PROGRAMS and INFO for a NEWBIE or OLDIE V2.1
by MITCH with the help of several friends at the forums i go to and the great help of GOATIE getting this posted.
UPDATED
02/05/2007 update links
Here is a list of some nice programs, some required programs and some good safe informative sites.
ok, if you are really new to computers I want you to look at this site and you can use it for reference.
If you have had a computer for a while, still glance at it, might pick up a hint or two and have less trouble!
http://www.cert.org/homeusers/HomeComputerSecurity/
As with all software... be offline and disable your anti-virus before installing !
And from Microsoft, the same people that brought you windows, a site with info on security and privacy
http://www.microsoft.com/security/articles/assess.asp
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FIREWALL-REQUIRED
Here are two, and both are easy to use and install and have a support forum for the free version like Ad-aware.
The free firewall that comes with XP is a one way firewall, it blocks incoming but does nothing about outgoing transmission,
for an unbiased evaluation of firewalls and some info, go here:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,117380-page,1/article.html
Zonealarm, personally I think it is the easiest to use:
http://www.download.com/3000-2092-10039884.html
And here is a site with instructions on how to setup, with pictures (great info):
http://www.markusjansson.net/eza.html
Sygate another good one, not as easy to install, but with more features:
symantics owns sygate now,
and like everything they touch turns to greed they removed the free version and want to sell you a
inflated price bloated piece of JUNK ! so i am not recommending my favorite firewall anymore, the
good links to get it are gone and i will not recommend downloading it from a possible flaky site,
and have no support for it.
Personal rant
Do you really want to buy a expensive software that is bloated with garbage for tech support from a company that has never created any software, just buy out good small companies? no thank you symantic/norton i will never be foolish to buy a product that it cost me $29 to call up your tech support and have them try and tell me how to remove the hidden files you have on the system ! and when i used the auto response support i got really silly answers from a computer
/Personal rant
i will be looking at other firewalls and when i come up with a good one it will be here ok?
and i still haven't found a replacement yet,
but this is a good link to download sygate from
www.filehippo.com/download_sygate_personal_firewall/
in case you have trouble downloading it, you can go here
http://www.spychecker.com/program/sygatefw.htmlold link
ok, now that you have the firewall installed and set up, you need to make sure it is working right so go to:
http://grc.com/
and run "shields up" click through the first page and on the next page scroll down to "shields up" on the left side.
Click it and run "full service port scan". When finished it will give you an option at the bottom for a summary.
A pass = all stealth, no open ports, and no ping replies !
While you are at grc.com.... download and run this small programs for security:
DCOMbobulator... stops a flaw in windows and closes a few ports in windows YOU NEED THIS
http://grc.com/dcom/
Shoot the messenger.... small program to close/open up windows message service
( not any IC, this is a built in message service you do not use and spammers have found it will bypass pop up blockers
http://grc.com/stm/shootthemessenger.htm
Unplug and Pray... closes up another windows vulnerability! ( port 5000):
http://grc.com/unpnp/unpnp.htm
IF you are having trouble with your firewall, here is a program that will show what ports windows wants to use in real time
ACTIVE PORTS
http://www.protect-me.com/freeware.html
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ANTI-VIRUS - REQUIRED
AVG
http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php
Avast anti virus free
http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html
If you have a virus this might make it easier to remove
http://www.trendmicro.com/download/dcs.asp
or this from Norton
http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/tools.list.html
or this:
http://www.bitdefender.com/html/free_tools.php
A friend gave me this site, looks good with info on virus software/firewalls and some security products worth a look before you install an anti-virus or firewall:
http://www.claymania.com/anti-virus.html
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HOW TO START YOUR COMPUTER IN SAFE MODE
You will need this info if you are cleaning out a virus, want to play with msconfig,mis adjust your monitor and several other reasons.
How to start a computer in safe mode:
http://www.consumer-forum.co.za/index.php?act=ST&f=23&t=66&
and here is another site in case the first is busy or you want a different format:
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2001052409420406
and another with screenshots for all windows versions:
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/index.php?s=18686f08df5fdc9555693877ca107a65&showtutorial=61
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COOKIE MANAGER
Cookie wall a simple program to control the many cookies that get on your system:
http://www.analogx.com/contents/download/network/cookie.htm
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POPUP STOPPER
POW
http://www.analogx.com/contents/download/network/pow.htm
Panicware popup stopper free
http://www.panicware.com/product_psfree.html
and for the Message service popup, this will enable/disable it so install it.disable message service,no worry
http://www.itc.virginia.edu/desktop/docs/messagepopup/
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SAFE PtoP software .....
