[iTunes 10 ~73 MB]

The new version is less bloated :|

iTunes

 

Yeah it's time for me to update. Not looking forward to it though. lol

[Need a new firewall]

Lulu

Back to your original question I have Online Armor the free version they have just released version 4.5 (free) I am no expert but I like it !

Fluffy

 

I've been hearing good things about Online Armor. Once I can get my stuff backed up and get this thing cleaned up, I'll probably try it. I did get my Zone Alarm to finally update so I'm not bothering with too much more at the moment. This poor desktop just doesn't like to be changed. lol

[Need a new firewall]

Yes...when you click on them, a horse whinnies. Scared the dickens out of me as I wasn't ready for it.

 

 

I didn't get anything like that when I clicked on them. No game either. But then, my desktop is in it's own little realm so things like that just might have no worked on it. lol

[Welcome to our new moderators.]

Congrats!!

[Need a new firewall]

Lulu is the hidden Spybot game still there?

 

When doing a scan you used to be able to click on the binoculars icon next to ''search and destroy'' and play a hidden game while waiting for the scan to finish.

 

 

I honestly I have no idea. I didn't know there was a hidden game. Now I'm gonna have to find out when I boot up the ol' desktop later. lol

[Need a new firewall]

Hi LuLu. I have Spybot installed, have had for a long time. The tea timer is a very effective protector, but I have recently disabled it because it uses a ton of memory, and updating S&D has some sort of conflict with Sandboxie.

 

Pity, my opinion, because SpyBot and Spywareblaster pretty much saved the internet 20 years ago.

 

Spybot does not conflict with Avast, nor does SpywareBlaster.

 

I am not using windows right now so cannot post a screenshot, but there are instructions here for disabling it here: Safer Networking. One of the links at the bottom goes to here: Disable.... It will stay disabled until you re-enable it...won't start back at reboot.

 

You rock. Thank you!! I knew there was an option somewhere, I just for the life of me could not find it. Never thought to click the Advanced settings thing. lol Thanks again!

[Need a new firewall]

Inside of Spybot-S&D there should be something about it's resident part that you can untick. It's resident shield works good with Internet Explorer though, if you're an IE user.

 

I thought so until I opened the program and couldn't find anything.

 

I haven't used Spybot-S&D for almost two years now myself, and haven't missed it one bit, but I did however replace it with MBAM.

 

I think I have that too...

[Need a new firewall]

What's the easiest way to disable it? Windows Start-Up Inspector? Or should I just uninstall Spybot altogether?

[Need a new firewall]

Well, oddly enough I was able to get the ZA update to work. Someone suggested turning off Avast and disconnecting from the net (something I never had to do with AVG) and low and behold, it worked! My desktop is still as slow as a slug when booting up and opening programs, but after hearing how iTunes is such a drain on some systems, I'm starting to think that's what's causing my issues. Well, that and lack of disk space lol.

 

But my next question is this. Since Avast has it's own shields running, do I need to have my Spybot SD Resident thing still running?

[Need a new firewall]

Since the W98SE days through XP and even with my Vista I've used Zone Alarm Free. Kind of if it works and you're used to it why change?

 

That's how I felt until it took a dump on my desktop. lol I never had problems with ZA until this recent update they came up with. It works just fine on my laptop though, which is weird considering the same base programs (AOL, Avast! Anti-Virus, Spybot, etc) are installed on both PCs. Maybe it's my iTunes that's causing the issue now that I think about it. Hmm...

 

 

2. ALSO I recently got a deal on Norton 360 so I'm now going all Norton on the security. From what I've been reading viruses, malware, etc. are getting so much more numerous and sophisticated it's worth getting better antivirus programs. Plus it's really easy with everything in one utility.

 

Good luck with Norton. I always had the trial versions and never had much luck with them. Same with McAfee. Go figure. lol

[Peppermint OS]

LuLu, wait till Hazelnut or one of the other members confirms this, but I don't think you can mess up your computer just by booting one of these distros from a CD. Just don't click anything that says install to the hard drive, and don't use the disk manager apps. Also, Redhawk warned about writing to the "real" hard drive, but you don't have to do that to use the distro.

 

Puppy 5.1 is better and faster than Puppy 5 or Peppermint. Running from it now. Got it on a rewriteable CD and it saves changes if you tell it to.

 

If it works for you, you have an operating system for the price of a CD or (faster), a USB stick.

 

Oh trust me, I'm sure I could mess something up without even realizing it. haha A friend of mine has a spare laptop she wants me to clean up for her one of these days and she said she doesn't care if I kill it or not. So if it still works after I'm done with it, then I may use her laptop to try out Peppermint and possibly Puppy. I just don't trust myself trying it on something that's actually needed.

[Need a new firewall]

Mr Don...I am now running scared. lol After reading your post, I think I may just leave Zone Alarm alone and just deal with it. The problems you seem to have had are probably mirror images of what I would encounter on that desktop of mine. So thanks for the post. You may have just saved me from ripping my hair out.

[Microsoft continues trying to kill XP]

Microsoft may have dropped support for XP as a business strategy but for hardware / software vendors they'll still support XP because of the potential market for it

 

Richard S.

 

Good point.

[Microsoft continues trying to kill XP]

Hi, LuLu. Just today I was wondering where you were...it's been a while. Take a look at that thread in the lounge about Peppermint OS. There are several linux OSs which run fast and have lots of built in features.

