urbestfreind

*rofl*....*gets off floor* Yeah, what sloter said..and..uhh...what did you type this in? Just randomly, entering stuff into a textbox? Command prompt? On the desktop? Seriously, saying "I pressed a few keys, help" isn't really helpful. You need to add a lot more details if you expect any of us to help you....We aren't psychics, so a bit of help on your end would be just fantastic.

Get Avira (or Avast!) for free, NOD32 if you want to pay for an antivirus. As antispyware, grab Ad-Aware. Spybot S&D is pretty good too, just be careful what you click in there, it's given me some problems before.

I used Ad-Aware, Spybot, Norton (rescue disk), and AVG or Avira or Avast!...Cant quite remember which, may have been all 3.. along with this site to help remove one o the Antivirus versions, I think it was 2008. Try using Ad-Aware and the removal instructions on the site, and maybe AVG or Avira too. Good luck, the virus is such a pain to get rid of completely.

Buy the stick, totally worth it. I got one for my laptop (and to the one poster, it's not soldered or anything. Installing laptop ram is pretty much the same as installing ram on a desktop) finally, and it's a definate improvement..I was running XP Pro with 512 and added a 1gb stick, and everything runs faster (including WoW, which I can now play comfortably, with little lag, where before I was lucky if I hit 10fps). I've used readyboost on my grandfather's computer, and the performance boost is decent, but it doesn't come close to what you can do with a regular stick. Also, since ReadyBoost is based on how much ram you have (1:1 to 2.5:1 Ratio), you will not only be upping your system ram to 3GB, but you'll also be able to use up to 4GB more (the max for ReadyBoost), giving you 7GB of RAM (well, not really, due to readyboost not being as fast as normal RAM, but the point stands). So the boost is two-fold, and definately worth the price, and even more so that you use Vista Premium.

Parts Repair Guides That is if you want to do it yourself...The parts are about 80 bucks, including color screen and the disassembly kit (which usually doesn't come with the screen, so be careful). It's actually rather easy to take them apart if you have the kit, most of the battle is just prying open the case, then its just unplugging some connectors, switching the screen, and plugging it back in....Kindof like adding RAM...Open case, lift holders, remove old, put in new, close holders, put case back together...

toe-may-toe, to-mah-toe.... Seriously, both are excellent brands, and at my house we've got both between all 4 of our computers. You really can't go wrong with either. If you want my personal opinion, I like Seagate better, mostly due to the warranty, and it seems less prone to problems for me. Really, its all up to you, but since its external, I would check warranties carefully, as it's more prone to damage than one that will sit in your case. Make sure to pick out a proper case too. Steer away from plastic, for pretty much the same reason you shouldn't keep a laptop power supply on a carpet - overheating. Plastic doesn't play well with heat, so if its possible, get a metal one. Although these can still cause overheating, metal dissipates heat better....Unless I've been steered wrong (would like to know since I'm thinking about buying an external HD). Mind posting back what you choose, in case any other people like me are on here looking for an external drive?

I'm currently reading "Java 2: A Beginner's Guide" by Herbert Schildt. "HTML and XHTML" by Patrick Casey I don't know if those two count, but I am reading them constantly, and I've carried the Java book to school with me for about a week, to read during downtime....Not exactly as fun as reading the Sword of Truth series, but it's a bit more useful IMO. For school I'm reading "Game Creation for Teens" by Jason Darby. It's for my Game Design class at the Vo-Tech. Well, reading and doing, since its basically a tutorial for The Games Factory 2, but it goes through quite a few terms and things that you need to know for designing games.

Antivirus 2008 is malware that disguises itself as an antivirus. It does a "scan" which is completely fake, and comes up with a bogus total (usually in the thousands) for the number of viruses you have on your computer. Most of the things it claims to have "found" are, in fact, non-existent. They use scare tactics (many of them, starting from the 3k count, to changing your background, etc) to make you pay up...I think $70. It's a nasty program to get on your computer, and its a super-pain to get off. My desktop was infected by something similar and now it's a fully functioning foot rest or doorstop, as the case may be. Just figured I would clear that up, as it seems to have caused a bit of confusion. I was just saying that people who fall for scare tactics like that often open themselves up for worms and other malware that cause them to become involved in a botnet (which is then used for DDoS, and other nefarious purposes).