"clean " alternatives to your P2P
Shareaza (recommended)
http://www.shareaza.com/
Gnucleus
http://www.gnucleus.com/Gnucleus/
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SPAMFILTER
Mailwasher, this is a nice one, and on his page he has setup instructions:
http://www.mailwasher.net/
BUT it looks like now they have a $ version only and that is very sad !
BUT if you do a Google for "mailwasher free" you will find that it is still out there (V2.0.40)
after you install it, go here and download and install his filter list
http://www.w5hq.com/MailWasher/
i use the free with that list and get very few spams, and it will allow you to easly delete any it misses
I am on a dialup and i love being able to delet JUNK on the server and only have to download REAL mail !
K9 is an email filtering application that works in conjunction with your regular POP3 email program and automatically classifies incoming emails
as spam (junk email) or non-spam without the need for maintaining dozens of rules or constant updates to be downloaded. It uses intelligent statistical
analysis that can result in extremely high accuracy over time. Works on pop3 only.
http://www.keir.net/k9.html
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ONLINE VIRUS/TROJAN SCAN SITES
When you don't know if your anti-virus has been hacked or didn't catch a nasty thing:
Symantec/Norton
try this and if not use next way
http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/default.asp?langid=ie&venid=sym
they changed the page it is now
http://www.sarc.com/
and scroll down the page about 1/2 way and on the right is a blue globe and click "check for security risk"
Panda ActiveScan
http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/
Trend Micro HouseCall
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/
Computer Associates is new to the online game, I haven't used it yet, but here is the info:
The scanner will initially update its signatures, if necessary, then present a tree of drives which can be selected
for scanning. The tree can be expanded to allow for individual directories to be selected and scanned. If an infection or suspicious file is found,
you can decide if you want to submit to CA for evaluation. The file will be sent and responses returned via email.
http://www3.ca.com/virusinfo/virusscan.aspx
STINGER
by Networks Associates, you can download this free cleaner and it will fit on a floppy disk if needed! it will clean most of the bigtime popular worms/trojens/viruses
http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger/
Is your system infected by Trojans?
http://www.trojanscan.com/
A2 ( see below in pc info) has a free/safe online scanner, will check for several bad things on your system! and if you can't get the above online scanners to run right, try this:
http://onlinecheck.emsisoft.com/en/
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SPYWARE TOOLS - REQUIRED
The first three on my list i call "the three musketeers" they do not run in the background,
so they take nothing out of your system's speed, and they work, so I think you should install all 3.
ADAWARE removes nasty things from your system like spyware,dialers,hijackers. . This should be one of the first spyware tool you install!There are several good sites that will help you with your ad-aware log.i would use this site as it has several of the xperts from the old adaware support forum
http://www.landzdown.com/index.php
or you can try their "new" support forum?
http://www.lavasoftsupport.com/
Download it from here
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/support/download/
and here is a link with info on "how to with" it
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/index.php?showtutorial=48
IE-SPYAD is a Registry file (IE-ADS.REG) that adds a long list of known advertisers, marketers, pushers to the Restricted sites
zone of Internet Explorer. Once IE-ADS.REG is "merged" into your Registry, most direct marketers and pushers will not be able to resort
to their usual "tricks" (e.g., cookies, scripts, popups, et al) in order to monitor and track your behavior while you surf the Net.
And it uses NO resources, you run it then end it and don't do anything for about a month and a updated version comes out !!
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/uiuc/resource.htm
Eric Howes web site
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/uiuc/
Here is a link with screenshots showing you how to install, and everything you want to know about it:,
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/index.php?showtutorial=53
SpywareBlaster doesn't clean and scan for spyware it-prevents it from ever being installed..
this is another program that you run and then turn off, they have updates about once a week. will stop most of the nasty JUNK
from getting to your system! it works, simple as that . And if something does get into your system, this has a restore feature that will
put back most of the critical settings for Internet Explorer.
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html
And here is a link with how to setup and install it:
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/index.php?s=f2507281f2610d89be4d6887c5520529&showtutorial=49
SpywareGuard provides a real-time protection solution against spyware that is a great addition to SpywareBlaster's protection method.
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareguard.html
and a site with good info on it, including screenshots!
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/index.php?s=18686f08df5fdc9555693877ca107a65&showtutorial=50
MRU-BLASTER Protect your privacy - MRU-Blaster can detect and clean over 30,000 MRU lists and other stores of hidden information on your computer!(MRU is most recently used)
http://www.wilderssecurity.net/mrublaster.html
Spybot Search & Destroy is a great tool to complement any spyware killing toolkit.