 

There are a couple of threads already on this forum, plenty of discussion there:

 

Ubuntu

and

Peppermint

 

 

I'm still here. Sort of. lol It's funny you mention this because I was looking at that Peppermint OS link earlier. It looks pretty sweet! If I had a PC that I could tinker on without worry of screwing something up, I'd totally give it a go. I didn't finish reading everything on the site, and this may not even be answered on the site, but I'm wondering what kind of compatibility issues are there with modems and like my iPod software and such. I'll have to keep reading...

[August Desktops]

Hey LuLu, where have you been hiding yourself?

 

Hope things are all good for you and your family now. The always bubbly LuLu deserves to have some good luck coming her way methinks.

 

Haha let's just say that if it wasn't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all.

 

And thanks for the link to the wallpaper. It's now MY wallpaper as well. lol

[Microsoft continues trying to kill XP]

You'll still be able to use old versions.

 

Yeah but not if you need a new mouse or printer or something.

 

I think when they decide to phase out old OS's, they should provide free upgrade disks to people, or provide a place to bring your PC for a free upgrade. But that would be too easy and not cost effective for them. lol

[Need a new firewall]

In the past ZoneAlarm and Avast 4 didn't perfectly get along 100%, I don't know about Avast 5 though. In the past it was best to install ZoneAlarm first, then install Avast second, that was so Avast could automatically disable some shield that wasn't compatible with ZoneAlarm.

 

Oh I've had ZoneAlarm installed for years. It was a few days after I installed Avast! that I got the pop-up telling me ZA had to be updated. And apparently I wasn't allowed to do that. lol My desktop is very finicky. Always has been so I have to be very careful what I do to it, especially since I can't back up my mp3's, pics and vids to anything else right now.

 

Another vote for Windows Firewall from me, you shouldn't get any conflicts with any of the freeware antivirus' from it. Also don't forget for a freeware antivirus there's also the highly regarded Microsoft Security Essentials, which I truly wish I could use but it's too heavy on my system.

 

I may just go ahead and try Windows Firewall by itself, but some people in the past told me that it's not as safe as others (which is one of the reasons why I chose to keep ZoneAlarm for so long). But we'll see. Thanks!!!!

[August Desktops]

August already. Doesn't time fly.

 

Usual rules. Thumbnails only and no Imageshack to facilitate easier loading of the thread for folk on dial-up or low bandwidth.

 

 

Shiver me timbers, is it for real?

 

 

Ok Dennis I have to know...where did you get this one? I want it. lol

[Microsoft continues trying to kill XP]

That won't last long though. Once XP users have no choice they will change operating systems so they can continue to use the programs they need. The only reason they still hang on to XP is because they can. Once all the programs drop it XP users will upgrade. I am sure there will be people who refuse to but they will be in the minority.

 

 

Well, not all of us hang on it to because we can. For some of us, it's our only choice. There are plenty of poor saps out there, like myself, who simply cannot afford to purchase a new OS. And if all the programs drop XP compatibility and what not, then I guess some of us will be back in the dark ages of no PC at all. Not good if you ask me.

[Need a new firewall]

Yeah I'm running XP. I'll have a look-see at the ones you all suggested. Thanks!!

[Need a new firewall]

First off, I know I've become absent again. I apologize!!! I've missed you all. Hopefully I can get back to logging in as frequently as I used to.

 

Now, like the subject says, I need a new firewall. After attempting to update Zone Alarm on my desktop, I've had nothing but issues. Random beeps and everything seems to be running much slower. And I say attempting to update because it never actually updated. For some reason, my desktop says heck no! to the update. I don't really know why. lol It didn't have a problem switching from AVG to Avast! Anti-Virus. Possible software conflict there now?

 

So I'm asking for advice on a new, FREE (lol) firewall. What one(s) do you all recommend? Pros and cons? Any known software conflicts?

 

Any help/suggestions are greatly appreciated!!

[Giveawayoftheday.com]

Has anyone ever used this site? Is it safe to download the programs they offer?

[Someone tried to get into my Facebook account]

LuLu if the situation is still worrying you (understandable) why not change your e-mail address as well, particularly as you said it is only a "junk e-mail" address. This time use a password of made up of 3 sets of characters (mixed upper & lower case) & numbers i.e.

er38tY92Fp77 similar to Windows 2008 Server passwords these days.

 

I did change everything, as I had stated in my reply. And everything's been ok since then. Like I had said...the email is very random and the password is just as bad as as your example. But I still think it was just that someone had a similar email address as mine and they just had a typo in their's which ended up matching my email. But who knows? It's all been changed anyhow so it's all good.

[Someone tried to get into my Facebook account]

fb dont do this,

 

Actually, yes they do. My friend and I both tested it. She put in a wrong password for my account and I put in a wrong password for her account and we both got the screens telling us about an unrecognized attempt to log in to our accounts including the time and location of the attempt. It's a new security feature, which I think is a good idea. So yes, Facebook does do this.

[Someone tried to get into my Facebook account]

How do you know some one tried to gain access to your account? Fb dont send emails for bad passwords.

 

Sure it wasn't a scam?

 

 

Also never use secret questions,

 

When I put in my password a facebook page came up saying there was an attempt at 1:08am to gain access to my account. It said the country of origin was Canada and then asked me if I recognized the attempt. I was unsure about the whole thing so I closed my browser and switched over to my laptop and got the same page asking me the same questions. It also included the attempt I had just made from my desktop. So when I clicked no (about if I recognized the attempt from Canada) it sent me a link in my email to change my password and such. I still think someone just had a similar email and typed mine by mistake. It would be rare but it could happen. But everything's been ok since I changed the email and password so for now, I'm happy.