Well, I'm not going to start my e-mail saying that "I've been away from linux for a couple of years and bla, bla, bla". Still a newbie and learning the basics from scrathc. Comment: It wasn't popular to hear about viruses in linux before but now seem to be an issue and I understand (according to previous e-mails) that there's some AV development. Question: please briefly introduce me about the issue. What has happened lately? __________________________________ Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005 http://mail.yahoo.com
On Saturday 24 September 2005 1:51 pm, Ricardo Rodriguez wrote:
Well, I'm not going to start my e-mail saying that "I've been away from linux for a couple of years and bla, bla, bla". Still a newbie and learning the basics from scrathc.
Comment: It wasn't popular to hear about viruses in linux before but now seem to be an issue and I understand (according to previous e-mails) that there's some AV development.
Question: please briefly introduce me about the issue. What has happened lately?
Not much has changed. Most anti-virus you see 'for' Linux is used to scan files, emails and attachments, and other Windows systems on the LAN for Windows based viruses. Anti-virus utilities aren't really used to rid Linux systems of Linux viruses but to rid Linux and Windows systems of Windows viruses and scumware (spyware, adware, malware, etc). Stan
Stan Glasoe wrote:
On Saturday 24 September 2005 1:51 pm, Ricardo Rodriguez wrote:
Well, I'm not going to start my e-mail saying that "I've been away from linux for a couple of years and bla, bla, bla". Still a newbie and learning the basics from scrathc.
Comment: It wasn't popular to hear about viruses in linux before but now seem to be an issue and I understand (according to previous e-mails) that there's some AV development.
Question: please briefly introduce me about the issue. What has happened lately?
Not much has changed. Most anti-virus you see 'for' Linux is used to scan files, emails and attachments, and other Windows systems on the LAN for Windows based viruses. Anti-virus utilities aren't really used to rid Linux systems of Linux viruses but to rid Linux and Windows systems of Windows viruses and scumware (spyware, adware, malware, etc).
Stan
Right, I'd been looking for a collective noun, "scumware" is the perfect fit. I've been getting more and more calls to clean up scumware on Windows, the latest was today, a box won't boot because CONFIG.SYS and HIMEM.SYS files are mysteriously missing and they don't have a recovery disk for Win95, so it's still a lump of scrap iron with lights until I can find a solution. One that I'm thinking of is to install Win98SE over Win95 tomorrow, hopefully without losing files, I'm a Windows novice, so wish me luck. Regards Sid. -- Sid Boyce ... Hamradio License G3VBV, licensed Private Pilot Retired IBM/Amdahl Mainframes and Sun/Fujitsu Servers Tech Support Specialist Microsoft Windows Free Zone - Linux used for all Computing Tasks
On Sat, 2005-09-24 at 21:46 +0100, Sid Boyce wrote:
Stan Glasoe wrote:
On Saturday 24 September 2005 1:51 pm, Ricardo Rodriguez wrote:
Well, I'm not going to start my e-mail saying that "I've been away from linux for a couple of years and bla, bla, bla". Still a newbie and learning the basics from scrathc.
Comment: It wasn't popular to hear about viruses in linux before but now seem to be an issue and I understand (according to previous e-mails) that there's some AV development.
Question: please briefly introduce me about the issue. What has happened lately?
Not much has changed. Most anti-virus you see 'for' Linux is used to scan files, emails and attachments, and other Windows systems on the LAN for Windows based viruses. Anti-virus utilities aren't really used to rid Linux systems of Linux viruses but to rid Linux and Windows systems of Windows viruses and scumware (spyware, adware, malware, etc).
Stan
Right, I'd been looking for a collective noun, "scumware" is the perfect fit. I've been getting more and more calls to clean up scumware on Windows, the latest was today, a box won't boot because CONFIG.SYS and HIMEM.SYS files are mysteriously missing and they don't have a recovery disk for Win95, so it's still a lump of scrap iron with lights until I can find a solution. One that I'm thinking of is to install Win98SE over Win95 tomorrow, hopefully without losing files, I'm a Windows novice, so wish me luck.
You can do that with the upgrade disk, Sid, not with a new install disk, you need to start fresh to a point. BTW don't upgrade to fat32 on the install, the conversion process is very memory intensive, and if you have any bum ram, it'll hang and you lose data. Beentheredonethat.
Mike McMullin wrote:
On Sat, 2005-09-24 at 21:46 +0100, Sid Boyce wrote:
Stan Glasoe wrote:
On Saturday 24 September 2005 1:51 pm, Ricardo Rodriguez wrote:
Well, I'm not going to start my e-mail saying that "I've been away from linux for a couple of years and bla, bla, bla". Still a newbie and learning the basics from scrathc.
Comment: It wasn't popular to hear about viruses in linux before but now seem to be an issue and I understand (according to previous e-mails) that there's some AV development.
Question: please briefly introduce me about the issue. What has happened lately?
