Computer Question

[justfishin]

This is the AV I use muddy, EZ Antivirus. It is very user friendly and has worked great for me the past couple of years but, here is a PC World comparison. I also use spysweeper ( www.webroot.com ) I like EZ Antivirus but, I think when my time is up with them I am going to www.bitdefender.com. My long time fishing buddy whom gives it great reviews for home security. He is the CEO and President of this company www.mobilepathways.com

                                                      - 133k - Jan 18, 2007 -

                                                     

[cabela10]

Cabela10 is the only person I have heard of having problems with it. Everyone else I know who uses it , loves it. I'm just old fashioned and don't like the "look".

I tried to for some time and just didn't like the feel of it.  I had pop-ups asking me for this and that and it really started to bother me, so it took a backseat for internet purposes when IE7 came out.

[Guest the_muddy_man]

Thanks to all the AV I got with the new PC is Norton and it comes with another package that is anti spyware.pop up blocker etc Things pretty secure and except for limelight and you tube i stay just here and email So Im not that worried

Muddy

[Replica.]

Cabela10 is the only person I have heard of having problems with it. Everyone else I know who uses it , loves it. I'm just old fashioned and don't like the "look".

I tried to for some time and just didn't like the feel of it. I had pop-ups asking me for this and that and it really started to bother me, so it took a backseat for internet purposes when IE7 came out.

I had problems adjusting text size with firefox. If the text size was increased it would overlap itself (text within a table) . I was told this was a glitch with the first version of firefox, it may be fixed by now.

[Gatorbassman]

Thanks to all the AV I got with the new PC is Norton and it comes with another package that is anti spyware.pop up blocker etc Things pretty secure and except for limelight and you tube i stay just here and email So Im not that worried

Muddy

So that's what a Muddy Man looks like. It's great to put a face with a name.

[Dan:]

This is the AV I use muddy, EZ Antivirus. It is very user friendly and has worked great for me the past couple of years but, here is a PC World comparison. I also use spysweeper ( www.webroot.com ) I like EZ Antivirus but, I think when my time is up with them I am going to www.bitdefender.com. My long time fishing buddy whom gives it great reviews for home security. He is the CEO and President of this company www.mobilepathways.com

                                                      - 133k - Jan 18, 2007 -

                                                     

bitdefender is supposed to be an excellent antivirus program.

[Banor]

Question. Does this make my system more vulnerable to attack from hackers, virus' etc.?

Answer: Using IE (in any form - 6, 7, whatever) at all makes your system more vulnerable to attack from hackers, viruses, spyware, etc.

This is largely due to the hooks that IE has directly into the Windows OS itself (via "ActiveX", which is a proprietary Microsoft technology that allows for extended functionality in the browser). Now, you can get all crazy with the IE security settings--tweaking this, disabling that--but the vast majority of folks don't ever bother. Apparently IE7 has addressed a lot of the security issues, that's mainly through those annoying prompts asking if you want to allow X to do Y with Z. In some cases, answering "yes" means you're just opting-in to the same old security holes. Nice.

Switching to Firefox (as suggested by others on this thread) means that you virtually eliminate ALL of these vulnerabilities, unless of course you install the "ActiveX plugin for Mozilla/Firefox". But that one's easy--don't do it.

I myself am a Mac user, which means I never (really, I mean it, never) have to deal with any of these security issues. But, I do have a PC in the house, and the house rule is "IE not allowed". I even removed all the various shortcuts to IE (from the desktop, the start menu, the "Quick Launch" toolbar, etc). Believe me, if I could uninstall it entirely, I would. End result: that computer is 100% spyware/malware/virus free.

Start button -> add/remove programs -> add/remove windows components -> uncheck internet explorer.

B

[Banor]

Question. Does this make my system more vulnerable to attack from hackers, virus' etc.?

Answer: Using IE (in any form - 6, 7, whatever) at all makes your system more vulnerable to attack from hackers, viruses, spyware, etc.

This is largely due to the hooks that IE has directly into the Windows OS itself (via "ActiveX", which is a proprietary Microsoft technology that allows for extended functionality in the browser). Now, you can get all crazy with the IE security settings--tweaking this, disabling that--but the vast majority of folks don't ever bother. Apparently IE7 has addressed a lot of the security issues, that's mainly through those annoying prompts asking if you want to allow X to do Y with Z. In some cases, answering "yes" means you're just opting-in to the same old security holes. Nice.

Switching to Firefox (as suggested by others on this thread) means that you virtually eliminate ALL of these vulnerabilities, unless of course you install the "ActiveX plugin for Mozilla/Firefox". But that one's easy--don't do it.

I myself am a Mac user, which means I never (really, I mean it, never) have to deal with any of these security issues. But, I do have a PC in the house, and the house rule is "IE not allowed". I even removed all the various shortcuts to IE (from the desktop, the start menu, the "Quick Launch" toolbar, etc). Believe me, if I could uninstall it entirely, I would. End result: that computer is 100% spyware/malware/virus free.

This is a very false sense of security.  As long as you have a computer - no check that - as long as you have an internet connection you are vulnerable to attack.  I've been reading bulletins proclaiming that printers can be infected with viruses.  

Bottom line, if you are connected, you are vulnerable.

B