WE NEED TO GET RID OF SPYWARE FOR EVER

I am sick of it.

HTTP://WWW.DCCATHOME.COM
from JoeUser Forums
I am sick of spyware infecting computers. It seems all I do these days is clean spyware from computers to get them working. Education of the user community is one step to help but it is not enough. I don't like having to set up a computer with Antivirus, Spam filter, software firewall, hardware firewall , oh and don't let me forget the Windows Update. It is just rediculous that all this has to be done just to insure safe computing. It would be like before you go outside you have to put yourself into a bubble just to protect yourself from being attacked from things you cannot see.
88,212 views 33 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Education of the user community is one step to help but it is not enough.


You're right on there. Lots of spyware and the like are not generated by the end user but by companies trying to make a buck. As much as I hate to admit it, governmental intervention seems to be the only way out. I love the "Do Not Call" list
Reply #2 from JoeUser Forums Top
"It would be like before you go outside you have to put yourself into a bubble just to protect yourself from being attacked from things you cannot see."

Michael Jackson has already started.
TouchTasks - Access tasks with ease on Windows touchscreens.
Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Have to chime in on this one... I recently got a snotty message from AOL telling me not to send too many emails to their abandoned email names. How am I suppossed to know what email has been abandoned? Duh! So, I ran a check on my computer and found "73" entries put there by AOL... Remeber all the crap CD's we got from AOL over the past years? Now my computers (I run 10 systems) have tons of unwanted AOL entries on them. Waste of my time deleting all the junk. I would rather get SPAM than have to constantly clean my machines after every program I install to remove all the AOL garbage!
Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top
OK I hate malware as much as the next guy, but...

I'm not a fan of making a new law for every thing that bugs us. Hey I believe that 99% of the laws on the books should removed. But then again I believe that taxes & politicians should be gotten rid of.

That being said, we the public do have a way of combating spyware/spamming. A way that neither costs us money or time. It's called the bottom line. The reason many businesses use suppliers of spyware & spam is it's a cheap way of selling their product. The only way they will stop using those services is if it becomes expensive for them. The easiest, cheapest & most effective way to combat this is for us not to buy their products. It is the best voting power we have. If you are willing to spend a little time you could also write a polite letter to the offending company. Explain why you will no longer be spending money at their business. The business will get the message or go belly up. Either way it will stop the problem.

It's not the spyware makers & spammers who are the problem. They are just opportunists. It's the businesses (& their bottom line) who use them that are the problem.

As for viruses & trojans. I don't no of a better way to deal with them. Wish I did.
Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Mystic Dragon, you should run for office, apparently you have all the answers..LoL

There are no simple solutions, and unfortunately we all have to deal with things we do not exactly care for..But really it's "pesty" at best, not at all that tough to deal with.

I do agree though, looking at my taskbar I notice I am running 5 programs to simply deal with Spyware/Adware/Trojans/Virii/ and general nosey snoops that are determined to exercise their right to freedom of information..LoL..that is getting a bit ridiculous as it makes up over 70% of the total programs I have running!

One thing I will have to admit, since I stopped using AOL as my main ISP I do not get "Spammed" anymore, and I do not have to deal with AOL shoving programs down my throat that I do not need or want on my PC..
As more people make the move to other ISP's mainly for "Faster" connections I believe AOL is feeling the loss and that ISP is finally losing ground in todays ISP market...

Unfortunately I just do not think the problem will ever completely go away and it is just something that we all have to acknowledge, get used to, stay informed about and deal with...
Obviously complaining about it is really not getting anyone anywhere except for the fact it feels alot better after venting..the problem remains though.

Zero.
Reply #6 from JoeUser Forums Top
I agree.

~Zoo
Reply #7 from WinCustomize Forums Top
No, I don't have all the anwsers, not even close. Between my personality & the fact that I wont play politics, nobody would want me in any office. Most of all me, that's a headache I'll gladly do without.

But sometimes the simplest solution is the best anwser. We don't put up with other forms of abuse, why should we put up with this form? Every time a consumer buys a product from one of these businesses, they are telling them that they approve of how they do business.

But hey, what do I know? I'm nobody.
It would appear I can't even put the correct word in. That last no on my previous post should be know.

