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The LangaList
Standard Edition

2004-09-09

A Free Email Newsletter from Fred Langa
That Helps You Get More From Your Hardware, 
Software, and Time Online

Please visit our sponsors and help keep the LangaList S.E. free!

--- ( Your Clicks On Ad Links Help Keep The LangaList S.E. Free! ) ---

 "Hi Fred, I was receiving your free newsletter for a while and
subscribed to the plus edition with a few reservations. After a few
weeks however, I think it would be cheap at twice the price. The
newsletter is great! I have recommended it to a few of my less computer
literate friends and they have told me that they are learning things at
a prodigious rate. I find your hints and links invaluable and await each
issue. Please keep up the good work.--- Tom Sobieski"

Just $1/month--- 14 cents an issue!
Get all the details:

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1) Your Fellow Readers' Real-Life SP2 Experiences

You've heard a lot about XP's new "Service Pack 2" lately, including in a recent issue ( http://langa.com/newsletters/2004/2004-08-26.htm#1 ) where I asked readers to share their first-hand experiences with SP2. After all, punditry and prognostication only go so far: At some point, it's better to hear about real-life experiences in real production environments and on real desktops.

Within days, I'd gotten hundreds of user reports, ranging from simple one-line "thumbs.up/down" messages to detailed analyses of what went right and wrong. It made for fascinating reading--- a wealth of hard-won, first hand information.

At first, I started to boil down the emails, trying to develop statistics. But I soon realized that was unwise: Although I could perform simple counts and ratios, boiling down the emails lost their essence and removed the most-important information, which was in the detail.

So, I decided on a "Plan B." Yes, I'd do the rough counts and ratios, but I'd also present to you a broad sampling of the reader letters in their original form and in each writer's own voice so you could gain not only the raw "pass/fail" information on SP2, but also see exactly what kinds of problems cropped up, and what kinds of systems had no trouble at all.

See how your fellow readers are faring with SP2 in a article is posted now, for free, at http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=46200911 . After you've checked it out, click over to the discussion area http://www.informationweek.com/forum/Fred Langa to read even more, and to share your own SP2 experience!

See you there!

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2) Free Software "Gold Mine"

Fred: Never know what you'll trip across following links from your Plus Edition. Check out http://www.lexacorp.com.pg/  (Scope out the location!!) The "Free Software" tab is a GOLD MINE of info. ---Jim Cobbs

Thanks for the reminder, Jim. That site actually was mentioned a couple times in this newsletter, including when they "loaded the code" (see item 8, below) several years back. But it looks like they've added even more software to their collection since then. Definitely worth a fresh look!

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3) Malware Gets Harder And Harder To Remove

As Malware authors get more experienced, they're finding ways to make their stuff more difficult to detect and remove. That's one of the reasons why prevention--- not allowing malware to gain a foothold on your PC in the first place--- is so important.

But sometimes, bad stuff happens anyway. My own wife's PC at her work has been infected with something called a "Fizzle Wizzle" toolbar, and she can't get rid of it. She's limited in what she's allowed to do by the IT people there; but I walked her through various removal techniques by email. (e.g. http://www.google.com/search?q=fizzle+wizzle ) Still, the bugger came back: In one of its forms, it can reside on a server, and re-infect local PCs that way. My guess is that's what's happening on her system--- a poorly-protected server is compromising all the PCs it communicates with. Sigh. I'll visit her office soon at lunch time and figure out how to make her PC pest-free again, but geez! It shouldn't be that hard.

Reader Richard Lacher ran into a different, but similar pest:

Hi Fred.  Can you help me get rid of this pest, Search2000?

There may be several things going on there, Richard, but see http://forums.subratam.org/index.php?showtopic=1656 for a pretty thorough example of decontamination.

Again, prevention is almost always easier, simpler, and less expensive (if you count your time) than cleaning up after an infection, so good use of anti-malware tools is essential: A good desktop firewall (http://search.atomz.com/search/?sp-q=firewall&sp-a=0008002a-sp00000000 ) , a desktop anti-virus tool ( http://search.atomz.com/search/?sp-q=anti+virus&sp-a=0008002a-sp00000000 ), and inoculation/cleanup tools like SpywareBlaster http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/ , SpybotS&D ( http://www.safer-networking.org ) , Ad-Aware ( http://www.lavasoftusa.com/ ) and Pestpatrol ( http://www.pestpatrol.com/ ) all can save you hours of hair-pulling after some nasty has wormed its way into your system.

Why the apparent redundancy in the above list? While it's true that you should only run one firewall and one anti-virus tool at the desktop level (running multiple instances just bogs you down), anti-malware tools almost never fully duplicate one another: What one finds, another may miss. It's because different tools concentrate on different kinds of malware, and no one anti-malware tool will find everything, all the time.

