The importance of backups

[winter]

*facepalms* Evidently the Trend Micro antivirus programme is as crap as I thought, since it let through another Trojan that's proven stubbornly hard to remove. Fortunately I still have a fairly recent clone of my hard drive and backing up the new data was an hour's work; in a few days I should have everything back as it was before.

On the upside, this convinced the Powers That Be that yes, I'm not just being annoying when I mention that my computer really should have XP Service Pack 2, especially three bloody years after it came out. Apart from fixing the obvious security holes, this will also let me install my DVD burner on my home computer, which'll mean I can finally archive my stuff on DVD. Success.

I've no access to mail archives for a few days - if I owed anyone mail, give me a shout.

Comments

[concordantnexus.livejournal.com]

Strange - I've never had Trend Micro let anything through - its always caught it as it tried to install.

Ah... mind you I keep my Windows XP up-to-date with automatic updates.

[winter]

Yep, nothing helps if the system's as full of holes as XP SP1 :/ It's amazing I was even allowed to install Service Pack 1 as it was, but hopefully with the second virus of the year, someone has realised this is not something I've made up.

[hobnobs.livejournal.com]

Speaking as the AV admin for our company, no AV software is at it's best when there are security holes present. If the malware can use a security hole to get access to the system there's little the AV can do about it unless you run *everything* in a sandbox, system included.

On the subject of removal, if it's particularly hard to shift; run hijackthis (version 2, available from the www.merijn.org site) fix what you know to be a case of "that shouldn't be there." and check if anything has tied itself to winlogon, as most of the really pernicious bastards I've met link into that component which means you can't remove them whilst the system is running, not even in safe mode. If it *has* tied itself to that, download the "System Rescue CD" from http://www.sysresccd.org/Main_Page and burn it. Boot using it and remove the offending file(s) then reboot and re-run hijackthis. solves 99% of everything I've met.

Barry

[winter]

*nods* I'm not that much of a layperson with viruses, and really I've spent the last three years beating my head against the wall re: SP2 and security updates. HijackThis got most of what was wrong with my computer, but there was one nasty (troj_spambot.b) that should be removable in safemode and wasn't. For various reasons it's simpler to go the clone-drive route than convince the Powers That Be to try anything else :/

[alice_montrose]

I still think a combination of the default firewall for XP SP2 (and you should have said something, I could have sent a "temporary" copy until the Powers That Be saw the light and invested in one), AVG Antivirus (which will still update once the trial period is over) and Ad-Aware works fine for a personal computer.

Also, let the Powers That Be know that Vista is not a real alternative for XP SP2, nor will it be until it gets its own SP2. Just in case they get any ideas, you know...

[winter]

The one thing we all agree on is that Vista is the devil ;) Thing is, I wasn't allowed to install SP2 at all. Now, I'm supposed to install it today on the old drive before the cloning, just so that if there's a next time, I can clone a safe and updated system :)

[alice_montrose]

Mmmmm, XP installation. It is love. Especially if it is followed by a complete programs installation. (Though if it's just SP2 then it shouldn't be).

Good luck with the backup! *hugs*

[winter]

Fortunately I also have the backup burned to DVDs just in case :) Still, it's gonna be FUN.

[hotbeast.livejournal.com]

Polecam AVG ustawiony na codzienną aktualizację bazy wirusów i równie częstą wycieczkę po wszystkich dyskach.

A co do maila, to bardzo chętnie dostałabym jakiś bez powodu ;).

[winter]

Chwilowo to ja chce Service Pack 2 z firewallem, psiakrew :/

To ty cos ostatnio cicha bylas ;) Mam wampirki wegierskie! Na DVD! Trzy przedstawienia, w tym jedno takie z pierwsza obsada, ze mucha nie siada! Wszystko widac!

[hotbeast.livejournal.com]

um, mniam :). Ten ich jeden Alfred wygląda jak aniołek. A nasze wampiry też już masz? I tak musimy się spotkać. Z tego co wiem mamy w planach z dziewczynami (Ziuu, Anka, Meg)w najbliższą sobotę wizytę w Galerii, więc może też byś wpadła żeby pogadać?

[winter]

Galeria Mokotów, rozumiem? Bardzo chetnie, tylko prosze o dalsze dane :) Moze byc na priv, komputer juz mam sprawny.

(A naszych jeszcze nie, psiakrew. KTOS nie potrafi przegrywac DVD ;) Ale mam obiecane...)