Replies

I’ve commented previously about the value of dealing with a retail store whom you can trust. It is as true of rebates as of service warranties.

My local Micro Center has not only given me the best warranty and out-of-warranty service of any store I’ve tried, but they were helpful in a couple of rebate fiascos. One was Sun StarOffice 8. Sun stopped supporting the product and moved it to open source at about the time I sent in my rebate form and documents. In the long run, the rebate was passed through four clearing-house organizations, lost twice, and finally refused as no longer valid. When I finally got the Micro Center on the case, they only succeeded in getting me $10.00 on a $20.00 rebate offer. But the Micro Center actually took the matter into their own hands and gave me a $10.00 Micro Center pre-paid Visa card out of their own pocket. That is why I am a loyal Micro Center customer — they help with even things like rebates.

My point is, your best ally or your worst enemy can be the sales and management people at the store where you buy tech products. If I had tried to get Fry’s or Best Buy to help me out in this case, I would have gotten nothing for my efforts. When you find a store you can trust, stay with them — they can be as valuable as any discount offered someplace else, because you get more than just a product — you get post-sales support and technical assistance. To me, that makes shopping at the Big Box stores ridiculous and foolish.

Not that I would ever pass up a really great deal on a USB Hard Drive at Best Buy or Fry’s. If it’s just a peripheral with a very low chance of failure outside of the warranty period (manufacturer’s warranty), I can easily justify taking a chance, even if I would never trust the sales or repair staff at that store with a full computer or software purchase.

-- rc primak

I’ve been reading Windows Secrets Newsletter for many years, and have yet to uncover an outright scam among the ads. Some advertised products and services are better than others, but none seems to be malicious or totally fake. You folks at Windows Secrets have done a much better job than many on line newsletters at keeping the riff-raff at bay. Keep up the good work.

If I ever see an ad in WSN which seems to be a scam, I will be sure to post.

I really like this new system of commenting about WSN content here in the Lounge, via embedded links. It makes for a freer and more open forum for readers, and directs anyone who has a strong opinion or extra information here, so that maybe more readers will get a chance to add our wisdom to the collective body of knowledge which has made WSN such a valuable resource over the years. The only obstacle now to reader comments is the Lounge log-in, which is a reasonable requirement, in my opinion.

-- rc primak

I stand by what I posted earlier. Zone Alarm and Comodo both have fully-functional 64-bit firewalls which are now certified for Windows 7. Comodo is free, but for Zone Alarm 64-bit, you may have to go with their paid Pro version. Reviews, including at least one at PC World, have been posted on major web sites since September, 2009. Go to the download site for Comodo Internet Security (which includes their firewall) and you now must choose either 32-bit or 64-bit, and Windows 7 is one of their listed supported Operating Systems. The two Loungers who posted here otherwise are out of date, I am afraid. Try a Google search before offering your wisdom next time. That’s not what I did, since as a Comodo Firewall user, I get the Comodo Insider Newsletter from Comodo every month. That’s how I found out that Comodo does indeed cover Windows 7 64-bit. But it was still beta last I read.

-- rc primak

The built in Firewall that comes with Windows 7 is must better, than the earlier versions and appears to work.

I am running a 64 bit machine and OS, and I have not found any of the third party firewalls, that state that they work with a Windows 7 64 bit OS. They just say Windows 7, BUT, does that mean BOTH 32 and 64 bit, and how can we be sure?

A quick Bing Search shows that the Internet is buzzing about Beta firewalls for Vista (and Windows 7, since the two OS versions have virtually the same security requirements) 64-bit editions, from Zone Alarm and Comodo. The two firewalls are still in the development phase, but Beta should mean that they are both near public release. I wouldn’t be surprised to see 2010 editions of both free firewalls in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions for Windows 7. Probably very soon.

One more thing — both Zone Labs and Comodo label their 64-bit firewalls as Vista-64. But both companies state in their forums that their 64-bit Vista firewalls are perfectly safe and work well in 64-bit Windows 7. Anyway, that’s what the companies say.

Beta testers do not report any major problems with the Comodo or Zone Alarm Betas. But this does not mean there are no glitches. And it does not guarantee that any 64-bit firewall actually works as advertised. Independent lab testing is still not complete as far as I know.