Also, anti-malware tools, like all software, may contain their own bugs and errors. (continued in #4, below.)

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4) False Positive: "DSO Exploit?"

Spybot Seach and Destroy 1.3 ( http://www.safer-networking.org ) finally made it out of beta last month; I grabbed a copy, made a modest donation to the author (it's voluntary), and have been using it without trouble since.

But other have reported a minor but annoying bug:

Fred, Love the newsletter!  It has saved my bacon many times. I have a problem with my XP (Home Edition) and a program by the name of DSO Exploit.  Spybot keeps finding it and my system is unstable as a result.  I have Symantec's AV and Personal Firewall.  Neither one seems to be able stop this little monster. Is there some software that will auto detect and wipe it out? ---Willard Ferguson

Spybot S&D does have a bug relating to a false positive report of a "DSO Exploit." A "DSO exploit" is a trick that takes advantage of an old security hole in IE; long-since patched. If your copy of IE is up to date, you're unlikely to be at any real risk from malware attempting a DSO exploit; and thus can safely ignore isolated messages about such exploits in any one anti-malware tool. (And that's another reason to run multiple tools--- so they can check each others' work!)

This Spybot "DSO Exploit" false-positive bug has been identified and will be corrected in the next update to Spybot. But if you want the manual workaround for SpyBot's over-reporting  now, this reader found it.

Fred, Having been a Plus subscriber since day 1, I don't remember seeing this problem discussed. About a month ago, I noticed something called DSO Exploit after running Spybot that I could not remove. After checking Google, I found a number of other people experiencing the same problem. It consisted of 5 entries in the Registry and I still have not discovered what they do!

There were a number of solutions offered but I only found 1 that worked for me.(I am running XP Home). Here it is along with the name of the person who deserves credit.
 
'Sudbury
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If all your critical updates are installed you are protected against DSO Exploit and the finding in Spybot is just a nuisance. Eliminate this by doing the following:
 
1 Open Spybot and select 'advanced' mode.
2 Select 'settings' in the left column.
3 Select 'ignore product' in the left column.
4 Select 'security' tab.
5 Place check mark in box beside DSO Exploit.
6 Close program
7 Open Spybot and run a scan.
 
You will find that DSO Exploit has been eliminated and if your computer does not harbour any other spyware you will see a congratulatory message.  '
 
I cannot praise your newsletter enough. It has sure saved my bacon many times. Keep up the good work! ---Frank Thompson

Thanks, Frank!

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5) Simple Trick Detects "Harvesters"

Hi Fred, love the Plus newsletter. This is my first year as a subscriber. Wish I had found you sooner.

I have a suggestion for your readers that are concerned about entering sensitive information into a spoofed web page form. Lately, when I am prompted to enter my username and password to log into a web site, I've been entering a bogus username and/or password. If the site accepts it, I know its not a good idea to continue, even if it is an https: address. If the site rejects the bogus info, then I can assume that it is legitimate and continue my purchase, transaction, or whatever I am doing. It only takes a few seconds, and gives me a little more peace of mind against a spoofed web page getting my username, password, or other sensitive information. ---Todd Beaver

Indeed, a bogus, spoof site set up to harvest names and passwords will accept just about any name/password combination that's even remotely plausible. But a legitimate sign-in will reject a made-up name/password and only allow valid users in. If you first test a site with a plausible, but deliberately bad, name/password, and the site accepts it, that would be a big red flag not to continue. Good idea, Todd!

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6) Three More Winners!

"Dgalvin1" "rwswork" and "lorimiller" each won a FREE full one-year subscription to the LangaList Plus! edition by using the "Recommend To A Friend" form at http://langa.com/recommend.htm .

You see, each month I choose three winners of a new FREE ONE YEAR SUBSCRIPTION to the LangaList Plus! edition. (Existing Plus! subscribers get their current subscription extended by a full year.) To have a shot at winning, just use the following link to recommend the LangaList to a friend. Your friend just may find a new source of useful information; I just may gain a new subscriber; and you just may win! (Full details also available via this link):

http://langa.com/recommend.htm

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7) More Help For "Undeletable" Files

We've recently discussed several ways to get rid of locked files, which normally appear to be undeletable inside Windows. (This is one common trick used by malware, to make the bad software hard to remove.)

Here's an automated tool I'd never heard of, until now:

Hello Fred, Great newsletter! Wish it was daily.
 
