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July 27, 2004 at 8:23 am #2273627
What is on your recovery/utility CD?
Lockedby Mark W. Kaelin · about 19 years, 8 months ago
The recovery/utility disk has been a mainstay of IT support and network administrators from the beginning. These disks are important whether you are working as a professional or just fixing your parents computer so they can see digital photos of their grandchildren.
But the question is, with the storage capacity of CD-ROMs and thumb drives these days, what do you put on your recovery/utility disk now?
[b]Is there a standard set of applications that we all agree should be included on a recovery/utility disk?[/b]
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July 29, 2004 at 12:18 pm #2698845
Linux and Utils
by dmurawsky · about 19 years, 8 months ago
In reply to What is on your recovery/utility CD?
I’d put a Linux mini distribution on it with full file system support. There are several nice packages that fall around the 200 Meg range (FIRE, Morphix) which leaves plenty of space for other utilities. I’d also recommend Spybot, fport, vision (same company as fport), and tools along those lines. A good command line virus scanner, or links to a web based one (I use trend micro?s) is a definite plus. It’s going to be different depending on what your company is running, too.
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July 29, 2004 at 4:57 pm #2698738
My toolkit “must haves”
by toms45 · about 19 years, 8 months ago
In reply to Linux and Utils
I carry at least 2 CD’s with AdAware, Spybot S&D, Spamihilator, AVG AV, Win2K SP4 and SP3 (just in case SP4 bombs), NAVCE 8.0 with latest updates on 4 floppies, and of course FDisk, Format, etc. I also keep an assortment of network diags, monitor drivers (yes, I periodically download them from manufacturer’s sites) NIC drivers, Partition Magic, and the list goes on. One of the CD’s is a “give away” to my clients with AVG, AdAware, Spybot S&D and Spamihilator. The cost is minimal, but the returns are great! I can’t count the number of small businesses I’ve gotten contracts with just because I gave them something before we even talked about service contracts. Each tech/support/analyst will have their own favorites. Hopefully, we can all learn from each other and carry those tools with us that we need. There’ll be separate tools for UNIX (and all it’s flavors) and the wonderful 🙁 world of Windows.
Look forward to following this discussion.-
July 29, 2004 at 10:54 pm #2698685
Reply To: What is on your recovery/utility CD?
by impulse · about 19 years, 8 months ago
In reply to My toolkit “must haves”
Good list. Another very handle tool I havn’t seen listed is Iolo’s System Mechanic. great for cleaning up registries after alot of service (After all the sypware, adware, virus removial”
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August 4, 2004 at 8:07 am #2714501
Try JV16 Power Tools was free but now share -still best
by sleepin’dawg · about 19 years, 8 months ago
In reply to Reply To: What is on your recovery/utility CD?
This was free until recently. Same people who put out Reg Cleaner. Still the best registry tool bar none and well worth its price of less than $30 ]:)
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August 6, 2004 at 10:48 am #2714150
Add this to the list……
by defcon · about 19 years, 7 months ago
In reply to Reply To: What is on your recovery/utility CD?
The list is getting better I also add “PC Bug Doctor” and ComExplorer I use in some cases…
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August 7, 2004 at 8:32 am #2714051
Recovery & Utility CD for IT professionals
by jorge · about 19 years, 7 months ago
In reply to My toolkit “must haves”
I agree with “tshanks”, each of us working on the IT universe certainly has our own set of tools and utilities carried on in CD, floppies, and in same cases still ZIP disk. I live in Brazil, and has travelled from great to small towns. For more than 25 years I lived at Sao Paulo city the major towns of my country, but I am involved with computers late 1973, and on the PC?s world since 1983. Always I treated the computers users like want to be treated, with responsability and respect, and with extreme confidentiality. What I see on the disk, I am not looking into. And in all this years, I never forgot to give to any client, friend, friends of clients a good support, good suggestion and also a complete set of indispensable freeware tools, what I call of “survive tools”. And teach each one how to do simple things to have the computer in order, with a minimum of troubles when they happen.
So, Recovery and Tools CD, is a metter to be discussed. Currently I am working out how to implement a boot CD to be used not only in emmergencies, but also as start in any new hard disk installation. A great number of PC in Brazil still is using Win98SE, few using Windows Me and in some cases Windows 2000 Pro. Windows XP Pro is coming, but the users has some difficulty to learn how to manage them. And the changes of HD, still is highly used for Win98SE/Me.
While boot CD is quite common, I still also use a set of floopies, mainly when I need to do some BIOS update.
Thus, my Boot CD and floppies include the same set as your, but with some other tools, like AFDISK, PARTManager, some tools for network usage, password recovery etc.,
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September 6, 2004 at 1:11 am #2716367
Reply To: What is on your recovery/utility CD?
by hungkh · about 19 years, 6 months ago
In reply to My toolkit “must haves”
It’s great to think another tech thinks of giving a tool cd.
I gave my Knoppix 3.4 live cd away. They are always amazed when they saw me using it to access their harddrives, copy files out, etc. Even amazed when they sawme surfing internet to download files, email, etc with their broadband connections. Also type letters and spreadsheets with it.
I carry a Knoppix 3.4, one cd with spybot s&d, adaware, spysweeper, latest Firefox 0.9.3 and latest Mozilla 1.7.2, Stinger on a boot floopy disk, a win98se boot disk, a win XP boot disk. I also carry a spare 40Gb harddisk to copy their data.
Hung
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October 4, 2004 at 8:49 am #2706069
My CD’s
by w2ktechman · about 19 years, 6 months ago
In reply to My toolkit “must haves”
I actaually have a handfull of cd’s to take to end users when problems arise. First, I have a linux tool to reset the admin password. Next, I keep a copy of XP SP1 handy for SFC.exe, and other problems (recovery console, etc.). I also have a cd with all of the boot files, and much of system32 and windows dir. Then I have a cd with many utils, including spyware cleaners, outlook fixes (scanpst, pstbackup, etc), shortcuts to great locations, specific M$ patches, and AV tools (like sasser fix). I have 2 cd’s with drivers for the most common systems here, and network drivers and video for others. These are the Must Have’s of my job. Aside from that I still keep good ol floppy boot disk for win ME and a secure drive eraser/scrubber. Other tools on another disk are for specific updates for the apps that we use in the department
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October 14, 2004 at 10:43 am #3305673
Recovery CD
by mail · about 19 years, 5 months ago
In reply to My toolkit “must haves”
Sounds like some great programs. I would love to have a good recovery and utility CD myself. If any of you have a good one send me one or the links to download the files. I have purchased a few on E-bay that seemed like a waste of time. Send what you think is good to me. I especially like Tshanks free one he talks about. Any help appreciated.
