BS: Internet Pop-up Scare

Subject: BS: Internet Pop-up Scare
From: Bobert
Date: 31 Mar 03 - 09:23 PM

So, today the P-Vine calls me at the office. She's frantic. While trying to order some azalea on line a big scarey pop up jumps out her.

It says

"YOU HAVE A BIG PROBLEM

YOUR COMPUTRE IS FULL OF EVIDENCE. yOU NEED HELP NOW.

YEARS OF INTERNET DATA COULD BE USED BY THE POLICE.

TIME OF LATEST INVESTIGATION; Today 9:55:24 AM on 31 March 2003.

CLICK HERE NOW FOR URGENT HELP TO STOP THIS INVESTIGATION

etc. etc.

Anyone else get this thing?

Purdy danged scarey, escpecially, other than wrestle around with you Catfolks, a few emails to friends and ordering a few CD's that all this pudder is asked to do.

So whatdayathink?

Think I oughtta take the pudder out in the woods and beat it to death with an 2 by4 then bury it?

"Er what?


Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: Internet Pop-up Scare
From: Jeri
Date: 31 Mar 03 - 09:31 PM

I've received spam saying just about the same thing. They're advertising some type of software to 'clean' you computer. Personally, I'd like to put the person who invented pop-ups together with your 2 x 4.

Subject: RE: BS: Internet Pop-up Scare
From: Bobert
Date: 31 Mar 03 - 09:34 PM

Jeri:

Whew! I was wonderin' if the danged thing was real. You know, with the "time of the last investigation" thingie.

Man, talk about realizing that there are a lot of folks out there who are paranoid, that these comapnies would develope a marketing strategy based upon fear? Whew!

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: Internet Pop-up Scare
From: NicoleC
Date: 31 Mar 03 - 10:23 PM

You're talking about the gray windows that look like windows messages? That can pop up even when you don't have your browser open? Those sneaky ad folks have figured out a way to use the built-in Windows Messenger. (Not the MSN Messenger; a different critter.)

Nasty stuff. I started getting them on my new computer; most of them selling software to prevent those same messages. After I nosed around in the registry and didn't manage to get it turned off, I realized I (doh!) hadn't installed the firewall. Bye bye, annoying messages.

I suspect these ads will be enormously popular very soon -- they target DSL/broadband users big time. If you have DSL or broadband, though, you should have a firewall anyway. There are numerous decent but cheap ones. Sygate Personal Firewall is a good choice.

Subject: RE: BS: Internet Pop-up Scare
From: khandu
Date: 31 Mar 03 - 10:44 PM

Well, Bobertz, since you are a friend, I'll tell ya about it. I got a call from your favorite Johnny...Johnny A. He was asking me about some of them anti-Bushers (As he called them). I told him I didn't no nuttin bout such stuff, then he politely reminded me of the infamous "khandu-Ranger Dave Fiasco of '73", and told me that there weren't no statue-of-limertations on such stuff and I'd better come up with some names quick.
Well, I tell ye, Ole Buddy, when he mentioned the infamous "k-RDF of '73", it scared the pants offa me. I thought I had covered my tracks and nobody could ever connect me with that. I was stunned and shocked and discombobulated all at the same time. Man, I started babblin' and blabberin ninety miles an hour. I didn't even know what I was sayin'. But I vaguely remember hearing my self say "And the Bobertz...don't fergit the Bobertz!"

I am really sorry, but I just couldn't have Barbara Walters or Geraldo or any of them people knockin' on my door with their cameras asking me about the infamous "k-RDF of 73" and go through all that stuff again...I mean...That was THIRTY YEARS AGO!!!! I got a new life now. I been good for years now!

I would suggest that you change yore name and address and move far far away and download "kill-popup" at download.com. It works very good!

khanny

Subject: RE: BS: Internet Pop-up Scare
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 01 Apr 03 - 01:20 AM

Kill Popeye? Khandu, why would you want to kill Popeye? I know he wasn't very nice to Bluto, but he did eat his spinach and he was always kind to Swee'pea, and Olive Oyl wasn't very bright but she thought he was OK, and...huh? Oh...never mind.