P.S. You're the 1st to figure it out.
Reply #8 from WinCustomize Forums Top
LoL!.. I was joking with you..all your comments about Politics, etc, etc,,I could not resist..

As for the typo..it happens..but then so far you have been lucky not to have it pointed out!!.. Sooo many typo vultures about these days,,,

As for the "Nick" "SN" ..well..LoL..when I used to RP I did the same thing basically..I had a character with the SN "Nogard d'ednik" so that one for me was easy..LoL

Take care Mystic,
Zero.
Reply #9 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I know.

Actually for me on politics, that's pretty mild. I was responding to the 'need for government'.

The problem with the typo is that I proofread it a few times & still hit send without fixing it. The 'vultures' haven't got anything on my Grandmother.

Most get the 1st part. But even telling them to spell nogard backwards, they still don't get it. At least it gets accepted the 1st time when I need a nick.
Reply #10 from JoeUser Forums Top
software firewall, hardware firewall...

ok, that is new to me. software firewall? Hardware firewall?
I thought it was just a firewall you put up and that is it?
Reply #11 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Software firewall, Norton, McAfee, Windows. Hardware firewall, Router.
Reply #12 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Double Zero...Not sure how long ago you had AOL on your PC, but you might want to look a little further into your files for hidden AOL crap.

As far as I'm concerned AOL is a virus. When I first got my PC I used AOL (3 days) just because I didn't know any better being a first time PC user. But I had to battle with AOL to get online because their software froze my brand new PC. Something about their AOL Radio was causing the problem. But rather than trying to fix the problem they offered 2 extra months for free. (HELLO! I can't get online! )

So I ended my service with AOL and used the Add/Remove (worthless) to get rid of the stuff on my PC. But my PC kept acting up and I decided to do a search on my PC for more AOL stuff in my files. Low and behold I came up with roughly 150 files left behind by Add/Remove.

I ended up using RegistryFirstAid (great app) to get rid of all the AOL stuff left behind.
Reply #13 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Chime in again... I find it laughable that AOL is running ads on TV promoting their "safe" network and are what I term the most computer intrusive internet firm that I deal with. I never have to remove MSN, Dell, Hotmail, etc from my machines and none of them constantly crame unwanted offers onto my computer.
Hmmmm, I am doing as suggested... Am not and never will be an AOL member.
Ya wanna take on Google next? They have so many rules to get listed on their search engine, it is scary how many sites are out there that they refuse to allow on the Google search. You cross your T's wrong and you are dropped.
A great way to check the search engines is to look for a topic using www.KillerInfo.com.... You will notice that Google tends to totally ignore tons of sites that the other engines rank quite well.
Oh, crap, I went off on a rant again...
Reply #14 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Thanks Web Gizmos, I know AOL is just full "of you know what!"

I do still have an account with AOL, since '94 actually.::sighs:: I do not use it myself,I keep the account alive for my daughters sake, she has used AOL since she was 8 years old and she doesnt want to use anything else (she seems to be more stubborn than me..LoL)I have pointed out all the "cons" about it, it doesnt matter to her, she wants to use it because everyone she knows uses it.
Even though she's 20 and can provide her own account, I just leave it up for her, one less thing she has to pay for...
I already pointed out the alternatives, "Use Email" etc,etc..Like I say, she's stubborn!..LoL

For the moment I cannot get totally away from it...eventually perhaps..

Zero.
Reply #15 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Spammers and spyware 'promoters/users' should be chemically castrated.

First offence.

Second offence....physical castration.

Eventually they'll get the hint....and if not, at least they won't be breeding more of the same...

Bring back capital punishment in schools too...

Reply #16 from WinCustomize Forums Top
*cough* buy a mac or run linux *cough*

That seriously will take care of most of your security issues right there. In the last couple of months I've been seeing a good deal of my friends doing just that. Even I'm trying to learn Linux, and it is much easier than I thought it would be (I am an old MS-Dos hacker though). Installing a dual-boot was quite easy too thanks to the vast amounts of support doccumentation that's out there (not willing to give up my games I found this to be a great option, giving me the best of both worlds).