Mike Hughes
303 N. 1st Street
Wilmington, IL 60481
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August 6, 2004 at 2:52 am #2714252
LinuxDefender_Live!
by oz_ollie · about 19 years, 7 months ago
In reply to Linux and Utils
The best tool I start with is Bit Defender’s LinuxDefender_Live! CD – it is a bootable CD that can scan, remove and repair viruses on Windows systems and you also have a wide range of tools available on the CD. The CD is based on Knoppix so it works on just about any current system. The link is:
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September 6, 2004 at 1:15 am #2716366
Reply To: What is on your recovery/utility CD?
by hungkh · about 19 years, 6 months ago
In reply to LinuxDefender_Live!
Thanks Steve. Just what I am looking for.
Hung
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September 15, 2004 at 6:14 am #2707425
XP Boot Floppy (sort of)
by whamblen · about 19 years, 6 months ago
In reply to LinuxDefender_Live!
Simply format a floppy on an XP system (this is a must for the floppy to work)then copy NTDETECT.COM, ntldr and boot.ini (if you have one)onto the floppy. I learned this from a Mark Manasi presentation and it worked for me. Nice tool to have along with the rest of the tools members have mentioned.
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July 30, 2004 at 11:52 am #2712887
Use a Portable CD Libarry
by tbbrickster · about 19 years, 8 months ago
In reply to What is on your recovery/utility CD?
I’m at a not-for-profit homeless facility where money is pretty tight. So I make do with donation 98 PCs and a small group of indentical XP’s that were a group purchase. Therefore, I have one set of tools for the Win 98’s and another for the XPs.
For the XP’s, Norton Ghost and an USB external hard drive are God-sends. And every so often, I’ll Ghost my own XP as I’m always adding something here and there and it’s nice not having to reinstall the (rather *remember* what the)whole kit-n-kaboodle (is.)
In an old black Dell Poweredge CD case, I keep a coupla 98SE CDs, assorted NIC driver CDs, a coupla boot 98SE floppies, and a coupla Ghost boot floppies. Oh, and Publisher 97 CD which I load from CD rather than the network(yeah you read right, remember this IS a NFP) othewise it would take forty-forevers. Most everything else is on the network shared folder. And it rarely takes long to get a NIC to talk TCP/IP which allows it to get a TrendMicro scan before I install the Novell network client. I should setup a bootable catch-all CD with XTerminator, Spybot, et al on.
I provide staff with bug removal CDs, but never thot about having one to take home with XTerminator, Spybot S&D, AVG, Netscape/Firefox, etc. on it. Thanks tshanks for a great idea.
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October 29, 2004 at 4:33 am #3294562
work for a non-profit? read on
by carl · about 19 years, 5 months ago
In reply to Use a Portable CD Libarry
TB Brickster, and others:
check out techsoup.org, a donated software (and some hardware) portal for for non profit entities…My cd’s include WINPE (presintallation environment) which is analogous to windows xp live. You would be amazed how much quicker it is to remove spyware when the computer booted *Not from it’s hdd* and therefore no c:\windows\system32\ stuff is in use. Run adaware se and webroot spysweeper at the same time… sounds strange but you are trying to get it done in under an hour.
OR use the native windows xp environment from WINPE, which supports most hardware to network backup the important files, and then reformat/reinstall software.
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October 29, 2004 at 10:45 am #3294431
Techsoup
by tbbrickster · about 19 years, 5 months ago
In reply to work for a non-profit? read on
Already know about it and use it, but thx Carl.
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August 1, 2004 at 4:53 am #2713266
The highest rated were either free or shareware
by sleepin’dawg · about 19 years, 8 months ago
In reply to What is on your recovery/utility CD?
Go to : http://ultimatebootcd.com also get JV16 Power Tools for registry cleanup. There are other diagnostic utilities you can download, the freebies are as good as most of the commercial products.
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August 3, 2004 at 9:11 am #2713730
Don’t forget Hijack this!
by bkolt · about 19 years, 8 months ago
In reply to What is on your recovery/utility CD?
You can get it (along with some other good stuff @ http://www.lurkhere.com/~nicefiles/
Warning: Do Not make changes using Hijackthis! unless you know what you’re doing. It is better to save the log and send it to an expert before deleting items.
There’s a nice Quick Start Guide for HJT @ http://s89223352.onlinehome.us/mirror/hjt/
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August 4, 2004 at 7:03 am #2714516
How about a quick review
by Mark W. Kaelin · about 19 years, 8 months ago
In reply to Don’t forget Hijack this!
I have seen HiJackThis mentioned several times in discussions regarding spyware, etc. What does HiJackThis do that Spybot S&D and Ad-aware don’t?
Perhaps someone can give us a quick review of what it does, how it works, and why you need it in addition to the other apps mentioned already?
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August 4, 2004 at 9:49 am #2714459
HiJackThis in a nutshell
by todrescher · about 19 years, 8 months ago
In reply to How about a quick review
From my experience, HiJackThis works very well on regaining control of IE. While the combo of Ad-aware and spybot can deal with around 97.5% of all malware problems, there are still a couple of things out there they can’t deal with that HiJackThis can.
However, if the heart of the problem isn’t with IE, it is pretty much useless.
YMMV.
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August 3, 2004 at 9:13 am #2713728
KNOPPIX – LINUX System Disk
by yanai · about 19 years, 8 months ago
In reply to What is on your recovery/utility CD?
I keep a copy of KNOPPIX handy. It’s a bootable Linux system with a suite of tools, including Mozilla, which you can use to rule out hardware issues and download other utilities. It does not install itself on your hard drive; instead, it decompresses its core into a memory partition it creates on bootup. Consequently, I can use it to test out Windows PC’s as well as Linux boxes in case of problems, without actually writing anything to the hard drive (just in case…).
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August 3, 2004 at 12:29 pm #2714661
SpinRite 6 (www.grc.com)
by tundra0 · about 19 years, 8 months ago
In reply to What is on your recovery/utility CD?
Absolutely the best hard disk recovery software known to man. Sometimes will even recover data from sectors marked BAD by Windows Scandisk. Works on ALL hard drive formats from ALL Intel/AMD PC operating systems (and MacIntosh HD if attached to a PC. And TiVo.) I have it alone on a bootable CD and it is my first line of attack whenever I run across hard disk problems. It is not free, but the first time you recover lost data, you will forget how much it cost ($89).
Other security related utilities also available at that site.
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August 3, 2004 at 8:58 pm #2714582
A handy util for doing system audits
by ganandalf · about 19 years, 8 months ago
In reply to What is on your recovery/utility CD?
One that I would include would have to be Belarc Advisor, just so you can get a good idea of what hardware and software are installed on a system. It’s also great for doing audits of your company’s PCs.
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August 4, 2004 at 5:19 am #2714546
Tool kit
by bhunsinger · about 19 years, 8 months ago
In reply to What is on your recovery/utility CD?
