Scripting News - Latest Comments in Reminder: Why I switched to Mac in 2005 (Scripting News)

Re: Reminder: Why I switched to Mac in 2005 (Scripting News)

elevatelocal — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 21:38:50 -0000

I had the same thing happen when I installed windows7 beta on Wind Netbook dual booting with OSX86. I git virus from a rar file downloaded from shareware site .Solution was to wipe partition and reinstall Win 7 . Faster than Spybot antivirus time drains.

Re: Reminder: Why I switched to Mac in 2005 (Scripting News)

Charlie — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 09:27:32 -0000

Dave,

Try www.reimage.com/home to fix your PC. The service basically reimages your OS and should get rid of the malware without touching your user files. No spyware (I am an investor).

Re: Reminder: Why I switched to Mac in 2005 (Scripting News)

Ignobilitor — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 15:28:49 -0000

Hooray! You get to keep using Windows!!

Re: Reminder: Why I switched to Mac in 2005 (Scripting News)

stwf — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 12:55:52 -0000

wow, excitable! I didn't realize my post was so incendiary, you're the one who put up a post about how a brand new machine is infected with malware, and how MS seems to think its ok to make you spend money to fix the problems in their operating system.

I've never had that happen on a Mac, not even once. Have you figured out how your current system got trashed? If not then its just a matter of time until it happens again, right?

Of course if the Mac had as big market share it would have viruses too, but its a moot point, since they don't. I also doubt Apple would so easily tell you to use 3rd party software, I like to think they'd go out of their way to handle it themselves.

Deep down we all know MS no longer cares about viruses in XP, since their future depends on you upgrading to Vista.

Re: Reminder: Why I switched to Mac in 2005 (Scripting News)

Thejesh GN — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 12:08:33 -0000

Run crunchbang linux

Re: Reminder: Why I switched to Mac in 2005 (Scripting News)

shokk — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 22:48:55 -0000

You're just buying time with a move to the Mac. As it gains popularity, its vulnerabilities will be targeted. Like any other UNIX, it is only as strong as its weakest link. Take a look at the patch list for OSs like Red Hat or Solaris any given month. There are dozens upon dozens of security fixes. You're only kidding yourself if that's why you moved to the Mac.

But damn that interface is pretty. I'll be getting my MBP17 some time this spring. Why? Because it's UNIX underneath it all and I'm a UNIX geek. And it's the UNIX GUI everyone's been searching for all these years.

Re: Reminder: Why I switched to Mac in 2005 (Scripting News)

sirshannon — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 21:46:17 -0000

the last time I was infected, I tried unsuccessfully to remove it using my (non-free) Norton Antivirus, among other programs, but finally removed it completely by using the free downloadable "run once" version of Microsoft's Malicious Software Removable Tool. I had to run it 3 times but it worked.

Re: Reminder: Why I switched to Mac in 2005 (Scripting News)

Kevin Strasser — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 20:06:15 -0000

Get a MacBook air and use that instead. As easy to tote around as a EeePC. Version 1 is readily available for around $900 or so. An expensive Netbook for sure...but I love mine. Also love having a fullsize keyboard and bigger screen.

Re: Reminder: Why I switched to Mac in 2005 (Scripting News)

Richard — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 20:05:02 -0000

Someone mentioned it earlier in the comments but to reiterate MalwareBytes is the best program right now for removing this sort of thing http://malwarebytes.org

Re: Reminder: Why I switched to Mac in 2005 (Scripting News)

AlanY — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 19:56:23 -0000

If you return it, you might consider either the MSI Wind or the Dell Mini 9, since both seem a little easier to get a Hackintosh running on. In particular the Gizmodo guide that someone else has already mentioned for the Mini 9 is fantastic. I think in general OS X is a better netbook OS... netbooks are supposed to be hassle free secondary machines. My gut feeling is that if Apple doesn't get moving in this segment a decent proportion of Mac users will be running Hackintoshes.

Re: Reminder: Why I switched to Mac in 2005 (Scripting News)

Erik S. — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 19:49:29 -0000

The Cyberduck file transfer client handles S3. Now that Amazon has a web based console for managing EC2, do you still need Firefox?

Re: Reminder: Why I switched to Mac in 2005 (Scripting News)

Erik S. — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 19:43:59 -0000

A bit late for that, isn't it?

Re: Reminder: Why I switched to Mac in 2005 (Scripting News)

Bill Kinney — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 18:47:21 -0000

http://forums.spybot.info/s...

recommend the info found in that thread regarding Java and general precautions.

the reality of running in a windows environment is that more precautions than ever need to be taken to avoid this stuff. I was lax about it and got hit with something similar.

I set up my system with many of these precautions, but I find the usability of the system to be far decreased as constantly popping alerts from firewall programs, anti-spyware trackers and the like.

it's a shame and something that microsoft really ought to work on. We ought to be able to secure this stuff without having to resort to an almost unusable work environment.

Re: Reminder: Why I switched to Mac in 2005 (Scripting News)

Bill — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 18:01:40 -0000

I'm assuming you've fully patched the machine through Windows Update?