But there is not that much 64-bit malware out there. No rootkits, and very little else. That’s as of today — things can change quickly. The built-in Windows 7 firewall should offer adequate protections until the third-party companies catch up.

-- rc primak

Hmmm, I’ve been using Avast for quite some time, in all three OSs and haven’t seen the first nag or advertising screen. Maybe I’m lucky, huh? I just opened up the GUI and went through a whole bunch of screens to see if there’s something I haven’t noticed – nary a nag in sight! The only thing even close is the little popup that says the database has been updated and I appreciate that one rather than object.

Let me clarify: They are not separate screens. The latest update (around November 27, 2009) adds at the bottom of each Settings Page an offer to upgrade. Not a big deal, but getting into a realm I don’t like. Some other pages within the Avast program also have “news” or little ads plugged in. They are subtle so far, but this may not be a good sign.

I still like, use and trust Avast, and compared with some of the other free security programs out there, this is one of the better-behaved ones from the ads and nags point of view. The one nag I got was a popup from the system tray when the Avast program itself was updated. It was labeled “Avast News” but indicated that an upgrade was recommended. No Program Settings for switching off the Avast News popups either. This is completely new as of November 27, 2008 or shortly before. Nothing like this has ever shown up before in the three years since I switched to Avast from AVG Paid.

I am at a public computer right now, so I cannot test whether anything new shows up during routine updating. I don’t think there’s anything new, but I should check this week.

During normal operations, Avast never nags me either. Not yet anyway.

UPDATE:

I just got home a few hours ago, and I have updated the Avast definitions and opened the AV Scan screen. The only place I am currently seeing the nag ads is where you can set the properties of the Avast Active Shields. It’s at the bottom of that screen. The nag says ATTENTION! (You can get better protections by upgrading.) UPGRADE NOW! There’s a “Pro” Version now, I guess. Total nonsense. But no pop-ups from the Tray Area during normal definitions updating. Not yet anyway.

-- rc primak

Now I understand. AVG was added by the program maker while the others you mentioned and a lot more are third parties who latch on to legitimate prograns that want to make some extra money.

If I see no way to refuse a toolbar, I don’t install the program, if it’s not wanted.

AVG may have added that toolbar on their own, but it is still adware, clutters up your browser, and directs your searches to advertiser-related sites. It may also slow down browsing. AVG also has a Link Scanner, and if you do not turn it off, Google Search Results slow to a crawl. I hate it when vendors wreck perfectly good security products by adding nag screens, scareware upgrade nags, and toolbars and crapware features. Avast has begun to add upgrade nags to every screen in their product, but they do not do all of this other adware — yet.

-- rc primak

Removing files, folders and registry entries is a whole different ballgame from trying to remove Add-ons. I’ve tried the best of the best and nothing works on removing those. Perhaps there’s a special tool somewhere for this but I haven’t been able to find it.

If you are talking about all those adware toolbars which free programs are including with their installers these days, not much of anything really removes them. It’s best to uncheck the checkboxes during installation and avoid the problem in the first place. Most of the time you can watch the installers very closely and you have the option of unchecking the toolbars. AVG and CCleaner both have toolbars, and other add-ons which should be unchecked. Removing them after the fact is a royal pain in the butt.

-- rc primak

After getting Windows 7 All-in-one for Dummies; have been trying to follow the recommendations re Windows Updates. There is a missing link somewhere between setting updates to not install automatically and finding recommendations for specific updates in Ask Woody. How do I find those recommendations? To which update does the MS-DEFCON rating on the cover page refer?

We are talking about Woody Leonhard’s Patch Watch Web Site and blog here.

MS_DEFCON Ratings at Woody’s Patch Watch Site refer to a general condition. In other words, we are currently at MS-DEFCON-2, so you should not apply Microsoft Updates patches until the level drops down to MS-DEFCON-3 or MS-DEFCON-4. That should occur within about a week or so from this weekend. These ratings apply to ALL MS Updates patches, not just any one in particular.