Not much has changed. Most anti-virus you see 'for' Linux is used to scan files, emails and attachments, and other Windows systems on the LAN for Windows based viruses. Anti-virus utilities aren't really used to rid Linux systems of Linux viruses but to rid Linux and Windows systems of Windows viruses and scumware (spyware, adware, malware, etc).
Stan
Right, I'd been looking for a collective noun, "scumware" is the perfect fit. I've been getting more and more calls to clean up scumware on Windows, the latest was today, a box won't boot because CONFIG.SYS and HIMEM.SYS files are mysteriously missing and they don't have a recovery disk for Win95, so it's still a lump of scrap iron with lights until I can find a solution. One that I'm thinking of is to install Win98SE over Win95 tomorrow, hopefully without losing files, I'm a Windows novice, so wish me luck.
You can do that with the upgrade disk, Sid, not with a new install disk, you need to start fresh to a point. BTW don't upgrade to fat32 on the install, the conversion process is very memory intensive, and if you have any bum ram, it'll hang and you lose data. Beentheredonethat.
Oh brother! it's a P166, so the memory won't be much and my CD is a new install version. I'll have a try with AVG if that's possible. After the complaints I think it drops to a DOS prompt and hangs -- after the PF8 prompts are gone through. Regards Sid. -- Sid Boyce ... Hamradio License G3VBV, licensed Private Pilot Retired IBM/Amdahl Mainframes and Sun/Fujitsu Servers Tech Support Specialist Microsoft Windows Free Zone - Linux used for all Computing Tasks
Sid Boyce wrote:
Oh brother! it's a P166, so the memory won't be much and my CD is a new install version. I'll have a try with AVG if that's possible. After the complaints I think it drops to a DOS prompt and hangs -- after the PF8 prompts are gone through. Regards Sid.
Sid, we are getting OT here, but if this machine has a network card you can share the entire hard drive; network using a router or crossover cable; map that drive as a network drive; scan that network drive with AVG or other anti virus program. If the machine does not have a network card, and you do not have a spare, take the hard drive out (this will be the fastest way too), put it in one of your machines and scan that drive. Either way should work. Good luck. James W
James Wright wrote:
Sid Boyce wrote:
Oh brother! it's a P166, so the memory won't be much and my CD is a new install version. I'll have a try with AVG if that's possible. After the complaints I think it drops to a DOS prompt and hangs -- after the PF8 prompts are gone through. Regards Sid.
Sid, we are getting OT here, but if this machine has a network card you can share the entire hard drive; network using a router or crossover cable; map that drive as a network drive; scan that network drive with AVG or other anti virus program. If the machine does not have a network card, and you do not have a spare, take the hard drive out (this will be the fastest way too), put it in one of your machines and scan that drive. Either way should work. Good luck.
James W
Apologies. I may do that, take the drive out, mount it on one of my Linux boxes, run f-prot and hope the files were renamed rather than deleted. Not one of my 7 boxes here runs Windows. Regards Sid. -- Sid Boyce ... Hamradio License G3VBV, licensed Private Pilot Retired IBM/Amdahl Mainframes and Sun/Fujitsu Servers Tech Support Specialist Microsoft Windows Free Zone - Linux used for all Computing Tasks
On Saturday 24 September 2005 3:46 pm, Sid Boyce wrote:
Stan Glasoe wrote:
Not much has changed. Most anti-virus you see 'for' Linux is used to scan files, emails and attachments, and other Windows systems on the LAN for Windows based viruses. Anti-virus utilities aren't really used to rid Linux systems of Linux viruses but to rid Linux and Windows systems of Windows viruses and scumware (spyware, adware, malware, etc).
Stan
Right, I'd been looking for a collective noun, "scumware" is the perfect fit. I've been getting more and more calls to clean up scumware on Windows, the latest was today, a box won't boot because CONFIG.SYS and HIMEM.SYS files are mysteriously missing and they don't have a recovery disk for Win95, so it's still a lump of scrap iron with lights until I can find a solution. One that I'm thinking of is to install Win98SE over Win95 tomorrow, hopefully without losing files, I'm a Windows novice, so wish me luck. Regards Sid.
Can't take credit for thinking "scumware" up. I just saw it in an online article this week and it summed up exactly what I've been telling my Windows customers for a long time ie "spyware/adware/malware/viruses/Trojans". Can't convince them to go Linux? You might be able to recover using Spybot S&D, AdAware SE, and Grisoft's AVG. Win95 is a bear though due to the age of the hardware too. Takes for ever to do scans, etc. Without curing the ailments, putting Win98SE on top isn't going to buy you much IF you can even do it. They may need to add more memory just to run Win98SE with a virus scanner loaded. 64MB may not be enough. 128MB is usually OK. Been there, done that, and they are still running scumware free. Stan
Stan Glasoe wrote:
On Saturday 24 September 2005 3:46 pm, Sid Boyce wrote:
Stan Glasoe wrote:
Not much has changed. Most anti-virus you see 'for' Linux is used to scan files, emails and attachments, and other Windows systems on the LAN for Windows based viruses. Anti-virus utilities aren't really used to rid Linux systems of Linux viruses but to rid Linux and Windows systems of Windows viruses and scumware (spyware, adware, malware, etc).