Aloha,
Mark

Subject: RE: BS: Internet Pop-up Scare
From: GUEST
Date: 01 Apr 03 - 04:31 AM

Oh God I hate popups - especially the one from Juanita who wants to invite me to view her webcam that she keeps in the bedroom. She wants to talk to nice boys, come on over. BLURGHHHHH!

Subject: RE: BS: Internet Pop-up Scare
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 01 Apr 03 - 08:47 AM

Nicole, I'm pretty sure those things have got through my firewall. I'll have to check more carefully. The reason for my doubt is that sometimes I have to turn my firewall off to ftp files (I don't know why but sometimes it will block a file larger than say 10K mid uploading) and forget to turn it on again.

Perhaps I should look for a new firewall. I'm currently using a free Sygate one which is over a year old. Maybe it's been updated...

Jon

Subject: RE: BS: Internet Pop-up Scare
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Apr 03 - 11:06 AM

Jon, I have a problem working through the firewall at times also. I use Norton's Firewall along with Antivirus, etc. There are some pages that seem to come sandwiched in such a way so they can slip popup windows through even with the ad blocker feature on. Not many, but enough to know that when everyone else catches onto the trick I'll have to think of something else to keep them out. I have to turn off the ad blocker to get some pages to display properly (Travelocity, for example, is peppered with little java script features that are all little "x"s when I visit the page with ad blocking on).

Does anyone who uses those things actually think they get customers? I would never patronize a company using gonzo advertising like that.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Internet Pop-up Scare
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 01 Apr 03 - 12:15 PM

Just to show how sneaky these criminals are becoming, the following is from the Spybot web page (see below):

"ClientMan is a new Malware target; first reported as suspicious, it became clear soon that it will pass the ZoneAlarm firewall without user consent. When it tries to connect to the Internet, and ZoneAlarm displays it's dialog whether the program should be allowed to connect or not, ClientMan will auto-click the 'Yes' button after checking the 'Always' checkbox. This way, it grants itself Internet Access without the user even noticing more than a short flash of the ZA dialog."

Heading off SPAM in the April 8 PC Magazine, has a fairly detailed description of how to get useful tracking information from SPAM email headers so that you can make meaningful complaints to/through your ISP. It won't help much with the "Message" popups, but may be useful for some of the rest of the junk. (This issue shows a cover with "How to Network Your Home" as the main headline if you start at the magazines homepage linked below.)

The latest issue (April 22, 2003) hasn't been posted as the "current issue" yet (probably about a week – 4/8?) but has quite a lot of good stuff on AV and Spyware. One of their better recent issues. Check back in about a week at PC Mag Home and scroll down to the "current issue" in the left sidebar. It will have "Spyware" as the main headline when it's posted.

In the Spyware category, none of the products reviewed got particularly good ratings. The well known Ad-Aware is now at ver 6, and rated as "much improved" over previous versions, but still pretty mediocre due to failure to recognize much of the "newer stuff" that's appearing. A new(?) product, "Spybot Search and Destroy" from PepiMK Software, Spybot was given an "Editors Choice" rating, but even it was considered "less than excellent." Its "Free – donation requested – ware" if someone's interested in looking at it. (I haven't yet.)

Their latest review of AV programs gave Norton 2003 the "Editors Choice" for home users. They gave McAfee a better rating than I'd have guessed, with the rating based on improvements in the newest version. (McAfee refused permission to have their previous product reviewed in a recent similar comparison.) A product I hadn't heard of, NOD32 2.0 got good performance ratings, but was judged too complex for most users: power wonks only. The only personal AV reviewed that got a "less than satisfactory" rating was Panda; and even it wasn't too bad, but it lacked features like easy update, scan speed, and depth of configuration capability.

For corporate users, Sophos got fairly good ratings, but has added a new twist – free individual copies for all employees of companies using the corporate Sophos. Talk to your boss? Best rating in this category went to Trend Micro, though.

