OT: Vista XP Must Read!!!

I thought this thread should be seperate from all other Vista comments because of the content.

I can now report what happened to me approx 2 weeks ago while using Vista Home Premium. My national bank security manager wanted me to wait until they had a chance to get the FBI involved in my recent problem before I posted the info on the internet as they wanted to catch my PC intruder.

The problem:
About 2weeks ago, I went to log onto my online banking website and the Vista firewall stopped loading my webpage and posted a notice to the effect: " Ms Defender has stopped loading your current requested web page" ?(something close to that, CRS) " Microsoft has found that this usually is a redirect program to gather information that you input information on then send that information to the redirected website... ie; user name and password ..." ?(something close to that, CRS)

I then disconnected from my ISP and then called my banks while I left the webpage open so I could supply the banks with the correct info of the redirection webpage address.

Solution:
After talking with the website security manager at my national bank, I learned alot about online banking security. Sorry, but I don't feel it's in my best interest to post the name of my national bank or brokerage bank as this problem can happen to any website/PC requardless of security measures taken by the banks/websites.

I called the redirection a "worm" but the bank security manager said this problem was a "cookie trojan"(CT) program. He stated the CT can be set on any computer at any time by injecting the CT program into the download stream of bits that is transmitted onto any computer during any normal webpage request and there is no known cure to stop the CT program. He also stated there is not any anti-virus or firewall program made that will stop a CT program from entering into the data bit stream.

He also stated that any good known firewall will easly catch this CT program. He also stated that a redirect program can be set in other ways but firewalls are 100% effective at stopping the redirection program no matter what method is used to deploy the CT program.

To remove a CT program, all one has to do is reset there cookie casch, ie; clear the casch, then warm reboot the PC.

He also stated that a person needs to be running a admin user and a web surfing user with a firewall and that you need to clean up a PC at least once per-week (clean out the cookies, temp webpages, history, form data, and passwords) if not sooner. Never ever let a banking website remember your user name or password for you.

Always type in the username and password on each webpage visit!!!

For the past four years I have been using XP Home with a password protected admin user with a web surfing user with limited access. I also set my new Vista PC up the same way that I've been using since Aug 07. I do NOT run any type of anti-virus software.

After reading thru Vista'a help file, Ms suggests that you should never use a admin user for surfing the web as a hacker can reformat your hard drive, change the BIOS settings, or make there own admin user account without your knowledge. Always use a password protected user account with limited access for best protection while on the internet.

My personal comments about Vista & XP:

My Vista PC is now set up with a password protected admin user that NEVER goes online, and a password protected user limited account for internet banking/brokerage, and a password protected limited user account for web surfing (Ytmag and such) and password protected BIOS. I refuse to run a anti-virus program as I have found they cause more headaches than they resolve (Norton & MacAfee).

I only had one problem with XP in four years. I got a worm (dl.exe) from a file that I downloaded and had to reformat my HDD several times until I realized the worm was in a file and it was my fault for my XP problems. The worm came in a cell phone driver file that I had DL.

Since I didn't understand XP Home 100%, I didn't do Ms updates but once every 6mths or so because of my slow ISP, 56k V.92 dial-up. With Vista & XP, I see that Ms updates are very important. I now use Ms notify update then take my PC to a national grocery store chain and use there free wireless service to update Vista at 44m/sec. This usually takes me about 1/2hr to keep current updates.

After using Vista for 90days, I have to say Vista stomps XP. I too did not like Vista when I first got it. Vista has more knobs too tweak than XP and Vista includes alot of default resets on the tweak screens in case you make a mistake and your PC has less preformance.

The Vista help menu is very easy to understand for most explanations. I think it's the best help menu since Win98 and Win98 was terrible (too much techie jargon).

T_Bone

What I have/had:

XP:
1) Admin full access password protected
2) User with limited access password protected

Vista:
1) BIOS password protected
2) Admin full access password protected
3) user limited access password protected
4) user limited access password protected

On XP & Vista, click control, click user accounts, then follow directions.

Besure and password protect the screen saver if you use one. The screen saver password for each user should equal EACH user password that your logged onto.

Upon boot up you will be taken to a screen that shows all the current users and then you must log on to a account to use that account. Unless you have huge amount(2g) of ram installed, log off a user before logging on as another user.

Confused? search "user accounts" in help!

I think on Win98/95 you had to install net manger first from the 98/95 OEM disc, then click control/ then click user accounts, follow directions. I'm not sure as it's been to many years since I ran win98/95.

T_Bone

XP is fine, but the overhead they have in it, the mega-updates, and the slowness & expansiveness of it are horrendous. (For what gain over 98se????) It automatically started downloading an update for me. I'm on dialup as well. Found out later it musta been SP2, or possibly SP1 that it was trying to install over dialup. With _no way_ to shut that off. Any time I'd connect, it would bang away - at 2 or 3% downloaded - for hours on end.... Yish. It finally started doing some installs, and totally wiped out the divice manager & my modem. Could not restore, could not repair, could not connect to the internet any more. In trying to format & start over, XP put itself in an endless loop of trying to repair itself, but hanging up. It would never finish, it would not time out, it would not give me an option to just start over. It would go to the finish repair option, work for 10 minutes, reboot itself, and hang up in an endless loop for hours & hours - not the 39 minutes it said.

