Instructions from the I.T. Department
- When you call us to have your computer moved, be sure to leave it buried under half a ton of postcards, baby pictures, stuffed animals, dried flowers, bowling trophies and children’s art.
- Don’t ever write anything down, especially the error message that was on your screen.
- If we ask what the last thing you did was, always respond with, “I didn’t do anything.”
- When we say we’ll be right over, immediately find a reason to leave so you won’t have to answer silly questions from us, like “what’s your screen saver password?”
- When describing your problem, just tell us what you were ultimately trying to do. For example, just say, “I can’t get my email”. We don’t need to know that the computer won’t even turn on.
- Feel free to ignore any email sent from us, especially those marked with high importance. You don’t really need to know about the latest virus that wiped out your neighbors hard drive.
- Always send important and urgent emails in all uppercase.
- When the copier, or anything else remotely electronic, doesn’t work, call us. Heck, if we can fix computers, we must know all about copiers too.
- If the document you sent to the printer didn’t print, send it at least 20 more times. One of them is bound to work.
- Don’t ever learn the proper name for anything technical. We know exactly what you mean by “my thingy blew up”.
- Don’t waste your time using the built in help files. We already had to learn the hard way, why should you?
- If any of the computer cables are in your way or keep moving, be sure to route them across the top of your portable heater or set something big and heavy on them to hold them in place.
- Never bother reading any message that pops up on your screen. Just click the X to close it or the first button your mouse gets to.
- Don’t ever try rebooting the computer yourself. Call us immediately. Only experienced, highly-trained professionals should attempt that.
- Feel perfectly free to say things like “I don’t know anything about this computer crap”. We love hearing our area of professional expertise referred to as crap.
- When you receive a huge movie file that’s really funny, be sure to forward it to all your friends. We have plenty of disk space and bandwidth.
- Don’t bother bringing a radio to work, just listen to music over the internet. Like I said, we have plenty of bandwidth.
- Don’t even think of breaking large print jobs down into smaller chunks. Somebody else might squeeze their one-page document into the queue.
- When an I.T. person is carrying heavy equipment, worth thousands of dollars, that’s the best time to ask why your screen saver quit working.
- Don’t bother to tell us when you move computer equipment around on your own. We certainly don’t need to keep track of those things.
- Your computer case makes a great flat surface for sitting drinks or potted plants on.
- Do whatever you can to cover up those ugly open air slots in the computer and monitor.
Categories: Humor Tags: age, amp, animal, animals, are, as, baby pictures, bandwidth, bowling trophies, can, comp, computer, computer cables, copiers, disk, drive, Email, Emails, eq, error message, Files, Find, fix, flowers, FREE, fun, Great, hard drive, heck, help files, Internet, latest virus, mail, neighbors, Old, password, Picture, post, postcards, print, problem, Read, rtm, screen saver password, silly questions, space, test, the, uppercase, urgent emails, use, virus, word, you
Clampi Virus targets online banking
In the modern world, most people never see their bank (with the exception of ATM withdrawals). We use bill pay, direct deposit and bank debit cards. This is the exact behavior that the Clampi virus is living on.
Clampi is a very stealthy virus, just biding it’s time on a compromised machine and watching for connections to online financial websites. So many so that the London Times Online reports:
The trojan has a list of more than 4,500 finance-related websites that it monitors, including British high street banks. Security experts warned that it was one of the stealthiest and most pervasive threats to computers using the Microsoft Windows operating systems.
The virus appears to be geared with more of the business users instead of the normal home user (though it does infect home users). If the virus does end on a work computer, it will attempt to capture login credentials administrators and spread itself through the network. As it spreads, it continually monitors for login information to the watch list of financial websites. If this virus does infect the finance group of a company, it will attempt to send wire transfers from that account. You can ask Slack Auto Parts. It has been reported that they lost $75,000 July 3–7, says owner Henry Slack. Clampi-infected computers sent nine payments to six different mules � and failed to transfer an additional $69,000 in eight other attempts.