John

Subject: RE: BS: Internet Pop-up Scare
From: NicoleC
Date: 01 Apr 03 - 12:16 PM

Hmmm. Jon, maybe my tinkering PLUS the firewall is what keep me covered. I bought the full version of the Sygate firewall, but it really slowed down my connection and didn't provide much more protection -- especially since I don't leave my computer on. (If I did, I'd have a hardware firewall, too.) So I run the same Sygate Personal firewall with good success.

SRS, does Norton's ad blocker allow you to configure it? My program allows me to add whole domains or partial domains or specific ads to the block list.

Subject: RE: BS: Internet Pop-up Scare
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 01 Apr 03 - 12:25 PM

The NOD32 2.0 link appears to be "not working." The site address is reported as www.nod32.com in the magazine, and I get the same result with a direct attempt or with the link posted above, so they may be "part-timers" and the site is down - or maybe it's a test to see if you're the sort of wonk who should use it. (Shown as $39 direct.)

John

Subject: RE: BS: Internet Pop-up Scare
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 01 Apr 03 - 01:14 PM

Thanks for the info Nicole. I will try to have a look later to see if there is a newer version to the one I'm running.

I do leave my PC switched on most of the time these days, partly as Pip shares resources such as printer and files on my PC but only have a 28K dial up connection and although it may seem otherwise at times, I am not always on the Internet!

I only noticed these things since moving to Win 2000 pro from Win 98. I've since also been hit by "Code Red" but perhaps it is all coincidence. In some ways, I wish I'd have stuck with my plan of Linux and Apache but I have a legacy of using an ISP running WIN 2000 servers, running scripts in ASP (I know of Chilliesoft but that costs money) and running DOS/Win versions of programs from php scripts to consider - I'd rather test on the same or similar to what my ISP runs.

As for "Code Red", I think a MS patch fixed that but these days I only have PWS switched on when I need to test things. These occasions have been rare lately - there have been no ideas for additions or improvements to the Annexe or folkinfo for a while and no need to "bug fix" - although, I've had problems lately like one that turned out to be another user on the same shared server using 10+ unclosed DB connections per page...

Subject: RE: BS: Internet Pop-up Scare
From: Little Hawk
Date: 01 Apr 03 - 01:34 PM

I have this little program that prevents pop-ups from occuring. It's called the Proxomitron, and it works great. Hesperis installed it on my machine, and I think it's available for free on the Net. Maybe PM her to get info.

And here's how you can clean your own system:

1. Start computer...wait till desktop appears.

2. Open "Windows Explore" (should be an icon on your desktop)

3. Go to the little Windows folder, and click the + box to the left of the folder icon. This shows all the folders within Windows.

4. Open the folder labelled "Cookies". Go to Edit (top of your screen) and click it. See pull down menu. Go to "Select All" and click it. You will now see that all the cookies (on right) have been selected. Hit the "delete" key. They will all be deleted and dumped into the recycle bin. Don't worry. You haven't lost anything you need by doing this.

5. As you did with the folder "Cookies", now do the same with the following 3 folders:

a) History

b) Temp

c) Temporary Internet Files

6. In the case of Temporary Internet files, there may be some regular utility files in there, and the machine will ask you if you really want to delete those specific ones (it will name them one at a time). Click "no" for those ones (there are only a few of them). The machine will delete all the rest of the temporary files.

7. And that does it. You can also just run "Disk Cleanup", off your Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Disk Cleanup path (accessible from the "Start" icon at lower left corner of screen)...but that's not as thorough. It's quick, though.

8. Finally, empty your recycle bin.

I do all this on Windows 98. It may differ slightly on newer versions.

The point is, why be panicked into buying totally unnecessary software to do this when you can easily do it yourself? I recommend doing it fairly frequently (like once a week). Defragment your hard disk once a week too for good running. Go down this path: "Start" Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Disk Defragmenter (indicate your hard disk, usually "C:")

- LH

Subject: RE: BS: Internet Pop-up Scare
From: Mr Red
Date: 01 Apr 03 - 01:43 PM

I'll empty my cookies jar immediately.