What...a...douche bag... Srsly, you should have shoved his head in the pot, or on the burner....I would have...(Unless a hard wall was nearby). Should have called the cops on him, that's so messed up. He couldn't have just punched you in the face like a real man, he just kamikazed you with a hot spoon for no real reason? Sounds like a suggestion from 4chan..make sure he doesn't try to delete your system32 folder too..

Great job so far. Haven't had really any problems with load times. YSlow has only said 2-3s average, which is normal for me.. It seems as though as half the sites I visit regularly have been under DDoS in the past month lol....Maybe I'm a bad omen, because even the wow server i play on has gone down more than usual. Oh well, in any case, great job, hope the people stop soon. Eventually they'll figure out they don't have the upper hand in this battle and move on. If only creating a botnet wasn't so easy these days, we wouldn't have to worry. Maybe the war on terror should turn to a war on gullible people who think they have 3,000 viruses and need to buy Windows Antivirus 2008? Save a lot of these things from happening

i lol'd. You know, you have a lot of use for that. Actually, I can think of some situations in which you should be using it. :anxious: What's with all the "you"s in there? You trying to insinuate something about me? And it is good for going to torrent sites or sites with questionable content at best (TOTSE, 4chan, etc). And it's great for if you get bored during research, but want to make it look like you're actually working. Just change the tab names to "Steve Jobs - Google Search" or whatever, and then you're golden (actually have an open tab of it though, so you can close tab and prove it's work). Other than that, Latinoking put together a fantastic list, follow it (although I disagree with some choices, like Speed Dial, it's mostly because I didn't like the looks, or I just didn't see the point, like Fast Dial [nothing against the add-on, I just didn't see a point in using it]).

http://www.siteadvisor.com/sites/douhunqn.cn Check the comment on the bottom. ultimania92 was right on almost all counts there lol, that site (and all the ones it links to apparently) has links to browser exploits. Just google search douhunqn.cn, the results pretty much confirm what the SiteAdvisor site said.

I disagree. I've used limewire for about 3 years and haven't gotten a virus, but the first thing I tried to get from a bittorrent tracker thing (I think it was TPB, maybe not) had a few viruses on it, including a trojan that attempted to open a backdoor on my computer. Limewire is fine for most pictures and audio (which is mainly what I use it for. If you use it for getting programs, just go ahead and buy a few copies of windows and get familiar with reformatting). Videos are a bit of a lottery, but if you know what to look for, you can weed out the bad choices easily. Wait....I thought mods weren't allowed to talk about torrents, as Tip.It doesn't condone their use? As to the OP, you should be fine. Not going to say there won't be a problem, because the nature of trojans is to be unpredictable (especially if it carried a rootkit as part of its payload...Man I hate rootkits).

That's what I did. Just changed my password to something unguessable (I think it's about 30 characters...Yeah, took me a long time to remember it all lol), opened up the guest account, and gave everyone else their own limited accounts. It's how I set up most computers for friends (although I don't set the password, I do make sure the admin has a secure one). Make sure you give them access to their files though, by copying it into the shared folder, letting them move the files where they want, and removing the files from the shared folder after. It's rather annoying to go through it all, but if you're fed up, it's pretty much the only option I know of.

That's because the virus changes your hosts file I believe, and redirects your searches and pages if they involve security or antiviruses, etc. It's all an attempt to keep the virus on your computer, and it's a pretty good one too. Get on another computer, at a friend's house or something, and download all the tools and put them on a CD or Flash Drive (preferrably a small, expendable one, as the virus may transmit itself to the drive). You can then run the app from your drive/cd and remove the virus. Or thats what I had to do, in combination with a Norton emergency cd (you boot from it and it scans your computer before any of the other processes start). You have to get all your tools from a separate computer, as yours is pretty much useless atm.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysi ... 96653.aspx - From Microsoft. It's a usable version of task manager, gives you more info on the process trees, what all the processes are (company and description), cpu/memory usage, better graphs, etc. Should help you determine what belongs and what needs to go easier. I did a bit of research, and most people seem to be in a consensus that aolloader is a cpu hog, taking up around 50%. I would say uninstall any version of AOL Instant Messanger (I think 6.0 is the main problem), and any other AOL software (free internet and other bloatware/trialware) that you don't need. If you do use AIM, try Trillian or maybe Meebo, which should help wit that problem as Meebo is web-based, and Trillian is a rather light, multi-client application. I don't think it's a trojan, just AOL being AOL.