I just read the newsletter and had to mention another tool that helps majorly with getting rid of those locked files. In particular, the ones associated with spyware applications. It is called InstallFile/WinstallFile and it works very well. Totally free, well written (IMHO) and very easy to use. It works for Win98 all the way up through XP. I can't remember exactly where I found it but did a Google search and got these: http://www.google.com/search?q=installfile+winstallfile
 
It can also be downloaded from my site: http://www.thezjooj.is-a-geek.com under the downloads section but considering the "ouch" your readers can put on a site I'd try the Google thing first.
 
Hope this is helpful. Keep up the great work! ---Zjooj

Thanks, Zjooj!

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8) They Loaded The Code

Do you have a home page or website? (It doesn't matter what size.) Please click over to http://langa.com/code.htm , and maybe you can join the hundreds and hundreds of LangaList readers who have "Loaded the Code!" (If you've already "Loaded The Code" and are wondering if your site will appear here or on the Langa.Com web site, please see http://langa.com/link.txt )

Speaking of which: Here's another eclectic sample of reader sites--- some professional, some very personal:

View A Randomly-Chosen Reader Site
http://langa.com/randomlink.htm

Manually Browse All Posted-to-Date Sites Starting At
http://langa.com/readersites.htm

Freeweb
http://www.cellarshack.net/freeweb/

Home Living Digest
http://www.geocities.com/homelivingdigest/index.html

TahomaGirl
http://tahomagirl.com/

Luxury Lodgings In Amsterdam
http://www.amsterdamluxury.com/index.htm

Ian's Site (13 year old)
http://ian.troop351.com/

Contract Tracker
http://www.pcprofile.com/BizTrak.htm

Photographs
http://www.langhorns.plus.com/photos.html

Freeweb
http://www.cellarshack.net/freeweb/

Rybotech
http://www.rybotek.com/resources.html

Nopuko's Micronesia Islands
http://clix.to/nopuko

Technology As A Hobby
http://www.sirtroth.com/

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9) An End-Run Around Noise Problems

I don't want to go into details of why I have 8 computers running, but I am disabled and like to build and repair computers so I have 8 running in my office, along with a large air conditioner. I would need to get a decibel meter to measure the noise level, as it is very high. However I came up with two ways to make my office quiet.

One of the presidents had problems talking over the noise in a helicopter, and requested some way to silence the noise [using noise reduction and active noise cancellation]. The article gave the diagram and complete instructions on building your own quiet room. My wife however objects to physical changes in the house, and objected to installing ceiling speakers and microphones. The cost was high, but I never completed the cost estimate because it would only be completed after our divorce.

After purchasing an inexpensive set of noise-cancelling headphones (less than $100.00) and finding that they did help some, I found that Bose also made a noise canceling headphones. I purchased the Bose headphones. Put them on, turn them on and you have a very quiet room. You are still able to hear the telephone, chirp of a computer, or some one tapping you on the arm and scaring you to death, but they work great. And as a wonderful bonus, I can now listen to my classical music collection and hear it better than ever before. For any one wanting to follow this idea, Bose has dropped the price a lot since I purchased one of the first ones they made.---Wilson Stevens

Quieting eight computers and a room air conditioner would indeed be a major chore, Wilson, and would cost a bundle too. In cases like yours, or any situation where the ambient noise isn't easily remediable, then just quieting the *apparent* noise can make sense. Thanks for sharing your solution!

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10) Just For Grins

Reader Richard Satterfield sends in this info about "Einstein Simplified:"

Following is from Gizmo Richards' TechSupportAlert Newsletter-Supporter's Edition.
---------------------
A Surprisingly Easy Way to Become an Einstein

The Theory of Relativity is about a hundred years old yet most  folks still can't get their head around it. This cute site  explains it simply and light heartedly with animated panels and even a few games. If you ever wanted to understand relativity,  this is your big chance. All the material is freeware and can be downloaded for offline use. http://www.aliceinphysics.com/ 
----------------------

Spiffy stuff. Thought you might enjoy it.

Thanks, Richard!

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11) Plus! Edition Highlights:

• CleanUp Questions
     (obscure commands remembered and utilized)
• RoboCopy Made Incredibly Easy
     (tame Microsoft's free, but hard, tool)
• Burn/Access CDs From DOS, Fast!
     (10 times more speed!)

You can't lose! The Plus! edition is only pennies per issue, and comes with a MONEY BACK GUARANTEE from Fred. Check out the details: http://langa.com/plus.htm

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(Give a gift subscription to the LangaList Plus edition!
Click <a href= " http://langa.com/plus_gift.htm ">here</a>)

See you next issue, 2004-09-13!

Best,

Fred
( Editor@Langa.Com )

Please recommend the LangaList to a friend! (And maybe win a prize!)

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