It is freeware and updates are issued regularly. Another great freebie for keeping your pc protected.
NOTE YOU MIGHT GET A C2LOP error while you are reading this..it is totally false, they have fixed it . BUT you must UNDO the immunize before the update ( nov),
Official support forum
http://forums.spybot.info/index.php
Tutorials at
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial43.html
Download
http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?...n&page=download
FAQ available at
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/faq/index.html
EWIDO
It is a great backup checker for nasty
things on your pc. Checks for Trojans, Backdoors, Worms, Dialers, etc. It will quarantine for
suspicious files . It also has a few extra goodies in it... Analysis tools (autorun, connections
and processes) . They have been doing one to two updates to it's DAT file every day! The professional version is released now. You can try it for two weeks, it
will actively BLOCK hijackers and monitor files, and auto update.
I have been using it for a few days and like it, it does take some resources,
but i do feel protected! ...and they are increasing the database of nasty files
every day!At the end of the eval time it will be a darn good scanner and will still update manually !!!
NOTE: I sent an e-mail to their support with a minor trouble and received a reply only 6 hrs later.
For win 2K and Xp only... sorry!
http://www.ewido.net/en/?section=ess
NOTE: they are now part of AVG, this link still works or you can go to
http://www3.grisoft.com/doc/products-avg-anti-malware/lng/us/tpl/tpl01
and download the trial version
HiJack This
HJT is a very powerfull program, but not for a newbie ! Most support sites will ask to see a HJT log and that can be a problem for a newbie, so i have two ways to do it
NEWBIE WAY
a.Download HijackThis© Merijn from: http://www.thespykiller.co.uk/files/HJTsetup.exe
b.At the download prompt, choose "Save". After the download is complete, navigate to the C:\Program Files\HijackThis folder and double-click it to complete the installation.
c.Double-click the HijackThis icon on your desktop. Choose "Do a system scan and save logfile". The log will open in Notepad and you can copy/paste it in a topic at the forum you use.
d. If you do it the above way you will not get into trouble, if you try the "OLDIE WAY" you can just install it in a temp file and will not be able to recover anything you remove !
and a big "thanks" to "the Gun" for the above info.
OLDIE WAY
you can download it here
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=3155
here is a site with info on downloading and using it, but DO NOT HAVE IT FIX ANYTHING, use it at a site that has an expert in Hijack This Logs, or you will take a good working computer and turn it into a great paperweight!!!
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/index.php?s=18686f08df5fdc9555693877ca107a65&showtutorial=42
Host File Viewer
This handy little program ( 65K) will allow you to find/view/open/read/edit/restore to default settings
your HOST file.
Instructions are on the display screen of the program.
Special thanks to Option^Explicit for this one.
http://rcip.com/mitch/HostsFileReader.zip
SPYWARE INFO AND NAMES
this is a list of a lot of the spyware and how to and what they do
http://www.doxdesk.com/parasite/
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PC INFO AND TEST
Want a profile of the hardware/software and hotfixes and displays them in your web browser?
BeLarc advisor
http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html
Run an online diagnostic on your system and see how it is working ( read the full page first):
PC PITSTOP
http://www.pcpitstop.com/pcpitstop/default.asp
A2
i don't really know where to put this program? the worse thing i have seen on their support is
"false positives" not crashes or things going wrong with your system! right now i use it as a backup program to make sure i am clean.
It blocks dialers, detects and cleans virus/worms/trojens/ and some malware.
Free of course!
http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/free/
Any problems/questions they have a nice support forum in several languages!
http://forum.emsisoft.com/
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START UP and RUNNING PROGRAMS INFO and HOW TO
Your computer is running slow, takes a long time to boot up, you have programs in background that you don't need, well here is the tools to work on it:
ok, for the newbie geeks out there, here is a list of known startup programs. It is long if you have a question about what that program does, is it needed, you
can find it here on his list! (would be used with MSCONFIG, a Windows utility that will allow you to edit your startup program list)
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_index.htm
If you have windows2000, you don't have MSCONFIG, but you can go here and get one:
http://www2.whidbey.net/djdenham/Msconfig.htm
And here is info on MSCONFIG, please don't just go crazy with this utility as it can cause your computer to not boot if you make a bobo:
http://netsquirrel.com/msconfig/
And another startup list it isn't as big as Pacman's one, but it does come in handy:
http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm
And for the win2000/XP here is a nice site with good info on running services:
his site was back up for a few months, then he posted he was moving, but it will be back, so try
this link first, if "under construction", use the one below ok?