Finally got it formatted, reinstalled, and both the device manager & modem work fine. But, whan an ugly 6 months - because of the ugly update mess of a program they have built in.

Vista is a non-issue, because it is not backward compatable with most any device that exsisted under XP, and I refuse to join that game again - throw out allt he printers, scanners, modems, etc & buy new. Forget it. Vista offers me nothing that I can't do with XP. I see no benifit to it. Just requires a new computer with more memory & faster processor to do what I already can do. What good is that? No wonder the Mac commercials are so popular.

Pffft. Technology moves on, and we need to move with it. I'm for that. The XP to Vista move is only to benifit perefrial manufaturers & waste internet bandwith tho, as far as I can see! The old was a better match for the real world than the new os's. Someday there will be a new os that offers me something worth buying. Not Vista! That is a downgrade. Everyone knows it. The Mac ads make fun of it; the business community demanded XP stick around because Vista cost too much for no benifit; and many consumers see the same folly.

--->Paul

Boy what different experiences we had. Win98 crashed every 5mths or so. After building my XP system in 2006, I see that some of my Win98 problems could have been caused by incompatable hardware.

My 2006 XP, I bought 100% of Intel suggested componets for that Intel MB. I didn't have a problem in 1yr and 3days then my MB smoked probalby because of the summer heat and 3.1g CPU even tho I was running 5 case fans, a dedicated Intel CPU & heatsink with fan and a power supply fan. That cost me $950 in componets that included a Viewsonic 19" LCD. I now use the LCD on my new Vista Toshiba laptop. So that was $727 shot down the drain as the MB quit 3days out of warranty. I was not a happy camper with Intel.

I bought a Toshiba XP laptop in 2003 for $900 on sale. About every 7mths XP would crash for some unkown reason. I found it was easier to use the OEM recover disc rather to find out why XP crashed until I got the bright idea to reformat my HDD (file virus, my fault) and I took out the OEM partion. I then lost partical keyboard and DVD as Toshiba doesn't have those drivers for DL and I made my OEM recover disc unusable...lol

I too chewed out Vista for the unlimited non stopable download of McAfre anti-virus, so I took it out.

The Vista download was curred by changing the notifiy section in Defender? I now just have Ms notifiy me when they need to update. That works most of the time but I do notice that MS continues to DL critical updates requardless of the notifiy section, selection setting.

Vista will also power up on it's own from the sleep mode to make critical downloads so MS must have set a auto awake timer that I've read about but haven't addressed.

Up until I get about 7 or 8 webpages open at the same time, I feel Vista is faster than my XP 3.1g dual core CPU and 2g ram than my Vista PC only having 1.6g dual core CPU and 1g ram.

I did increase my swap file setting from approx 1.49g to 3.0g and that helped Vista alot. Another speed booster was rebuilding the index while my seven webpages were open. Why, I don't know as index is supposed to be for file searching only as I just read about.

After 7 open webpages then I feel my XP was faster. Because of additional ram and faster CPU? I just don't know. My XP laptop I will not put online as it keeps my books so I don't have a XP to compare other than my memory and we all know how bad that is.

T_Bone

Good posting. Scary, but good.

I've been meaning to ask you whether you got my 2nd e-mail on 11/14, or thereabouts? On 11/13 you asked me to e-mail you because your e-mail to me had come back. I did, then you sent me the message from your personal E-mail address. I replyed and expected to hear back from you concerning something I brought up.

I didn't think too much about it when I didn't hear from you because sometimes no answer is the answer. Then, your posting here made me wonder if you were too busy, of too involved to give it much thought at the time, or if the computer problems you were having might have caused my e-mail to simply not go through.

All the best, Stan

Kent

Donovan from Wisconsin

I too will not use my SS number over the I-net. I call too set up all my accounts as then I don't have to use the SS number over the I-net.

In 12yrs of using my Visa on the net, I've never had one mistake for fraud for I-net buying and I do alot of net buying, about 50% of my total yearly purchases are thru the net. I did have to dispute about 10 CC charges over the same time frame with the results always in my favor.

If I couldn't use on-line banking to keep up with my financal books, I'd have to hire a full time book keeper. I don't see how that would be cost effective.

T_Bone

Awhile back most US hospitals third partied their medical transcription process. The third party then hired another outsider to actually do the work. One case they hired a doctor in India to do the work, then tried to short her on her pay. She sent an email to all the hospitals informing them she would post all the medical records on the net if she didn't get paid. Yep she got paid!

Moral of the story is.... you never know who you are talking to, or where in the world they are or what they can or will do with the info.
Scott

Yes I've always felt better with mail in applications or using my hard wired telephone, not my cordless phone.

I've learned to ask who and where I'm talking too as I've had a few calls that sounded like a India decent and I refuse to give a 3rd party personal info unless there US based. Lately I've been asking if the person works for a sub-contractor of the company I'm calling.

The DMV in AZ uses prisoners too answer phones, but they warn you not to give out personal info, so then you spend the next 5min trying to find out if your talking with a real DMV employee or to a prisoner.

T_Bone