Stan
Right, I'd been looking for a collective noun, "scumware" is the perfect fit. I've been getting more and more calls to clean up scumware on Windows, the latest was today, a box won't boot because CONFIG.SYS and HIMEM.SYS files are mysteriously missing and they don't have a recovery disk for Win95, so it's still a lump of scrap iron with lights until I can find a solution. One that I'm thinking of is to install Win98SE over Win95 tomorrow, hopefully without losing files, I'm a Windows novice, so wish me luck. Regards Sid.
Can't take credit for thinking "scumware" up. I just saw it in an online article this week and it summed up exactly what I've been telling my Windows customers for a long time ie "spyware/adware/malware/viruses/Trojans".
Can't convince them to go Linux? You might be able to recover using Spybot S&D, AdAware SE, and Grisoft's AVG. Win95 is a bear though due to the age of the hardware too. Takes for ever to do scans, etc. Without curing the ailments, putting Win98SE on top isn't going to buy you much IF you can even do it. They may need to add more memory just to run Win98SE with a virus scanner loaded. 64MB may not be enough. 128MB is usually OK. Been there, done that, and they are still running scumware free.
Stan
Thanks, I have AVG on a CD, so I shall give that a try, it took ages on a reasonably spec'd new XP laptop. The Win98SE CD which I can't find is not an update disk, so as suggested, that's ruled out. Regards Sid. -- Sid Boyce ... Hamradio License G3VBV, licensed Private Pilot Retired IBM/Amdahl Mainframes and Sun/Fujitsu Servers Tech Support Specialist Microsoft Windows Free Zone - Linux used for all Computing Tasks
Ricardo Rodriguez wrote:
Well, I'm not going to start my e-mail saying that "I've been away from linux for a couple of years and bla, bla, bla". Still a newbie and learning the basics from scrathc.
Comment: It wasn't popular to hear about viruses in linux before but now seem to be an issue and I understand (according to previous e-mails) that there's some AV development.
Question: please briefly introduce me about the issue. What has happened lately?
__________________________________ Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005 http://mail.yahoo.com
Looks like you've been reading the FUDsters' cry of WOLF! The issue is that Windows aint smart enough to protect itself from viruses, no matter how high the dyke, the holes will ensure you drown, hence there are a number of AV apps that run on Linux, but not to protect Linux. Companies like Kapersky Labs and Symantec have for quite a long time been crying wolf as they know that if there is a dramatic increase in linux adoption on the desktop they will suffer significant decline in sales, unless they can persuade large numbers of switchers from Windows that Linux is just as vulnerable and will become more so as the numbers increase. Their products will be necessary on Linux servers serving Windows users for the obvious reasons stated above. Some apps that come to mind...... clamav, f-prot, BitDefender, Panda, the last 2 are commercial. Regards Sid. -- Sid Boyce ... Hamradio License G3VBV, licensed Private Pilot Retired IBM/Amdahl Mainframes and Sun/Fujitsu Servers Tech Support Specialist Microsoft Windows Free Zone - Linux used for all Computing Tasks
On Saturday 24 September 2005 11:51, Ricardo Rodriguez wrote:
Well, I'm not going to start my e-mail saying that "I've been away from linux for a couple of years and bla, bla, bla". Still a newbie and learning the basics from scrathc.
Comment: It wasn't popular to hear about viruses in linux before but now seem to be an issue and I understand (according to previous e-mails) that there's some AV development.
Question: please briefly introduce me about the issue. What has happened lately?
I, too, am a newbie to using Linux on an everyday basis. It wasn't until this past year that I felt it was up to speed with what I needed to do in order to be an effective user. Anyway, here's my take on the virus issue. I probably should update it, since I see I wrote it way back in January, but here goes: http://www.perfectreign.com/modules/articles/article.php?id=2 -- Kai Ponte www.perfectreign.com linux - genuine windows replacement part
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 The Saturday 2005-09-24 at 11:51 -0700, Ricardo Rodriguez wrote:
Comment: It wasn't popular to hear about viruses in linux before but now seem to be an issue
I don't know about that.
and I understand (according to previous e-mails) that there's some AV development.
Question: please briefly introduce me about the issue. What has happened lately?
Lately, I don't know. As for viruses in email there is amavis-new, that acts as a front end to a number of antivirus programs, and blocks or quarantines or whatever emails that are thought to contain viri. There are some antivirus programs in the distro, some of them commercial, but with a free (as in gratis) license for private use. But that is the same as it has been for many months. Or years. - -- Cheers, Carlos Robinson -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.0 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Made with pgp4pine 1.76 iD8DBQFDNpEmtTMYHG2NR9URAn6FAJ42MMWvvEB6LIFaLDJtYDo1LV52NQCfSdVz 8LDs3RGwPTsazZhr42zsCWY= =3fCB -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
participants (7)
-
Carlos E. R. -
James Wright -
Kai Ponte -
Mike McMullin -
Ricardo Rodriguez -
Sid Boyce -
Stan Glasoe