re: Many Problems (Computer Possessed)
Sunday, September 27, 2009 at 11:46 am
Windows 98 Annoyances Discussion Forum
Posted by gewg_
(4444 messages posted)
It's obvious that you made the effort, but this is how your post looks:
http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/win98/1254026975
The first 2 paragraphs here are worth reading:
http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/win98/1217046552
goawayfast (aka lisa) wrote:
|i have searched for answers to these problems before bothering you all
|
Kudos. We don't see that nearly enough.
|i have noticed an increase in krnl386.exe error messages[...Long tale of woe].
|
I don't know what your general computing techniques are, but
this guy (who mainly writes about Linux these days but has used other platforms)
has some descriptions of the typical Windoze user's (bogus) thinking
WRT security:
cache
of http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntucat/antivirusculture
cache
of http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntucat/does-anti-malware-do-anything
This is a page I like to link to about what Windoze users SHOULD be doing:
**Leo’s Laporte's Six Rules for Safe Computing**
cache
of http://techguylabs.com/radio/ShowNotes/Show327#toc3
Note that with your current software, Leo's #4 is rubbing salt in the wound
as Win9x hasn't been supported/updated for over 3 years.
Note also that #6 is not possible
as Win9x is a single-user system where any user ALWAYS RUNS AS ROOT.
This is the WORST possible paradigm.
The best you can do with Win9x (again with the pasted-on "security" notion)
is install and configure System Policy Editor.
cache
of http://www.zisman.ca/poledit/
It appears that what you have is indeed an infection
and if you have *one* infection, it is likely you have others.
As Arminius alluded to, the sure way to get rid of this stuff
is to wipe the disk and start fresh.
Of course, you have backups of your data files so you can restore those afterwards.
A clean install of a Windoze ecosystem will also result in a peppier box.
(Registry cruft is then gone.)
In addition, I will do my usual and advise that this 10 - 11 year old OS
which, again, hasn't been supported by its vendor for over 3 years
is a poor choice this far into the 21st Century.
Windoze users generally live in a Microsoft bubble
where they think one or more of the following:
1) M$ is the only software that will run[1] on their boxes.
2) People have to pay money for software.
3) People have to wait for M$ to fix the (broken) software they use
and, barring that, just bend over and take it.
4) People have to run an OS with a lousy security model
aka you have to put up with an operating system that is easily infected.
The fact is, all of those are false.
I recommend that people investigate Linux which is FREE.
With Linux, Point #3 is much less severe because the Linux ecosystem
is all Open Source Software which means, in theory,
that *any* competent programmer can fix bugs or add features.
WRT Point #4 (*System Policy Editor* vs Linux):
Linux **installs** with an excellent security model which avoids infections.[2]
There is also a fifth point: You DON'T need to *install* Linux to try it;
you can boot to the Linux CD which gives a graphical Linux desktop
you can do a test drive of the Linux ecosystem from the CD.
Try **THAT** with any M$ product.
Of the thousands of versions of Linux available
(think: each tweaked to suit a particular kind of user),
I recommend that the typical Windows 98 user try Linux Mint Xfce Edition.
There is also an edition of Mint for extremely anemic boxes;
that one uses the Fluxbox desktop instead of Xfce.
If you have 256MB or more of RAM, you might consider
the (more powerful) KDE edition or the Gnome edition of Mint.
There is probably a bunch of nerds near you that can fix you right up
and bring you into the 21st Century--again, all FREE.
http://google.com/search?q=Linux.Users.Groups
[1] I initially had a Freudian slip with a typo there: "ruin". 8-)
[2] There are exceptions. Linux distros that I am aware of
that should be avoided because of their poor security models:
Puppy Linux; Linspire/Freespire; Xandros.
Puppy is popular because it is easy
(Easy==poor security; compare having to type in a password once in a blue moon
to what you're going through now.).
Linspire and Xandros are payware anyway.
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