Number one reason I'm trying to migrate to Linux as much as possible: tired of the weekly updates for my firewall (ZoneAlarm is getting to be a pain, and it's too easy to disable anyways) and anti-virus (yes, I realise this will never really go away unless I buy a Mac), and sick to death of the constant need to be on top of the anti-spyware updates (I don't believe in auto-updates on principle, seems like a silly thing to do to me, to turn your security over to an automatic process that could be easily hijacked), and don't eveb let get me started on the constant vigilance required when it comes to Windows updates! Someone already mentioned the cpu/memory load required for all this security, and I agree it's really too much.

I'd reccomend looking at Mandriva (ex-Mandrake), SuSe, or Ubuntu linux if you're interested, good distros. Ubuntu will even mail you CDs for free, which is nice if you're on limited bandwidth (http://www.ubuntulinux.org/).

JoeKnowledge: A good guide on the functional differences between software and hardware firewalls can be found here: http://www.firewallguide.com/
Reply #17 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Spammers and spyware 'promoters/users' should be chemically castrated.


But Jafo, that would mean the end of all entrepreneurs!


craeonics installed some spyware on purpose the other day, so he could a) see what it did; and b) feel less left out for he never gets "infected"

And quite an interesting experiment it was. Stuff multiplied like crazy.
Reply #18 from Stardock Forums Top
I hate how I have to run so many programs a day to keep my comp running smoothly. In the end, it gets slow and choppy anyways. So, my question is, would you rather run a computer that is slow but virus/spyware/etc. free, or run a computer that had virus's/spyware/etc. and is fast for a little while and then slows down? It takes to much effort to find the perfect balance, so if anyone knows it, let me know.

Currently Using- SpySweeper, Spybot Search & Destroy, Windows, Ad-Aware. My comp is running faster now since I got rid of Norton, and I havn't had anything recently, but any major attacts will put me out of business.
Reply #19 from WinCustomize Forums Top

But Jafo, that would mean the end of all entrepreneurs!

Like we're gonna miss them....

Reply #21 from WinCustomize Forums Top
"Bring back capital punishment in scools"? Hey Jafo, didn't know they ever had the rope/chair in schools, LoL But your other solution is an interesting concept. I recently had trouble with browser hijackers and a trojan attack myself, and quite frankly, the viruses who put this stuff out there should definitely lose something precious to them.

End user awareness is essential, but with so many of these obnoxious parasites being developed so frequently, surely an education on the issue would be a full-time course, taking far more time than most could afford. I have to agree with the idea of boycotting all businesses who trade in this manner - send 'em the clear message we do not approve in the stongest of terms.

As for government controls, well all too often they become a necessary evil, but instead of just fining these parasites so they recoup their losses from the consumer, their ability to trade should be removed or severely restricted, in addition to huge financial penalties. Maybe boomerang software could be developed to sling it all back at them
Reply #22 from WinCustomize Forums Top

"Bring back capital punishment in scools"?

Jafo was being obtuse....but it'd be 'better' than corporal...

Reply #23 from Stardock Forums Top
Chime in again... I find it laughable that AOL is running ads on TV promoting their "safe" network and are what I term the most computer intrusive internet firm that I deal with.

These commercials are at best misleading. AOL is telling people that if they don't specifically use AOL, they'll be open to all sorts of spam, viruses, spyware, etc. That is a load of bull. Any PC user can avoid this stuff with common sense use of their software or free 3rd party programs (for the spam).

Reply #24 from WinCustomize Forums Top
They've gotten ridden of spyware and all that stuff, its as simple as getting Linux or a Mac


If everybody ran Linux or Mac, then all the spyware crap would be written for Linux and Mac

Off-Topic...
Long before all this stuff about violence in American schools started to emerge, I went to a middle school in El Paso, Texas in the 70's where they had bars on the windows and armed security walking the halls....who knows they may very well have had capital punishment there. Either that or my mother was sending me off to a juvenile detention center everyday
Reply #25 from WinCustomize Forums Top
If everybody ran Linux or Mac, then all the spyware crap would be written for Linux and Mac


**Exactly**

And in reality..who would really want to..*YuK...LoL