We have a Norton System works 2002 disk for win doctor and disk doctor ofo of the cd, revealer, atomic dog, the installer for Adobe reader and Winzip as well as a W98 disk. I have Checkit5 on disk, but would LOVE to have Checkit 4,(the on floppy that boots, to checkout hardware and system boards. We’ve bee considering buy check it topermanently install on a 4 gb W98 hard drive.
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August 4, 2004 at 10:12 am #2714452
Spyware Removal/Prevention Checklists
by black_eyed_pea · about 19 years, 8 months ago
In reply to What is on your recovery/utility CD?
I created a couple of checklists that I use to battle spyware. Despite that, I still have to manually edit the Windows Registry on occasion to get rid of some nasties such as WinTools, KeenValue, and Incredimail (Incredi-anything). Here are my checklists:
Spyware Removal Checklist
1. Boot into Safe Mode with Networking (some spyware can only be removed in Safe Mode).
2. Open Add/Remove programs and remove any application that both you and the principal user do not recognize or deem to be spyware.
3. Launch HijackThis and click the Scan button. (WARNING: Reference the HijackThis tutorial
at http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/htlogtutorial.html before removing anything.)
4. Install Spybot Search & Destroy, update it, and run it on the infected system.
5. Install Ad-Aware, update it, and run it on the infected system.
6. Reboot and run both Ad-Aware and Spybot again until the system is clean.
7. Launch Internet Explorer and browse the Web to verify Winsock was not broken while removing
spyware. If you cannot browse the Web, run the WinSockFix utility and perform another Web test.Spyware Prevention Checklist
Consider using Firefox for all web browsing unless functionality of business critical web applications require Internet Explorer. If you can use Firefox exclusively, then steps 2, 3, 5-9, & 11-15 still apply.
1. Open Internet Explorer, click Internet Options, click the Security tab, and click Default Level on each Security Zone.
2. Install all Windows Critical Updates.
3. Install Spyware Blaster and click the link to Enable All Protection.
4. Install a recognized popup blocker such as the Google Toolbar.
5. Either manually disable the Messenger service or run GRC’s Shoot the Messenger applet.
6. Either manually disable the Universal Plug & Play service or run GRC’s Unplug & Pray applet (Windows XP Only).
7. Run GRC’s DCOMbobulator, click the DCOMbobulate Me! tab and then click the Disable DCOM button.
8. Execute DSOStop2 and click the Protect Internet Explorer button.
9. Execute HTAStop and click the Protect Internet Explorer button (Windows XP Only).
10. Install IE-Spyad.
11. Run GRC’s SocketLock utility.
12. Test browse the Web.
13. Rename the default Windows Hosts file located at %windir%\system32\drivers\etc and place the Gorilla Design Hosts file in the same directory.
14. Test browse the Web. If it is significantly slower than the first test, revert to the original Windows hosts file.
15. Educate the principal user on Internet best practices.Ad-Aware – http://www.lavasoftusa.com
CWShredder – http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html
DSOstop2 – http://www.wilders.org/downloads.htm
Firefox – http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/
Google Toolbar – http://www.google.com/options/index.html
Hosts File – http://accs-net.com/hosts/get_hosts.html
HTAStop – http://www.wilders.org/downloads.htm
IE-Spyad – http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_download.asp?fid=23332&fileidx=1
Shoot The Messenger – http://www.grc.com/freepopular.htm
SocketLock – http://www.grc.com/freepopular.htm
Spybot Search & Destroy – http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/
Spyware Blaster – http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html
Unplug & Pray – http://www.grc.com/freepopular.htm
WinSockFix – http://www.spychecker.com/program/winsockxpfix.html-
August 4, 2004 at 2:09 pm #2714386
Firefox-Netscape Makes My Day, Every Day!!!
by tbbrickster · about 19 years, 8 months ago
In reply to Spyware Removal/Prevention Checklists
Very good list Pea. Glad to see Firefox at the top. All users are on Netscape with one Opera holdout. I’ve pretty much got the list of Firefox extensions I want all users to have, just need to figure out the drill to put it and Thunderbird in an install setup. Yeah, I know the info’s on the web and will do it in my copious amounts of spare time. 😉
Thx for DSOStop2 and HTAStop, gotta check them out.
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August 5, 2004 at 11:28 am #2713415
Add 1 more spyware removal items to your list
by cglrcng9 · about 19 years, 7 months ago
In reply to Spyware Removal/Prevention Checklists
Just did a regular cleaning on a customers computer (I set up the unit 8 months ago-complete re-format), and though all three of the spyware removal tools that I normally use (Adaware 6.0, Spybot Search & Destroy, and Swat..W/of course a final check w/ HijackThis).
It finally came up clean after numerous runnings of each tool, I knew there was something left as it still wasn’t up to the previous speed and Adaware was still reporting a browser hijack attempt from a file and a file copy in C:\Windows that it just couldn’t delete except on startup and it wouldn’t run the scheduled Adaware scan on startup . Downloaded Bazooka Spyware Scanner and sure enough it found the offending spyware program and file(s). Bazooka isn’t an automatic spyware remover and doesn’t find/or look for everthing of course, but the manual removal instructions are to the point, and very complete. After using it multiple times where other scanners fail I would highly rec. the free utility now to add to that list.
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August 6, 2004 at 7:46 pm #2714075
Re: Add 1 more spyware removal items to your list
by tekman2 · about 19 years, 7 months ago
In reply to Add 1 more spyware removal items to your list
I would add also SpySweeper to that list. One of the best according to PCMag and I agree.
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August 9, 2004 at 2:03 am #2703876
Agreed! Kudos
by mitchshrader · about 19 years, 7 months ago
In reply to Add 1 more spyware removal items to your list
Agree entirely, Bazooka is one of the specific tools that is VERY handy. Toss another one at you, Mcaffee’s free Stinger (in safe mode) as an occasional lifesaver.
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August 9, 2004 at 2:08 am #2703873
MY List…
by mitchshrader · about 19 years, 7 months ago
In reply to Add 1 more spyware removal items to your list
AdAware (Free)
Spybot Search & Destroy (Free)
Spywareblaster (Free)
IE-Spyads (Free)
Bazooka (Kephyr)(Free)
Sygate Firewall (Free)
AVG Anti-Virus (Free)
MRU Blaster (Free)
XenTweak (Free) -
August 9, 2004 at 2:21 am #2703871
OOPs! Add #10
by mitchshrader · about 19 years, 7 months ago
In reply to MY List…
Stinger (Mcaffee, Free)
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September 9, 2004 at 9:41 pm #2712241
Add another free AV Tool
by ahmed · about 19 years, 6 months ago
In reply to Add 1 more spyware removal items to your list
Use of Avast anti virus tool is highly recommended.
Always run a thorough scan.
It is more effective than many well known AV software. Updates to virus definition files are free twice a week.
I Use Ad Aware, Spy Bot and Avast all one after the other at boot time and every 4 hours thereafter.
