(old)Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

... I downloaded Hiren's from their homepage last night and installed to a pendrive. I found no less than 5 trojans on the ziped folder which was downloaded from the Hiren's site and subsequently in the thumbdrive which I created as well. Too bad, as this looked like a wonderful tool for rescuing windows boxes

linuxbear:

I don't need comments posted here.

From my first post >> Page 1.

" So any helpful hints are appreciated but leave the Venom to me.

Nobody is forcing you here.
Above all ---this advice may or may not fix your problems. "

::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Hiren's has no trojans.

More likely it is BS Antivirus programs like AVG, Norton's and the like
reporting false positives.


Hiren's disclaimer..........'

" Troubleshoot

If you are getting a virus warning from the downloaded files, please check FAQ page “Why am I getting a virus warning for a file downloaded from your website

Want an Adobe Reader X >>>alternative.

Because this sludge that Adobe has released lately
is beyond the pale.

Gross, hangs...a total joke.

Tried it for my daughter on 3 different computers.
Must read my own advice.

I used Foxit Reader myself afterwards...pretty quick.

Do not install

>> the ASK toolbar.
Otherwise it's a goer.

Here is a March 2011 review...

FOUR Free Alternatives To Adobe Reader Malware Magnet

http://billmullins.wordpress.com/2011/0 ... re-magnet/

I have tried all these and others.


"""""""""""""""""

Warning >> Do not use CNET ...for downloads.

http://download.cnet.com/windows/?tag=hdr;brandnav

How low can you go.

I always use Majorgeeks....a fun site.

http://majorgeeks.com/

""""""""""""

http://seclists.org/nmap-hackers/2011/5

" Hi Folks. I've just discovered that C|Net's Download.Com site has
started wrapping their Nmap downloads (as well as other free software
like VLC) in a trojan installer which does things like installing a
sketchy "StartNow" toolbar, changing the user's default search engine
to Microsoft Bing, and changing their home page to Microsoft's MSN. "

""""""""

And...

http://www.geek.com/articles/geek-pick/ ... e-2011126/

http://www.infoworld.com/t/anti-spyware ... ing-181392

""""""""""

Chris.

PC Login Now

I have used this before.....now free again.....use with care.


I saw this post on Whirlppool. >> jmatt provided the PC Login link.

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-re ... ?t=1845939

"""""

Comes down as an >> exe file>>> PCLoginNow_Full.exe

and then extracts to iso.

http://www.pcloginnow.com/product.html

http://www.pcloginnow.com/guide.html

""""""""""

Be warned.............

Cons....never experienced it myself....but.............

" Password reset process causes Windows to detect a possible
hard drive issue "

Review.

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/toolsofth ... ginnow.htm

""""

Step by step....1 - 14 pages

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/toolsofth ... nowsbs.htm

"""""""""

Chris.

As posted by me here

http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=75663

the Windows update error iertutil.dll is not getting any better.

Plenty of solutions by the Whirlpool crowd in the above links.

""""""""""""""

I was looking at this post on Whirlpool

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/1856678

Col Peters mentioned this for some rootkits.

Webroot AntiZeroAccess

http://anywhere.webrootcloudav.com/antizeroaccess.exe

Chris.

New Ransomware variants.

" new variant encrypts your data files. "

Interesting reading on Major Geeks.

http://majorgeeks.com/story.php?id=34161

They have a newer Dr Web application that may help.

""""""

" You must run it with "-k 85" as a parameter (without the quotes).

Example:

Put the 94decrypt.exe in C:\

From run (windows+R) type and hit enter:

C:\te94decrypt.exe -k 85

"""""""""

Download:

http://majorgeeks.com/Dr._Web_Trojan.En ... d7716.html

Chris.

Thanks for this, Chris! I was reading it just now 'cause of one of my XP boxes I wanted to speed up, just trolling looking for ideas. Great stuff!

Also saw this:

cthisbear wrote: HOWTO run MSOffice 2003 in Puppy Linux
from steve_s ....thanks Steve.

Chris.

thought that was pretty cool; glad to contribute a little. Thanks!