http://www.blackviper.com/News/current.htm
Black Viper had the great info but his site is closed, but some kind person put up his archived pages !
http://www.dead-eye.net/WinXP%20Services.htm
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A Little Internet Explorer stuff
How to repair or reinstall Internet Explorer or Outlook Express in XP:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=318378
Here is a free security/patch check for Internet Browser, you might have to add the site to the "trusted zone" ..in i.e. tools/internet
options/security/click the green ball with the check/click "trusted sites" and enter in the url for them and allow 3rd party cookies.
( but you have a cookie manager so you can remove them)
http://browsercheck.qualys.com/
Now several of the problems people have with spyware is because of active X, cookie control, and security of I.E.
I like a MOZILLA based browser myself. it does not have active X, has a built in cookie manager, popup stopper, tabbed browsing, and is free.
I still have Internet Explorer because some sites require it to view the page ( Windows update, my bank). if you want information go here:
http://mozilla.org/
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INFO/RESOURCES info sites
Read this about security, not too heavy:
10 laws of security:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/columns/security/essays/10imlaws.asp
A program that will put into English some of the Microsoft error numbers:
http://www.gregorybraun.com/MSWinErr.html
This site has some great info and check out the "tools and resources" , and a GREAT writeup on CWS the scum of the net !this is a good URL as the scum kept attacking his other site !
http://webhelper4u.net/whmembers/index.htm
A great site with info and how to, on windows XP:
http://www.theeldergeek.com/index.htm
Info about anything with computers:
http://www.pcnineoneone.com/
Another good site with several links dealing with internet security:
http://home.villagephotos.com/2003-7/14838/InternetSecurityFreeTools.htm
Have an old computer and need an old program, try this:
http://www.oldversion.com/
Want info on what's inside your box about bios, memory or anything computer related?
http://hardwarehell.com/index.shtml
Karen has a few nice programs. I used her cookie viewer a while ago, she has some good info and several free programs you might like:
http://www.karenware.com/
And if you have worked your way down this list, here is a nice program that is open source (FREE).
OpenOffice.org the product is a multi-platform office productivity suite. It includes the key desktop applications, such as a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation manager, and drawing program, with a user interface and feature set similar to other office suites. Sophisticated and flexible, OpenOffice.org also works transparently with a variety of file formats, including those of Microsoft Office, and the vendor-neutral OpenDocument standard from OASIS.
Available in over 65 supported languages with more being constantly added by the community, OpenOffice.org runs stably and natively on Solaris, Linux (including PPC Linux), Windows, Mac OS X (X11), and numerous other platforms.
http://www.openoffice.org/product/
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BEWARE OF SPYWARE GONE BAD
Here are a few sites with list and info on "spyware that has gone bad" or spyware tools provided by the scumwriters that release spyware and a few related list on this topic:
Rogue and good anti-spyware list:
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm
List of spyware, spyware that claim to be spyware removal tools, and junk! from their main page, click support center, then Detailed spyware list:
http://unwantedlinks.com/
A list of over 6700 bad sites ( you can add to restricted sites,or view the list of bad sites):
http://camtech2000.net/Pages/SpySites_Program.html#SpySitesFree
Look up before you download, names and companies that are "not nice":
http://www.spywareguide.com/product_search.php
Safe list of freewares sites:
http://www.tom-cat.com/links/links-h.shtml#Software
NOTE: software changes all the time, so always download the program to your hard drive and run a scan with your anti-virus and Ad-Aware to get that "safe warm and fuzzy feeling".
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NOTE*
How to import/export the registry, with the appropriate caution. People who do a lot of downloads should consider backing up their registry before installing new software.
To backup registry:
1) Go To Start/Run/type regedit / Click ok
2) Select Registry/Export Registry File
3) Navigate to C: and name the backup. I name the reg backup reg and the date (reg2001Jul10)
To edit the registry:
1) Go To Start/Run/type regedit/ok
2) Select Edit/Find/type WhatYou'reSearchingFor, select delete when it comes up, use F3 to find the next.
To import registry:
1) Go To Start/Run/type regedit / Click ok
2) Select Registry/Import Registry File
3) Navigate to C: and select the backup.
*NOTE if you find this list useful, you can highlight this page,then cut (ctl C) and paste (ctl V) into a word or works document, then save that document to your "my Documents" . All the links will be clickable.
