Re: Not able to connect to internet with new PC.

On 12/26/05 8:09 AM, in article
KVRrf.55936$k76.40234@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "S.Lewis" <stew1960@xxxxxxxx>
wrote:

>
> <DaveJohnson12@nomail.> wrote in message
> news:FeMrf.38091$Hu4.21521@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> "S.Lewis" <stew1960@xxxxxxxx> wrote in
>> news:ubirf.23469$Qa1.21861@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx:
>>
>>>
>>> <DaveJohnson12@nomail.> wrote in message
>>> news:6n2rq1tmbng526dpum525tr9gh9h1mnfql@xxxxxxxxxx
>>>> On Sat, 24 Dec 2005 09:47:26 -0600, "S.Lewis" <stew1960@xxxxxxxx>
>>>> wrote:
>
> <snip>
>
>>> Personally, if it were me, I'd use the XP firewall in combination with
>>> a good AV program and MS antispyware and simply keep things updated
>>> and scanned regularly and be done with it (provided no teenagers are
>>> using the connection).
>>
>> It's much worse than that. It's my mother's computer and she knows zero
>> about using a computer. Just getting her to understand how to use the
>> mouse is a lot of work. :-) Now she's going to be using it herself
>> without a good firewall. Also since I don't have an OS on my computer
>> that will let me run the new version of Zonealarm, I won't be able to
>> experiment with Zonealarm anymore. It seems kind of ridiculous that they
>> would make software that can't be easily set up in a reasonable amount
>> of time by an experienced computer user to do something as basic as
>> connect to an ISP.
>>
>
> Dave,
>
> I understand, and I've been there with more than a few new users. All I can
> say is that at *least* she has the XP firewall. On more than a few
> occasions, I've seen older Win2K, WinMe, or Win98 systems for these same
> users where I've placed Sygate on the system, and the user simply ended up
> disabling or uninstalling the program due to worry, annoyance and confusion
> about what programs they were to allow or block.
>
> Here's the bottom line: It doesn't matter what programs you put on there for
> security if the user continues to do the wrong things - letting the bugs in.
>
> Best you can do in that situation is to have realtime AV, spyware (in the
> case of XP or Win2K), and passive firewall protection (in XP).
>
> Even with that, you have to hope the user will leave the machine on and
> connected long enough to get downloaded and installed:-
>
> -Windows updates
> -AV updates
> -MS antispyware updates
>
> ....and then hope that the machine is on long enough to do its automated
>
> scans with the two latter programs.
>
> Some of these same users have real trouble even with MS antispyware
> "flagging" registry changes or application installs; deciding whether or
> not to "allow" or "block" .......
>
> (shrug)
>
> All you can do is demonstrate and explain, and remind them to regularly
> update and scan.
>
>
> Stew
>
>
>
>
>
>
For users like those described, there is a much simpler option when choosing
a computer...get an iMac....no spyware or other malware in the
wild...excellent apps for web browsing email, MS Office, photo and video
viewing and processing. It's really a no-brainer if you value your time and
sanity...I've wasted way too much of both in detoxing my relatives' XP
systems....ymmv :-)

.

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