Change Your Wi-Fi Router Channel to Optimize Your Wireless Signal

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/21132/ch ... ss-signal/

::::::::

Wi-Fi Boosts, Tweaks and Apps....
Boost Your Signal with Tinfoil etc

http://lifehacker.com/306436/top-10-wi+ ... s-and-apps

""""""""""

Ez-12 Parabolic Reflector Template...etc

Patterns e4 Free antennas...cardboard and foil etc

http://www.freeantennas.com/

:::::::::

Easy WiFi Radar helps you find and connect to open wireless
access points with a single mouseclick.
It's WiFi for Dummies.

http://www.makayama.com/easywifiradar.html

"""""""""""

Chris.

Microsoft Annoyances.

Opening and viewing >>> xlsx and xls files

There’s nothing worse than thoughtless people sending you
Office 2007 or 2010 saved files…
and you just can’t open them.... because of newer formats.

OK...for me it's not a big deal...I have workarounds.
But for most people it's a wtf.

"We'll have to buy the newest Microsoft Office "
Well save your money and give those Bsss...nothing.

Of course with a little thought you can save them in an older
MS Office format before emailing them out.
But that’s the MS mentality of users.

And you wonder why Open Office and Libre Office were created.
You can convert MS docs etc with both of these products.
However always keep a backup file in case it is not quite right.
Or save it as a slightly different name.

I believe that now Libre Office is the better suite.

http://www.libreoffice.org/

http://www.openoffice.org/

::::::

For me the only Office worth having was Office 97.
It was fast….it did the basics…
good enough for the majority of people.

But the MS morons just can’t leave anything alone.
As they are now doing with Skype…
Sticking ads in the free version.

I already have a converter but it wouldn’t work on this Excel file,
so it was back to downloading 77mbs of Microsoft sludge to
get it working.

“

Good stuff, Chris, keep 'em coming!

I ditto steve_s, Pappa bear

Still...making...the leap out of my Windows (XP) environment - stuck with Outlook2002 'cos it works with my PDA's (Toshiba e740 and e400 - pocketPC2002/2003)*. ClamWin and Clam Sentinel work fabulously in this setup. Coupla false positives with virus detection - usually XLSX files from colleague's MS Office2010 (lol).
Thanks for the heads-up on Zamzar - I've got old xls files in Excel97 that even SoftMaker Office2010 doesn't include translators for, so that should be a great stop-gap solution.

Would love to see you have a channel like icyos or crustylobster, or even sneeky with all these tips, but I understand that is a massive undertaking.

* j-pilot and/or SynCE should help me maintain my SUSTAINABLE computing environment with those - with hardware supported outside the M$ hamsterwheel.

PDF to word conversions.

Another interesting Whirlpool post.

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-re ... ?t=1960781

"I have a 15 page physical document that I want to an editable
MS Word document."

etc

Answer from >> Andhrímnir

Microsoft Office Document Imaging

" If your scanner software doesn't have an OCR program and you
are using Microsoft Office 2003 or 2007 then chances are you
already have an OCR program
called Microsoft Office Document Imaging,
while it's also possible to install for Office 2010 but no longer
comes as standard. "

etc.

Reply from >> comfixer

" Amazing Andhrimnir,
MODI can interface with the native scanner software and has icon
for "Send Text to Microsoft Word".

Just tested it for first time (why I love WP )
Not sure of OP's expectation here,
if it's to save typing then MODI will do the job. "

>Start
.>Microsoft Office
..>Microsoft Office Tools
...>Digital cert
...>MS Clip Organiser
...>MSO Language
...>MSO Settings
...>MSO Application Recovery
...>MSO Document Imaging
...>MSO Document Scanning
...>MSO Picture Manager
...>MSO Access Snapshot Viewer

Chris.

More from Whirlpool.

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-re ... ?t=1968497

outlook 2012 & *ubuntu.

Not my bag but....

http://www.liberiangeek.net/2012/06/how ... -wine-1-5/

Should be easy enough in Puppy.

Links:

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=53675


http://puppylinux.info/topic/wine

""

Now up to Wine 1.5.11
August 17, 2012

The Wine development release 1.5.11 is now available.

http://www.winehq.org/

:::::::

And green_dome has newer Wine pets here...

