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Of all the sinister things that Internet viruses do, this might be the worst: They can make you an unsuspecting collector of child pornography.

Apple debuted a trio of hard-hitting "Get a Mac" ads today on U.S broadcast and cable networks that target Microsoft's Windows 7. In Apple's "PC News" spot, "PC" reports that the launch of Windows 7 is causing "Upgrade Fever." People just cant wait to upgrade to their new Macs! Direct link via YouTube here. In "Tetter Tottering," a PC sufferer explains that to go from WIndows XP to Windows 7 you have to move all of your stuff anyway, so move it to the personal computer rated #1 in customer satisfaction: Apple's Mac. Direct link via YouTube here. In "Broken...

This appears to be something brand new, and it gets past AVG antivirus. I have antivirus and am pretty careful, and can't remember the last time I picked up anything that messed up my computer like this nasty thing. It takes over when you boot up, and won't let you go into task manager or anything. I got rid of it by going into safe mode (press f8 during boot) and looking at the properties of the shortcut on the desktop. It pointed to the executable file C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\24180116\24180116.exe. I deleted this executable file and removed the...

Researchers at security firm Finjan have discovered details of a new type of banking Trojan horse that doesn't just steal your bank log-in credentials but actually steals money from your account while you are logged in and displays a fake balance. The bank Trojan, dubbed URLZone, has features designed to thwart fraud detection systems which are triggered by unusual transactions, Yuval Ben-Itzhak, chief technology officer at Finjan, said in an interview Tuesday. For instance, the software is programmed to calculate on-the-fly how much money to steal from an account based on how much money is available. It exploits a hole...

Yesterday I got a notice that my computer was infected with a worm that gathers email addresses from a compromised computer, also a trojan. I started getting a critical warning on the desktop. I have long been a customer of McAfee and thought that McAfee would keep these kind of vermin off my computer. However, now it appears that problems are getting through. Need any suggestions you may have. My field is analytical chemistry, not computer science. Does anyone have a better source than McAfee. I'm willing to change -- especially if I can get a vendor that provides a...

A routine security update for a Microsoft Windows component installed on tens of millions of computers has quietly installed an extra add-on for an untold number of users surfing the Web with Mozilla's Firefox Web browser. Earlier this year, Microsoft shipped a bundle of updates known as a "service pack" for a programming platform called the Microsoft .NET Framework, which Microsoft and plenty of third-party developers use to run a variety of interactive programs on Windows. < snip > Having earlier checked to see whether the service pack had caused any widespread problems or interfered with third-party programs -- and...

A sucker buys a new PC at the first signs of a slowdown. A savvy power user gives his aged PC a fighting chance for redemption. From tweaking your OS to compressing files to overclocking your videocard or CPU, there are plenty of ways to tune up a computer, and none require a trip to Bob’s House of New PCs. Follow along this step-by-step as we show you 21 of our favorite techniques for making a PC better, stronger, and faster — for free. These essential tweaks and tune-ups range from common-sense caretaking measures to practical adjustments that you'd be...

<p>ASBURY (AP) — Mary LaMour can't understand why her computer works at other people's homes, and outside, but not inside her house.</p> <p>Neither can a computer technician.</p> <p>"It's uncanny," said Chuck Freisinger, of Phoenix Computer Services in Dubuque. "My other technician and I looked at that situation. When it's in their house, it doesn't work. When it's outside, it works fine. She took it to a friend's house and it worked fine."</p>

After a year of dedicated use after a computer mishap described in this thread: The Computer is Broken. Seems to be Circling the Drain in a Loop. TECH PING LIST SUPERSTARS03.02.08 chickensoup http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1979332/posts#73 Having a similar problem but the boot on the XP Pro disk doesnt seem to help. got to the blue screen once and hit the 'R" key and it loaded but just sat there and hummed. so i started to type in chkdsk/r but it would only let me type in "c".... It is now back to circling the drain to the white on black screen that...

