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| Thread ID: 69861 | 2006-06-14 12:06:00 | taking the pc to the net for the first time. | rob_on_guitar (4196) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 463101 | 2006-06-22 16:13:00 | Rob... There are hardware people and then there are software people and each is special in their own way. You seem to be happiest in the hardware field so maybe that's where you are going with your interests. An old buddy around Seattle area is very definitely into hardware, and not too many people can hold a candle to him in his knowledge of what will and what won't fit together hardware-wise. He can take a few older units apart and somehow induce them piece by piece into some impressive systems. I marvel at his abilities to recognise what's junk and a keeper. If you want to know about SCSI v ULTRA, then just ask him. He'll know...in spades. His weakness is security and what it means to be protected on the internet. I see a pattern here with both of youse guys. I guess it just goes with the territory. But, please don't discount the absolute need and necessity for protection before going out naked into the www. Welchie, Sober and a few others are cruising and they will, not "can" infect you in moments if you go out unprotected! Himmel help you if you get any of the W96.CIH.xxxx trojans either. Most of them are "payload" bombs that sit in the system waiting for the time or date to destroy things. I know...a while back I got the "Chernobyl" one (see footnote) ...it required a BIOS re-flash to keep it from damaging my mobo...and it did ruin a couple of hdds. That one goes off on April 26th in celebration of the Chernobyl melt-down..... remember it? (forums.pcworld.co.nz) The absolute minimum of protection would be a hardware firewall...at least you'd have a small...but somewhat fighting chance to not get a drive-by trojan or virus instantly. McAfee was USELESS in protecting me..but, gee, that's not a real surprise..is it? :stare: BTW: I am not too clear on what a "clean hundy" is. footnote (I have never run W95, and I got this while running XP w/SP-1..so go figger!)): This family of viruses, written in South-East Asia, first appeared in June 1998. Currently there are at least 35 variants available. However original variants (1003 and 1019) are by far most common and are `in the wild'. The viruses infect Windows 95 files in PE format. This virus contains a date activated payload. One alias to this virus is Chernobyl, which is a direct reference to the nuclear plant accident of the same name which occurred also on April 26th (in 1986). W95/CIH viruses are able to split up the body of the virus code and place it within unused parts of the infected file (PE files usually contain lots of unused space). Such files will not execute on NT, Windows 2000 or XP because their structure is not valid (loader for Windows 95/98/Me is much less careless and can load such files). The viruses contain a very dangerous payload, who's trigger date depends on the variant. On this date, they attempt to overwrite the flash-BIOS. If the flash-BIOS is write-enabled (and this is the case in most modern computers with a flash-BIOS) this renders the machine unusable because it will no longer boot. At the same time, they also overwrite the hard disk with garbage. Variations are also capable of "core-swamp" commands that can stress RAM and memory modules including RAM disk areas set aside for that purpose. .......and, YES, that's old info from about 2003 or so, but this just points out that nowadays it is assumed that everyone is running at least a modicum of security and these trojans/malware should not be harming anyone any more. Reports of infections by these malevolent programs are fewer and fewer every year as users get tuned in to protection. It's like wearing seat belts...they get used more and traffic fatalities drop...and that's no news...it is a given that wearing seat belts is a natural thing to do...ergo: it's a natural thing the wear protection on the internet. |
SurferJoe46 (51) | ||
| 463102 | 2006-06-22 16:40:00 | Hey Rob This was a student's computer from a course - and it's " never been on the Net". So what sort of course was that? Woodwork maybe? Bravery plus cheekiness may well win... |
Laura (43) | ||
| 463103 | 2006-06-24 05:43:00 | Hey Laura, no it was supose to on the net, but the person i bought it off never actually used the pc they issued. He did his work on his own pc. Came part of the package after he payed his fee. Surferjoe I see your point, and yes you are correct I like hardware, pc looks like a transformer/music studio with a million wires hanging out of it. (Very messily I mite add). But yea thanks for the warning, a clean hundy is $100. How could I refuse. |
rob_on_guitar (4196) | ||
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