Woody posts how to set your Windows computer to “notify but do not install” status, using the Windows Security Center settings. There are also ways of completely disabling Automatic Updates, but unless you are a very vigilant person (like me) I do not recommend disabling the service entirely, and neither does Woody. The blog entries themselves deal with more specific details about patches, programs, Windows news, and related stuff. Not quite as broad-ranging as The Lounge, but quite a variety of stories and recommendations.

If you have any questions or comments about how to use the MS-DEFCON system, or questions about the safety of specific patches, you can post comments and questions at the Patch Watch Site, or post here under an appropriate topic area. Someone will get back to you with some answers or some leads.

-- rc primak

Just about to install Windows 7 Ultimate on a Laptop with ZoneAlarm on it,
so we’ll see how it goes.

Don’t forget to completely uninstall Zone Alarm before upgrading Windows! You can reinstall it after the upgrade. Use RevoUninstaller (free download) to make sure Zone Alarm is completely removed before the upgrade.

-- rc primak

I’d like to find an easy to use inbound/outbound firewall to use with W7.
I’d be using the book’s guide to making rules for whatever firewall I get.
The rest of my security is Avira Premium, Defensewall, Keyscrambler free, Sandboxie on demand, Shadow Defender on demand and Shadow Protect Desktop for imaging. I’m behind a router with a hardware firewall.
Thanks for any help.
jst42daytoo

I agree that Zone Alarm Free is easy to use and does not require a lot of configuration. Personally, I use the Comodo free firewall (none of their Internet Security, and uncheck the Toolbar during installation). Comodo can be very simple, and has pre-set rule sets for most types of persistent pop-ups. (In Zone Alarm, you have to go into the program and edit a table to get the same degree of control.)

But as everyone says, with Windows 7 and a hardware firewall at the router, you don’t really need an additional third-party software firewall. And for anti-virus, Microsoft offers Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE). No real need for anything more with Win-7. Perhaps also scan with Malwarebytes Free if you want real peace of mind.

The point is, Windows 7 (and Vista) are not as vulnerable to many types of malware as previous Windows versions. I would concentrate my security efforts on the Browser, not the Operating System. In other words, use Firefox, don’t load up with too many Extensions, and do include NoScript in your Extensions.

Use Secunia Personal Software Inspector (a free desktop application) to alert you to when other programs and plug-ins (JAva, Flash, etc.) need updating. This is an important part of securing your computer, and most folks overlook it.

Keep it simple and you will be much happier. Have fun with Windows 7 — it really is an improvement!

BTW, Woody Leonhard’s book is called the Windows 7 For Dummies All-in-One Reference, and there’s a link to it (at Amazon.com) on the top page of Woody Leonhard’s Windows Patch Watch in the side-bar. This is the reference you heard or read about, and I would never use or install Windows 7 without it. Plain English with Woody’s usual wit and insight — I highly recommend this book.

-- rc primak

My Ukranian friends thank you for the update.

-- rc primak

When you update your Flash Players, use Secunia PSI to verify the removal of older, obsolete versions. And go to the Flash Player Settings Manager page at Adobe’s site and reset the privacy settings.

-- rc primak

One option is to use Foxit Reader, which may not be as vulnerable as the Adobe PDF Reader. It’s faster to launch, works just as well, and integrates nicely with Firefox 3.

-- rc primak

That can be disabled. See Adobe – Flash Player : Settings Manager – Global Privacy Settings Panel.

Yes, but then you cannot use the Network TV Players. Not a good omen for interactive IPTV, eh?

-- rc primak

In the latest Windows Secrets newsletter dated today, 5 February 2009, is this story about CNN:

Watch a live video, share your PC with CNN

As I told Brian Livingston via the Windows Secrets Comments Link, this is not good news for the future of interactive IPTV. Or Webcasting. Have you ever tried to watch a TV show at one of the Hulu-type sites? They make you strip down almost to your skivvies in terms of secruity allowances. And Flash Player 10 actually allows the place you are watching to activate your webcam and microphone and watch you as you are watching them. Windows Secrets recently published an article on how to stop these privacy invasions, but you cannot watch shows at ABC-TV’s web site without allowing these attrocities.

As for the CNN P2P opt-in, ISPs probably have a legitimate case if they want to sue CNN and its P2P partner for Theft of Services or some other civil matter. I hope they do so.

Just another case of where there seems to be no free lunch, eh?

-- rc primak