You may be right. I got IE tab now just in case, lol. I just used the Agent Switcher to get on a few iPhone only sites. As much as I hate to "hijack" the thread, can anyone recommend any other really good developer tools? Preferrably over pm (just easier to get to). That and I have a few other questions about website development. Back on topic: I haven't used Foxmarks, but I intend to (I usually just copy the favorites folder lol). I wouldn't use BugMeNot. More often than not (at least in my limited experience with it) it failed to accomplish its goal, but it can be a bit helpful when it works. I just sign up for an account with a junk account. One of the bookmarks on my bookmarks toolbar is http://www.yopmail.com/en/email-generator.php, a free random e-mail generator. Just easier. I also had issues with download helper, the converter was just horrible (I don't think it converted one video right for me). If they fixed the converter and a few other bugs, it may be worth my time, but it's really just frustrating, at least to me.

I'll +1 just about everything Errdoth said, although I never really got used to tinymenu. I also have to thank him for the whole first line, save IE Tab (I use the User Agent Switcher), since I just got back into writing sites again. Fission - puts the page loading bar in the address bar, which saves space on the bottom, and looks cooler. Some themes may not play too well with it though. Hide Unvisited - Helps in removing all the crap from the "Awesome Bar", which I found to be very annoying. Oldbar - Gives you results more like FF2, goes along with Hide Unvisited. Undo Closed Tabs button. This is more helpful for me because I often close tabs by accident, or don't realize I need something in that tab. Only thing I wish it would do would give you a list of tabs so you don't have to re-open 4 you don't need to get to the fifth, but it's alright. CookieSafe is alright, but it can be a bit annoying. Better for people like DVD who are paranoid when it comes to 'surfing the net.' Forecast Fox is a decent add-on for people paranoid about the weather, like I am. It can cause a bit of a slowdown when it updates, but I believe you can change the update feature. StumbleUpon. It can be quite interesting, I've found a few good reads, but some of the websites it sends you to are questionable at best. It's a decent thing to use to kill time, but have decent security measures in place (good AV/Anti-Spyware, NoScript, Adblock, etc.) just to be safe. ChatZilla isn't a bad add-on from what I've seen, but I haven't used IRC in awhile and therefore haven't had a need to use this in awhile, but I remember good things. Those are pretty much all the ones I've used and can recommend with some certainty. I'll probably spend some time tomorrow and the rest of this weekend going through and finding more add-ons, so if I find anything interesting and have time to get used to it and everything, I'll wonder back and add some more.

Yeah, check the recycle bin. If it's not there, you may have a problem. If it was indeed sent to the Recycle Bin, and the bin emptied (provided you haven't modified it to instantly delete files), then there's still a slim chance you can get some or all of your files back. http://www.snapfiles.com/get/restoration.html Free undelete utility (don't know how good it works, since I keep a backup of my documents and such). It works because Recycle Bin doesn't delete files per se, it simply makes it so that Windows views the section where the file was as "unused" or free, and able to be overwritten. This also means the more you use the computer, the less chance you have of recovering any of your photos. Give the utility a try (hopefully downloading it, etc, from another computer), and see if you can't get everything back.

Hmm...I can get you links and some more add-ons sometime tomorrow, as neither of my computers are connected to the internet atm, but I'll list a few of the addons I absolutely love. NoScript - absolute must for security. Blocks all scripts unless you allow them (which has saved me from quite a few nasties, and cuts down on advertising). FlashBlock - Blocks all flash applications until allowed. Again, great for security, and watching videos because I can open up 20 youtube videos and load them one at a time, instead of having to open them one by one, or quickly pause all the rest and go back to the beginning. I find it handy. Adblock Plus - superb ad blocker. NoSquint - adds a zoom toggle like in IE, and allows you to set default zoom for websites. Quite handy, as FF doesn't have one built in (or last time I checked it didn't, been using NoSquint for too long lol). Save Session - allows you to save your session and exit FireFox. Although it's recently come to my attention that FF3 has this function built in? Or at least my dad's computer does it, and he doesn't have any add-ons yet (or I don't think he does), so this one might be useless GreaseMonkey - allows users to change how websites look and are used. Stylish - changes look of Web Pages (similar to GreaseMonkey, but more limited...a bit hard to explain, but you'll get it when/if you look it up). Smart Bookmarks Bar - Squishes all your bookmarks down into just the symbol (on the furthest left of the address bar or tab), and shows the full title on mouse over. Really helpful because I have a lot of sites I frequently visit, and the regular bookmarks bar just looked bad with it all. Tab Renamizer - Allows you to rename tabs manually or automatically. Can really save your bacon if you do it right. Site Advisor - rates websites based on testing and user feedback. Not always reliable and accurate, but it's saved me a few times (plus it automatically blocks websites that are highly dangerous). Also a good website (siteadvisor.com) to check out suspect links. WOT (Web Of Trust) - similar to Site Advisor - rates the danger level of a website. Haven't used too much, but it seems like a worthy alternative to Site Advisor. Foxytunes - lets you scroll through your playlists through FireFox (opening up the media player in the background. Really useful, as you don't have to minimize the browser or anything to change a song, a simple click or swift key-combo will change the song, pause, change volume, etc. Those are all the ones my tired mind can procure atm. I'll be sure to come back with some more of the (possibly lesser-known) ones that I use.

Banned for contradicting your previous ban.

kcdragon8116 asked my main question, so thank to him, and Kill_Life for answering it. I do have one other question, will the rank be infinitely changeable (like an extra option in the UCP), or is it just a one-time deal? Oh, one more I just thought of - multiple/editing entries. Say I enter on the 3rd, but on the 6th or so I decide I want to change one of the numbers/rank names, or completely re-do it. Is this possible (provided we mention it in the title of the PM or the first line of the PM, something like that), or are we stuck with our first entry? I hope someone picks something good, I was never really a fan of the old rating system.

I was (still am actually) listening to Beat It when I read this (just after he said it in the chorus too)...Wonder what the odds of that are...(yeah, I listen to MJ, what of it? Just because of what he did/didn't/does/doesn't do doesn't mean he didn't have great hits, plus, anything is better than rap imho). I would say take your dog to the vet and get her checked out. It can't hurt to get her a checkup anyways, and if the vet does find something (probably a bladder infection, which sucks, but quite probable for a lab, especially one that old), you'll be glad you took her, and "early detection is the key to prevention." Tbh, it sounds like a bladder infection (I don't think eating something odd would induce random urination..at least it hasn't for my dogs, and I have 3 black labs from 7 months to 8 years old).

You could use Trillian, which is a download client, or an online one like Meebo....but I think I found a better solution..MSN Web Messenger, which would probably be better to try than another client, no?

Alright, decent guide, but there are a few things that I'm going to suggest. Firstly, you haven't mentioned a firewall. This is a valuable and essential part of your defense against malware. Windows Firewall isn't exactly top-of-the-line (more around the lower-middle region imo). I would recommend that you put in there people downloading something like Comodo (free and pretty easy to use) or Zone Alarm (which is pretty good, but can be a pain to configure, and also costs 30 bucks). Also, AVG is pretty good, but it tends to give many more false-positives than other free software. It would be good to list other alternatives. For free ones, I would definitely recommend Avast! or maybe Avira (but I haven't used Avira, so I can't say, all I know is I've read some good things, no bad, and it's free). For pay, definately NOD32 (but it would be good to note that it can be hard to use because of it's interface, but it's pretty much the best software I've come across so far). Also, spybot is pretty good (especially is Immunize feature), but have a note for people to be careful what it deletes. It's screwed up internet on me once, and I've had a game disabled because it marked something as bad when it wasn't (simple mistake, which happens occasionally). Also, I would definately put in Ad-Aware. It's a supplement to the protection SpyBot can offer, and it catches different things. You may want to mention how you got your computer to turn on and scan at certain times (windows scheduled tasks I presume?) so other people can do it to. I could write a small guide if you want. As for password security, random password generators may help, but writing them down is dangerous. If anything, write them down and put it in a safe deposit box (the chance of someone breaking in and getting your password there is around 0%). Here's a good article about password strength. Might I also recommend another browser? FireFox and Opera are both more standards-compliant than IE, and safer to use. Plus, Firefox is very customizable, from added security to how the browser looks, and nearly everything in between, thanks to a lot of add-ons. Oh peanuts, one other thing I just remembered - try to do most of your work on a guest account or limited user account. Many viruses can be stopped by this because they need access to parts of files on the computer that are limited to admin-only access, including most parts of the registry. Other than the above, you've written a pretty decent guide, it's easy enough to understand, but it covers some nescessary materials that will help keep people safe. Of course you can use anything I've mentioned here (I really recommend putting in something about firewalls, if nothing else), and I've included links to the download for programs and an article or two, so you don't have to go source-hunting, should you decide to.