A word of warning, if your computer is designated for financial usage, please do not surf the internet or use social media sites to minimize the risk of infections.
Since this virus has been out for a while, all the major antivirus vendors have updated definition files that include the scan for this particular virus. Make sure your system is always updated and scanned on a regular basis. If you would like to run a quick check, using a different vendor, I recommend these online scanners:
TrendMicro: http://housecall65.trendmicro.com/
Symantec: http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/WelcomePage.asp
McAfee: http://home.mcafee.com/downloads/freescan.aspx?cid=60447
Panda: http://www.pandasecurity.com/activescan/index/
Categories: Malware Tags: age, amp, antivirus, antivirus vendors, are, as, atm withdrawals, attempts, bank debit cards, business users, can, comp, computer, Download, downloads, exact behavior, Files, finance group, financial websites, FREE, heck, henry slack, Home, home users, housecall65, Internet, login credentials, london times, mcafee, Micro, microsoft, microsoft windows, microsoft windows operating systems, online, panda, pervasive threats, ports, quick, Read, REG, scanner, Security, security experts, security symantec, street banks, symantec, system, the, title, Tree, trendmicro, use, virus, warning, Web, website, Welcome, Window, WINDOWS, windows operating system, windows operating systems, wire transfers, word, work computer, World, you
Must Have Application for Thumb Drives
It’s a sign of the time, you can buy a thumb drive almost anywhere. I have even seen them in Gas Stations in the Omaha area.
There are many reasons to use these drives: size, portability convenience, and storage space, all come to mind quickly. A lot of my external users do not even take their laptops to meetings anymore because they can keep all their presentations and such on a thumb drive and just plug into any machines.
On the other side of the coin, there are some inherent risks to the transportation of these devices. You may forget them on site, lose them while getting something from your pocket, so on and so forth. No matter the reason, if you lose your drive, all of that data is now available to the person that finds it.
Here are some examples of the type of data that can be lost by anyone:
Firm ‘broke rules’ over data loss
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has blamed a private contractor for losing the details of thousands of criminals, held on a computer memory stick.
Tax website shut down as memory stick with secret personal data of 12million is found in a pub car park
Ministers have been forced to order an emergency shutdown of a key Government computer system to protect millions of people’s private details.
The action was taken after a memory stick was found in a pub car park containing confidential passcodes to the online Government Gateway system, which covers everything from tax returns to parking tickets.
Two examples may not seem like a large amount, but if you look at the amount of data that was lost in these two examples you will realize how much data is at stake.
With that being said, I have found a free application that will help with this. Rohos Mini Drive Encryption. This app has a very small footprint and once your drive is setup, you don’t have to install software on any other computer to access that encrypted file.
According to the developers website they list the features as:
- Creates a virtual encrypted partition volume (disk) within a USB flash drive free space
- Automatically detects your USB stick config and creates encrypted partition
- Program does not require installation to work with encrypted partiton on a guest computer. You can start it right from USB drive
- Encrypted partition is protected by password
- Encryption is automatic and on-the-fly
- Encryption algorithm: AES 256 bit key length. NIST approved.
- Rohos Disk Browser to open encrypted partition without having Admin rights
- Virtual Keyboard — to protect your encrypted disk password from a key logger
- Autorun Folder. Saved program’s/file’s shortcut will automatically start/open up upon disk connection
- The limit of encrypted partition size is 2 GB
I find the software very easy to use and intuitive. In no time, I had carved 500 megs on one of my drives and was moving files over to the encrypted portion. To try out the functionality I handed the disk to my co-worker and watched as they put it in and sure enough none of the data showed. Just an executable. When run, the password challenge screen comes up. I really do like the idea of a virtual keyboard, particularly if you are on a computer that you do not know. Better safe then sorry in this world. Once the correct password is entered and accepted an explorer window is opened and all your files are accessible. It did take a few moments for me to see how to add new files to the encrypted volume. Just so you know, in the explorer window you can right click and import file.