Subject: RE: BS: Internet Pop-up Scare
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 01 Apr 03 - 01:43 PM

Nicole C & all -

The messages that pop up when you aren't "on the web" are using the network messenger SEND command. It only applies to "net ready" op systems, Win2K, WinXP, NTx, etc. Shouldn't occur on Win98 or WinME, since they have to open the WinPopup applet in order to receive net messages.

The utility was once used by network managers to "broadcast" messages on the local net, but is virtually never used even in that way any more. You can get info on the command being used by entering "NET HELP SEND" at a command prompt.

In any of the affected OS, go to Control Panel, Administrative Tools | Services. Double-click on "Messenger" and click on "Stop." Then set the "Startup Type" to either "Manual" or "Disable." Ok out. (You will probably have to log on as Administrator.)

In NT4, it may be difficult to locate the Services applet. The suggestion is to open HELP, select Services in the index, select enabling/disabling below Services. The help topic has a link to the Services applet.

From PC Mag, April 22, p80 "Solutions" (Niel Rubenking comment)

John

Subject: RE: BS: Internet Pop-up Scare
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 01 Apr 03 - 01:46 PM

LH, I think you may be missunderstanding part of the situation.

I can't vouch for everyone in this thread but at least Nicole and I are not talking about annoying pop-up ads that come up when you view a web page. These are irritating things abusing the Windows Messaging System. The ones I've got have been little grey boxes with messages like "Hi, I'm xxxx, I'd really like to meet you. My website is xxxxx" together with OK and cancel buttons.

I'm not sure what you consider nececcery or unnecessary but I would consider a firewall necessary (and there are free ones out there). There are people out there all the while scanning ports and looking for ways of using other's computers for thier own ends...

Jon

Subject: RE: BS: Internet Pop-up Scare
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 01 Apr 03 - 01:48 PM

Thanks John.

Subject: RE: BS: Internet Pop-up Scare
From: NicoleC
Date: 01 Apr 03 - 02:17 PM

J-in-K,

Nope, it doesn't work to stop the service, that's the first thing I tried. It didn't even work to disable it; the service would reenable itself. Perhaps are advertisers are smart enough to run a little hack to enable the service... I don't know enough about the inner workings of Windows to tell if that's an open port.

Perhaps that's the missing link & you need to do BOTH -- the firewall prevents the abuser from reenabling the service?

Subject: RE: BS: Internet Pop-up Scare
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 01 Apr 03 - 02:46 PM

Carole C

If you don't reset the "Startup Type," net messaging will re-enable on boot. I don't know whether using the "disable" setting rather than the "manual" would help.

If that's not your case, then it is possible that they've snuck something on to reset it for you. A couple of well known virus types stick a .dll into startup to reinstall themselves (or attempt to) if you delete them (sp.dll, as I recall, was a classic of the type).

If they have slipped something in, it would almost certainly leave tracks in Start and/or Startup folders (or maybe even in the DOS startup files, config and autoexec if you still have them) but those are pretty difficult to "analyse by remote control."

John

Subject: RE: BS: Internet Pop-up Scare
From: Don Firth
Date: 01 Apr 03 - 03:01 PM

I was browsing through a politically oriented site a couple of days ago (conservative, actually, which one would think wouldn't bother Ashcroft all that much) when I got a pop-up window hawking something like "Windows Washer" (I can't remember if that's exactly what it was called, but that's close), warning me that my perambulations through cyberspace were being traced, and since I was undoubtedly spending my on-line time in politically subversive sites, porn sites, or both, I really needed to eliminate my trail and prevent people from inevitably learning of my sleazy habits of treachery and perversion. I could cover my slimy, disgusting trail and prevent such invasions of my privacy by clicking on "Download."

