Replies

Thanks for all the information. Great feedback!

BTW, according to Trusteer’s Wikipedia page,
“Trusteer Rapport is security software advertised as an additional layer of security to anti-virus software. It is designed to protect confidential data, such as account credentials, from being stolen by malicious software (malware) and via phishing. To achieve this goal, the software includes anti-phishing measures to protect against misdirection and attempts to prevent malicious screen scraping; it attempts to protect users against the following forms of attacks: man-in-the-browser, man-in-the-middle, session hijacking and screen capturing.[17]

On installation, Rapport also tries to remove existing financial malware from end-user machines and to prevent future infection.[18] Trusteer Rapport is advertised to be compatible with Microsoft Windows (XP-SP3 and higher) and Mac OS X and can be downloaded free of charge.[19] Financial institutions offer the software free of charge with a view to making online banking safer for customers.[20][21]”

Given the current state of digital malice, I am going to continue to use it, as I have experienced no serious problems as yet (that I can tell). I am also going to seriously consider Malwarebytes as an anti-ransomware solution (use it now), once the beta is “ready for prime-time”. We nervous amateurs aren’t exactly sure what is the best thing to do is, and if a little more protection is feasible, then full speed ahead!

I already have it installed. Works good.:) Good suggestion. It’s already flagging possible threats (17), of course, they may be just false alarms, but who knows?

Thanks! That’s what I like — instructions!:)

BTW, on the subject of which Linux distros are worth giving a try, as BATcher has suggested, Zorin indeed has a lot going for it and it’s one of my favs, but I just tried MacPup Linux, and wow, it is impressive with that nice enlightenment desktop and the ability to switch to the other one on the fly… Ubuntu and Linux Mint are good picks, but try MacPup. I think you too will find it to be rather cool. Someday I’ll get around to all the complicated (to me) stuff like updating Clamav or installing Sophos, but right now, I have to paint this basement!

I am now able to access my Windows desktop PC from my Linux laptop after sharing the C drive and using the proper username and password. It amazing how doing it the right way really speeds things up! Thanks everyone for your advice and help.:o

Which anti-virus / malware program do you use? I just installed Clamav but it apparently is used to scan a file or a directory as per user input. I’m one of those spoiled Windows users that is used to everything being automated… I would like to try Sophos, but I would have to install it manually, and I’m not familiar with all steps that that would entail. I guess I could learn.

UPDATE: I have discovered that since PCLinux is a derivative of Mandriva, and is now a distro unto itself, I am strongly advised not to install packages for this particular distro, and instead to wait until they appear in the software repositories. Clamav is mediocre anti-virus, but it’s take it or leave it, and hope for the best. I’m not worried. This is my secondary computer anyway.

…just wanted to put in a plug for the Enlightenment desktop (sorry, window manager). KDE is still my default window manager (because of its ‘customizability’ edge), but I tried Enlightenment a.k.a. “E19” (actually E-0.19) on my PCLinuxOS laptop, and man is it ever slick looking, and working for that matter (nice animated functionality). I think it almost rivals any of the other top Desktops. As with any Linux distro that you choose to go with, it takes some getting used to, but that’s SOP anyway. The “A-19-Beauty” theme (customized for PCLinuxOS) looks great. I don’t know which distro is the best one for newbies… maybe Puppy Linux… or maybe Ubuntu… maybe even PCLOS/KDE. And as far as malware, I don’t even worry about it. Just don’t visit questionable websites and don’t open e-mails capriciously (although I still don’t think it would matter because the vast majority of malware attempts target Window computers).

I have never been able to log in, and now Dolphin says “Access denied to smb://mdvgroup/.” Well, Long story short, after deleting “mdvgroup” (the only thing listed under Samba Shares because the Gateway was “sleeping”), starting over, and using the correct username + my Windows system p/w, I have been able to connect to my now visible Gateway PC!, although not to all of the folders I want to, but I’m pretty sure that’s because I’m not sharing them properly, i.e. with this computer. I don’t know much about networking, so I just try to get it by trial and error (silly mistakes included). Thanks for the help guys! Linux continues to impress. It’s well worth the extra effort.

Sorry about the double posts. I didn’t see my reply appear right away, so I tried again because I didn’t read the message about it not appearing until the forum moderator approves it. Silly me…

Why not image the hard drive, upgrade to a SSD, and then dual-boot Windows and Linux? Linux or Windows can be uninstalled from a dual-boot setup as desired. Here’s how:
http://lifehacker.com/how-to-uninstall-windows-or-linux-after-dual-booting-508710422
How does that sound?

I totally agree with this suggestion.
It is a low risk way to experiment with a Linux distro and still have all of your windows system available if you want to go back or try a different distro.

Yes, burn live DVDs of the Linux distros you want to “test drive”, evaluate them, image the current hard drive, replace the old one with a sufficiently large SSD, and then re-image it with the Windows image you just created. Then install your favorite Linux distro in a dual-boot configuration with Windows. You can even have multiple OSes if you like. If you decide that you want one or the other, you can change back to a single boot system by uninstalling the OS you don’t want. Here’s how:
http://lifehacker.com/how-to-uninstall-windows-or-linux-after-dual-booting-508710422
How does that sound?

I keep W10 on my desktop computer (using Classic Shell’s Classic Start Menu) because of all the Windows stuff that’s already on it, but Linux + Wine is certainly a good choice too. I haven’t tried that yet.

As for Linux Distros, PCLinuxOS is good for people like me that are happy with the traditional/classic Windows look (and want a boatload of software), as with XP. Distros like Zorin, Ubuntu, etc. are better for people that want a more modern look and feel. I tried Zorin today and it was very impressive. The internet worked immediately, as did Synaptic Package Manager, just like PCLOS and others I’m sure. So in the end, it’s your call. I guess the biggest problem(?) with Linux is the wide variety of distros available, and all the possible configurations and looks you can give it. That’s not a bad problem to have with a rock solid OS that’s pretty malware proof…

Not really when you think about it; I would probably just take all that excellence for granted. (I remember how crappy American cars were too) It’s the ease of configuration that got me hooked. And yes, Zorin is definitely worth trying too! I think I’ll make a bootable CD right now…

Just imagine how enthusiastic you would be if you’d never used Windows before!

PCLinuxOS is just one of a few Windows-alike Linux distributions; Zorin (Core) is another good one. Many people like Mint (Cinnamon).

One’s mileage may vary…