Kaj Haulrich wrote:
Dear list...
I am sorry for bothering you with this, but knowing that some of you have Windows on your box, I rely on your forgiveness :
A week ago I had to buy a new PC for one of my daughters (14 years old). She absolutely needed Windows in order to run some special, school-related apps. The PC came with WinXP pre-installed.
The first thing I did was to install Mozilla, OpenOffice and some sort of firewall, called ZoneAlarm. Now, I thought it was safe....
Suddenly, when she tries to send an e-mail (from within Mozilla, of course, I'm not THAT stupid), up pops a message from our ISP saying that the box is compromized, accordingly the smtp-server won't accept the mail. In fact, her IP was blacklisted.
Some on-line security scans, revealed no less than 159 trojans, worms and viruses !
After heavy googling around, I purchased a spyware/trojan scanner called XoftSpy, which cleaned most of the shit. But nevertheless, a spyware trojan keeps coming in (SAHAgent). No matter what I do.
(The bugger doesn't show up in ControlPanel --> Remove software).
Well, I know next to nothing about Windows, but before I subscribe to a windows-list (which I would hate, really), I would like to ask if you can recommend :
1. A good, reliable firewall for Windows (preferably OSS and free) ? 2. A spyware/trojan/worm cleaner capable of removing all malware ? 3. Shutting down the whole kaboodle and wait for SP2 ?
Many thanks and apologies in advance
Kaj Haulrich.
SP2 is already out for XP home.. its in windows update. but that won't really help you that much on this box.
There is no one tool I know of that will catch all trojans and worms and stuff.
Spybot search and destroy: http://www.safer-networking.org/en/home/index.html
Does a pretty good job. (and its free open source)
Next, get the free adaware. http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/
That will find some that spybot s&d missed. That will do allot to solve your spyware woes.
There is nothing wrong with Zonealarm, but before you spend much time online, go to grc.com or scan.sygate.com and make sure the whole machine is stealthed.
To hunt down the virus/worm problems, you should install Clamwin: http://www.clamwin.com/
An open source antivirus app, and for abit of extra protection, go and get yourself a copy of the free AVG antivirus:
http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2/
The two antivirus apps are small and fast, so running two of them won't hurt. (and clamwin might catch some that AVG won't, or vice versa.)
That should do the trick, and all for the princely sum of 0 dollars.
-- rgds
Franki http://htmlfixit.com
____________________________________________________ Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com Join the Club : http://www.mandrakeclub.com ____________________________________________________
