Combofix does do a good job at catching and removing these things, but: rootkit.
Best to bite the bullet, and talk the client into a drive formatting and OS reinstall. Given that opportunity, you can also go ahead and do some system optimization, and with a vanilla-install source, get rid of manufacturer-installed bloatcrap. For about the same amount of time (and thus, price) that it would take to do whatever you can to ensure a clean system, they get a much better job. The system will probably be running better than when it was new, and you will be assured that the rootkit is gone.
Not to worry. Even if MS whipped out their absolute best fat-wallet, arm-twisting, favor-calling lobbyists and somehow got this concept generally accepted inside America, there are plenty enough people outside the US who are wise to the ways of The Vole who would keep this from being able to happen on a worldwide basis.
It uses flash memory as it's storage method. Call it memory or storage, whichever you prefer, & it doesn't matter, since it's both...
FTFW:
Mass memory
* 32 GB internal storage
* Store up to 7000 MP3 songs or 40 hours of high-quality video
* Up to 16 GB of additional storage with an external microSD card
Why don't they just cut to the chase, and talk about the root cause of any and/or all of this, in whole or in particular:
TOO. MANY. PEOPLE.
There's the scientific and logical cause, and at the same time, pretty damned self-evident and obvious conclusion/solution. Yet that issue isn't even addressed. Ever, in fact - at least not out loud, that I've heard, certainly not by any of the people who oh-so-publicly claim a stake in worrying about our future. It's the dirty (not so) secret we don't discuss, the sheets hanging out of humanities bedroom window we ignore while chatting with the neighbors on the sidewalk.
We don't have to worry about global warming, it won't kill us off. We're breeding so fast, it can't catch up. Not that much...
Those were the sober ones.:D Get into a good 'piss drinkin' session with them, and you're much more likely to see (or be part of) a wee bit of fisticuffs and general mayhem. All in good fun, of course, and without much in the way of long-term hard feelings. At least that's how it was with my Ozzy mates on the North Shore, when the waves weren't up enough to be out surfing... Agreed, by and large great people.
My current system is a Lenovo Ideapad. Everything worked out of the box - bluetooth, webcam, sound, wireless, flash card reader, so on and so forth. As it did with my prior laptop, a Toshiba. The only CLI computing I do commonly is the occasional 'ping' to see where upline a network is having a problem. Sometimes I'll use it for image batch processing or converting, things like that. But there are GUI's which do that, they're just a lot slower and less specifically configurable, IMO. I've been MS-Free for over 10 years, so I do remember well the days when installing Linux = massive and regular CLI use, that's when I cut my teeth. But those days are ***LONG*** gone. I do keep around whatever MS OS is installed on my own system, for the sole reason that I have a legal license to use under VBox in order to use IE so that I can see how it is breaking the pages I develop.
I frequently use Linux LiveCD's on clients computers (which run the full gamut of OEM's, with OS'es from Win98 to Vista, far many more combinations of soft/hardware than any retailer has in stock) in order to recover data or kill nasty badware that has taken over their MS OS installs. No problems, the hardware in far more than 80% of these systems also works out of the box. I would say that it is north of 90% of typical OEM hardware which has native support in Linux.
A few months ago, a friend brought me his wifes Dell laptop. It had been owned, for the 3rd or 4th time. I think you could safely guess that she is obviously *not* a CLI geek. So, again, I put Win back on, but this time, I partitioned the drive, and dropped Ubuntu 8.10 on a second partition. I told him to have her use Win *only* for work documents *only* when needed, and Ubuntu when at all possible for work, and for when she wants to venture out onto the web. Two weeks ago, at the birthday party of another friend (a lawyer whose office I am slowly converting to Linux), out of the blue when the lawyer mentioned my 'Linux project' at his office, she vociferously and with great force expressed her opinion that Linux is the best thing she has ever seen on a computer, and that she now detests having to use Windows. I could go on about what she said (like she did - she spoke for a good 5 minutes), but you get the point. And part of that is this: she has no idea what a "CLI" is. I have had similar results with other people as well.