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September 30, 2004 at 12:06 pm #2722506
A few steps to add, you’ll fail unless you don’t…
by gryfon · about 19 years, 6 months ago
In reply to Add 1 more spyware removal items to your list
I had this posted on the wall of the repair shop, as it’s easy to forget.
#1 Before we do ANYTHING, IF the computer is running Windows ME or Windows XP, disable system restore! Otherwise Windows ‘helpfully’ keeps a copy of the problems in the system restore folders and will keep re-infecting you from there.
Spyware forums will all tell you to run your scanners first, Hijack This LAST. You don’t have to wade through as much crap that way.
CWShredder is no longer supported or updateable, the fellow running it gave up. He’s a college student and didn’t have the time to keep up with it, or the DDoS attacks that kept shutting down his update sites.
When running the virus scans, on systems that don’t have virus scanners installed (heaven forbid, but they’re out there), I’ll put in AVG on their behalf (I recommend upgrading to the end user), then run the Housecall Utility at Trend Micro.
Sounds weird? Well I find that no ONE virus scanner gets them all, but when Housecall goes through the system, it will find things that AVG won’t, The process of searching will activate AVG when a virus or trojan is found, and invariably AVG will find ones that Housecall doesn’t.
To help find hidden background processes, I highly recommend a sweet (free) little utility called RegCleaner by Jouni Vuorio. This tool will allow you to see (and remove if you wish) everything in the startup list without having to mess with the registry. Once all the scans have been done, I use the ‘registry clean’ function to remove any leftover invalid entries. I’ve used this program on hundreds of computers and have NEVER had it mess up the registry. It’s also great for manually uninstalling malware that just won’t come out.
Follow all of the excellent advice given by everyone here, and at the end of it all, re-enable system restore in XP and ME systems.
Also, if you DO use free scanners, please donate to the authors so they can keep helping us fight this spyware war! Build the donation into the cost, if you must, or ask the client to donate.
Regards,
Gryf -
October 20, 2004 at 10:50 am #3309940
HijackThis, RegCleaner, Hdcleaner, CCleaner, eDexter, Etc.
by black_eyed_pea · about 19 years, 5 months ago
In reply to A few steps to add, you’ll fail unless you don’t…
Gryf,
You’re absolutely right about running HijackThis last. That was an oversight. I also agree about using RegCleaner. In addition to RegCleaner, I have run two other utilities for cleanup after spyware removal since RegCleaner doesn’t catch it all:
HDCleaner from Kurt Zimmermann Software- http://home.tiscali.de/zdata/mainpage.htm
CCleaner (Crap Cleaner) – http://www.ccleaner.com/download114.php
In addition, if you use a HOST file to block spyware, also use eDexter. It will speed up your downloads and replace the empty boxes that occur when you use the Hosts file to block ads:
http://www.accs-net.com/hosts/eDexter.html
If anyone has positive or negative input on those utilities, I would like to know.
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August 6, 2004 at 1:37 pm #2714122
I Wanna Work With black_eyed_pea!
by egadude45014 · about 19 years, 7 months ago
In reply to Spyware Removal/Prevention Checklists
Your response was both well thought out, and professional. I’m a retired high school computer science teacher who has an A+, and worked for CompUSA as a tech for several years. When I taught I had checklists too. They help on Monday mornings especially, or in my case for a substitute if I was “sick” that day. The URL’s at the end were icing on the cake. You took the time out of your busy life to save us all the time in ours. BRAVO!
**Hats Off To You, Dude!**-
August 9, 2004 at 12:03 pm #2703704
Ben Franklin Wisdom
by black_eyed_pea · about 19 years, 7 months ago
In reply to I Wanna Work With black_eyed_pea!
Thank you. I use those checklists at work. Now, as Benjamin Franklin quipped: “Gentlemen, we must now all hang together, or we shall most assuredly all hang separately.” Further, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
I have been battling spyware for nearly three years now. First at a local financial corporation and now with the US Army. It began with annoyances such as Gator and Bonzai Buddy. Now, the problem is a virtual tidal wave.
I’m constantly browsing the web for tips to combat it. I contacted the Army RCERT about the issue and there is no approved removal tool. Consequently, I went vigilante and now use those cheklists daily. I failed to say that with a really intense infection, I run Pest Patrol as well as Ad-Aware and Spybot.
Good luck, guys. Thanks for your responses!
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August 9, 2004 at 2:01 am #2703877
CAVEAT & Alternative Path
by mitchshrader · about 19 years, 7 months ago
In reply to Spyware Removal/Prevention Checklists
I won’t argue your points, (though I do it differently).. But: HTAstop breaks the Add/Remove Programs module on (my)Win2k systems. Yes, I saw you said ‘XP only’ but a bolder NOT FOR Win2K’ might be advised.
As well, I (personally) use SpywareBlaster for passive protection. Don’t Use the Google toolbar or Firefox.
Do my registry tweaks through XenTweaks’ GUI as it works.. Have tried the things you recommend, they’re a matter of taste. We wind up at the same place nearly.. Check out XenTweak on a newly installed XP system sometime, and decide for yourself.
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August 16, 2004 at 2:50 am #2705081
Do’nt miss this
by neuber · about 19 years, 7 months ago
In reply to Spyware Removal/Prevention Checklists
There’s a lot of spyware hunter out there. But there are not no-brainer software. Some found items are not really spyware. Try also Security Task Manager to see all running background programs & drivers incl. security rating (http://www.neuber.com/taskmanager)
neuber
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August 16, 2004 at 10:19 am #2704592
Reply To: What is on your recovery/utility CD?
by impulse · about 19 years, 7 months ago
In reply to Do’nt miss this
Nice little tool, thank-you.
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September 30, 2004 at 3:25 am #2702165
Thank you for saving what?s left of my hair.
by skipper747 · about 19 years, 6 months ago
In reply to Spyware Removal/Prevention Checklists
I?ve been totally beaten by the inability to access certain sites on the net. I?ve checked the usual culprits in IE6 and tried Firefox instead but one quick download of WinSockFix from your complete list and the job was done.
I?m only a one man band but TechRepublic articles like yours are an immense help.
Thanks again -
September 30, 2004 at 4:57 am #2702142
Talk to me offline
by Anonymous · about 19 years, 6 months ago
In reply to Spyware Removal/Prevention Checklists
Black_eyed_pea,
Please get in contact with me offline; I have a couple of Army computer stories to share with you.
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August 4, 2004 at 2:01 pm #2714387
Spyware Blaster
by hansoned · about 19 years, 8 months ago
In reply to What is on your recovery/utility CD?
