Microsoft and Viruses-IMPORTANT!!!

[belgareth]

Not much over an hour ago Microsoft announced another security problem with most of their operating systems. The only one they say it will not affect is M.E. It could allow another attack similar to the one a few weeks ago. There is a fix at updates.microsoft.com. I recomend that everybody go to that site and download the patch as soon as possible.

[Elana]

Bel...check the address again. I want to download the crap

[belgareth]

Try this one instead. It bypasses several pages.

http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/en/default.asp (\"http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/en/default.asp\")

[Elana]

thanks /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[belgareth]

Your very welcome. I hope everybody follows up on this. The last one was VERY Destructive.

[DZorro]

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Not much over an hour ago Microsoft announced another security problem with most of their operating systems. The only one they say it will not affect is M.E. It could allow another attack similar to the one a few weeks ago. There is a fix at updates.microsoft.com. I recomend that everybody go to that site and download the patch as soon as possible.

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Belgareth, thus this apply for windows 98 too ???
I currently only work windows 98.


DZorro,

[belgareth]

Microsoft ways it affects all operating systems except Windeos ME. It won\'t hurt to download the updates and if it prevents an infestation, you are better off.

[proteus]

Windows is a virus (except for XP)

[belgareth]

Without a doubt. Except 2K isn\'t bad either. In any case, since most users have Windows, it\'s nice to get a little forewarning to avoid a nasty problem. Fixing computers is a good living but I really hate to see the kinds of problems and the monetary losses some people have suffered because some a$$hole wants to prove he can write assembly code.

[Xehupatl]

Yes Windows 2000 is quite the thing ... except if you want to play games. Well, that\'s one less distraction in my life. Try running Win2K with 64MB of RAM. I have to wait at least 2 minutes to start up Adobe Acrobat. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
Anyone got any RAM he/she doesn\'t need??

[belgareth]

Running any modern OS on 64 meg is a joke. If you are doing that, you are bound to have a slow machine. What processor do you have? How much video memory? How much hard disk space? Have you cleared the temp files (*.tmp and ~*.*) and optimized your hard disk lately? have you emptied out your temp folder recently? What do you have loading in the background? 2K is rarely a problem but there are a few other variables you could look at to improve performance.

[Xehupatl]

hehe yeah I am aware of my predicament. But I\'m not ready to go back to Win98. I\'ve got my dear twin brother\'s \"old\" machine, a 333MHz PII, Creative Labs Banshee card, only 3 GIGs or so of disk space, etc. Well wat least I\'ve got a freakishly fantastic 19\" monitor (whoa).
Norton AntiVirus and the Windows Updates have slowed down my performance, but I don\'t really mind.
I clean out old files, internet/temp cache regularily. And sometimes I even defragment (?? don\'t exactly know if you use that in english).
This good old computer has taught me a lot of patience. Ahh.

[franki]

No wonder you sound frustrated from time to time. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[belgareth]

What else do you have loading in the background? Run msconfig and see if there is anything you can turn off. I don\'t know your skill level so if it sounds like I am talking down to you, my apologies. Be careful what you turn off, if you aren;t sure, don\'t do it. If you need help, PM me. Also check for legacy stuff in the autoexec.bat and config.sys. 2K doesn\'t really need anything in either file.

[Xehupatl]

yeah I generally try to keep my PCs performance up. I\'m no computer geek (in the good sense of knowledge and expertise), but I\'ve got enough common sense, learning ability and experience with PCs so I (think I) know how to configure the whole deal.
I use my PC a lot, but mostly surfing, writing and mabe listening to some music (note to RIAA - not stolen!), so I don\'t really get frustrated anymore. If anybody wants to donate $2.000, I can get a decent new PC /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[belgareth]

Sounds like you have a clone. If so, with a PII it\'s likely to be ATX. Why not just buy a new main board, CPU and memory. You can probably do that for under $200. The swap is not difficult. just remember to check the power supply for P4 approval. Otherwise you will need to replace that as well. Again, fairly cheap.

[franki]

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If anybody wants to donate $2.000, I can get a decent new PC /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif


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You can buy a decent one for half the money. At least I did.. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

[Xehupatl]

lol yeah that is with full software licenses .. If you know what I mean *wink* *wink* *nudge* *nudge*
Yeah well I\'d be happy to get, say 256MB RAM for this old board, which should cost no more than $60 or something.
So, anybody want to donate $60 /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Xehupatl]

I promised myself that the next PC I get will feature at least 1024MB RAM, just for the [censored] of it.

[Sagacious1420]

Bel-

Thanks for the heads up. I have ME, much to my chagrin. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

I downloaded the updates anyway, just to be safe. I had a major prob w/ my PC a few weeks ago. I\'ve been working on a new book proposal and my whole system crashed as I was saving the days work to disk. Poof! Blank disk! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif I don\'t know jacksh!t about computers, so I have no clue what happened. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif I just know the end result. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif I have a buddy who\'s an IT consultant and said he\'d do some poking around when he gets a chance. Hopefully he can help me out. It was really devastating...months of work gone in a flash. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Curious thing, though. When I finished w/ the download, I got a warning message suggesting that I quarantine a virus. Gotta wonder if that\'s the little bugger that\'s responsible for my misery. So regardless of whether my PC was susceptible to the virus you metioned, I\'m glad I downloaded the updates. It would seem that it was worth the effort as a precautionary measure.

Thanks a bunch! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[belgareth]

Sagacious1420:

I am very sorry to hear that on both counts. If I can offer a couple suggestions, I\'d say to go out and buy the XP upgrade and a good anti virus software. Once they are installed, check for updates frequently!

The other is something I\'ve said hundreds of times; BACK UP YOUR IMPORTANT FILES!!!!!!!!! A CD burner is cheap and backing up to it is easy. It is a whole bunch easier than re-writing a book. It always amazes me how nobody learns to back up data until they have a serious crash and lose something important.

I\'m not trying to beat a dead horse but I can\'t tell you how many times I\'ve seen a major system crash without backups. It is almost always a tragedy, just varies in degree.

[CptKipling]

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The only one they say it will not affect is M.E.

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HA HA laughing on the other sides of your faces now aren\'t ya, eh?!?!

My OS can beat your OS up.

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[belgareth]

Or could it be that the hacker figured people with ME were already suffering enough and took pity on their pathetic little OS? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[CptKipling]

Hey dont make her angry, the old girl is very temperamental at the moment...

[Sagacious1420]

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Or could it be that the hacker figured people with ME were already suffering enough and took pity on their pathetic little OS? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

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I\'ll vote for that one! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

Thanks for your sympathy Bel...don\'t know that it\'s really deserved. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif Like I said, I\'m pretty clueless about computers. I\'ve got all kinds of programs and stuff on my system that I\'ve never used...wouldn\'t know what to do w/ them. Seriously! Oh...and let\'s throw naive in there too. I actually thought that saving to a disk was sufficient... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif Gotta wonder sometimes if I\'m a walking oxymoron...emphasis on the moron. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif