I guess that every regular user of this board have noticed that someone has hacked Shei's site - assumably the same person who had logged in here recently, faking user names in an attempt to spread his bullshit. Okay.

I'd like to give you some help of how to secure your computer (Shakey, aaron and everybody else...feel free to join in ;)).

I´m trying to make it simple so everyone can follow my advices.


Everyone who is using the Internet is a potential victim of a script kiddie who is just using tools to break into other systems. I´ve used the term 'script kiddies' here, since a real hacker wouldn't do such BS.

Check if your PC is safe from any alien intrusion.
grc.com (http://www.grc.com/) is offering a (IMHO) very good online check called ShieldsUP!. Depending on your connection, ShieldsUP is probing your computer for any security leaks and is telling exactly where it´s safe and where not ,without payments or leaving an e-mail address.

If the check shows you any leaks, it´s time to do something against it.
For the majority of users, a personal firewall is the best solution. A thoroughly recommended product is ZoneLab's ZoneAlarm (http://www.zonelabs.com/), it´s pretty easy to configure, offers you a maximum of security, and you can download a personal edition for free.

Some viruses and trojans are now able to invade your system by the simple look on the site where they are hidden. Upgrade your browser to the latest available version, and set the security options as high as possible if you have the intention to visit a site which has a doubtable content. On the other hand, with the security options on max, you won´t see the full content, or log-in operations may be prohibited, so you have to set the options again if you are visiting safe sites.

Receiving an e-mail, but you don´t know the sender? Make it short and painless and move it to the bin without any hesitation. Don´t make the mistake and open it! That´s the safest way to infect your PC with viruses, some of them are even able to destroy your harddrives for good once they had begun their evil work.
Install a virus scanner, for example H+BEDV's AntiVir (http://www.hbedv.com/). This one comes for free, is easy to use, quite reliable, and you can update it online without any additional costs (you should upgrade every virus scanner as frequently as possible, BTW). Even if you think that everything's okay, let it run from time to time.
Don´t respond to such e-mails, no matter if you have the strong urge to flame the bastard who had sent it. Spam mails often have the purpose to get your address(es) so they can spam your e-mail account to death. If such mails appear often in your mailbox, put the sender on your filter - see the Help section of your respective program (Outlook etc.) for further instructions.

One general rule: if you are in doubt, simply don´t do it!
If anything's looking fishy, leave the site as soon as possible and don´t enter any information.

Another general rule: 100% security does not exist - sad but true. Update your security programs as often as possible, and stay alert. This way, you can reduce the risk of being attacked by a script kiddie to a fairly small amount.

Thanks for the info, wave. After last night's bombing of e-mails I got, I put a filter on my main e-mail account that I use. I just ran the Shield's Up and everything seems to be secure with my computer. Here's hoping!

According to those tests, my system is secure :) I made sure of that anyway...I've always been paranoid about my info going anywhere on the 'net, so I locked this up tighter than fort knox as best I can :lol:

Thanks for posting this wave :cool:

Thanks for the heads up wave, I'm going to get my pc ready if this person decides to strike again.

Originally posted by wavemaster
I guess that every regular user of this board have noticed that someone has hacked Shei's site - assumably the same person who had logged in here recently, faking user names in an attempt to spread his bullshit. Okay......



I didn't know that, when did this happen ????

Guess what ? Since I have ZoneAlarm installed (thanx for the tip Wavey) nothing got thru' when I ran the test :D

Originally posted by 80sSmurf


I didn't know that, when did this happen ????



I guess that this has happened after the first attack wave of that flucknut. The headline says "Sheibub got hacked...by a member of the 80sxchange... hehehehe !", underneath is a very disgusting pic attached (probably the face of that assclown :D).

I've been using Shields Up! for some time now. It is a good way to test the security of your home system. A lot of poeple heavily into computers and security write Steve Gibson off as a twonk, but not me. I think the guy has a lot of good knowledge and you can learn a lot by reading some of the stuff posted at his site.

My ports are in "stealth mode", so I am pretty well hidden from any scanners. But it was very reassuring to run the test and get the expected result. Thanks, Wave. :thumb:

Well here's my take on the situation. Wavey had some excellent advice, and I will probably cover some of it again.

1) I assume most Xchangers are not using Unix, but Windows. If you had Unix/Linux, chances are you know enough about the system that you can lock out hosts, IP address, ports, etc. I won't even bother covering it. Whether you have Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, or otherwise, there is no such thing as a 100% secure Windows. It just doesn't happen.

2) Install a firewall. Zone Alarm is a FREE and excellent firewall. I have it running at home all the time. It blocks out UDP ports (used in networking), NetBIOS, TCP/IP calls, pings, and many other activities. You have to give any software (such as Exploder, FTP, etc) permission to use the internet through Zone Alarm, but that's just a matter of clicking yes.

3) Install a virus scanner. I HIGHLY recommend using either McAfee's Virus Scan or Norton Anti-Virus. Both are excellent. I've used both for years. Update your viruses regularly, as in every 2 weeks. You can never be too safe.

4) While this isn't 100% effective, turn off File/Print sharing. Zone Alarm should keep you safe, but this will also help if you aren't file sharing. Personally I keep mine on, but without a filewall, I would turn it off.

5) Make damn sure if you have an FTP daemon set up (such as WarFTP) you make it secure and do NOT allow write permissions anywhere you don't want uploads.

6) Get ALL the Windows updates. 95/98 will do this from the start menu. Lots of security patches.

7) Be careful what you download and always scan your email. MOST email viruses are written for Outlook, but since I don't use Outlook, its not a problem. If you get any email that looks even remotely suspicious, kill it. Don't even open it. I used to get one that said "I send this in order to get your advice". It was some kind of spreadsheet file. It was a virus, but McAfee caught it.

There are many other good firewalls (Norton and McAfees make them too, but they aren't free) and other programs designed to protect your machine. Only install those from companies you trust. I don't give a flying f--k if I find one that GUARANTEES it is better than everything else if I've never heard of them. If someone hacks my system, their guarantee is worthless.

One final note I wanted to make. I've had this asked before at work. Most internet servers run on Unix. Most ISPS, web hosts, and so forth use Unix or Linux. I'm sure most of us have had viruses or something strange in their email, or even downloaded a file that had a virus and wondered why the server didn't catch it before. There's a simple answer. Windows viruses don't run on Unix. Period. It's like trying to run a gas engine on diesel. Ain't gonna happen. Totally different operating system.

You can fill up a unix server with windows viruses. Won't hurt it. This is why you MUST be careful. I get hit with them all the time, but my virus scanner always kills them.

Finally, if you do use Zone Alarm and you see where you get pings or something else every minute, don't be alarmed (pun intended). MOST are harmless. Some people just ping IP blocks, or perhaps your provider is checking to see if you are running a server from your home. Some are vicious, but many aren't.

As wave said, install a virus scanner, and preferably a filewall. Virus scanners check file for viruses by looking at signatures. Some viruses are harmless (but annoying), others are destructive and can render your machine useless. Be careful.

As long as you have a virus scanner active and running, there is little/no need to scan every file you download. God knows I don't. McAfees and Nortons has ALWAYS caught them on the fly.

Hope this helps you, and thanks to Wave for mentioning this.

Just one more additon. If you do use Zone Alarm (which I highly recommend), there is a nice little utility call the Visual Zone Report Utility (http://www.visualizesoftware.com/) that will give you much more information about the alerts that Zone Alarm produces. Using it, you can get detailed info regarding the intruder IP, the transport being used (UDP, etc...), you can run a whois query and even see a map of where the intruder is located.

Please make this simple for me. :rolleyes: LOL

I have nothing on my computer(that I know of). My computer came with McAfee but it has expired.

What should I install and I want it to be free. :D

I do have Ad-ware but that's it. Unless I have something I am not aware of?

Originally posted by TopCat
Please make this simple for me. :rolleyes: LOL

I have nothing on my computer(that I know of). My computer came with McAfee but it has expired.

What should I install and I want it to be free. :D

I do have Ad-ware but that's it. Unless I have something I am not aware of?

You making computer safer, understood? :lol:

Just follow the links to ZoneLabs and H+BEDV, TC (you can find them in my initial posting of this thread). Uninstall your old virus scanner before you install the new one, or you might get wrong virus alarms (some scanners are known to interfere with each other).

After you have installed the programs, you might want to check at grc.com if your PC is firewalled now.

Originally posted by TopCat
Please make this simple for me. :rolleyes: LOL

I have nothing on my computer(that I know of). My computer came with McAfee but it has expired.

What should I install and I want it to be free. :D

I do have Ad-ware but that's it. Unless I have something I am not aware of?

You want it to be free? Then unix is the way to go. I can't remember the last time I saw anything GOOD for FREE that ran under windows, and that includes exploder.

McAfees and Norton virus scanners are two of the best on the market, but neither are free.

If you go to Wal-mart, Target, or any other discount store, most will have a cheap OEM McAfee or Norton virus CD for about $10. I bought an old McAfees virus scan 4.0 at Wal-mart about 2 years ago for $10. It was plain vanilla, no frills, but it did the job. Lasted until late 2001 when it was no longer supported and updates were no longer available. Definitely worth $10.

Just look for one of those, unless you believe in 5 finger discounts like many others do.

Your not going to find much for FREE thats very good. Exploder is the biggest free thing out there that I know of and it is crash prone and overall just wasted space, but we have few alteratives in the browser world.

I have seen free virus scanners, but they usually suck. The last GOOD one was Innoculate. It was free, but I believe it was discontinued about a year ago.

Can't beat the cheap OEM deals at wal-mart and target though.

Technically all you should need is a good virus scanner. Ad-aware is not a scanner, it just searches for spyware. Totally different.

I look at it this way. If you don't believe in copying commercial software from someone else (not saying you should or shouldn't), consider this: even if you had to spend $40 for a full retail box of Nortons or McAfees (wal-mart, target, costco, etc), and get FREE updates to it, wouldn't that be better than getting boot sector viruses or something else that renders your machine useless?

My g/f never had a virus scanner running. When I finally installed McAfees her system was so infected that it trashed the scanner. Nortons found the viruses and tried to kill them, but it was too late to fix anything.

If you don't want to copy something commercial, then spending upwards of $40 it better than potentially losing EVERYTHING on your machine to a malicious virus.

Some viruses are annoying but harmless, others are completely destructive.

I used to use ZoneAlarm until it completely botched up my Internet service. I use Bell High Speed and the tech support told me that they received lots of calls due to Zone Alarm.

But the program did work great until it decided to turn against me, that is.

I have ad-ware already installed. Do I need zonealarm?

How often shoud I run a scan?

Originally posted by TopCat
I have ad-ware already installed. Do I need zonealarm?

How often shoud I run a scan?

Ad-aware only checks for software with spyware.

Do you need zone alarm? No. Should you install it? Yes. It blocks out ports on your machine that are otherwise open, thus preventing a hacker from trying to attack your computer.

You should have a virus scanner running all the time. I know McAfees and Nortons will put an icon in your system tray (not the same as the task bar) and run continuously. That would be the best method.

Originally posted by TopCat
I have ad-ware already installed. Do I need zonealarm?

How often shoud I run a scan?

In disagreement to aarons's last posting, I recommend everyone who is connecting to the Internet to install ZoneAlarm (or a similar program if you can´t hear "ZoneAlarm" anymore).
Okay, ZoneAlarm have a few disadvantages, like it´s reporting each and every ping which hits your ports. In 99.9%, you can ignore/delete those messages, and the 0.1% left are giving you the security that someone has tried to scan your ports...and failed. On the other hand, ZoneAlarm is very easy to configure - you simply allow or prohibit the respective programs from accessing the net. No toying around with which ports have to be open and which not...that would drive me nuts. Critics and testers have reviewed ZoneAlarm mostly positive, so it can´t be that bad. ;)
Of course, if you own advanced knowledges of the technical specs, there are better solutions, like a hardware-based firewall. Until then, stick with ZoneAlarm...and read the instruction manual! ;)

Now to the issue that free programs always suck...another disagreement.
Of course, the majority of corporations are interested in selling their products, not giving them away as freebies. So, most of the freeware of which a sale version is available, they are either offering only limited functions, or expiring after a certain time so you have to buy it if want to use them any further.
In my case, I have recommended H+BEDV's AntiVir, since it comes for free, the updates are also for free, it´s also easy to use, and I have tested it to my satisfaction.
What really sucks is the policy of software manufacturers like Norton or McAfee to discontinue their programs after a certain while, also cancelling the service of updating. I know that this is generally understood as "business", but at least they could offer a continuing update service even if the program is "dated" in their opinion (German users of the products coming from both companies can sing you whole albums about their expiring/updating policies).
Besides, even the highly praised programs coming from Norton and McAfee are not completely free of errors...a McAfee tool (it was that bad that I have deleted the name of it permanently from my memory :lol: ) managed to botch up my machine to the point where I had to do a complete new installation of Windows. According to some boards I have visited after that incident, I was not the only one who had experienced that problem...and it also came for free.

Also, check it out if you want to. If it sucks, delete it. Oh, and by the way, I´m not getting any royalties for endorsing the recommended products. ;)
In case that you are not sure, follow the advices that aaron gave. Even lashing out $100 for a good program are not too much for the security of your computer in comparision to be forced to buy a new harddrive after the current used is terminally infected by a malicious virus, not to mention the loss of data and all the hassle of (re)installations.

Last...AntiVir is running permanently in the background, that´s the recommended setting for all virus scanners. Update it about every two weeks, your system will be checked for undetected viruses this way, too.

I have a related question: I've been thinking of setting my home pc up so that I can remote access it from work. I think I have found a program for this that is safe, GoToMyPc (http://www.gotomypc.com). C|net had the software tested (http://overture.cnet.com/software/0-3227892-1205-8480755.html?tag=box) by the guy who created Shields Up, and he said it was secure because it pinged the servers every 5 seconds to check for remote access requests rather than "listening" through an open port. OK, my question: Am I just asking for trouble here? Is this just creating one more way someone could ruin my day? Or is the risk minimal enough to justify the benifits?

Originally posted by wavemaster
[B]

In disagreement to aarons's last posting, I recommend everyone who is connecting to the Internet to install ZoneAlarm (or a similar program if you can´t hear "ZoneAlarm" anymore).

Now to the issue that free programs always suck...another disagreement.

I am a little surprised you disagreed with what I said about zone alarm. What TC asked was, quote, "do you need zone alarm?"

I said no, you don't. Your computer runs fine without it. You don't need to install video or sound drivers either, but you should if you want your hardware to work right.

I don't understand why you disagree with that. :confused: You don't have to have it, but I said you should install it.

Next, as for free software, I honestly can't remember the last time I found any large scale free software that was good.

Actually, I lied. I use SmartFTP. It's free and it is by FAR the best FTP utility I have ever used. The only 2 free utilities that I have and really like are that and winamp.

Otherwise, nothing good is free that I know of. Photoshop totally kicks ass. It's not free. Paint Shop Pro is damn good. It's not free. McAfees and Nortons are not free. I have downloaded free virus scanners and they would not run.

I use textpad for html editing. It's not free. The only free html editor I've used was first page. It is decent, but uses major resources and the programmers have been saving they will release a new version for 1 1/2 years now.

On the other hand, I mentioned unix has tons of free software. Apache is the worlds most popular web server. It is totally free.

I have no problem buying commercial software that is good. Windows XP is not quality. Photoshop is rad, but it is EXTREMELY expensive. The only decent and free C compiler I know of is DJGPP, and I'm really not impressed by it. Borland C++ and Visual C++ aren't free.

I understand businesses need to make $$, but think about it. Unix is free and at least 95% of the software is more stable, in many cases better, and it is FREE. That was my point. You can pay for all the software for Windows, or you can get FREE equivalent versions for Unix which are more stable.

Please, anybody if you can name ONE really awesome and FREE software for Windows, let me know. I don't mean something lame like a text editor or a telnet utility, I mean something large scale.

This is why I said almost everything that is free for Windows sucks. All the good things are commercial.

Moving on, you don't need to install any additional software on your computer once the operating system is loaded. Your a fool not to install a virus scanner, sound, printer, and video drivers, but if you never install anything, it won't matter.

Anyway, that was my point.

Originally posted by nolanbuc
I have a related question: I've been thinking of setting my home pc up so that I can remote access it from work. I think I have found a program for this that is safe, GoToMyPc (http://www.gotomypc.com). C|net had the software tested (http://overture.cnet.com/software/0-3227892-1205-8480755.html?tag=box) by the guy who created Shields Up, and he said it was secure because it pinged the servers every 5 seconds to check for remote access requests rather than "listening" through an open port. OK, my question: Am I just asking for trouble here? Is this just creating one more way someone could ruin my day? Or is the risk minimal enough to justify the benifits?

Never heard of it before. The only really good remote access utility I know of is pcanywhere, which we use at work.

Basically, if I were setting up remote access, all I know do is install the utility on a different port than the default. If the standard port was 3000, I would use... say 6400. Then I would install a firewall and allow that utility to use it, but block all other access to other ports on your machine.

Pretty basic.

Originally posted by aaronw


I am a little surprised you disagreed with what I said about zone alarm. What TC asked was, quote, "do you need zone alarm?"

I said no, you don't. Your computer runs fine without it. You don't need to install video or sound drivers either, but you should if you want your hardware to work right.

I don't understand why you disagree with that. :confused: You don't have to have it, but I said you should install it.

Next, as for free software, I honestly can't remember the last time I found any large scale free software that was good.

Actually, I lied. I use SmartFTP. It's free and it is by FAR the best FTP utility I have ever used. The only 2 free utilities that I have and really like are that and winamp.

Otherwise, nothing good is free that I know of. Photoshop totally kicks ass. It's not free. Paint Shop Pro is damn good. It's not free. McAfees and Nortons are not free. I have downloaded free virus scanners and they would not run.

I use textpad for html editing. It's not free. The only free html editor I've used was first page. It is decent, but uses major resources and the programmers have been saving they will release a new version for 1 1/2 years now.

On the other hand, I mentioned unix has tons of free software. Apache is the worlds most popular web server. It is totally free.

I have no problem buying commercial software that is good. Windows XP is not quality. Photoshop is rad, but it is EXTREMELY expensive. The only decent and free C compiler I know of is DJGPP, and I'm really not impressed by it. Borland C++ and Visual C++ aren't free.

I understand businesses need to make $$, but think about it. Unix is free and at least 95% of the software is more stable, in many cases better, and it is FREE. That was my point. You can pay for all the software for Windows, or you can get FREE equivalent versions for Unix which are more stable.

Please, anybody if you can name ONE really awesome and FREE software for Windows, let me know. I don't mean something lame like a text editor or a telnet utility, I mean something large scale.

This is why I said almost everything that is free for Windows sucks. All the good things are commercial.

Moving on, you don't need to install any additional software on your computer once the operating system is loaded. Your a fool not to install a virus scanner, sound, printer, and video drivers, but if you never install anything, it won't matter.

Anyway, that was my point.

Ah, okay...must have been a misunderstanding. Please keep in mind that English is not my native language (as you probably have noticed already :D).

I can understand your issues against MS products - hell, if I had received 1 cent for each time I had cursed Windows, I would sip my drinks on the verandah of my little bungalow of my private isle in the South Sea. :D
But not everyone here owns your (awesome!) knowledge, especially when it comes to other systems like UNIX or Linux. So I´ve tried to make it as simple as possible (keep my limited English language knowledge in mind!). Besides, I wouldn't recommend any product which might gives you trouble except for when I know that only I have problems with it.
In the end, the majority of users have installed Windows on their machines (and have to live with it). So I´m sharing my experiences with them, and I would never claim that my solutions are the best ones available. I know that I still have to learn a lot about computers and OS...another reason why I'm visiting a school again.

About the free software...well, of course it's almost sure that commercial software beats freeware almost every time when compared to each other. Of course, a well designed software has it's price, that's the reason why Photoshop (for example) is that expensive. But if you can live with certain limitations, a freeware might offer you exactly what you need - not everyone needs the extensive functions of Photoshop to pep up their pics/graphics.

You have asked for some kickass freeware? Okay...since you are surely experienced with Linux, GIMP has probably crossed your path. Even hardcore users of Photoshop had admitted that some functions of GIMP are better solved than in the "original".
Looking for an HTML editor? Then check out the site of Ulli Meybohm (http://www.meybohm.de/index.html). The HTML Editor Phase 5 is small, but offers you enough to create own websites, and there are lots of free plug-ins available. I have to admit that I´m actually not quite sure about a English language-version, but if you find one, just try it.
WinAmp? I guess that it´s the most used audioplayer worldwide (aside of the Windows-implemented version), and this must have a reason.

I don´t want to argue with you - just see this as a kind of constructive discussion, okay? ;)

Originally posted by nolanbuc
I have a related question: I've been thinking of setting my home pc up so that I can remote access it from work. I think I have found a program for this that is safe, GoToMyPc (http://www.gotomypc.com).

Actually, I have checked into that. There are better free alternatives (Here's one for you aaron ;) ) - TightVNC (http://www.tightvnc.com/). It will allow you to set up your home system to be accessed remotely and you can password protect it. We have even begun to use this at work to remotely administer servers. And... It is available for Windows and Unix and can be used to access either OS from the other. Setup is a snap and so far, I have seen no security issues with it.

As for good free software? [/URL] has some nice programs. They have some really decent software available. Everything from network utilities to programming utilities. The packet sniffer is nice (simplsitic, but useful).

Also, you may want to check out [URL=http://www.pcplus.co.uk/downloads.asp]PC Plus (http://www.analogx.com/contents/download.htm/). They offer packages that used to be retail, but have since been released for free and they have some really nice stuff there.

As I have said before though, I think Windows DOES have its uses and is good in some areas.

I have only ever used my video capture card under Windows. There are drivers for Linux, but I never tried it.

My video capture card works great under 98, but under 2000 and XP the colors are VERY bland. So bad that I'm willing to reboot and swap my hard disk each time I wanted to capture a movie.

Other things I think Windows is great for too is multimedia. When I used RH 7.0 and Netscape, I had problems with certain types of graphics. Flash animations wouldn't run, even though Flash installed just fine. RealAudio wouldn't install.

I love Photoshop. It is by FAR the best graphics editor I have ever used. When it comes down to raw graphics and animation, I think Windows does better, IMO.

When it comes down to cost, stability, performance, and speed, Linux is better. It is free, I have never seen it crash due to kernel problems, it has smooth multi-tasking and can handle HUGE loads that Windows chokes on, and performs tasks faster.

The fact that almost all software is free is what I love.

If you were going to set up a Windows NT server, assuming you actually bought everything, here is what I see:

Computer ($300-thousands), Windows NT 4 or 2000, Exchange for email, and that is the bare minimum.

The cheapest I found NT 4 on pricewatch was $35. The cheapest price for exchange with 5 clients was $165. So just software alone is going to run you at least $200, probably more.