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... &start=315

" my attempt at compiling wine-1.5.10

version 1 | stripped=true
wine-1.5.10-i486_v1.pet | mirror 1 | mirror 2
wine_DEV-1.5.10-i486_v1.pet | mirror 1 | mirror 2
wine_DOC-1.5.10-i486_v1.pet | mirror 1 | mirror 2

version 2 | stripped=false
wine-1.5.10-i486_v2.pet | mirror 1 | mirror 2
wine_DEV-1.5.10-i486_v2.pet | mirror 1 | mirror 2
wine_DOC-1.5.10-i486_v2.pet | mirror 1 | mirror 2

md5 | hashdeep "

:::::::

Chris.

Recently, I bought a used Toshiba Tecra laptop at a yard sale.
I figured I would burn the restore CDs with verify and that part worked fine.
I then used them to restore drive C to factory specs.
But.
After jumping through a few hoops to get service pack 3 installed, I figured I would open Windows Update and let it update windows XP Pro.
It said I needed Microsoft Update and as part of it, it installed Windows Genuine Advantage.
And when that ran, it said it could not determine if my install of Windows XP Pro was legal.
I never got any messages saying I had a copy (pirated) of it and later, Genuine Advantage installed an ICON on the task bar and would run at random times with a result of "Not able to determine ...."
The damn install is a legal install and tech support at MS said as much.
But their software is flakey.
At this point, I am ready to forget Windows and use the version of Puppy I have installed on the same laptop!

I should mention I also downloaded and ran software (not from microsoft) that removed Windows Genuine Advantage.
So far, that has worked.
I will keep you informed though.

8-bit wrote:.. I figured I would burn the restore CDs with verify and that part worked fine. I then used them to restore drive C to factory specs..

I believe a reference number on the HDD (in the MBR ?) is used to check if the installation is genuine. If that data has been wiped from the HDD then the "genuine" check won't work, even though you have installed a genuine copy of the micro$oft OS.

http://ask-leo.com/why_does_my_cloned_drive_report_as_failing_genuine_validation.html

So, what I most likely did wrong was to do a restore of only the C drive rather than the full restore as I had wanted to not have to reinstall Puppy Linux.
Of course the install of Grub for Dos may have overwritten the information on the MBR that Windows Genuine Advantage was looking for.
And that makes me wonder if an install of grub with Puppy on a hard drive containing Windows would also cause Windows Genuine Advantage to say it could not verify if the Windows install was legal.
But I absolutely refuse to install that piece of crap on Windows XP Pro on that laptop now.

Trevor Pott

Java rootkit infection.

Thanks ever so much Java, for that biz-wide rootkit infection

Cup of coffee actually a carboy of toxic Kool-Aid

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/09/03/java_cleanup/

"""""""

" The payload: a software nastie called Sirefef.
This itself is actually irrelevant; even Microsoft Security Essentials
can find and kill most variants.

The purpose of Sirefef is to serve as the staging component for
the coup de grace: the highly sophisticated
Zeroaccess rootkit (Sirefef downloaded some other friends too,
but once the rootkit is dealt with, they are easily dispatched.) "

"""""""

How do I remove Sirefef (ZeroAccess) trojan?

ESET remover....and instructions.

http://kb.eset.com/esetkb/index?page=co ... d=SOLN2895

:::::::

Webroot version.

http://blog.webroot.com/2011/07/08/zero ... -tripwire/

How to.

http://deletemalware.blogspot.com.au/20 ... moval.html

"""

Do I dare????...McAfee Rootkit Remover

McAfee - What could go wrong....right??

I did test it before inflicting it on you lot.

http://www.mcafee.com/us/downloads/free ... mover.aspx

""""""""""
Symantec Remover...Nortons eh!
Same comments >> as above

http://www.symantec.com/security_respon ... 99&tabid=3

"""""""
Other forums.

http://www.podnutz.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=6190

""""

Chris.

Vista download site.

From another Whirlpool post....no Vista disk.