The pop-up covered my whole screen, including all my toolbars and my taskbar. No way to get rid of it. So I hit my reset button. My computer cycled through, my regular desktop appeared for a few seconds, then the damned "Windows Washer" thing covered the screen again. I tried it several times with the same result. So I figured, "Okay, since it seems to be the only way out, I'll see what this thing is all about," planning on hitting the reset button again if things got too far out of hand, and I clicked on "Download." The next thing it wanted, of course, was my personal information and my credit card number ($79.95). The only way to get rid of it was to fill in the information it wanted, which I wasn't about to do. Fury and Frustration!!

And then, good ole Bill Gates and his buggy Windows 98 rode in at the last moment, just like the Cavalry! My computer froze! Fortunately, Norton Crashguard was still functional. A Crashguard screen appeared (Oh, bless you, Mr. Norton!), so I clicked on "Terminate Program." That got me back to my desktop, and in the second or so before the pop-up could appear again, I clicked on "Start," then "Find," then "Files and Folders," and typed in what I figured was the first part of the program title plus an asterisk, and BINGO! I lucked out and found it among my program files, in a whole folder it had built for itself. I deleted the whole thing with a might bellow. And then . . . all quiet on the Western Front.

I had a trial version of AdSubtract PRO on my computer, but it had lapsed. Since it had lapsed, I'd had been plagued by a major increase in pop-ups. It had at least drastically reduced the number of pop-ups I was getting and allowed me to go in and zap selected cookies, spyware, and other such sneaky stuff, so I decided to pay them their stipend ($39.95), and downloaded the full version—and their Sygate Personal Firewall PRO as well. Between the two of them, they've got a lot of neat features, the chief of which is that since I activated it, no more pop-ups. And it lets me know when my computer is sending information out, along with who it's sending it to, and asks me if I want to allow it. Tranquillity reigns again.

I'm a fairly peaceable sort, but whoever invented pop-ups—especially the ones you can't get rid of—ought to be boiled in oil!

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: Internet Pop-up Scare
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 01 Apr 03 - 03:16 PM

My next nasty letter may well be to the "expert" whose instructions for making "random popups" on your web site are included in one of my occasionally read mags.

As another note in the SPAM/POPUP/SCAM wars, a couple of major web employment sites have recently emailed "all known visitors" warning about "fake" resume/employment sites whose only purpose is getting people to "submit" personal information for their criminal use (ID theft, etc.)

And SCO is suing IBM in an attempt to establish "patent lineage" to permit them to charge all LINUX users royalties -- but you knew that.

They seem to be all crooks but us guys.

John

Subject: RE: BS: Internet Pop-up Scare
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Apr 03 - 03:35 PM

John in Kansas or whoever is game to answer,

I'm planning to get a router to use with my system as a sort of bunker behind which my firewall will hopefully be obsolete. Or is this really the case? I've read that routers have their own IP addresses different from the computer behind it, essentially shielding the computer. I'm going to have a couple of computers here one of these days, so will need to to hook all up to the DSL, using the router. Is this still true, though, that it acts like a barrier to some attacks and such?

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Internet Pop-up Scare
From: Don Firth
Date: 01 Apr 03 - 03:51 PM

Interesting. I just looked up "Windows Washer" on google, and although the one that tried to take over my computer did identify itself as "Windows Washer" or "Window Washer," it's not the same one. The one I just found sells for $29.95 and the blurbs are in a whole different style. One wonders. . . .

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: Internet Pop-up Scare
From: Bill D
Date: 01 Apr 03 - 04:40 PM

Little Hawk is right...one of the BEST pop-up preventers is The Proxomitron

here is a site devoted to helping you with it.
http://www.sankey.ws/proxomitron.html

Subject: RE: BS: Internet Pop-up Scare
From: Amos
Date: 01 Apr 03 - 04:46 PM

SRS:

Routers can be configured in such a way that they have one IP address in their dialogue with the Internet, and then allocate to a number of synthetic IP addresses to the machines behind them -- using IP-like numbers which are not internet IP numbers. They can also be programmed to control what traffic they will and will not forward to those subsidiary numbers.