As I said before, in this world, encrypt everything. I highly recommend this program to anyone with a thumb drive.
Categories: SW Tags: action, age, amp, application, are, as, can, car park, comp, computer, computer memory, dailymail, data, disk, drive, drive encryption, emergency shutdown, eq, external users, Files, Find, FREE, free application, fun, functionality, gateway system, government computer system, government gateway, Home, home secretary, Installation, jacqui smith, laptop, laptops, mail, memory, memory stick, mom, News, Old, omaha area, online, parking tickets, passcodes, password, print, private contractor, private details, program, quick, rules, sign of the time, size, small footprint, Software, space, START, station, storage, storage space, system, the, thumb drive, title, use, Web, website, Window, word, World, you
The System Administrator from Hell
Some days I get emails that just have to be shared. This is one of them. All credit to the original author, though I don’t know who it is.
Recently someone called me from one of the “Out on the Floor Offices”, an ethereal place rumored to exist only in hyperspace, populated by mysterious beings called Users.
She was quite frantic. She was having trouble running a program through the computer, and her message was clear enough, although rather ill-conceived: “My files are full!”
I furrowed my brow, lit a smoke, and explained to her, “Really now, Miss Russell, I don’t have time for this.” I slowly exhaled the menthol vapors as I stopped her process, crushing any hopes she may have had of ever again seeing that document she had spent three hours slaving over.
“I was typing this really important letter, and it has to be ready in an hour… there’s all this stuff on my screen that I didn’t type… it says something about an error, should I read it to you?”
“No point. Just press return.”
“Oh my, it wants my username. Can I restart that where I left off?”
“Not a chance.”
I drew another puff and tossed the phone aside. It occurred to me that if I had to hear one more of those whining complaint sessions, heads were going to roll. Where do you people get this stuff? I’m going to tell you what’s really going on here. Now listen up. I’m not going over this a second time:
- Computer
- The black box that does your work for you. That’s all you need to know.
- Response Time
- Usually measured in nanoseconds; sometimes measured in calendar months. The general rule is: Shut up your complaining about response time.
- Hardware
- See “Computer.” Again, not your concern.
- Software
- If we want you to know, we’ll tell you about it, otherwise, leave us alone.
- Network
- Don’t worry about it, we’ll take care of it. Use it to send mail among your half-wit selves, and don’t think we won’t read it all. What do you think we do all day? By the way , Russell… shame about your mother’s Pancreas.
- Data
- The general rule is: Don’t use any data files and if you find any, delete them before I find out about them. In fact, just stay off the computer. (See “Response Time”)
- System Crash
- Don’t ever call the system manager to tell him you think the computer is down. Don’t call him to ask him when it will be up again. The more you bother him, the longer it takes.
- Downtime
- Like I said, don’t ask.
- Uptime
- Be thankful for it, use it wisely, and get out of my face.
- Overtime
- Don’t be ridiculous.
- Vacation
- A time during which I don’t have to put up with your sniveling. Don’t try calling. There’s no point.
- Computer Room
- Keep out, you’re not invited. Don’t knock on the door — don’t even think about it. I broke the phone last time one of you jerks called me, and I’m not about to replace it. And keep your greasy fingers off the windows.
- My Office
- The name says it all… it’s mine; stay out.
- Your Problems
- The name says it all…
- Deadlines
- The general rule is: Deadlines are not acknowledged by me; they’re not my responsibility. Go tell someone who cares.
- Maintenance
- A valid reason for shutting down the system at any time.
- Much more important than anything any of you bozos do.
- Anything I choose to call “maintenance” is maintenance.
- Software Upgrades
- Far too complex for you to comprehend. If I tell you I’m upgrading the system, just be quietly thankful. It’s for your own good, even if it does mean extensive downtime during peak hours.
