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| Thread ID: 40952 | 2003-12-25 00:11:00 | Microsoft's festive advice: Don't plug PCs into the web | stu140103 (137) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 202829 | 2003-12-25 00:11:00 | from theNZ herald ( . nzherald . co . nz/storydisplay . cfm?storyID=3541058&thesection=technology&thesubsection=general" target="_blank">www . nzherald . co . nz) Microsoft's festive advice: Don't plug PCs into the web 25 . 12 . 2003 By CHARLES ARTHUR LONDON - Its slogan is "where do you want to go today?" But Microsoft asks that if you get a Windows computer for Christmas, don't take it to one particular place: the internet . At least, the company says, not until you've been to the shops again to buy extra software, and protected the system from the deluge of viruses and worms that target the flaws in Microsoft's software as soon as you take it online . The warning came as anti-virus companies said 2003 was the worst year ever for viruses attacking Windows, with two "global" outbreaks which were the biggest in the history of the internet . And now a new Windows virus, called Sober, is spreading fast in Germany and Europe . It turns personal computers into mass-mailing machines that can be used by spammers to send messages, and spreads the virus to anyone in the machine's address book . Microsoft's advice features in a new page on - inevitably - its website, entitled "Protect New PCs Before Connecting to the internet" . Anyone who manages to go online to read it without being infected will find the company warning users to obtain anti-virus software, and a "firewall" (which new versions of Windows include, yet the company leaves turned off) before they venture online . But as Simon Moores, an internet consultant, pointed out yesterday, the software giant's admonitions "place the world in a catch-22: you can't be sure that it's safe to go online unless you connect to the internet and get a huge file of security updates from Microsoft, and new anti-virus files - which are also only available online" . ----------------------------------- This is a first for MS! ;) :D But I am not surprised! I think some one at MS was thinking! ;) :) |
stu140103 (137) | ||
| 202830 | 2003-12-25 03:40:00 | That's just great Bill, Recommending I get specific protection tools before I go online... Yet funnily enough the only place to get them free (Im not paying 60 bucks a year or whatever for Norton/Synantec Anti-Virus) is on the net, which I cant connect to so I can get the protection.... Its a never ending loop that Microsoft now have to face. Even on PC's that come with WinXP SP1 still arent up-to-date enough to be protected from this!!! I now (Almost out of sympathy for my customers) install ALL the latest Windows XP patches, and give them AVG and ZoneAlarm.... Man I feel sorry for all those thousands of people who got a PC for Christmas and will be getting the Blaster almost as soon as they connect :-( ...Happened to my friend about two weeks ago! |
Chilling_Silently (228) | ||
| 202831 | 2003-12-26 23:46:00 | I find this situation to be hugely amusing really. Its coming to a point where to be "safe" you need a licence proving you know what your doing with a PC. | flying_green_leprachaun (1767) | ||
| 202832 | 2003-12-27 09:12:00 | Strangely enough you are safer with 98SE on a modern PC it doesnt have the network capabilities thart make XP a easy target nor the gaping security weakness s etc that seem to require a daily update that is time consuming and often detrimental to the speed of your PC as well . If running xp my advice GET ZONEALARM INSTALLED 1st then download the security patches ASAP. |
kiwibeat (304) | ||
| 202833 | 2003-12-27 11:00:00 | At least Microsoft are clever enough to release a "Security Roll-up" download. Ive now got a CD with that for WinXP, as well as WinXP SP1 and Win2K SP4 on a CD that I keep with me when fixing clients PCs. Wouldnt be caught dead without it! |
Chilling_Silently (228) | ||
| 202834 | 2003-12-28 02:35:00 | I can only find the microsoft site for the security roll-up package for Win2k. Can you point me in the right direction for WinXP |
veterannz (960) | ||
| 202835 | 2003-12-28 02:54:00 | > I can only find the microsoft site for the security > roll-up package for Win2k. > Can you point me in the right direction for WinXP www.microsoft.com |
stu140103 (137) | ||
| 202836 | 2003-12-28 06:04:00 | How can I get the full 30MB file for express install? It only wants to install less than 2MB on my PC, as the rest is already done. | wotz (335) | ||
| 202837 | 2003-12-28 10:18:00 | > I now (Almost out of sympathy for my customers) > install ALL the latest Windows XP patches, and give > them AVG and ZoneAlarm.... I hope that it is out of more than sympathy. I know that I would be most annoyed if someone didn't get this when they had purchased a PC from a non "big retailer". |
-=JM=- (16) | ||
| 202838 | 2003-12-28 11:31:00 | >If running xp my advice GET ZONEALARM INSTALLED 1st then download the security patches ASAP . If running xp my advice: DONT! |
hamstar (4) | ||
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