Your hatred for a simple monochromatic textual based interface is interesting, in a clinical sort of way. I wonder why it is so, why you have to spew such venom and rage when you think about it. It's kind of scary, and definitely unreasonable. Doing remote support, to save gas and time, I frequently have Windows users - total non-geeky grandpa/ma's, suits, housewives, etc - drop to the command line so that I can tell if it is an issue I need to do hands-on, or to tell where the problem might be coming from. None of them ever freak out because they see white text on a black background. Some of them even ask me to leave instructions for them to do the same without needing to make a phone call to me. Maybe if you would try using it sometime, you would find that it is not something you need to be scared of, and that it in fact can actually be quite a useful tool.
And BTW - I am neither delusional, nor do I refuse to face reality. I don't push Linux on everyone. There are many places/applications where it is in the better interest of myself or the client that they continue to use a MS OS. But at those places where it is not an essential, I have found many times that Linux as an alternative results in a happy customer whose IT billing drops quite significantly, once they move away from proprietary solutions. These folks know they can call me and I will gladly give them a free consult when they need to buy some hardware, or find an application for a specific purpose. Rarely do I send them to a retail outlet, because it is my own experience that has shown me that the people working at computer retail don't really know a whole lot
Microsoft isn't forcing anyone to use Internet Explorer.
Har! That's a joke, right?
If you don't think so, then I could suggest some reading for you that would show you that Microsoft pretty much does everything it can to force people to use IE.
AFA TFA, if this ballot box can make IE + MS even more standards compliant, I say go for it. It's been the other way for far too long.
I understand what you are saying, and agree to a certain extent. Yes, he will have to build out the install, regardless of how he does it.
Doing that as a.vdi does add in a layer, but that is not necessarily or only a Bad Thing. It is one that can be useful, too, especially if your vOS happens to be the most-targeted OS out there.;) Regarding good performance and assuming a 'typical user', any fairly recent machine might need at most to add some RAM to achieve that; XP runs very smooth and quickly on machines with 1.5G of RAM for 'normal' computing purposes.
Yes, the solution is MS-centric, BUT... at the same time it is expanding the guys tech horizon a bit.:) IF Linux is indeed functionally superior, then he won't help but be able to notice that during use. Experiencing that, he might be inspired to learn more.
I did not introduce WINE into the equation when corresponding with him; that is a possibility and if it works well, could very well be the best possible solution.
At any rate, like I noted below, I made the point to him mostly because he was simply repeating the "I can't run X_Windows_application on Linux..." mantra, and my whole intention was only to point out to him that that was not in fact the case. His immediate response was to demonstrate that he was resistant to any change, preferring to stay with what he already knows, without even attempting to try what might work out to be a benefit to him. We never got to the point where I could do up a quote for him based on a proper consultation...;)
I generally don't recommend Linux to people that I cannot directly help with their transition/adaptation. In this case, however, others recommended it first. I gave him the virtualization idea, along with some tips on where to find help like his local LUG, online forums, etc..., only after he declaimed that Linux could not do what he needed. I showed him there was a way. I doubt he'll take it.
His problem is stemming from the over-complicated and over-long re-installation of the OS, Service Packs, accompanying WGA woes, etc... Thus, my idea for a solution: If he'll run a virtual installation of XP on Linux, once set up it can be cloned. Then, when the next time to reinstall comes (and it always does - that is common advice for a slow/buggy WinXP installation - right? Whether or not it is needed, that is what most people will hear when asking for help...), it will take minutes, instead of hours or days. And he won't be totally without the use of his computer in the meanwhile.
He could also use Ghost or some other cloning app, of course. After he gets the OS set up - but that is what is giving him a hard time. Yet, he's only 20-30 minutes away from having a functional, working K/Ubuntu/Mint system, if he would try some 'change', and not just blindly object while repeating the "Win is the business standard" mantra.
Sorry, BitZ - Been using computers since '83. I personally have been "MS Free" for almost 10 years, I run my own IT business, and as such work on Windows machines almost daily, and Macs about proportionately to market share. I know what the respective consumer OS'es are capable of, and where they lack. Nowhere in my post above, nor in the thread at the other forum (that you have not read), did I tell the guy (or you) that Linux is all pink ponies and chocolate candy canes.
