Posted on 05/13/2004 4:03:11 PM PDT by JoJo Gunn
well, remember all those spam emails advertising Norton Anti Virus 2002? A ton of people bought them, and they got a years worth of use free. Actually, if you delete it, then reinstall NAV2002 it will give you another year! So, they had a lot of freeloaders d/l-ing off them. I think 2004 changes the program around so you have to have a valid serial number (on the sleeve) or it turns off after a while.
"The Trojan shuts down all the windows whose titles contain any of the following strings: NAVAP black panda shield scan mcafee labs zone alarm agent avp msie mstask webcheck iomon nai_vs_stat "
Well, I have perhaps a silly question, that maybe some others might learn from too. I thought a firewall was basic. As long as it stealthed all ports you were okay, plus it gave you the ability to control what you wanted to connect to the Net or not. (Norton every now and then has updates for ad blocking and site blocking, but I never used them because I have a lot more faith in Spybot and Spyware Blaster, BHO Demon, etc). So since I've used Norton this long as a basic firewall, I'm wondering what's new to be aware of? Uh, discounting this news, of course. :)
Another year? Dang! How'd they let that slip past?
My friend's new computer at work has suddenly had that happen, too. PLEASE advise if anyone comes up w/the solution.
bookmark
Sorry, folks. I just think it's funny. I don't really care for Symantech products, myself. It might work fine for most, but I always found them to be a pain in the a$$.
I rely on firewalls, hardware and software. So far, I'm bug-free.
First thing to do when you buy a OEM computer like an HP, DELL, Gateway, etc..
Format C: /Q
Install a CLEAN copy of Windows XP.
Enjoy.
All that crap they put in there makes their systems unstable. Bootlegged software? What's that? ;)
One thing ZoneAlarm does very well is prevent any internal program from getting access to the internet without permission. If an executable changes in any way, it is not allowed access to the internet until you give it renewed permission. That is not quite as important as preventing stuff from coming in, but it can prevent certain worms and viruses from taking over your computer and sending stuff out. For instance, sending out your passwords or your credit card information.
Get zone alarm at http://www.zonealarm.com
I think it's still free but I paid for the pro version it rocks.
The changed executable makes total sense. Thanks.
No offense, Mike, but the direction MS is headed with "you bought it, but it's still ours" I don't like. And for a man like me who likes to burn CD's I especially remember that for a long long time people were having fits with finding XP drivers for their burners, etc, though I know a lot of the dust has settled since. First impressions, and all that.
And from the rumors of Longhorn, Big Brother wants to tighten it's grip even further.
Actually, ME ain't so bad as long as I dump McAfee, MusicMatch, Backweb, turn off auto-updating, don't install IE6sp1....
Almost forgot - speaking of updating, if any of you have heard about MS giving out free "security" discs, do not simply accept what's on it. For example, if you're using '98 and are doing just fine with IE5 and OE5 and Media Player 6.4, the damn thing will dump IE6sp1 and OE6 and the bug ridden Media Player 9 and Directx 9, whether you want it or not, and there's absolutely no way to uninstall the WMP or the DirectX without risky "aftermarket" assistance. The disc gives you NO options. They speak of security yet force you into needless "upgrades" which many of us know can be risky. And they throw it all on you at once.
Is ZoneAlarm going by the "EZTrust" name now? MS is sending out free samples of their AV and firewall with the "security" discs I just mentioned. (It has "free trial for a year" stamped on the disc, though I haven't tried it).
HOWEVER, this year I upgraded to Internet Security 2004, and I believe even McAfee would be preferable. 4 times now I've gotten error messages saying the program "has been tampered" and recommending I uninstall and reinstall - which I've done, and doing it the way they recommend takes the best part of an evening.
The technical support stinks. Unless you want to pay for the privilege, you can only contact them by email, and their answers aren't necessarily prompt or helpful. The Anti-Spam works okay after it has been "trained", but it has its own set of idiosyncracies, including regularly crashing Outlook Express. (Yes, I know OE isn't the world's greatest product, but I have my own set of idiosyncracies and I'm used to it...)
First Symantec product I've ever had that I not only would not recommend, but would advise against wholeheartedly.
I've built at least 4 systems over the past year and have reloaded many others with Windows XP and have not had any problems. There are the occasional hard to find drivers but I blame the hardware manufacturer for not supplying good drivers.
It all boils down to person preference.
I do agree that Microsoft is getting very big-brother-ish.
I'm not a paranoid, black helicopter type but I have to think that there must be some kind of back door into the operating system built for either Microsoft or the NSA.
The only secure computer is one that is turned off and physically inaccessible.
I'm like you when it comes to OE. I've gotten used to it, and for the most part it's logically laid out, and for me rock stable.
I like to try new things, and have been fooling with Mozilla the last couple of weeks. Their browser, (Firefox 0.8), though still considered a beta, is pretty darn good, after a little settling in. But their e-mail program, called Thunderbird.... it ain't ready for prime time. I'm sticking with OE.
I'd heard a lot about Norton's sorry level of support over the years. But for me, it's HP who ranks the lowest.
Almost from the beginning of my computing experience I found VDr (and CyberTech) and have learned to do most things on my own. I think a lot of us help each other a heck of a lot better than "support".
I imagine that people had troubles upgrading drivers, et al, when ME came out. I came in at the tail end, apparently.
I try not to be a paranoid type either. But when I think of XP and Longhorn and the rumors of DRM and the new MP3 with Dolby 5.1 and Norton, never mind what the RIAA and MPAA is doing.... when you hear those who say MS and McAfee and Norton is really behind all the attacks, how can you argue with a straight face? sigh
They've had that for years now - it's called Ada95 - but for some reason, strongly-typed languages offend programmers' sense of themselves as Wild-West gunslingers...
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