On Mon, 21 Mar 2011 08:50:52 +0000, ~BD~ <~BD~@nomail.afraid.com> wrote:

>On 21/03/2011 06:21, thanatoid wrote:
>> ~BD~<~BD~@nomail.afraid.com> wrote in
>> news:T8Cdnds2Ip5B0BvQnZ2dnUVZ8q6dnZ2d@bt.com:
>>
>>> On 20/03/2011 17:43, thanatoid wrote:
>>
>> I should probably add that most malware, if it is the kind that
>> invades the registry, is usually very resistant to registry
>> cleaners and even manual attempts at eradication by experts.
>> Those things are written to take over your machine, sometimes to
>> the point of having to totally wipe the drive.

I've had to wipe a drive and set the hardware jumper to clear CMOS too.
Now that's a nasty virus. But others were killable without killing the
patient in the process.


>Just for peace of mind I wipe my XP drive from time to time!
>
>> IOW, you sometimes have to restore a complete C image, or at the
>> very least restore the registry using DOS (if you can) - and
>> some malware will not even let you do that.
>
>I've sometimes used Darik's Boot and Nuke too, just in case it's become
>possible for malware to resurrect deleted items from a disc to continue
>it's dirty deeds! http://www.dban.org/
>
>> So if malware invasion is your main concern, I would recommend
>> the Agnitum Outpost firewall for XP and up, free. I still use
>> the 2002 version with my 98SElite system, this one came out
>> quite recently and has had a very positive response.
>
>I learn something new every day! I'd not heard of Agnitum before. I've
>had a quick look at the web site, but do not see a free version.
>Thanks for mentioning it though.
>
>> For AV I strongly recommend ESET NOD32 - just the virus scanner.
>> No need for the full suite. Their AV is the best, but I don't
>> know if their /firewall/ is - I /do/ know it is NOT free ;-)
>
>I'm aware of NOD32 and it's reputation At present my XP machines are
>using MSE and the Windows firewall (connecting wirelessly through a BT
>home hub) - all *seems* to be working as it should!

I don't use AV software, I like to surf naked. If I plan to visit sites
of dubious reputation, I may use VMware or Virtualbox and run Windows in
their sandbox. If it gets trashed by a virus, it's contained within the
sandbox and the host OS remains uninfected.


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