The laptop in the house, which is currently the only computer in the house, has a bad virus/trojan/dropper that seems to have me beat. All clicks on Google are redirected to phony yellow pages. Most banner ads on normal sites are replaced with ads for a penis enlargement product (as if I need that). All communication with McAfee or attempts to download, update or reinstall McAfee fail. McAffe's instructions for disabling the virus by messing with IP address flushing do no good. I'm hesitant to completly start over on this computer. It's an HP OEM machine that didn't come with...

About two weeks ago, it seems after a windows update, my internet download speed slowed to a crawl. Speakeasy speed tests show me only in the 100-150 kbs download speed range although upload speeds are generally 2000-3000 kbs - high-speed cable connection. When I'm not on the web, just doing spreadsheet work or disk burning, for example, I'm fine but web browsing is like purgatory. I've tried everything I can think of including going back and forth between IE 6 and IE 7, reformating and reloading my hard drive, deleting and repeating windows updates, but nothing seems to work. My...

Is anyone here familiar with this? The laughter sound is like a "Mwhahaha" in a deep, devilish voice.

Steven Sinofsky this week reaffirmed that Windows 7 would only have a single public beta release—build 7000, still available for download for a few more days. The current expectation is that there will be a single Release Candidate in April, with RTM around July, and Windows 7 hitting stores a few months later. This plan marks a significant departure from Microsoft's historic Windows release strategy. Previous editions have had at least two betas and two Release Candidates; even Windows XP, a minor update to Windows 2000, received this treatment. Windows Vista went even further during its extended development period. In...

Here is what AVG reported: "Object name";"C:\Users\Chris\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\l97pzuzg.default\cookies.sqlite:\freerepublic.com.99c35e71" "Detection name";"A file caused a crash of the scanning engine at address 774659c3." "Object type";"File" "SDK Type";"Core" "Result";"Object is in whitelist" "Action history";""

I've used Semantec, Grisoft's AVG, and Panda AV apps. None of those have been satisfactory. They all tend to use too much system resources, or cause other problems. Currently, I'm using Panda AV, but it is causing start up problems and it seems to have a mind of its own WRT running scans. On the firewall front, I've used Zone Alarm Pro, but it slows my WinXP computer down. I've forgotten the names of the succession of other firewall apps I've used. Currently, the Panda AV app I'm using also provides a firewall. I'm not defenseless even without a firewall...

I don't know if this has been talked about here on FR (I assume it has but I couldn't find a thread on it) but I have been trying to get file sharing to work between Windows XP and Vista. I got all the correct network protocols installed on my XP computer but I couldn't get it to see the lone Vista computer on the network. Before you ask, my son has to run Vista because of network requirements at Purdue University. When he brings his computer home it messes up the entire network since I'm running XP on all...

This is a bit lengthy, so please bear with me. Damn, but I did something stupid and downloaded something I shouldnt have (no, not porn. get your mind out of the gutter :-)). When I downloaded this virus, the cmd screen came up and showed the following: crack.exe, serial.exe, number.exe, keygen.exe AND readme.bat I panicked, deleted those things, but it hasnt fixed my problem. It seems to have hijacked my internet explorer browser. When I clicked on the IE icon, it brought up the IE browser for all of a second or two before closing. (So, I used Firefox to...

The solution to what is apparently a common problem ("Wizard Was Interrupted Before [program name] could be installed") seems to involve "Impersonate a client after authentication" The following worked for us, although we are not computer professionals and results are not guaranteed. You need ntrights.exe (downloadable from Microsoft as part of the Windows tools resource kit). ntrights.exe -u ADMINISTRATOR +r SeImpersonatePrivilege ntrights.exe -u ADMINISTRATORS +r SeImpersonatePrivilege ntrights.exe -u Everyone +r SeImpersonatePrivilege You must restart your computer for the changes to take effect. Then the installation should work. (We don’t know which of the above three did it, we enabled all...

In my little house we have an HP desktop and an ARCHOS 605 wifi (amongh other things) and for the longest time they worked perfectly together. Then one day they were no longer on speaking terms. Though each by itself worked out-- and checked out-- AOK. So, after some very careful investigation -- and a $$ an hour computer guy -- the problem almost certainly is a virus, or what have you. So, can anyone recommand a good de-bugging program? We just have the plain-vanilla AOL virus protection (quit snickering) and so...well...any recommandations? Thanks

We are investigating the issue with the MS update KB951748. For the time being we suggest you uninstall KB951748 until the issue has been resolved. We will post when we have more information Best regards, Forum Moderator

I'm trying to download a picture of an M-14 I got for my birthday to my hard drive and I keep getting the message: "We've detected several devices attached to your computer, please select the device you want to get images from."

