I have been busy the last few days with computer woes of my own, some of my own making, unfortunately. So, sorry if I have not responded to anyone counting on replies.
Problem number one for me, my Ubuntu installation was grinding to a halt as a result of my home partition being full. Got to change my habits it seems. Problem number two was wonky internet connectivity which was traced to a cat chewing a couple of cables in sneaky locales. Problem number three, I was trying out a couple of other distros (Elive, Fedora and Ubuntu Intrepid). More on the last item in a minute. And finally a Windows problem. Yuck. Skip to the bottom paragraph, if you don't want the gory details but read on if you want revelations of how stupid an experienced user can be. I never touch m wife's Windows computer unless I ask because she uses it for work. Now I know why. Yesterday, I wanted to re-format my mp3 player and thought that it would be easier to do from Windows. So I used my wife's computer which was still warm from her use, after she had left for work. I went to do it and it informed me that media player was the wrong version and to update it. So I went to do it, but was told that I had to use Inerrnet Explorer. So I did, thinking that this was a reasonable request from M$. The file began to install only to find that my firewall went down, then my AV protection, etc. In short I had a virus and it is a good one. It patched AVG and took over administrative control so you could do nothing but re-boot. I chose safe mode and then proceeded to remove the virus, but it would not go. So tried another AV program, Avast, and it did better, but I could not uninstall AVG, a part of it stayed which was patched with the virus. I was locked out of the control panel, file manager and even the desktop was locked. I had hoped to restore the computer without having to fess up, but no such luck. Several hours later I told my wife to bring her work laptop home and had to rebuild Windows from scratch. In hoping to save a couple of minutes in not re-booting into Windows on my own machine, it cost me many hours of work. In the end Linux saved the day. I booted in Ubuntu Live and copied her entire Documents and Settings folder to usb key. Then I had to figure a way to solve the Windows problem. I could not get into the control panel or use the back and resore functions. I could not use CDs since her laptop has everything on a partition which won't boot except from Windows. Thanks Acer. In the end, I had to boot into safe mode and create a new user account. I then deleted her old one and re-did the antivirus thing, running from DOS. However, this is a particularly nasty bug and it re-surfaced with an active desktop with a menacing graphic and the warning that I was unprotected and that I had to click on the active desktop and use their protection software. Instead, was able to set it so that on re-boot it would take me to the restore console and I got new factory fresh Windows, but had to re-install all of her software, plus restore her documents and settings. So far we are virus free. It is a bug that in unknown to the AV programs I used which included AVG which it passed, Avast running from Windows and DOS plus online from Panda and Trend which only found tracking cookies.. It used a security exploit in Explorer and it used a spoofed Microsoft website, very nasty and sophisticated piece of work all by someone out to sell his own antivirus trojan software. I should have been paying closer attention, but I was trying to do something quick and dirty and unnoticed. There is a lesson in there for me. BTW, the site that spoofed M$ was found with a Google search and it was the first one on the list. I tried to repeat it on Linux and found that the same site was not there, so wonder if something else happened that may have even mimicked the Google search. After this I am not sure what to believe, but will avoid Windows like the plague. Finally it made me glad that I use Linux, because it literally saved my bacon by allowing me to keep all of her documents and settings and I did not have to so much as add a cookie or set up an email account afterwards.My wife is now able to use her computer as if nothing happened. Unfortunately for me my reputation has taken a few hits.I still have to install one program and find another cable to connect the print server. That darn cat, again. Those will be back in order by tonight when she gets home. My wife is an angel about it all and did not even give me an I told you so look. But I won't try that again on her computer. If you, have stuck with me this far here is something to think about. I have been runniing Intrepid Ibex or Ubuntu 8.10 Alpha 6, due out next month. It isn't ready for prime time yet (lots of apps still crash), but it is something to look forward to. I am running the AMD 64 version with Gnome. It loads faster and runs faster and according to the following link, it has other improvements under the hood, chiefly in improving wireless, including speed. Here is the link: http://www.itwire.com/content/view/20793/1162/1/2/ Roy Linux: Fast, friendly, flexible and .... free! Support Open source. <*,)}}+< Only dead fish go with the flow! __________________________________________________________________ Yahoo! Canada Toolbar: Search from anywhere on the web, and bookmark your favourite sites. Download it now at http://ca.toolbar.yahoo.com. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ To unsubscribe from this list, please email [EMAIL PROTECTED] & you will be removed.Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LINUX_Newbies/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LINUX_Newbies/join (Yahoo! 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