That said, I will say this - in my experience, which is quite a lot though not as much as some of the greybeards who post here, it is much easier to run and maintain a Linux/*nix system than it is a Windows system, on a day to day basis, especially when you are using it for things far beyond email and browsing. In that, I feel you are quite mistaken. But, of course, YMMV, and that doesn't bother me a bit. There's room for all "teams", as you put it. In fact, I kind of like the other teams - they pay my bills.:)
{snip}...you don't have to be the best--you just have to first and spread quickly. Then it really doesn't matter much what comes later, you're in the money.
And that bit there pretty much explains the whole Windows hegemony...
Within the last 24 hours, on another non-tech forum, there's a guy who's been getting griefed by a WinXP install. After others suggested Linux, he responded with the (all-too common) "...But I can't run my business-related Win apps on it". Of course, and only after I pointed out to him that he could easily do so via virtualization, he comes clean with the real reason - that it is by his choice he continues to use Windows, which in his own words he refers to as 'the devil he knows'. He has been having these issues for over 2 months now, attempting to get this box running - and this from a guy who coded DB apps for Win98.
People are very resistant to change. Most of 'em, it seems, they'd rather suffer.:/
As a "moron" who reads summaries *and* even TFA's, and who even looks further into some things (gasp), I noticed that NetApp's Market Share page for Operating Systems has the same lack of data so far for this month as does the browser page.
Maybe this is just a case of "Nothing to see here, move along..." until we find out they had some mundane reason they were tardy this month.
Please explain just why that would be "preposterous". Why should gov't be exempt from oversight or second-guessing? Does it's benefits so far outweigh it's drawbacks that we cannot even scrutinize or criticize it?
Show me a government benefit, and I can easily show you two (or more) examples of waste or sloth or plain incompetency.
The only good bureaucrat is one with a pistol at his head. Put it in his hand and it's good-by to the Bill of Rights. - H.L. Mencken
Well, over the years we have seen that they do have authoritative, quality tech spokesperson journalists like Rob Endarle, Mooreen O'gara, and Daniel Lyin's in their pocket.
Maybe they can get a thriving "Shill For Hire" business going. They obviously have the staff for it...
Then why did they introduce them with linux in the first place? If XP support was so important, why didn't we wait until XP could run on them?
My impression was/is that the XP license fee at the time of the introduction of the original netbooks was so much of a higher percentage of the end cost that it was prohibitive to have to pay for that XP installation.
So Linux was kicking MSass in that small but rapidly growing market segment, much to the chagrin of Redmond. Enter ultra-low cost 'subsidization' of XP installation from MS, which not unsurprisingly has successfully largely crowded out default Linux installs.
Shades of IE/NN, and various other MS tactical responses...
Slashdot Mirror
Combofix does do a good job at catching and removing these things, but: rootkit.
Best to bite the bullet, and talk the client into a drive formatting and OS reinstall. Given that opportunity, you can also go ahead and do some system optimization, and with a vanilla-install source, get rid of manufacturer-installed bloatcrap. For about the same amount of time (and thus, price) that it would take to do whatever you can to ensure a clean system, they get a much better job. The system will probably be running better than when it was new, and you will be assured that the rootkit is gone.
Not to worry. Even if MS whipped out their absolute best fat-wallet, arm-twisting, favor-calling lobbyists and somehow got this concept generally accepted inside America, there are plenty enough people outside the US who are wise to the ways of The Vole who would keep this from being able to happen on a worldwide basis.
Thank Deity...
OOPS! Forgot to hit that "Post Anonymously" checkbox, did we?
Re: above, in my writing - 'method' should be 'medium'. Or perhaps 'media'. You pick, I don't care. ;)
It uses flash memory as it's storage method. Call it memory or storage, whichever you prefer, & it doesn't matter, since it's both...
FTFW:
Mass memory
* 32 GB internal storage
* Store up to 7000 MP3 songs or 40 hours of high-quality video
* Up to 16 GB of additional storage with an external microSD card
Why don't they just cut to the chase, and talk about the root cause of any and/or all of this, in whole or in particular:
TOO. MANY. PEOPLE.