Anyone else experiencing problems in the last week using Internet Explorer version 6, Windows XP? I am using the "old" Yahoo email as opposed to their new email layout due to the configuration. When I attempt to click on any email to open it, it freezes and I get the gray box that says an error has ocurred from MSFT asking if I want to report the error. At first, I submitted the info. and saw that there is no fix for the problem and never gave the type of error. However, if I access Yahoo email using Firefox, all...

Pep Rally and Group Therapy... Pep Rally Group See the Get A Macs ads here.

My computer is infested with this crap and I can't get rid of it. None of the free services can solve the problem, and I might even pay for such a service, except that all of them seem to be just folks willingly to take advantage of you and charge you more money, and possibly infect you more. Has anyone here seen this? How should I and anyone else deal with this?

Windows Vista, One Bad Year Later A year since the release of Windows Vista, Microsoft is cringing at the poor sales of the new operating system. It was initially touted as a landmark new development to reinvigorate the IT industry, prompting expectations of wide-ranging “Vista effects.” Instead, Apple’s new operating system, which now also works on PCs, is stealing the thunder. Microsoft has hurriedly responded by developing a new version of the old XP. ◆ Windows Vista flops According to market researcher Net Applications, Apple is enjoying the largest-ever share in the global operating system market with Leopard, the...

This column is written for mainstream, nontechie users of digital technology. These folks aren’t necessarily novices, and they aren’t afraid of computers. They also aren’t stupid. They simply want their digital products to operate as promised, with as little maintenance and hassle as possible. So, I have steered away from recommending Linux, the free computer operating system that is the darling of many techies and IT managers, and a challenger to Microsoft’s dominant Windows and Apple’s resurgent Macintosh operating system, OS X. Linux, which runs on the same hardware as Windows, has always required much more technical expertise and a...

I need help on installing a Windows XP upgrade to a Windows ME machine. The computer is a Micron Systems IBM-compatible machine with 640.0 mb RAM and a 667 MHz CPU clock. I'm getting the following error after the Windows XP setup restarts the computer: A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer If this is the first time you've seen this Stop error screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps: Check for viruses on your computer. Remove any newly-installed hard drives or hard drive controllers....

Youtube links below. Novell's website is very slow

Yes, you can accept Apple's logic that "it all just works" straight out of the packaging, but there are better reasons for moving to a Mac than a factor that's just as true of modern PCs these days. Now there's an x86-based PC sitting under the hood of every modern Mac, the old battle lines are blurring. Time to reconsider the once expensive, always stylish, now Unix-based Mac platform? We say yes. 1. Not-so-heavy metalI've seen so many plastic-panelled laptops that have been knocked off desks and ended up with cracked cases or - worse - broken screens or -...

I have to jiggle my power cord at the jack in order to get power or to charge my battery. It is very annoying because it moves every time I breathe if it is in my lap. How do I determine if it is the cord or the jack (or both) and if it is the jack, how is it repaired? Does anyone else have this problem? I've been through several cords, but maybe there is a problem with the jack as well.

We Mac users hear a lot about Steve Jobs’ “reality distortion field”—the aura of his charisma its sanguine effect on the Apple faithful. If Steven Levy’s recent Newsweek interview with Microsoft chairman Bill Gates is any example, Gates’ reality is pretty distorted too. But I’m not so sure it has as much to do with charisma as it does with self-delusion. In excerpts of the interview published on the Newsweek Web site, Gates said that the newly released Vista’s selling point to the average consumer is features likes Sidebar and its ability to handle large amounts of photos, HD movies...