- Electronic Mail
- I delete it before it’s read, so don’t bother sending any to me.
- Defaults
- We like them just like they are; we chose them for a reason. Don’t mess with them; consider them mandatory.
- Error Messages
- I’m not interested. I’m going to kill your process anyway, so keep them to yourself.
- Killing your Process
- Don’t ever ask why
- Beyond your control
- No warnings are given
- The highlight of my day
- If you call, it’s going to happen. No exceptions.
- Passwords
- I reserve the right to change them without notice at any time. I choose them, and the more you bother me, the more degrading yours will be. (Example: jrussell: SNOTFACE)
- Users
- They slow down the computer
- They waste my time
- A general nuisance
- Worse than that, actually
- Software Modifications
- You don’t know what you want — we’ll tell you what you want. It stays like it is. Period.
- Privileges
- I’ve got them, you don’t need them. Enough said.
- Priority
- Mine is higher than yours, accept it. That’s the reason my games run faster than your lousy accounting package. (See “Response Time”)
- Terminals
- Before calling me with a terminal problem, consider this:
- Are you prepared to do without one for weeks?
- Do you REALLY want your process killed?
- Did you just trip over the cord again?
- Of course you did.
- Disk Space
- I set the quotas, you live with them. If you need more space, check “Data Files”.
- Operator
- I hired him and I trained him. He does what I tell him to. Usually armed; always dangerous.
- Backups
- A good idea if I gave a shit, which of course I don’t.
- Lunch
- The only time that calling my office won’t result in the killing of your process.
- Data Security
- That’s your problem. I’m certainly not going to lose any sleep over it. My files are locked up tight. I feel secure.
- Jiffy
- Length of time it takes me to resolve your problem by killing your process.
- Eternity
- Length of time it takes me to give a shit about any problem that can’t be resolved by killing your process.
- Impossible
- It can’t be done (as far as you know)
- I can’t be bothered
- You’re starting to annoy me
- Inevitable
- Couldn’t have been avoided
- Not my fault (as far as you know)
- The result of annoying me
- Menus
- If it’s not on the menu, don’t ask for it. It’s not available. If it is on the menu, it’s probably of no use or it doesn’t work. We’re working on it (See “Eternity”).
- Utilities
- I find them quite useful, you’ll find them quite inaccessible. Besides, they’re not on your menu, are they. What did I tell you about that?
- Nuisance
- You.
Of course, I reserve the right to add, change, or remove anything from the above list. I’m not asking you to accept these matters without question, I’m telling you.
Now that we all know where we stand, I’m sure there’ll be no future problems. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to keep them to yourself. If you feel the need for more information, I highly recommend that you ask someone else.
Sincerely,
The System Manager
P.S. The new disk quota of 30 blocks per user became effective yesterday. Anyone caught exceeding the quota will lose their accounts (this means you, Russell!)
Categories: Humor Tags: administrator from hell, age, amp, are, as, backup, backups, blocks, calendar months, can, comp, computer, concern software, crash, data, dead, disk, Email, Emails, far, fast, Files, Find, FREE, game, games, heck, highlight, hyperspace, light, mail, Maintenance, menthol vapors, myst, mysterious beings, Office, password, passwords, problem, program, Read, Security, Software, space, spent three, START, system, the, time computer, time hardware, use, warning, Window, WINDOWS, word, you
What’s old is new again
Yesterday, Microsoft put out an advisory to a security vulnerability specific to the Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008 SP2, and Windows 7 RC operating systems. No other Windows operating systems, including Windows 7 RTM are impacted.
Holy cow, once again the older systems (you go XP) are more secure then the new systems. Why is that you say? Well this exploit was first found a decade ago. Yes, you did read that correct, in 1999 this was discovered and patched for the operating systems at the time. Yet no one thought to put that into the: Newest, Most Secure, Latest and Greatest operating systems.