Re: Reminder: Why I switched to Mac in 2005 (Scripting News)

Josh — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 16:24:39 -0000

Try Trinity Rescue Kit. From the website:

Trinity Rescue Kit or TRK is a free live Linux distribution that aims specifically at recovery and repair operations on Windows machines, but is equally usable for Linux recovery issues.

http://bit.ly/EYUaN

Re: Reminder: Why I switched to Mac in 2005 (Scripting News)

Scott N. — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 16:21:08 -0000

Microsoft hates its users. It demonstrates its contempt by blaming users for malware or by arguing that much of the Windows security issues are related to its market dominance.

Re: Reminder: Why I switched to Mac in 2005 (Scripting News)

Scott N. — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:27:42 -0000

Don't bother with Windows Defender. It's hopeless at removing and detecting viruses. The only positive thing I think of can say about it has a good interface. A lot better than Norton, which has unbelievability bad UI. Keeping a Windows PC free from viruses./malware is nearly impossible task given the amount of software a heavy user is installing. Windows machines are inherently not secure. The fact you have to buy a security package for Windows is admission of this fact. I'm sure Bruce Schneier would argue security software package opens up Windows machine up to another type of threat that is just as serious.

Re: Reminder: Why I switched to Mac in 2005 (Scripting News)

Stanley_Krute — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:16:33 -0000

I spend approx. half my time taking care of folks computers. Once tweaked by me, these folks only get infected if they fall for some sort of social trap. Some info from that practice:

[1] I don't use Symantec products. I consider them virii themselves, due to the way they abuse the windows registry. They jumped the shark about 10 years ago.

[2] Avast is a great free anti-virus these days. Best of the lot.

[3] I don't use Windows Defender. Too much of a performance hit. Spybot TeaTimer's a good substitute if you've had problems w/ things attaching themselves into startup slots.

[4] Never had a problem w/ Java being a source of infections.

[5] ZoneAlarm firewall has also jumped the shark. That's okay, as the Windows Firewall has matured to the point that it's a good product.

[6] For sites that INSIST on IE as a browser, there's a great Firefox add-on, IE Tab, that lets you set up URLs for embedded IE handling.

More data than you ever needed, eh ?

-- stan

ps -- the 1000HE is a remarkable little machine. I've now got 2 customers w/ them, and have just ordered my own. thanks Asus.

Re: Reminder: Why I switched to Mac in 2005 (Scripting News)

AndrewBurton — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:13:44 -0000

I don't think I've ever seen you talk about this, but if you have and I missed it, I apologize.

Is there any way to move everything Frontier does, or at least the subset you do on your Eee, to the web? I'm still pretty green when it comes to Frontier and its scripting language, so this may be trickier than it sounds, but I know the Frontier Admin screen is web-based and making outlines in text fields is simple with Markdown. I ask because a web-based, front end would seem to solve your problem with using Linux-based netbooks.

Re: Reminder: Why I switched to Mac in 2005 (Scripting News)

dave — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:50:27 -0000

Microsoft still hates its users after all these years. I couldn't believe
how they stood by and did NOTHING when their users were being picked off by
malware. This is the company that viciously defended its turf against
Netscape, yet when the threat really was harmful, when they went after their
customers, never got the clue that they needed to get inbetween the
vulnerable users and the predators. They still don't get it. If I use
Firefox on Windows -- they're still making most of the money. Some of that
should go to defending Firefox users against the craziness.

Re: Reminder: Why I switched to Mac in 2005 (Scripting News)

Michael E. Rubin — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:46:12 -0000

"I don't use MSIE. Please no need to tell me not to use IE. I use Firefox."

Exactly, Dave. I've been told by tech support before that they wouldn't help unless I switched to MSIE. This makes no sense, and is a non-starter as a technical solution. Which browser you run shouldn't matter one iota. Blaming a computer problem on a browser is like blaming God for the weather. It just doesn't matter.

Keep digging.

Re: Reminder: Why I switched to Mac in 2005 (Scripting News)

Scott N. — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:45:33 -0000

Thanks for this post. I've decided to switch this year to Mac because of my exasperation with malware with Windows. Windows is simply not secure and the viruses are getting harder to remove. Used ComboFix recently to rid my computer of Vundo variant after all other methods failed. Fresh install of Windows is often the best option, but is very time consuming because you have to reinstall ALL your applications and settings. To do reinstall using OSX is an "archive and install", which preserves your data, settings and applications while loading a clean copy of the OS. The fact that tech writers are almost compltetly absent in regards to any serious discussion about the security problems with Windows is major bone of contention with me.

Re: Reminder: Why I switched to Mac in 2005 (Scripting News)

dave — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:40:34 -0000

Some comments are so off the wall as to deserve that being pointed out. :-)

Re: Reminder: Why I switched to Mac in 2005 (Scripting News)

Colin Faulkingham — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:37:02 -0000

If you're that frustrated, you should sell the damn thing on eBay or give it to a friend and then go buy a new one. Taking advantage of Amazon generous return policy is wrong IMHO.

Re: Reminder: Why I switched to Mac in 2005 (Scripting News)

dave — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:23:44 -0000

FYI -- this is bullshit. I have two other Windows machines that run fine,
are not infected with anything, and work exactly like my Macs. I don't know
what's in it for you to trash Windows like this, but you're wrong. (Whoever
"stwf" is.)