I use and recommend Spyware Blaster http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/. It prevents the installation of ActiveX-based spyware, adware, browser hijackers, dialers, and other potentially unwanted pests;
Blocks spyware/tracking cookies in Internet Explorer and Mozilla/Firefox;
Restricts the actions of potentially dangerous sites in Internet Explorer. There is a link to Spyware Blaster from the main Spybot user interface page. It is Freeware for manual updates, and only $10 to enable automatic updates. Currently it has 3089 item in its protection database. If you absolutely need ActiveX enabled in IE, this utility is a must have!-
October 4, 2004 at 7:32 am #2706456
Thx for the Utility Tip
by tbbrickster · about 19 years, 6 months ago
In reply to Spyware Blaster
Bless you hansoned, may your tribe increase! I’vew been using Spybot S&D and Spyware Blaster works quite nicely with it.
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August 4, 2004 at 5:06 pm #2713694
Beware of trojan spyware scanners
by mikez · about 19 years, 8 months ago
In reply to What is on your recovery/utility CD?
first a quick free spyware scanner, available as a standalone or as an installable.
1) xblock
http://www.xblock.com/update_free.shtml
http://www.xblock.com/download/xcleaner_setup.exe
http://www.xblock.com/download/xcleaner_free.exeThe setup can install to run a turbo mode scan on system start. This feature is very useful for home sytems, just to keep the noise down to a dull roar.
2) Spybot and Adaware as given above. Note that you can download the Ad Aware reference file separately, which is good for a manual update.
3) SpywareBlaster
4) HijackThis, a good cleaner for squirrely startup strings and browser settings (use with extreme caution)
5) I now recommend the Avast Home edition as a free antivirus over the AVG. Updates whenever you go online (dial up or broadband) and has support for scanning IM as well as some major P2P networks. Scanner also has a built in cleanner which will also handle fixing registry keys written by virus and trojan attacks. Also can do a system scan on reboot similar to chkdsk. Very much a low maintenance product. Requires a free registration for a 14 month license.
6) be sure to check out this list of bad/trojan spyware scanners:
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm
7) useful sites include
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August 4, 2004 at 5:38 pm #2713685
Some more to add
by pippie1949 · about 19 years, 8 months ago
In reply to Beware of trojan spyware scanners
First, don’t run Spyware Blaster until the system is clean, it might protect what’s already installed. Then install it as prevention.
I made a CD with AutoPatcher XP that has all the updates through April ’04, SP1a, Ad Aware, Belarc, CoolWebSearch remover (CWShredder), Eraser, Erunt (registry backup) HiJackThis, Nimda patch, NTFS Reader (from DOS) Red Code cleaner, Sobig.F Exterminator, SpyBot v1.3, Stinger (from McAffee, free) WinPatrol, MBlast fix, Sasser fix, MyDoom patch.
I have a bootable Linux called Austrumi to recover ALL passwords, in case they have been taken over or changed.
Bart’s PE Builder is also excellent for your tool chesst.
You have given me additional great ideas to add more to my CD, or in addition to it. I never thought to copy Firefox to it, or Spinrite.
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August 6, 2004 at 2:18 am #2714258
Ready Made
by sam white · about 19 years, 7 months ago
In reply to What is on your recovery/utility CD?
One of my favourites has to be the Ultimate Boot CD available from http://www.ultimatebootcd.com. Version 2.4 is a mini Linux distro with a mass of tools. Details are also given on how to make a Windows version but I stick with the original.
In addition a disk with Spinrite, JV16 (mentioned elsewhere) along with the usual MS patches, service packs, spyware removals (Spybot is my fave) and antivirus removal tools.
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August 6, 2004 at 2:19 am #2714257
Anyone else using Barts PE
by pc.team · about 19 years, 7 months ago
In reply to What is on your recovery/utility CD?
Been using a rescue disk on CD based on Barts PE, You can build it to your needs via plugins and gives you a Windows XP like system all running from a CD.
Plugins I use are –
A43 File Explorer
ERD Commander
Ghost
Adaware
File Recovery Pro
McAfee Stinger
F-Prot AV
Remote Desktop
Off by One Browser
Putty
WS FTP
Nero
Beyond Compare
AnalogX
Partition Magic 8There are loads more plugins from various sites with quite an active community supporting this.
It also has full network support for most Nic’s, DHCP etc. The only drawback is you need 128Mb of Ram to use.
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August 6, 2004 at 5:59 am #2714227
Windows Pe CD is great
by kj_mustang · about 19 years, 7 months ago
In reply to Anyone else using Barts PE
We have been using a customized build of Bart’s PE for about 6 months now. It has been the best thing I have used. We have Novell, TCP/IP, and Wireless Services, Avast Registry Editor, Registry Restore Wizard, Mcafee Commandline Virus Scanner and the Stinger tool, Symantec Ghost, Network diagnostic tools, Disk defrag tool, File and disk recovery tools, system info tool, and a password reset utility.
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August 7, 2004 at 8:34 am #2704027
Bart’s PE and Ghost 8
by dnelson · about 19 years, 7 months ago
In reply to Windows Pe CD is great
Hi,
I’ve been using Bart’s and a bunch of utilities on it and would like to use Ghost with it as well but Ghost32 errors out on startup everytime. Has anyone else had this problem with a standard Ghost32 config by the Bart’s instructions? I can use the Ghostserv and Ghost Explorer off the Bart’s PE disk but not Ghost32.
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September 1, 2004 at 8:58 am #2717299
re: barts pe and ghost
by tommy.dees · about 19 years, 7 months ago
In reply to Bart’s PE and Ghost 8
try this site. I use ghost with no problems with barts pe along with many built in utils from here:
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October 11, 2004 at 7:33 pm #3306180
Barts PE and Ghost Idea
by dougscrm9 · about 19 years, 5 months ago
In reply to Bart’s PE and Ghost 8
I have been booting Barts with Network access. I then use DOS command net use y: \\otherpc\images
where otherpc is a machine on the network with a share named images. You have to be able to log onto to that machine. I’ve done it with workgroups and domains. Once I have access to that share I copy the ghost.exe and ghost.env to to it and launch ghost from the share and then choose drive y: as my destination for the ghost files. I tell it to automatically span disks. It makes files 2GB in size.
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August 6, 2004 at 12:13 pm #2714133
Bart PE is a must
by scott · about 19 years, 7 months ago
In reply to Anyone else using Barts PE
For true NTFS support, Bart PE has got it hands down. I had a HD problem on a Win XP system and the recovery console didn’t work (CHKDSK reported unrepairable errors). I booted up on a Barty PE CD and was able to fix the problem. I stopped using the recovery console on the Win XP disk after that.
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August 26, 2004 at 11:28 am #2709955
Detailed experience with BartPE?
by Mark W. Kaelin · about 19 years, 7 months ago
In reply to Anyone else using Barts PE
Bart’s Preinstalled Environment intrigues me, so I have started a discussion thread asking for some more information on this setup. ;\
If you have some information to share about BartPE with other TechRepublic members I encourage you to post it in the discussion thread below:
Thanks. 🙂
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September 14, 2004 at 3:38 am #2708897
Best thing since sliced bread
by shaun.parfett · about 19 years, 6 months ago
In reply to Anyone else using Barts PE
I have been using BartPE for a few months with similar plugins. It really is an OS on a disk, which is awesome. If you don’t have this in your bag of tricks, it is not a bag of tricks. Just wish I could afford ERD Commander for a plugin….
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August 6, 2004 at 3:32 am #2714245
You should try the Windows Ultimate Boot CD
by ktraub · about 19 years, 7 months ago
In reply to What is on your recovery/utility CD?
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August 6, 2004 at 11:33 am #2714135
Offline NT Password & Registry editor
by ultra_blue · about 19 years, 7 months ago
In reply to What is on your recovery/utility CD?
Hey:
Sorry if this is a dupe.
This one can change local account passwords, if you need to.
http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/
Saved me tons of trouble on a couple of occasions when nobody knows the Admin password.
Blue
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August 6, 2004 at 4:42 pm #2714090
More free stuff
by ratatat62b · about 19 years, 7 months ago
In reply to What is on your recovery/utility CD?
SeaTools Disc Diagnostic from Seagate
DELINDEX.bat from http://www.burzurq.com/forum/delindex.html
Windows Memory Diagnostic from Microsoft – windiag – mtinst.exe -
August 6, 2004 at 7:15 pm #2714076
My List
by timseery · about 19 years, 7 months ago
In reply to What is on your recovery/utility CD?
eMule – Peer-to-Peer File Sharing – http://www.emule-project.net
KNOPPIX – CD Bootable Linux (KDE) – http://www.knopper.net
Offline password and registry Editor – home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd
L0phtCrack – password auditing and recovery – http://www.atstake.com/products/lc
Snort – LAN Network Sniffer/IDS – http://www.datanerds.net/~mike/snort.html
AirSnort – WLAN Network Sniffer/IDS – airsnort.shmoo.com
Network Stumbler – WLAN Network Sniffer – netstumber.net
Spybot – Spyware Utility http://www.safer – networking.org/en/home/index.html
Windows 2000/XP/2003 Resource Kits – http://www.microsoft.com/download
Google Toolbar – Search Tool Popup Blocker – http://www.google.com
WinInternals – Windows Recovery Tools – http://www.wininternal.com
CVS – File/Program Version Management – http://www.cvshome.org/docs/manual
Wintools – Removes software and dead registry keys – http://www.wintools.net -
August 9, 2004 at 8:29 pm #2703235
One Word: Knoppix
by admin · about 19 years, 7 months ago
In reply to What is on your recovery/utility CD?
Get it while you still can. :>
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August 10, 2004 at 8:46 am #2703140
Whatcha Mean, “while you still can…”
by tbbrickster · about 19 years, 7 months ago
In reply to One Word: Knoppix
Are the ubiquitous “they” thinking of getting rid of it???
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August 10, 2004 at 4:23 pm #2703689
Ever hear of Software Patents?
by admin · about 19 years, 7 months ago
In reply to Whatcha Mean, “while you still can…”
Knoppix is from Europe.
Ever hear of Software Patents?
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August 11, 2004 at 7:39 am #2703525
Re: Patents
by tbbrickster · about 19 years, 7 months ago
In reply to Ever hear of Software Patents?
Gotcha….
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August 10, 2004 at 9:33 am #2703122
New Ad-Aware SE released
by hansoned · about 19 years, 7 months ago
In reply to What is on your recovery/utility CD?
See http://lavasoft.element5.com/software/adaware/
for details! -
August 12, 2004 at 5:56 am #2702498
Saddest part of this discussion
by danlanier · about 19 years, 7 months ago
In reply to What is on your recovery/utility CD?
The worst thing is that we are talking about making a rescue disk because of the malware and attacks that occur through normal everyday web browsing.
The spyware/adware industry has evolved to VIRUS status and is using the same techniques that virus writers do (probably the same people).
It is epidemic on the university campus that I am at. It is also now causing work stopage and lost man hours. All the scans and cleaning required to get a machine back in order is not a ten minute fix, some machines require over an hour. Multiply that by 4000 and get the dymamics of what’s going on.
The sad thing is that I’ve seen residual registry damage that is not repaired by the removal tools and way beyond the scope of normal troubleshooting to over come. Lost of system settings (quicktask settings, windows settings, etc).
I’ve been using the ad-aware/spybot one-two punch for over two years (? maybe longer). But I’m tired of this crap, and since I can’t personally pound the runny nose maggots in the ground, we need to devise a campus wide solution that does not cost thousands of man hours.
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August 16, 2004 at 3:31 am #2704722
that does not cost thousands of man hours.
by mikatrob · about 19 years, 7 months ago
In reply to Saddest part of this discussion
Scripts when you long in they deal with the know and most common problems we are aware of and auto fix.
In Windows or Linux try KixTart.
http://www.kixtart.org -
August 23, 2004 at 10:36 am #2711269
Try a modified hosts file
by pc.team · about 19 years, 7 months ago
In reply to Saddest part of this discussion
We are currently looking at a solution that uses a modified hosts file, look at http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm.
It uses a modified hosts file that points known malware dns names to 127.0.0.1. As the hosts file is before DNS for name resolution it stops the PC getting to the malware sites.
Word of warning, if you use this do not let adaware scan the hosts file as it will undo all of the changes.
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August 24, 2004 at 9:39 am #2711973
Combine HOSTS Files
by black_eyed_pea · about 19 years, 7 months ago
In reply to Try a modified hosts file
I’ve combined the HOSTS file at http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm with the one offered by Gorilla Design Studios at:
http://accs-net.com/hosts/get_hosts.htmlAnyone have a suggestion to automatically remove duplicate host entries? There should be a way to do that with a batch file or at least through Excel.
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September 3, 2004 at 9:36 am #2717097
RE: Combine HOSTS File solution
by network security · about 19 years, 7 months ago
In reply to Combine HOSTS Files
black_eyed_pea,
Great malware writeup! Thanks!
You could use XLS but that would be hard to automate. So I whipped up a Python script to dedupe your host file from a command line. It keeps all the comments and the order of your file, it just removes dup domain names.
If you don’t have Python (you should
) download and install ActiveStatePython
http://downloads.activestate.com/ActivePython/windows/2.3/ActivePython-2.3.2-232-win32-ix86.msiDownload this script http://www.netforcement.com/braindump/files/pyuniquehosts.py and save to where your HOSTS file is.
If you have not already combined all the adware/malware files into one hosts text file do it now. You can leave in the comments.
then from a CMD prompt in your hosts file dir type
python pyUniqueHOSTS.py < inputfile > outputfile
inputfile = combined hosts file with possible duplicate
outputfile = clean unique hosts filefor example.
python pyUniqueHOSTS.py < hosts_with_dups.txt > HOSTS
Hope you like it,
Troy Sorzano
Sr. Partner
Info Packaging -
October 12, 2004 at 11:06 am #3305990
If you have problems running the script.
by network security · about 19 years, 5 months ago
In reply to RE: Combine HOSTS File solution
Harv,
>>C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc>python pyUniqueHOSTS.py hosts_with_dups.txt HOSTS
should be
python pyUniqueHOSTS.py < hosts_with_dups.txt > HOSTS
The only thing I can see is you were not using the < pipe in or the > pipe out commands.
Those < and > must be used. the < take the filename to the right of it "hosts_with_dups.txt" and feeds it into my script. the > pipes STDIO ie the screen output to a file called “HOSTS”
so if you get anything on the screen you know your pipe > to “HOSTS” is not working.
Hope that Helps,
Troy
————————————————————————
Troy Sorzano, Director http://www.Netforcement.com
610.260.9989 office 484.557.0125 cell
PGP KeyID: 0x29D52802 285E 1829 10C1 7AC0 9D27 7077 F423 B289 29D5 2802
Network Security, Wireless Security, Remediation and Monitoring for the greater Philadelphia area
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October 12, 2004 at 3:32 pm #3306981
It Worked – Near Perfectly . . .
by black_eyed_pea · about 19 years, 5 months ago
In reply to If you have problems running the script.
Troy,
Using the pipes was my problem, but there’s also the issue of having the HOSTS file protected by Spybot or other anti-malware apps. Mine was locked when I successfully ran the script. What resulted was an empty HOSTS file. To remedy the problem, I simply modified the command as follows:
python pyUniqueHOSTS.py < hosts_with_dups.txt > HOSTS1
I then deleted the original HOSTS file and renamed HOSTS1 to HOSTS. I think the Python script could be modified to automatically do that. Even if it couldn’t, that script is great!
By the way, do you know of any other sites that post anti-malware HOSTS files besides the other two I listed in my earlier post? Thanks.
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August 27, 2004 at 6:53 am #2709383
take a look at deepfreeze
by bgilas · about 19 years, 7 months ago
In reply to Saddest part of this discussion
I have just started looking at it. claims to restore everything with reboot.
a little intial tweaking and use of deepfreeze may lead to more permanaent solution.-
August 31, 2004 at 3:49 pm #2716448
DeepFreeze is the Bomb
by turnerk · about 19 years, 7 months ago
In reply to take a look at deepfreeze
The University I work at has been using Deep Freeze for going on our third year. It has been great for stabilizing our many computer labs. The main goal of the program – restoration of the captured image – at reboot. The stand alone version was great. We are now deploring the enterprise version and it is awesome.
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September 1, 2004 at 9:26 am #2717282
Not bad
by gjudkins · about 19 years, 7 months ago
In reply to take a look at deepfreeze
I have used Deepfreeze in deployments of public access terminals. It works well. The one gotcha we found is the need to ‘unfreeze’ the machine periodically for virus scan updates and security patches. It works well.
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September 4, 2004 at 10:29 pm #2716831
Deepfreeze Usage
by komputerdoktor · about 19 years, 6 months ago
In reply to take a look at deepfreeze
We are using Deepfreeze on our Lab computers to return them to their original state every night after the students leave. Very handy. I also found the Restorer2000 Professional program works very well to restore files after deleting a partition accidently. It keeps the folder structure intact and works with NTFS partitions.Well worth the $50.00 after only one use. Check it out at http://www.bitmart.net
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October 16, 2004 at 5:24 pm #3307533
Saddest part of this discussion
by bweeks · about 19 years, 5 months ago
In reply to Saddest part of this discussion
That makes two of us, I’ve been working as the IT department of a local municipality. I’ve had to reimage our library’s internet lab at least 4 times this year. I realize how frustrating it is, it seems like the best we can do is keep doing what we are. If you find a solution, let me know.
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October 21, 2004 at 11:33 pm #3309730
It’s a “help me, help you” conundrum
by kynos · about 19 years, 5 months ago
In reply to Saddest part of this discussion
More often than not, the solutions to these problems rest with the users. Regulations and prophylactic technology are poor substitutes as long as users — at home and at the office — resist learning and following best practices.
Human nature is tough to tame.
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August 31, 2004 at 4:53 pm #2717463
recovery/utility CD
by kpadmakar · about 19 years, 7 months ago
In reply to What is on your recovery/utility CD?
1. It should be made bootable
2. Recovery of the data
3. An anti virus -
September 3, 2004 at 1:14 pm #2717040
ROOT KIT
by elf555 · about 19 years, 7 months ago
In reply to What is on your recovery/utility CD?
You have a Root kit active. For “other” things you have your Boot kit. And “kit” is the word. Its best to have multiple Boot CD’s, as not all work all the time.
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September 5, 2004 at 7:42 am #2716794
Spyware solution for Windows users
by cybergoyle · about 19 years, 6 months ago
In reply to ROOT KIT
Here is the solution I’ve deployed at my company to tame spyware once and for all. It may be too extreme at your company, but it is worth looking into.
I essentially closed off the entire internet with the exception of business related websites (you and your employer must decide what is acceptable) using Pyrenean’s DNSKong.
DNSKong runs on any Windows PC, and uses a combination of ‘pass’ and ‘fail’ filters to decide what domains can be accessed. It is freeare on single LAN networks easy to deploy (although setting up your ‘pass’ list of domains can take awhile due to hidden sublinks).
DNSKong includes a ‘fail’ filter that denies ALL 254 top level domains (including country codes). You setup each PC to use your DNSKong PC as its DNS server, and thats it. By limiting corporate PC’s to only those websites that your business requires, not only do you stop the vast majority of spyware infections you also stop wasted productivity from employees surfing the internet for other reasons.
There are other solutions out there that are probably more comprehensive, but for small networks (less than 50 PC’s), this solution works well and is cost effective (free). I use an old 133mhz, 16MB ram PC as my DNSKong server, and it works great!
Just a suggestion.
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September 8, 2004 at 8:44 am #2715800
Watch Licensing of Freeware Utilities
by danananan · about 19 years, 6 months ago
In reply to What is on your recovery/utility CD?
I appreciate all of the time people have spent recommending tools. One thing I’d like to point out, however, is that you have to be careful of the licensing fine print when using “free” utilities. Ad-Aware in particular is not free for use in a business environment.
I inquired about licensing to use the freeware version on a PE disk, and was told that I would need to purchase a license for every PC that Ad-Aware was used on. At volume discounts, to use the freeware Ad-Aware companywide, I’d have to pay $15,000.
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September 20, 2004 at 7:29 am #2708856
Another tool to Add to the CD
by aalger · about 19 years, 6 months ago
In reply to What is on your recovery/utility CD?
Hi, I also have done the same as you with Adware and spybot, I also use CWShredder which specifically goes after the Home page hijackers.
NOTE: I have found that Adaware and Spybot will also remove some applications, that show up in the Add/Remove Programs as well, so I make sure and remove those application using Add/Remove programs before using the Ad-Ware tools. Some examples are the various IE plug ins from places like Hotbar and mysearch.
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October 20, 2004 at 11:00 am #3309939
XP Performance Checklist
by black_eyed_pea · about 19 years, 5 months ago
In reply to What is on your recovery/utility CD?
My Spyware Removal Checklists helped some folks, but some performance issues may persist even after your remove spyware. I have since worked up an XP performance checklist, with links to helpful utilities. We’ve used it several times at our shop and it has made for some happy users. Anyway, here it is:
Windows XP Performance Checklist
1. Remove unnecessary applications.
2. Remove spyware.
3. Check for and remove any viruses.
4. Run Disk Cleanup.
5. Delete pre-fetch items in C:\Windows\Prefetch
6. Defrag the hard drive.
7. Clear out System Restore points.
8. Disconnect unused network connections.
9. Remove unnecessary Autostart applications ? use this website to determine legitimacy of startup apps: http://www.sysinfo.org/startuplist.php.
10. Run Regcleaner, Hdcleaner, and CCleaner.
11. Tweak swap file usage for computers with 256+MB of RAM. Add the following entry to the System.ini file under [386enh]: ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1
12. If the user rarely searches for files, turn off indexing (in hard-drive properties).
13. Right-click My Computer | Properties | Advanced tab | Performance button | Properties. Uncheck the following:
? Fade or slide menus into view
? Fade or slide ToolTips into view
? Fade out menu items after clicking
? Show Shadows under menus
? Slide open combo boxes
? Slide taskbar buttons
? Use a background image for each folder type
? Use common tasks in folders
14. Optimize swap file ? make it 2.5 times the size of RAM.
15. Using the Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc), set Windows to clear Page file on shutdown. To do this, launch gpedit.msc at the Run prompt. Expand the following: Local Computer Policy | Computer Configuration | Windows Settings | Security Settings | Local Policy | Security Options. In the Policy pane, double-click Shutdown: Clear virtual memory pagefile. Select Enabled and click OK.Utility Download URLs:
RegCleaner – http://www.worldstart.com/weekly-download/archives/reg-cleaner4.3.htm
CCleanerHDCleaner – http://home.tiscali.de/zdata/mainpage.htm
CCleaner (Crap Cleaner) – http://www.ccleaner.com/download114.php
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October 21, 2004 at 9:29 am #3307850
Checklist
by markholmes24 · about 19 years, 5 months ago
In reply to XP Performance Checklist
Superb checklist, covers everything. How about cleaning the dllcache to free up some space (use sfc /purgecache) is the proper way, empties the DllCache folder.
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October 21, 2004 at 11:28 am #3307796
Reply To: What is on your recovery/utility CD?
by markholmes24 · about 19 years, 5 months ago
In reply to Checklist
Although SFC will require a Windows 2000/XP CD as part of the purge process. If one isn’t to hand just delete the contents of DllCache (%systemroot%\system32\dllcache.
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October 29, 2004 at 4:16 am #3294566
Recovery CD
by edeldoug · about 19 years, 5 months ago
In reply to What is on your recovery/utility CD?
I keep a MESS of stuff on a “toolkit” CD… but the application/utilities most salient to this conversation are:
Spybot & Ad-Aware (naturally)
PEST PATROL – Get’s my 5 star rating!
Spyware Blaster (doesn’t clean… prevents!)
ZoneAlarm
Hard Drive Mechanic
System Mechanic 4
Stinger (McAffee)
CW Shredder
Hijack This
Doom Cleaner
Kill2me
Sasserkiller
Partition Magic “rescue me” folder
UndeleteI’ve also got the “ultimate boot CD”, available under that name, with multiple HD utilities.
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October 29, 2004 at 8:34 am #3294495
This is mine
by rrosca · about 19 years, 5 months ago
In reply to Recovery CD
This is my malware CD
Spybot
Ad-Aware (although I find that Spy Sweeper is by far the best at discovering malware – it often finds stuff left behind by ad-aware and SS&D – but it’s not freeware).hijackthis from tomcoyte.org is an absolute must, IMHO.
winpatrol is a nifty little program that will find garbage as well as announce changes to your hosts file.
Also symantec’s free virus removal tools.
And last, but not least, a floppy disc so I can backup the registry before I dig in and start rooting out garbage manually.
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November 13, 2004 at 12:47 pm #3311364
Toolkit
by markholmes24 · about 19 years, 4 months ago
In reply to What is on your recovery/utility CD?
In short, I have the following in a CD wallet.
1)PC Worlds Ultimate Boot CD (free) – loads of useful utilities on a bootable CD-ROM
2)Sysinternals WinPAK Administrator (including ERD Commander) – (commercial, ?200+)
3)Gibson SpinRite 6 hard disk data recovery ($90 US)
4)Pest Patrol, Adaware and Spybot for detecting and removing ad/mal/spyware (free apart from Pest Patrol)
5)Hijack This, Sysinternals Process Explorer (excellent for tracking down and removing viruses, spyware etc) (freeware)
6)BartPE bootable Windows enviroment (free)
7)Partition Magic (commercial)
8)System Mechanic 4 (commercial)
9)SiSoft Sandra (system info utility) (commercial)
10)Ethereal network ‘sniffer’
11)GetDataBack NTFS and FAT versions
12)Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (free)
13)ChangeNTPassword (free)
14)McAfee AVERT Stinger (free)
15)Various Symantec virus removal tools (free)
16)Advanced Admin Tools (network tools) (shareware)
17)Barefoot IP monitorThats about it…
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January 18, 2005 at 6:07 am #3325908
End to End
by chrismar · about 19 years, 2 months ago
In reply to What is on your recovery/utility CD?
Some of the useful tools which are industrial strength and not yet mentioned and are favorites include
1. ImagineLAN Suite – CPR for Boot disk recovery
2. ImagineLAN – Configsafe for software configuration Management, System state recovery, configuration Change Logging and end point management – this is a must.
3. Aida32 for analysis and remote desktop
4. Golden Bows – VopT for Optimization and Defrag with analysis of the disk space and memory usage.
5. Infiltrator – the most reasonable pen testing app next to free ones.
6. HF Check – Patch Management
7. CA eTrust Scanning and Pest mitigation
8. WinNc Net – Explorer command and synchronization tool.
9. Microsoft Antispyware Beta
10 Microsoft Baseline AnalyzerPlus a selection of some of the ones suggested such as the Linux Defender and Knoppix Security Disk
One last strong recommendation – A subscription to Ian ‘Gizmo’ Richards TechSupportAlert newsletter.
Chris Mar
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