There's the scientific and logical cause, and at the same time, pretty damned self-evident and obvious conclusion/solution. Yet that issue isn't even addressed. Ever, in fact - at least not out loud, that I've heard, certainly not by any of the people who oh-so-publicly claim a stake in worrying about our future. It's the dirty (not so) secret we don't discuss, the sheets hanging out of humanities bedroom window we ignore while chatting with the neighbors on the sidewalk.
We don't have to worry about global warming, it won't kill us off. We're breeding so fast, it can't catch up. Not that much...
Those were the sober ones. :D Get into a good 'piss drinkin' session with them, and you're much more likely to see (or be part of) a wee bit of fisticuffs and general mayhem. All in good fun, of course, and without much in the way of long-term hard feelings. At least that's how it was with my Ozzy mates on the North Shore, when the waves weren't up enough to be out surfing... Agreed, by and large great people.
My current system is a Lenovo Ideapad. Everything worked out of the box - bluetooth, webcam, sound, wireless, flash card reader, so on and so forth. As it did with my prior laptop, a Toshiba. The only CLI computing I do commonly is the occasional 'ping' to see where upline a network is having a problem. Sometimes I'll use it for image batch processing or converting, things like that. But there are GUI's which do that, they're just a lot slower and less specifically configurable, IMO. I've been MS-Free for over 10 years, so I do remember well the days when installing Linux = massive and regular CLI use, that's when I cut my teeth. But those days are ***LONG*** gone. I do keep around whatever MS OS is installed on my own system, for the sole reason that I have a legal license to use under VBox in order to use IE so that I can see how it is breaking the pages I develop.
I frequently use Linux LiveCD's on clients computers (which run the full gamut of OEM's, with OS'es from Win98 to Vista, far many more combinations of soft/hardware than any retailer has in stock) in order to recover data or kill nasty badware that has taken over their MS OS installs. No problems, the hardware in far more than 80% of these systems also works out of the box. I would say that it is north of 90% of typical OEM hardware which has native support in Linux.
A few months ago, a friend brought me his wifes Dell laptop. It had been owned, for the 3rd or 4th time. I think you could safely guess that she is obviously *not* a CLI geek. So, again, I put Win back on, but this time, I partitioned the drive, and dropped Ubuntu 8.10 on a second partition. I told him to have her use Win *only* for work documents *only* when needed, and Ubuntu when at all possible for work, and for when she wants to venture out onto the web. Two weeks ago, at the birthday party of another friend (a lawyer whose office I am slowly converting to Linux), out of the blue when the lawyer mentioned my 'Linux project' at his office, she vociferously and with great force expressed her opinion that Linux is the best thing she has ever seen on a computer, and that she now detests having to use Windows. I could go on about what she said (like she did - she spoke for a good 5 minutes), but you get the point. And part of that is this: she has no idea what a "CLI" is. I have had similar results with other people as well.
Your hatred for a simple monochromatic textual based interface is interesting, in a clinical sort of way. I wonder why it is so, why you have to spew such venom and rage when you think about it. It's kind of scary, and definitely unreasonable. Doing remote support, to save gas and time, I frequently have Windows users - total non-geeky grandpa/ma's, suits, housewives, etc - drop to the command line so that I can tell if it is an issue I need to do hands-on, or to tell where the problem might be coming from. None of them ever freak out because they see white text on a black background. Some of them even ask me to leave instructions for them to do the same without needing to make a phone call to me. Maybe if you would try using it sometime, you would find that it is not something you need to be scared of, and that it in fact can actually be quite a useful tool.
And BTW - I am neither delusional, nor do I refuse to face reality. I don't push Linux on everyone. There are many places/applications where it is in the better interest of myself or the client that they continue to use a MS OS. But at those places where it is not an essential, I have found many times that Linux as an alternative results in a happy customer whose IT billing drops quite significantly, once they move away from proprietary solutions. These folks know they can call me and I will gladly give them a free consult when they need to buy some hardware, or find an application for a specific purpose. Rarely do I send them to a retail outlet, because it is my own experience that has shown me that the people working at computer retail don't really know a whole lot
Oh noesss! Its the Revenge of the Anonymous Pedants!
{roll_eyes}
It was an *English* castle, with French 'keh-nigits'.
Now go away.
Fetchez la vache!
:)
You must be new here...
Microsoft isn't forcing anyone to use Internet Explorer.
Har! That's a joke, right?
