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Post subject: Re: Build Your Own Amp - 2
Posted: Sun Jul 21, 2013 10:42 pm
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I've been dealing with a little bug issue myself the past couple days. For a couple hours yesterday I thought I was going to have to re-format my C:\ drive and start over from scratch. Hopefully I've got it cleaned up. These bugs are getting too smart for the anti-malware programs. It's getting harder and harder to get rid of the bastards. It slipped right past my up-to-date Norton and disabled it, disabled Norton that is. They got a strongly worded email from me. No pun intended. Did some research using the iPad and discovered McAfee and the other packages are vulnerable to it as well. Hides itself in the system registry and replaces one of the MS Windows files. Even has a file creation date to match my version of Windows and the same file name and extension as a real Windows dll file. Yah. Insidious little devil. Everything seems fine now. Keeping my fingers crossed.


That's about 10 hours of my life wasted ....
:roll:

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Post subject: Re: Build Your Own Amp - 2
Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 12:38 am
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:lol:

I gave up on any so-called anti-virus programs years ago. They slow my computer down, and they still aren't always on top of viruses. IMO, the ones who sell anti-virus programs are the ones that have a vested interest in making viruses in the first place. Call me paranoid, i don't mind. :lol: I only use a firewall now and usually avoid any and all updates unless absolutely necessary. But, like you mentioned, these programs are ever changing, and you have to be really vigilant. This program was added when I did a plug-in update to get rid of the annoying bar at the top that kept telling me that I needed to update some plug ins. Lesson learned.....again! :oops:

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Post subject: Re: Build Your Own Amp - 2
Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 6:07 am
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I know my Mac isn't totally safe from this stuff, but in the past three years, I've had no problems with viruses on my Mac. I have PC laptops, one is full of viruses, the other is strictly a work machine that I use when I need it. No email or web surfing. It's sad that some people have nothing better to do.
Funny thing is that even though my Mac isn't affected by viruses, it can transmit them through email. I need to be careful because a lot of my files for my photography business are emailed, FTP and Dropbox files. I've had problems with images in the past.

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Post subject: Re: Build Your Own Amp - 2
Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 9:52 am
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Well, my hopes have been dashed. I thought it was better but it got worse instead. I'm posting this from the iPad because the blue screen of death took its toll. Currently waiting while the Windows installation disc does its thing. I hate this. :roll:

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Post subject: Re: Build Your Own Amp - 2
Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 10:01 am
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Beemer, sorry to hear that. :?
Did you have really important stuff on it and was it backed up?
I have two big fears with my photography business, one is suddenly losing one of my storage drives, the second is a virus that takes out my system and drives. My whole life and business is pretty much digital, and I don't like it. I don't trust outside digital backup companies at all.

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Post subject: Re: Build Your Own Amp - 2
Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 11:22 am
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I do regular backups of my personal files but I didn't back up the system so I have to reload everything. I'm gonna contact the software vendors first to see if they will grant me another installation otherwise I'll be buying all my software ... again.

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Post subject: Re: Build Your Own Amp - 2
Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 1:26 pm
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I feel your pain, I've done re-installs many times and it sucks. After XP, can you even get into DOS with the newer OS's? I'm still using XP and am loath to get a new computer with any newer version of Windows. I'm kind of jealous of 63supro for using a Mac, but I've got so much Windows software that it would be very difficult for me to switch now. I do enjoy using a Mac now and then, my son is a Mac user. I've used "Norton Ghost" for years to get an image after installing Windows and all software, and this makes an excellent backup and a great time saver. But yes, backups are a must these days.........and backup the backup in case the backup fails.......and keep the backups up-to-date........and, argh!

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Post subject: Re: Build Your Own Amp - 2
Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 6:38 pm
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shimmilou wrote:
I feel your pain, I've done re-installs many times and it sucks. After XP, can you even get into DOS with the newer OS's?

No. You can't. You can run a command shell and see a DOS prompt but it runs as a shell under the GUI and it has absolutely no teeth. I'm still running Vista Pro (64) because I don't like 7 or 8. I don't like Vista either but it's the lesser of the evils. I was running XP Pro because I thought it was a better O/S. Actually I still know that for an absolute fact. Every version of windows since 2000 has been a step backwards, IMO. 2000 was the best version of Windows Microsoft ever made but it wasn't popular so they came out with XP. They try to get closer and closer to OSX with each subsequent release in terms of simplifying things for the user while at the same time taking "real" control away from the user but they only copy the bad stuff about OSX and forget to work on the one good thing about OSX, being the strict and rigid architecture. (see * below) I had to switch to Vista when some of my hardware and peripherals were no longer supported under XP. That was a painful decision to have to make.

Make sure you keep your installation disc for XP if you ever upgrade. It's the only way to access your hardware directly prior to the O/S installation. I'm talking about things like FDISK and SYS or deciding on how to format your disk such as FAT16, FAT32 and NTFS with options like sector size, etc. In fact if you could pretty please build me a bootable CDROM and mail it to me I'd be forever grateful. I made the mistake of throwing out my XP disc when I was doing some spring cleaning a few years back and it turns out finding a bootable CDROM is not very easy. Make a spare one for yourself too, just in case. If you have the capability of making a 2000 boot disc so much the better.


* No program has access to the computer running under OSX. Every program has to use the O/S as a go-between. Each program runs in its own separate shell with its own unique environment. Installation of a program does not make changes to the whole system environment like Windows where the system registry can have tens of thousands of entries depending on how much crap your kids hang off your machine. If the program crashes or has a problem the O/S deals with it separately and if the O/S can't give it what it wants and it hangs you just close the window.