A

Subject: RE: BS: Internet Pop-up Scare
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 01 Apr 03 - 09:06 PM

SRS

I haven't gone to a router - yet, so haven't looked much into the details, but the conventional advice is that you should have a firewall at the router. Some(?) routers come with built-in hardware firewall features, and most have software to do some protecting.

The PC Mag issue that's up as the current issue (see noon-15 above for link) was focused on networking, and should have some discussion of what security you should have, although they're pretty hot on the wireless stuff at the moment.

John

Subject: RE: BS: Internet Pop-up Scare
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 01 Apr 03 - 10:35 PM

Don, if your screen gets taken over by a popup again, just hit Ctrl-Alt-Del (simultaneously, though it often works better if you hold down Ctrl and Alt and then hit Del). This won't automatically reboot your computer like in the old days, but will bring up the "Close Program" dialog box. The program that's highlighted should be the name of the pesky window followed by your browser. Click on "end task", wait a minute, and another box should come up asking you if you mean it. Hit "end task" again and all the open windows in your browser will close, but everything else should be OK. At least, that's the way it works on Win98...not sure about the later ones. You can usually use this to close any program that's frozen.

Aloha,
Mark

Subject: RE: BS: Internet Pop-up Scare
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 01 Apr 03 - 11:16 PM

Actually the second box will say something like "program not responding" and the choice is "close program"--but it's the same idea.

Subject: RE: BS: Internet Pop-up Scare
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Apr 03 - 11:49 PM

Mark, that is one of the features that seems to work BETTER in the later programs. I use Win2000 Pro and use that feature regularly (usually when one of my blankety-blank Microsoft programs freezes).

John and Amos--thanks for your thoughts on Routers. Perhaps I'll be the guinea pig for this one?

We use wireless at the library where I work--it's slower than the direct connection, but quite versatile. It's also VERY VULNERABLE to all sorts of piggyback activity. If you have wireless in your home, someone driving down the street with a laptop and the proper connection equipment can tap into your wireless network. You can't protect the things. So I'd much rather go with the hard-wired router and assign addresses to my computers (and I plan to continue to use the firewall) than to leave myself wide-open to folks who might borrow my connection. As it is, anyone with the right equipment can come into the library (I work at a state university, so anyone can come into this library and use much of the databases and such there) and use the networks with their equipment. Or they can sit outside, probably unnoticed, and connect. It's probably the moral equivalent of leaving a bowl of very nice candy on a table with a little sign that says "Do Not Touch."

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Internet Pop-up Scare
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 02 Apr 03 - 12:03 AM

When a pop-up occurs - put the address into your "blocked files" area of IE or Nav or Opera...within a week most annoyances will be gone....within a month you will encounter less than one or two.

Some of the most profitable computer software sales are for devices to expedite what the ignorantly PC newbies cannot fathom. KatLaughing's (a retarded clone) current posts for help regarding temp-files are a good example.

Sincerely,
Gargoyle

Subject: RE: BS: Internet Pop-up Scare
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 02 Apr 03 - 03:27 AM

Gargoyle -

I don't use a popup blocker, simply because I don't often go (and almost never go back to) places where I run into a lot of popups. (One of the reasons I quit using McAfee AV.) Most of them can be "killed" by just clicking them off. There are a couple of known notorious ones where the "X" button connects instead of killing, but you just ignore them.

As with email, a lot of the less benign popups have phony addresses, which change frequently, so blocking the source isn't really very practical. When I first got a Hotmail account, I got rather upset at the amount of SPAM, so I tried the "block sender" thing, but Hotmail won't process more than 100 entries, so you soon run out of space to list them.

I once tried saving (unopened) two weeks worth of SPAM email messages and going through the return addresses (on a sequestered machine) - and found only 2 of over 400 that did not have phony source information. One specific message, obviously all from the same source, showed over 25 different phony source addresses just in that 2 week period.

Blocking "by source" is just not very practical, except in the case of a few specific and recurring annoyances. If you habitually visit only a few "known" places, you might eventually make some progress; but if you're out there "researching" in strange places the only applicable instructions are "IGNORE" and "DELETE."