So what is this vulnerability?
According to Microsoft:
What might an attacker use this vulnerability to do?
An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system. Most attempts to exploit this vulnerability will cause an affected system to stop responding and restart.
I like the last four words, “stop responding and restart”. We had an acronym for that back in the day. BSOD. But out of all of this, the thing that bothers me the most is Microsoft’s response:
Microsoft is concerned that this new report of a vulnerability was not responsibly disclosed, potentially putting computer users at risk. We continue to encourage responsible disclosure of vulnerabilities. We believe the commonly accepted practice of reporting vulnerabilities directly to a vendor serves everyone’s best interests. This practice helps to ensure that customers receive comprehensive, high-quality updates for security vulnerabilities without exposure to malicious attackers while the update is being developed.
Microsoft is concerned that this new report of a vulnerability was not responsibly disclosed? Excuse me what? It’s not new, it was disclosed properly the first time. Why do others become responsible for your oversight?
With that said Microsoft has issued two do it yourself resolutions until they can get a patch pushed.
The first is to Disable SMB2 in the registry:
Impact of workaround. Host will not be able to communicate using SMB2.
- Click Start, click Run, type Regedit in the Open box, and then click OK.
- Locate and then click the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services - Click LanmanServer.
- Click Parameters.
- Right-click to add a new DWORD (32 bit) Value.
- Enter smb2 in the Name data field, and change the Value data field to 0.
- Exit.
- Restart the “Server” service by performing one of the following:
- Open up the computer management MMC, navigate to Services and Applications, click Services, right-click the Server service name and click Restart. Answer Yes in the pop-up menu.
- From a command prompt and with administrator privileges, type net stop server and then net start server.
The second is to Block TCP ports 139 and 445 at the firewall:
Impact of Workaround: Several Windows services use the affected ports. Blocking connectivity to the ports may cause various applications or services to not function. Some of the applications or services that could be impacted are listed below:
- Applications that use SMB (CIFS)
- Applications that use mailslots or named pipes (RPC over SMB)
- Server (File and Print Sharing)
- Group Policy
- Net Logon
- Distributed File System (DFS)
- Terminal Server Licensing
- Print Spooler
- Computer Browser
- Remote Procedure Call Locator
- Fax Service
- Indexing Service
- Performance Logs and Alerts
- Systems Management Server
- License Logging Service
Personally, I would block those on your internet facing firewall of you broadband router.
Categories: Windows Tags: acronym, age, Alert, application, are, as, attack, attacker, attackers, attempts, back in the day, Blocking, Blogs, broadband, bsod, can, color, comp, complete control, computer, computer users, data, disclosure, Find, fire, Firewall, FREE, fun, gem, Great, holy cow, Internet, mail, malicious attackers, Micro, microsoft, Old, oversight, ports, print, quality updates, Read, REG, registry, resolutions, rtm, Security, security vulnerabilities, security vulnerability, sp2, START, system, test, the, title, Updates, use, Vista, vulnerabilities, Window, WINDOWS, windows operating system, windows operating systems, windows server, word, you
Forget Park Place, I want to buy the Red Square
In case you have not hear about it, Monopoly is going global. According to Daily Mail UK, Google has been in contact with Hasbro to make a new Monopoly game that utilizes Google Maps.
With the release of the game, you will not only be able to buy the standard upgrades – House or Hotel, you will also be able to say, put a stadium on your pesky neighbors house. Don’t like your current office building? Buy the area, put up a skyscraper.
Not only will there be the standard modifications to the lots and upgrades, the chance cards will now give the option to build a prison or a garbage dump. The possibilities of where to put that are endless.
According the article:
Players start the free game with three million Monopoly dollars and can buy Downing Street for $231,000, while Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, where the White House stands, costs $2 million.
Rent is paid automatically each day, from $50,000 for a house to $100 million for a skyscraper.
I for one, look forward to playing. I have been waiting for a major change in the game for a very long time. Next one they need to do is Risk.