Ok now for unix. Let's say Red Hat. After you buy the computer (which you obviously need), Red Hat - $0, Sendmail, Qmail, Postfix, or otherwise for email - $0, Apache web server - $0, FTP daemon such as Proftp - $0, Front Page extensions to users can use that god awful excuse for an editor - $0, BIND DNS (assuming you want your own DNS) - $0.

Well let's see... a Windows NT machine is going to run you a base minimum of a few hundred, just for software. A Unix machine is going to run you... oh hey.... nothing!

Ok now on to the average user...

I would NEVER recommend a total newbie to use Unix. Why? Because its not meant for them. I was thinking about switching my g/f over to Red Hat with gnome, but she is still learning Windows, so you can imagine how lost she would be if she tried to do some graphics editing and got an error like:

cannot load library libjpeg.so.4

I only recommend Linux to intermediate to advanced users. Even those who "claim" to be proficient or experts, I probably wouldn't put them on it. Not because they aren't capable, but it has a bigger learning curve.

The payoffs are free software and rock solid stability.

When it comes down to learning the operating system, there are so many ways to go about it. The deal is, most of them time when something breaks on hers, I tell her to try and figure it out. If she can't do it (like setting up protocol stacks, configuring sygate and setting her IP addresses, configuring subnet masks, or changing DNS priority lists), I do it for her.

Windows 98/ME was designed for the basic user. It was designed for consumer end simple use. Surfing the web, checking your mail, playing games, writing letters, that kind of thing. I was not designed for hardcore use. While you can run a server off it, I would never ever recommend that. To me turning a Windows 98 machine into a internet server is like trying to pull a loaded diesel trailer with a mini-truck.

I don't really trash Windows users. I use it all the time at home and work, but all of our servers (except one) are unix. Theres a reason for it.

Windows is just alright. I don't stand up for it, I sure as hell wouldn't pay $190 for it, and it sure as hell isn't stable. It just has piss poor multi-tasking, multi-threading, and the protected mode doesn't work all that well. Supposedly ring 0 of PM is supposed to control all sub rings (1, 2, 3), but I'll be damned if Windows can actually handle it well.

As for GIMP, I never used it enough to see what all it can do. The last big project I had was installing a compiler, and I finally just gave up on that. When I say kickass free software, I meant for Windows. Very little.

I would have to say that winamp is one of the best free utilities for Windows. It is the most common mp3 player. XMMS for linux looks very similar and it rocks just as much. I have read that it is better than winamp, but how I don't know.

I have known about analogx for a while. I went searching for a pop up killer last year after a game emulator rom web site was CONSTANTLY popping up windows and pissing me off to no end.

His web site was on the first page and I found POW. Been using it ever since. Works great!

I haven't tried any of his other utilities. I should sometime though. Don't really need a remote access utility.

I'm still giving some thought to writing some DOS utilities that I could really use. Maybe one of these days I will. Haven't done any C or C++ in a long time.

Maybe I should just write in plain assembly language. Oh what the hell.... straight BINARY! :D

Yeah. POW is a great popup killer.

I use TightVNC to be able to help out my Mom and Sister via the net when they have computer problems. Pretty handy for that kind of thing.

Okay, this is not quite fitting here, but since we're talking about PC security and similar and this thread has a fair amount of views...

According to the developers of AdAware, LavaSoft, the multimedia viewer Radlight is supposed to undermine this anti-Spyware-software by searching and deleting all components of AdAware which are not currently used by the system.
The new version of AdAware, 5.8, is protected against the deleting attempts of Radlight and is now available for downloading.

Originally posted by aaronw
As for GIMP, I never used it enough to see what all it can do. The last big project I had was installing a compiler, and I finally just gave up on that. When I say kickass free software, I meant for Windows. Very little.

Just wanted to let you know that GIMP is also available for Windows, in case you like to check it out on your g/f's machine. ;)