Additionally, the "net send" messages referred to above do not come in as "browser messages." I frankly haven't looked seriously, but there is no obvious address to block. (Right click doesn't show any properties, for example.) They look exactly as if they originated on your own LAN.

NEVER CLICK A POPUP TO DOWNLOAD ANYTHING. The web is full of phony "we'll save you" crap disguised to look like something you might need, but actually intended to place spyware or worse on your machine.

If something offered by a popup looks interesting, you can always find the real product with a simple search (if there is a real version) and get what you want from a known and (possibly) reputable site.

One of the nice things about the 'net' is that you don't have to know a lot of arcana to get by. While a pause to think about "what's going on here" is helpful, "Ask A Friend" is a legitimate and acceptable troubleshooting procedure.

John

Subject: RE: BS: Internet Pop-up Scare
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 02 Apr 03 - 03:57 AM

Nicole C -

(Apologies for crossing names in a previous post. I gotta quit trying to jump threads so much, or at least try to engage brain while thinking.)

If you are having difficulty with the "net send" utility restarting, you might get some help from one or the other of the ZD utilities:

Startup Cop

Cookie Cop 2.2

The point is not that you need these utilities, but they are very well annotated (even including source code with the downloads) and contain some information you may be able to use.

The links are to the "as posted" articles about the utilities, which require paging through multiple "more" buttons; but if you click on the "printable" button, you get the whole article in connected form that can be printed or (my usual) saved to a scratch file.

Startup Cop, in particular, describes the registry keys and other files where information can "boot" itself, and gives an unusually intelligible description of Windows startup processes. If you use the list of functions and files as a guide, you should be able to find any "reset" clinkers that may be on your machine.

There is the possibility that each new net send message you get contains the turn-on command, but disabling the net send utility should block that unless you're on the net or otherwise running your machine logged on with Administrator privileges.

There is probably enough information to be helpful in the linked articles. I don't know whether downloading the files gets additional detail. You can download without installing them, if you want; and you should be able to unzip any "readme" files without installation, although I haven't checked that out for these two utilities.

John

Subject: RE: BS: Internet Pop-up Scare
From: NicoleC
Date: 02 Apr 03 - 12:05 PM

John,

Thanks, I have already solved my net message problem though. Since I have a broadband connection, I am always on the net :)

Subject: RE: BS: Internet Pop-up Scare
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 02 Apr 03 - 02:38 PM

NicoleC -

Since you did get some of the net message stuff, you obviously are using one of the later versions of Windows that permits you to log on (to Windows) with varying "permissions." I'm sure you are aware that a first line security practice is to avoid having Windows open with full privileges when you don't need them. Much of the trash that hits the machine can only do what the "logged on" user can do, so just the fact of being at "user" rather than "adminstrator" level can prevent a lot of stuff from doing things like installing code and writing to registry. It's not a good defense by itself, but it can help.

The description of the methods used in the Startup Cop utility does have some interesting stuff. I found a couple of "startup" functions that I hadn't noticed (all obvious with a little thought - but it's a big program).

(Note: the above is as much for the lurkers reading over our shoulders as for you. No lecture intended.)

John

Subject: RE: BS: Internet Pop-up Scare
From: hesperis
Date: 03 Apr 03 - 12:25 AM

promixitron.org - blocks popups and is free and configurable.
grisoft.com - free antivirus with frequent updates. I removed 73 instances of virus from a friend's computer with this thing, after her norton's liveupdate subscription had expired.

Spybot - I haven't tried this personally, but several techheads I know swear by it, and say there's frequent updates. Since ad-aware wasn't updated for quite a while (almost a year) it would be better to get spybot right now. It warns you of any programs that try to send out information about your computer, and you can then delete the programs. Useful. Get it - I'm getting it soon.

Firewall - it's a really good idea to get one of these too. Right now I'm behind a router's firewall, so I'm somewhat ok. I'd add a software one for the best protection, too.