Categories: SW Tags: 100 million, age, are, as, can, chance cards, current office, daily mail uk, dailymail, downing street, FREE, free game, game, garbage, global mail, google, google maps, hasbro, long time, mail, monopoly, new monopoly game, News, news article, Office, online, online game, park place, pennsylvania avenue, Read, red square, skyscraper, START, the, title, Tree, uk news, use, you
Free Online Games
Orisinal - Gorgeous Flash animation, perfect for kids
Web Sudoku- Are you addicted to sudoku? Then you’ll love Web Sudoku, the place for a new sudoku puzzle every day.
Games.com – Lots of free Online games Like Puzzles, Cards, Spots, Arcade and More.
1980 Games- My favorite – I love PacMan! Take a walk down the 1980’s memory lane with 1980 Games, a site dedicated to the great 1980’s classic video games.
Miniclip Games- This is where you’ll find Runescape, Heli Attack, and more free Web game goodies
MSN Games- The numerous multi-player games that are available encourage a sense of community as players interact in online game rooms or lobbies, while playing games using Windows Live Messenger, and while on their cell phones when playing Windows Mobile versions of the games.
Halloween Games Online- Anytime is the right time for a spooky Halloween game.
Fantasy Sports- Get your fantasy sports game on.
Teagames.com is a great place to find good, free multi-player games, as well as lots of extreme sports free web games.
PopCap Games should carry a warning label, because these free web games are highly addictive.
AddictingGames.com should not be visited if you have any work to do. You’ll find games here ranging from Mayhem in the Skies to Ultimate Field Goal Kicking.
c64s.com - You can play all sorts of free Commodore 64 games at c64s.com, including Commando, Bubble Bobble, and Bruce Lee.
CrazyMonkey Games – Flash based games, a lot to choose from
Armor Games – More Flash games.
Thanks to Technobuzz for starting the list. if you know of any, please add to the comments.

Categories: Internet Tags: 1980 games, addictive, adobe, age, arcade, are, armor games, as, attack, bubble bobble, can, classic video games, commodore 64 games, crazymonkey games, fantasy, fantasy sports game, Find, FREE, free commodore 64 games, free multi player games, free online games, free web game, free web games, game, game fantasy sports, game goodies, games, games halloween, Great, halloween game, Home, Kid, memory, multi player games, online, popcap games, ports, puzzle, spot, START, sudoku puzzle, the, title, use, warning, Web, web sudoku, wikipedia, Window, WINDOWS, World, you
Free PDF Writer
By now, most everyone has noticed that PDF files have become the prevailing format for secure and reliable distribution of electronic documents.
So how do you, the normal person, create these handy files without paying an arm and a leg? I have found a great and easy answer. CutePDF writer. I admit, it’s not as full featured as the pay version by Adobe, but for the savings, I can do without those features anyways.
Like with the MS Office products, it appears that the more you pay for the program, the more “features” you will never use in your life. I know someone somewhere would have a use for them, but at least for me, they just slow me down and make the product cost more then it’s worth.
I personally like the way CutePDF works, no interface to deal with, no configuration. Install and go. I like plain and simple.
When you get the product installed, to create a PDF all you have to do is print. That’s all. You have a webpage (I know this one is at the top of your list) that you want to convert, go to file print and select the CutePDF Printer. You can use this converter for any application you can print from. For the price you can’t beat it.
Categories: SW Tags: adobe, as, create pdf, cutepdf printer, electronic documents, Files, FREE, free pdf writer, handy files, interface, ms office products, PDF, pdf files, the
I Love this utility
One of my favorite websites to look at daily (ok many times a day) is Life Hacker. Today as I was going through some of their archived postings I found this.
A few days ago I talked about a program called smart installer, but I must say I am over the top impressed with life hacker’s version. The utility itself is ultra tiny (292k) with an xml file. The Smart Installer is in excess of 200 megs. The size difference is due to Smart installer having the installers included whereas life hacker’s installer automatically downloads the latest version from the net.