Apple's 'Get a Mac' ad campaign is boosting company sales -- which grew three times faster than sales of PCs over the last three months of 2006 compared to the same period in 2005 -- according to AdWeek. Creative Strategies president Tim Bajarin says the Mac comparison approach is working, noting that half of all Macs are sold to non-Mac users and that Apple's share of the total computer market is growing steadily -- from three percent three years ago to five percent in 2007. The ads depict a nerdy 'PC guy' played by comedian John Hodgman and a hip...

An unpatched vulnerability in all editions of Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser is being exploited, security researchers said Tuesday, with the attack dumping a broad range of adware, spyware, and Trojans onto PCs whose users simply surf to an infected or malicious site. First reported by Sunbelt Software -- although rival Internet Security Systems claimed it was the first to discover the bug -- the vulnerability is in how IE renders VML (Vector Mark-up Language), an extension of XML that defines on-the-Web images in vector graphics format. The previously unknown -- and thus unpatched -- bug inside IE is already being...

Though its ads are frequently polarizing, Apple continues to produce new "Get a Mac" commercials as part of a concerted effort to take advantage of its resurgent influence in technology. Word has arrived from blogger Nick Starr that Apple has begun showing new ads in the campaign at its stores ahead of potential Internet or television appearances. The three new segments continue the earlier approach. One of these (pictured) is said to feature model Gisele Blumchen and likely focuses on Apple's computer design, while a second sees the main actors in business suits and a third presents them in psychotherapy....

The networking technology underpinning Windows Vista may be less stable on release that that behind Windows XP, according to an analysis by security firm Symantec. Microsoft has re-written its networking stack for Windows Vista in order to allow for "easier maintenance, improved performance, and improved stability". But an analysis by security researchers at Symantec found a variety of security flaws with early builds of the OS. In a white paper based on this research, Windows Vista Network Attack Surface Analysis: A Broad Overview (PDF), the researchers conclude that Vista may be less stable, at least for the immediate future, than...

In 2002, Gary McKinnon was arrested by the UK's national high-tech crime unit, after being accused of hacking into Nasa and the US military computer networks. He says he spent two years looking for photographic evidence of alien spacecraft and advanced power technology. America now wants to put him on trial, and if tried there he could face 60 years behind bars. Banned from using the internet, Gary spoke to Click presenter Spencer Kelly to tell his side of the story, ahead of his extradition hearing on Wednesday, 10 May. You can read what he had to say here. Spencer...

Ever since the last Automatic Update from MS, the FR pager has stopped working right. When it tries to work I get the popup below. My husband has played around with the settings in IE at Tools-Internet Options-Security, but enabling Activex Controls there is not fixing it. Running XP Home SP 2 - all up to date... IE 6.0 MS Antispyware PC-Cillan Not sure which of these is stopping me up or where to look.

In May 2005, a trojan called PGPcoder was discovered in the wild by Websense Security Labs. The trojan's purpose was to encrypt a user's files, then demand a ransom for their decryption. Although this scheme seemed novel, it is actually predated by over 15 years, by a similar scam in 1989. LURHQ's Threat Intelligence Group has now discovered a third such scheme involving ransomware which we are calling Cryzip. Unlike PGPcoder, which used a custom encryption scheme (which was subsequently reverse-engineered by LURHQ), Cryzip uses a commercial zip library in order to store files inside a password-protected zip. Although the...

I am hoping some of my Freeper brethren can help me out here. We have a Dell Dimension 2350 (I think that's the model, it's a 2300 series), 2.2 ghZ P4, 512 MB of RAM. I recently added an external Lite-On DVD-RW drive, that is connected into one of the back USB ports. I love the drive, I went with the external rather than the internal because we're probably going to get a new computer pretty soon, that I hope will be equipped with an internal drive, in which case I'll pass this drive along to my wife whose Dell...

Apple Computer reported a 95 percent rise in quarterly profits on exploding sales of its iPod music players, and notched more than one billion dollars in sales through its retail stores. ADVERTISEMENT Apple s stock, though, fell in after-hours trading because Apple offered a forecast that fell short of Wall Street estimates. Apple reported net income of 565 million dollars, or 65 cents a share, for the first fiscal quarter to December 31, up from 295 million a year earlier. The report beat analyst forecasts of a profit of 55 cents per share. Sales rose 64 percent to 5.75 billion...

