I set up a third... the other kid took it.
I have plans for another... Acey has plans for PCs in other rooms...
So, I'm back to testing on my machine.
Jas