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Post subject: Re: Build Your Own Amp - 2
Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 6:51 pm
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So my Windows installation and the subsequent Service packs and upgrades are complete, Mozilla has been installed. The heavy lifting is done but the bulk of the work is yet to come. Re-install Office, Nuance, Mixcraft, Photshop Elements, Premier Elements, iTunes, Norton, Iolo, etc. Then comes an even more daunting task. Trying to Google a thousand or so sites from memory so I can rebuild my considerable bookmark collection. That part could take years.
:cry:

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Post subject: Re: Build Your Own Amp - 2
Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 6:57 pm
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Yeah, I reluctantly upgraded to XP because of the graphics capabilities I needed (wanted) for Adobe, plus I wanted the next version of Media Player that allowed me to rip in MP3 instead of WMA. XP hasn't been too bad, mostly, but doesn't seem as stable as 2000 which, IIRC, rarely if ever crashed.

You are reminding me why I should switch! The more that I think about it, any new laptop that I need just might be an Apple. :)

I have '98, 2000, and XP and would be glad to make you a copy of any or all. I have a disc for XP SP2 but not sure if it will copy or not, I will try. I think that you had to have SP2 to be able to download SP3 from MS. Can you still download XP SP3 from MS?

PM with what you want, address, and I'll be glad to send you copies.

BTW, get a copy of Norton Ghost 2003, and make an image of any hard drive that you want to back up. It will be an exact image of the hard drive including installed software, settings, preferences, bookmarks, everything. I will try to copy that too if you would like.

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Post subject: Re: Build Your Own Amp - 2
Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 8:21 pm
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shimmilou wrote:
BTW, get a copy of Norton Ghost 2003, and make an image of any hard drive that you want to back up. It will be an exact image of the hard drive including installed software, settings, preferences, bookmarks, everything. I will try to copy that too if you would like.
Wow ... that would be awesome. Does it need an installation key? Maybe not. I think those started around '04 or '05. That sounds like the perfect plan. Once I get everything up and running I make an image and save it on an external. It would be the ultimate restore point. Norton isn't what it once was. Before Symantec bought them Norton Utilities was the pitbull of the utilities world. They laid a beat'n on all comers. It was powerful and flexible and customizable. Now it's a one-click bullshit program that barely scratches the surface of what it used to be. I only threw mine out because it wouldn't run on the NT kernel or NTFS partitions.

I'll take a look and see if they still make Ghost. If they don't, maybe I'll get that copy from you. That's an awesome offer, bro. I'll send you a PM maybe tomorrow.

About your 2000 comment .... I ran 2000 for 4 years and never had so much as a single hiccup. It was more stable than a current day Macintosh. Nothing touched it. I've been learning about Macs quite a bit lately. My retired neighbor bought a new Macbook Pro and his wife bought an iMac. They call me over a couple times a week to help them figure out how to do things and how to fix things. Also my mum (God rest her soul) had an iMac and she did the same. The more I learn the less impressed I become. They're not without their issues, particularly in the very recent past. Since Steve Jobs' demise Apple seems to be less focussed on reliability that Jobs always insisted on and more focussed on kewl n' hip n' trendy. It's making them loads of money as more people than ever want Macs but I've been growing more cautious as I learn more. They are by no means perfect.

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Post subject: Re: Build Your Own Amp - 2
Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 6:35 am
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I've had my iMac for about two years. The only problem I had was a hard drive failure. It warned me ahead of time that is was failing and backed the whole machine up on time machine. When the new drive was installed, all I had to do was run time machine and I didn't even lose an email.
On a good note, Apple replaced the drive for free even though it was out of warranty.
That was the only issue I've had and it runs nice. I have 16 gig of ram and run Adobe Creative Cloud where I have to run the new Adobe Photoshop CC, the Bridge, and Illustrator as well as my email programs, web browser and a second monitor all simultaneously and all without hanging or crashing. Knock on wood, I've never had any virus issues with it. My older Dell laptop was nothing but a slow running virus magnet. I use that for basic old movie and music downloading. My newer HP 17" laptop runs almost the same programs but with an occasional hang or crash. I don't download anything but Adobe Creative Cloud programs on that. I don't even check email on it.

But yeah, make a backup. I would do it on an external drive too. A lot of externals have backup and restore software included with them.

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Post subject: Re: Build Your Own Amp - 2
Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 6:58 am
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After formatting, re-formatting, formatting a billion (ok, maybe just a million) hard drives over the years --- I do this. I have two 1.2 gig HD (C:\ and d:\) . I mirror the main drive to the d:\ drive. I make the d:\ drive bootable.

It's still a pain to re-format (esp low-level formatting), but all my recent email addys, Word docs, girlie photos, and AMP & TUBE PHOTOS --- :lol: ---- survive!

Good luck with your computer.


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Post subject: Re: Build Your Own Amp - 2
Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 8:42 pm
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Norton still makes Ghost, the most current version is 15 and I'm buying it tomorrow. I'll load all the essential software onto my machine with no extra frills and then Ghost it. The Ghost web site says I can make an image that is self extracting so I don't even need to have Ghost software installed to use the image and go back to a perfectly clean installation. What I need now is some kind of boot disc has a USB driver included in the boot-up routine so I can boot a machine on the boot disc and then flash the drive image from the external onto the internal disc from a USB port. Those ports usually are not available when booting from older style boot discs. Shimmi, would you possibly happen to have the ability to make such an animal?

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Post subject: Re: Build Your Own Amp - 2
Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 9:17 pm
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I'm not sure.

I just checked and I have a '98 boot floppy, 2000 boot floppies, a Partition Magic boot floppy, a Ghost boot floppy, and even some Linux boot floppies. :shock: Newer computers don't even have a floppy anymore, but I would bet that you can boot from your Ghost disc, or it has the capability to make a boot disc on CD, or just boot from the Windows CD. :idea:

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