This is a transcript from a show Steve Gibson did with Leo LaPorte. The link to the audio is at the above link. Also, I will excerpt a little of the relevant information here.Steve: And so, you know, because I'm a developer when I'm not being a hacker, I wanted to understand - oh, and the other thing is, I want to write a robust testing application, you know, that always works all the time. So I wanted to know, like, okay, what bytes have to be set which way, what matters, what doesn't. Because, you know, that's the way...

Looking forward to the week ahead, I find myself in the very peculiar position of having to say something that I don't believe has ever been said here in the Handler's diary before: "Please, trust us." I've written more than a few diaries, and I've often been silly or said funny things, but now, I'm being as straightforward and honest as I can possibly be: the Microsoft WMF vulnerability is bad. It is very, very bad.

Excerpt - NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) plans to release a patch for a new security flaw at its next scheduled update release on Jan. 10, leaving users largely unprotected until then from a rapidly spreading computer virus strain. "Microsoft's delay is inexcusable," said Alan Paller, director of research at computer security group SANS Institute. "There's no excuse other than incompetence and negligence." "It's a problem that there's no known solution from Microsoft," said Alfred Huger, senior director of engineering at Symantec Corp.'s (SYMC) security response team. SANS Institute, via its Internet Storm Center, has taken the unusual...

Computer security experts were grappling with the threat of a newweakness in Microsoft’s Windows operating system that could put hundreds of millions of PCs at risk of infection by spyware or viruses. The news marks the latest security setback for Microsoft, the world’s biggest software company, whose Windows operating system is a favourite target for hackers. “The potential [security threat] is huge,” said Mikko Hyppönen, chief research officer at F-Secure, an antivirus company. “It’s probably bigger than for any other vulnerability we’ve seen. Any version of Windows is vulnerable right now.” The flaw, which allows hackers to infect computers using...

Excuse the shameless and one once every six months vanity, but this Ipod Nano I got for Christmas Rocks! I am no old goat (33 Years old), but this thing has to be one of the most amazing pieces of technology I've had in my hand in awhile. Downloaded an old 80's U2 video an the playback is flawless. I used to be an Apple hater, but this has changed my mind. Go ahead a flame away Apple haters!

My computer apparently picked up a virus from spyaxe.net. I have a pop-up window saying I have spyware and "it is recommended to use antispyware tools to prevent data loss." Everytime I close the popup it pops up again. I got tired of closing it and installed it then removed it with "Add/Remove Software" in the control panel. The pop-up is back. Can anyone help?

I hate vanity posts, but I am wondering if anyone in FR land knows anything about the Spy Axe 3.0 virus. It has set up shop in my toolbar and has hijacked my home page. eTrust isn't touching it. Help?!?!

Sony's controversial copy-protection scheme had been in use for seven months before its cloaking rootkit was discovered, leading one analyst to question the effectiveness of the security industry. "[For] at least for seven months, Sony BMG Music CD buyers have been installing rootkits on their PCs. Why then did no security software vendor detect a problem and alert customers?" asked Joe Wilcox, an analyst with JupiterResearch. "Where the failure is, that's the question mark. Is it an indictment of how consumers view security software, that they have a sense of false protection, even when they don't update their anti-virus and...

When the news first broke in the mainstream press that Windows expert and blogger Mark Russinovich (he wrote a book about Windows for Microsoft) had found that Sony's anti-piracy efforts had gone too far and that Sony's DRM was installing an undetectable rootkit on customers' computers which they couldn't safely remove, the first reaction from Microsoft was guarded. They were concerned, they said, and were evaluating what, if anything, to do: Microsoft, which also ships an anti-spyware program, recently renamed "Windows Defender," hasn't yet decided whether it will also flag the Sony DRM software as malicious code, the spokesperson said....

More than one-half million networks infected by Sony including U.S. military and various countries. Dan Kaminsky, http://www.doxpara.com/ ,is the expert who broke this and did the work. His U.S. and Europe infection maps are shown below and are frightening. Dan did a hell of a good job. Search Google News for "sony numbers trouble" for more in an excellent article today that is very worth reading.