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-re ... ?t=1983062

" Have a friends machine here and to save her a bit of money I
was looking for a Vista Home Premium download as she has no disk
and there does seem to be any available.

So does any one know of a site where I can download an ISO for
this please?

""""""

Amongst the replies Lex points to how to make it bootable.
A quarter of the way down in the page below below are instructions.

Microsoft Windows Vista Official .iso Download Links (Digital River)

" Windows Vista Official Setup Files (Digital River)

Note these .iso files may be used with a Dell/non-Dell OEM product Key but phone activation is required (see note at end).
This key is typically found on the COA attached to the base of
the system.

Retail/upgrade product keys can be used with these .iso files and activated over the internet or phone.
See note at the end for phone activation. "

http://en.community.dell.com/support-fo ... river.aspx

Chris.

How to bypass online censorship:

http://apcmag.com/bypass-online-censorship.htm

:::::::::

Maybe of interest to some.

The section of the article that I liked was >>> Use Ultrasurf

" " Ultrasurf is a piece of software designed for use in
repressive regimes to circumvent web filtering measures.
The makers claim that every time there’s a major crackdown
or world event, its use leaps. "

http://ultrasurf.us/index.html

This was simple enough....I don't need complicated.

Download...Ultrasurf...RHS >> great big button

No install...it unzips...if not use 7Zip..free...fast
unzips most things...including ISO files

http://7-zip.org/

Make a shortcut to the program.

Click shortcut ...and IE browser starts.

There is a video on the bottom of the Ultrasurf page.

WATCH A VIDEO TUTORIAL

""""""

But I don't like Internet Explorer.

I use Palemoon Portable....Firefox without the crap.

" Ultrasurf will open IE by default, but we can change that. "
says the site...but not exactly pointing out how to change that behaviour.

So I needed the >> Add-on for Firefox

" Firefox users need to download the firefox add-on besides
the above software:"

Download Firefox add-on(.xpi)

An alert will show up.
You have to allow Firefox or Pale Moon to install the add on.

Your browser will then restart.

Here is the download link.

http://ultrasurf.us/download/wjbutton_en.xpi

::::::::::

But the IP address still showed as normal.....grrrr!

After mucking about I discovered a little...icon message thingy
on the bottom RHS of Palemoon

which said>> WJ disabled... I clicked on it and now my
IP address has changed.
Wouldn't it be nice if you could find that out more easily.
Anyway...it's a goer...

"""""""""

http://www.palemoon.org/

" A custom-built and optimized Firefox-based browser for Windows.
Make sure to get the most speed and efficiency out of your browser!"

Pale Moon Portable

http://www.palemoon.org/palemoon-portable.shtml

""""

Chris

How to get a Windows 7 start menu in Windows 8

http://www.geek.com/articles/geek-pick/ ... -20110914/

" If you want to change the Windows 8 start menu back to the
Windows 7 version, here’s what you need to do:

Launch the registry editor (win+r > regedit >enter)

Drill down to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer

Double-click on RPEnabled

Change the value from 1 to (zero)

Tap enter or click OK

Etc...read the rest.

::::::::::::::

In graphics.

http://www.techfeb.com/get-windows-7-st ... stry-hack/

http://www.addictivetips.com/windows-ti ... windows-8/

""""""

Use the Windows 7 Start Menu,
Explorer, and Task Manager in Windows 8

http://www.howtogeek.com/80171/use-the- ... windows-8/

"""""

Others.

http://www.intowindows.com/how-to-enabl ... windows-8/

ViStart and StartMenu8 are the best free programs.

""""""

Pokki brings back the Start Menu to Windows 8.

https://www.pokki.com/windows-8-start-m ... pgodqCEAag

"""""

Whirlpool Forum>> Windows 8: General Discussion Part 6

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-re ... #r36343127

From a post by >>> U T C ....bottom of page.
mentions this.

http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/158666- ... ck-beta-4/

http://startisback.com/

'Your major Windows 8 pain is gonna be relieved soon.
Restore proper desktop experience now! "

Not free....use for 30 days.

::::::::::

All untested.

Use at your own risk.

Back up your data and settings.

Chris.