Another great feature, to me at least, is that the Life hacker Pack has an XML file that you can add or remove applications in. So if there is an app you like to install, modify the file in any text editor, get the download path, and away you go. With Smart Installer, you have to hope they add it.
Please don’t get me wrong, Smart installer is very good for a machine that you do not have on the internet. But for size and flexibility, I will be adding the Life Hacker pack to my arsenal. You can download the pack here. Other users have created some additional XML files:
PC Rescue Pack
The PC Rescue Pack’ll come in real handy in a few weeks at Thanksgiving when Mom and Dad ask you to fix their computer. Download the InstallPad PC Rescue Pack list, which includes:
- Ad-Aware (malware scanner and cleaner)
- CCleaner (system optimization)
- ClamWin (anti-virus)
- Spybot Search & Destroy (spyware scanner and cleaner)
- Spyware Blaster (spyware prevention)
Media Pack
Oh, you free-loading, BitTorrenting, DVD-ripping, MP3-sucking, podcasting, remixing, iPod-trading media whiz, you! Download the InstallPad Media Pack list, which includes:
- Audacity (sound editor)
- Azureus (BitTorrent client)
- Democracy (Internet TV player)
- iTunes (media player)
- Picasa (photo manager)
- QuickTime (media player)
VLC (media player)
- Do yourself a favor and give it a try
Categories: SW Tags: age, anti virus, application, archived postings, arsenal, as, audacity, can, Download, downloads, family, few days, FREE, free loading, Great, hacker, inpost, Installer, internet tv, itunes, Malware, mom and dad, photo manager, picasa, program, Review, scanner, system optimization, test, text, the, tv player, View, vlc media player, Web, website, whiz, WINDOWS, xml file, you, ZIP
When is an antivirus really a virus?
Today I received a call from one of my external users that was unable to access any websites because some new antivirus was saying he was unprotected and every website had malicious code.
Since I know that we have McAfee 8.5 deployed to our users, I knew that this was not a McAfee issue. As we discussed it a little further he was mentioning that the Antivirus wanted him to purchase the software.
This isn’t the first I have heard of this. There is a software company Innovagest 2000 that is producing this software. They advertise it as an antispyware application, but it is the spyware. On some less then savory websites you will get a pop up that says that your computer maybe infected and they offer a free scan.
The fear of being infected motivates a lot of people to run this free scan. Unknown to them this application installs underneath and now you are stuck. On that note, I do recommend only doing the online scans from reputable sites. I personally recommend the following: Symantec, Panda, and McAfee.
This application is extremely hard to get rid of. It reregisters and installs if it is not completely uninstalled correctly.
I hate programs like this. But it is a fact of life out there. The modern day snake-oil salesman.
While the program is running you will see the following undesirable behavior:
- A “Windows Security Center” stating that you should purchase Personal Antivirus.
- Numerous alerts stating that your computer is under attack or that you have malware running on your computer. If you click on these alerts, Personal Antivirus will be installed, or you will be brought to the purchase page for the program.
- Your Internet Explorer browser will be hijacked to show security warnings when browsing the web that stop you from reaching your desired page.
As I mentioned before this bugger is very hard to get rid off. But not impossible. I found these instructions at BleepingComputer.com.
Categories: Malware Tags: age, Alert, antivirus, application, are, as, bugger, can, comp, computer, Download, downloads, external users, fact of life, fear, Files, fix, FREE, free scan, inpost, Installation, internet explorer, internet explorer browser, launch, malicious code, Malware, mcafee, online, panda, Personal Antivirus, print, program, quick, REG, registry, Review, Security, security warnings, snake oil salesman, Software, software company, spyware, symantec, the, undesirable behavior, View, virus, warning, Web, website, Welcome, WINDOWS, windows security center, you

