#$@#%! Spyware, virus...whatever

[PiecinItUp]

My dumba## clicked on a buddys link in there away msg and now I automatically get the same away msg "WTF! Look at this" and gives a link...anyone know how to get rid of this...I have ad adaware and spy sweeper and this doesn't work nor did uninstalling AIM...

eversince this I also get...
"To help protect your security, Internet Explorer has restricted this file from showing active content that could access your computer. Click here for options..."

thing in my internet explorer for every website....

I HATE THESE THINGS!

[PiecinItUp]

nevermind...i fixed it....if this ever happens to anyone just do a system restore...worked for me

[Anhydro78]

One thing that helps alot with surfing the internet is not surfing with a user account that has administrator rights. Pick a limited user acoount for surfing the internet.

[Polska]

I pity you winblows users...... ever since I switched to linux i can't imagine how I could've used an inferior product for so long. switch to linux and save yourself the hassle. im sure clockworks will agree with me here

[clockworks]

I pity you winblows users...... ever since I switched to linux i can't imagine how I could've used an inferior product for so long. switch to linux and save yourself the hassle. im sure clockworks will agree with me here

This is true...=) Windows and the technology it employs, while meaning to make your computing experience "easier", has some nasty security side effects.

Linux has a very steep learning curve, but once learned, most people will never go back to Winblows.

I don't even think the notion of spyware exists on Linux. Even if it did, it would require an extremely uneducated user to install it. Most Linux users know never to run programs as the root user (of course some >have< to be run as root, but the educated user will know which should and shouldn't be).

Bah, I could go on and on, but I don't wanna look like a freak Linux zealot (even though I am...=P)...so I won't go further than the topic of spyware.

...but incase anyone is curious why I like Linux more than Windows and what I think the benefits are...just ask...=)

[clockworks]

One thing that helps alot with surfing the internet is not surfing with a user account that has administrator rights. Pick a limited user acoount for surfing the internet.

In theory, that is suppose to solve a lot of Window's security problems. In reality what it becomes is a pain in the a$$. Win2k and WinXP try to do the whole multiuser thing (one administrator, multiple users each with whats called in the unix world, a home directory). The problem is that Win2k and WinXP are made to be backwards compatible with the worst pieces of software ever made: Win95 and Win98. Programs written for Win95 and Win98 don't support the multiuser paradigm and thus store user specific options and configurations in the program files directory...a directory that only the adminstrator should have access to.

Thus lots of programs require to be run in administrator mode because these programs need to read/write configuration files in the program files directory. Enter all your security problems.

What even sh-ttier is that programmers know Win2k and WinXP are backwards compatible, so they don't even bother making new programs to fit the "new" (new to Winblows anyways) multiuser paradigm.