acorn

I found the best free anti virus software is from www.grisoft.com

excellent and it works and is totally free and also has updates for all new
viruses.

humble.life

May I use this opportunity to plug linux?

acorn

Actually HL what is the major difference between linux and windows server?
Is there much difference?

humble.life

urghhh.

I could answer, if I knew.


Windows users generally don't want to get too technical. They want to "set
up and go", so windows server comes provided with tonnes and tonnes of
expensive-to-produce Graphic User Interfaces's.

As a server is simply a computer with software that connects system A with B
and C (and whatever) most linux CD's will have the software to do what
Windows Server does...

And for free, if you don't need support... (if you've ever set up a
non-microsoft webserver in Windoze to test your own web-site, or home
network intranet, you'll get your head around it...)

whiskers

In uk.people.support.depression on Saturday 20 Sep 2003 6:07 pm, Acorn


I'll second that. I also got excellent service from Norton anti-virus; I
think it's worth paying for anti-virus protection for a Windows system.

I used to have them both installed; Norton running all the time to check
everything coming in, and both of them to run regular scans of the whole
system.

--
-- ^^^^^^^^^^ Interested in Citroens?
-- Whiskers <http://www.aacit.net>
-- ~~~~~~~~~~ <news:alt.autos.citroen>

whiskers

X-No-Archive: Yes

In uk.people.support.depression on Saturday 20 Sep 2003 5:25 pm, SB ©


They seem to be getting more varied. That is not an improvement!

If your usual (Windows) e-mail program can't 'preview' e-mails before
downloading them, then a free program called "mailwasher" can do it for you
- I've never used it but it gets good reports. You get a list of the
messages waiting to be downloaded, and you can delete any that you don't
want to waste time downloading. <http://www.mailwasher.net/>

For Linux, I've begun using "kshowmail" today, to do a similar job, and it
seems to work well so far.

I haven't got any suggestions for Mac systems. Perhaps someone else has?

--
-- ^^^^^^^^^^ Interested in Citroens?
-- Whiskers <http://www.aacit.net>
-- ~~~~~~~~~~ <news:alt.autos.citroen>

sb ©

|>They seem to be getting more varied. That is not an improvement!
|>
|>If your usual (Windows) e-mail program can't 'preview' e-mails before
|>downloading them, then a free program called "mailwasher" can do it for you
|>- I've never used it but it gets good reports. You get a list of the
|>messages waiting to be downloaded, and you can delete any that you don't
|>want to waste time downloading. <http://www.mailwasher.net/>
|>
|>For Linux, I've begun using "kshowmail" today, to do a similar job, and it
|>seems to work well so far.
|>
|>I haven't got any suggestions for Mac systems. Perhaps someone else has?

Yeah I haven't had a problem with these virus mails, I have mailwasher
pro anyway, just set up a couple of filters and been deleting them
from the server, just more an inconvenience in getting so bloody many
of them.


--
SB - x-no-archive: yes in the headers

sb ©

|>In uk.people.support.depression on Saturday 20 Sep 2003 6:07 pm, Acorn
|><acorn@oaktree.com> wrote:
|>
|>snip
|>
|>> I found the best free anti virus software is from www.grisoft.com
|>> excellent and it works and is totally free and also has updates for all
|>> new viruses.
|>
|>I'll second that. I also got excellent service from Norton anti-virus; I
|>think it's worth paying for anti-virus protection for a Windows system.
|>
|>I used to have them both installed; Norton running all the time to check
|>everything coming in, and both of them to run regular scans of the whole
|>system.

I use Avast home edition, again free, I have found that to be better
than AVG (which I have used in the past).

http://www.avast.com/i_idt_1016.html


--
SB - x-no-archive: yes in the headers

whiskers

In uk.people.support.depression on Saturday 20 Sep 2003 8:42 pm, Acorn


Windows and Linux are built entirely differently; one effect of that being
that viruses, worms, trojans, etc, aimed at Windows systems, have no effect
at all on Linux. The way Linux is built (and all Unix-like systems) means
that there are far fewer opportunities for malicious software to cause
problems.

Basically, nothing will 'run' on a Linux system unless someone with access
to the computer, deliberately decides to 'run' it - and the 'administrator'
is the only user who can run anything that could damage the system; so
mostly, no-one uses the Linux system as an 'administrator' unless they
specifically want to change a configuration or add or remove important
software. That makes it virtualy impossible to create the sort of nuisance
we are getting at the moment, by exploiting a Linux system.

Windows tries to be as easy as possible to use even if you have no technical
knowledge, so it tends to start up with all sorts of things running 'just
in case they are needed'. Unfortunately, that also makes it relatively
easy for other people to exploit the various openings that most Windows
systems have. Windows also lacks the distinction between 'administrator'
and 'user' to anything like the same extent as other operating systems, so
programs can be made to run without the user knowing about it - that's how
all the bogus e-mails going round at the moment, get sent (and spread the
'virus' or whatever that they are carrying). Technicaly speaking, many
Windows computers have 'open ports' and 'servers running' which the user
knows nothing about.

The way to protect a Windows system, is to use both an 'anti-virus' program
and a 'firewall' program. Read the instructions that go with them, keep
them up-to-date, and don't let any programs on your computer have internet
access until you have worked out what they need access for.

I think it's also a good idea to have 'spyware' removal tools. "Spybot
Search and Destroy" and "AdAware" are both worth having, I think - and keep
them up-to-date too. They can find and remove little programs that get
onto your computer from software down-loads or from some web-sites, which
'report back' to their creators about what you are using your computer for,
which websites you visit, and so on. (They are mostly used to help people
target their advertising 'better', but they do also have a security risk).

A 'server' is a computer program that can be accessed and operated from
somewhere else. The news-server you get news-groups from, for example,
lets you tell it what messages to send you and what to do with messages you
are sending. Most home computers also have various types of 'server'
program installed - they are useful if you want to do some things - but if
you aren't using them, someone else might, without you knowing, which is
where the firewall comes in: it gives /you/ control over everything your
computer sends and receives. That is equally true of Mac, Windows, and
Linux, computers.

The main difference of Linux in this respect, is that up until quite
recently most people using Linux were sufficiently knowledgeable to keep
their computers 'secure'; that is changing as more people start to look at
Linux as a viable alternative. Linux newbies have a lot to learn when they
first set things up, so some of us undoubtedly leave openings that could be
exploited, at least until we learn more about computers.

Linux does need more knowledge to get the best out of it, than Mac or
Windows. The learning experience is useful though, and quite interesting.
What's more, you can get a complete working Linux system 'free', from a
magazine cover-discs for example, and (for most PCs) install it on the same
PC that is running Windows - without removing Windows. That's called a
'dual boot'; you can play with Linux, and continue to use Windows until you
decide whether you want to get serious with Linux. (Setting up a dual boot
is a bit scary; took me months to pluck up courage - first I made sure I
could make reliable back-ups of all the important Windows stuff!).

Linux comes in many different 'distributions' - that is, collections of
programs and ready-made configurations that will work nicely together
without you having to know very much about the technicalities. The one I
like is called 'Mandrake' (now up to version 9.x); another popular one is
'Red Hat' (also now up to version 9.x); there are many many others but
those two seem to be easiest for beginners.

--
-- ^^^^^^^^^^ Interested in Citroens?
-- Whiskers <http://www.aacit.net>
-- ~~~~~~~~~~ <news:alt.autos.citroen>