If you don't think so, then I could suggest some reading for you that would show you that Microsoft pretty much does everything it can to force people to use IE.
AFA TFA, if this ballot box can make IE + MS even more standards compliant, I say go for it. It's been the other way for far too long.
OK, enough! I am invoking Godwins' Law.
Signed -
Quirk
Now we know what Ballmer does when he runs out of chairs...
;)
I understand what you are saying, and agree to a certain extent. Yes, he will have to build out the install, regardless of how he does it.
.vdi does add in a layer, but that is not necessarily or only a Bad Thing. It is one that can be useful, too, especially if your vOS happens to be the most-targeted OS out there. ;) Regarding good performance and assuming a 'typical user', any fairly recent machine might need at most to add some RAM to achieve that; XP runs very smooth and quickly on machines with 1.5G of RAM for 'normal' computing purposes.
:) IF Linux is indeed functionally superior, then he won't help but be able to notice that during use. Experiencing that, he might be inspired to learn more.
;)
Doing that as a
Yes, the solution is MS-centric, BUT... at the same time it is expanding the guys tech horizon a bit.
I did not introduce WINE into the equation when corresponding with him; that is a possibility and if it works well, could very well be the best possible solution.
At any rate, like I noted below, I made the point to him mostly because he was simply repeating the "I can't run X_Windows_application on Linux..." mantra, and my whole intention was only to point out to him that that was not in fact the case. His immediate response was to demonstrate that he was resistant to any change, preferring to stay with what he already knows, without even attempting to try what might work out to be a benefit to him. We never got to the point where I could do up a quote for him based on a proper consultation...
Thanks for the discussion!
I generally don't recommend Linux to people that I cannot directly help with their transition/adaptation. In this case, however, others recommended it first. I gave him the virtualization idea, along with some tips on where to find help like his local LUG, online forums, etc..., only after he declaimed that Linux could not do what he needed. I showed him there was a way. I doubt he'll take it.
His problem is stemming from the over-complicated and over-long re-installation of the OS, Service Packs, accompanying WGA woes, etc... Thus, my idea for a solution: If he'll run a virtual installation of XP on Linux, once set up it can be cloned. Then, when the next time to reinstall comes (and it always does - that is common advice for a slow/buggy WinXP installation - right? Whether or not it is needed, that is what most people will hear when asking for help...), it will take minutes, instead of hours or days. And he won't be totally without the use of his computer in the meanwhile.
He could also use Ghost or some other cloning app, of course. After he gets the OS set up - but that is what is giving him a hard time. Yet, he's only 20-30 minutes away from having a functional, working K/Ubuntu/Mint system, if he would try some 'change', and not just blindly object while repeating the "Win is the business standard" mantra.
Sorry, BitZ - Been using computers since '83. I personally have been "MS Free" for almost 10 years, I run my own IT business, and as such work on Windows machines almost daily, and Macs about proportionately to market share. I know what the respective consumer OS'es are capable of, and where they lack. Nowhere in my post above, nor in the thread at the other forum (that you have not read), did I tell the guy (or you) that Linux is all pink ponies and chocolate candy canes.
:)
That said, I will say this - in my experience, which is quite a lot though not as much as some of the greybeards who post here, it is much easier to run and maintain a Linux/*nix system than it is a Windows system, on a day to day basis, especially when you are using it for things far beyond email and browsing. In that, I feel you are quite mistaken. But, of course, YMMV, and that doesn't bother me a bit. There's room for all "teams", as you put it. In fact, I kind of like the other teams - they pay my bills.
{snip}...you don't have to be the best--you just have to first and spread quickly. Then it really doesn't matter much what comes later, you're in the money.
And that bit there pretty much explains the whole Windows hegemony... Within the last 24 hours, on another non-tech forum, there's a guy who's been getting griefed by a WinXP install. After others suggested Linux, he responded with the (all-too common) "...But I can't run my business-related Win apps on it". Of course, and only after I pointed out to him that he could easily do so via virtualization, he comes clean with the real reason - that it is by his choice he continues to use Windows, which in his own words he refers to as 'the devil he knows'. He has been having these issues for over 2 months now, attempting to get this box running - and this from a guy who coded DB apps for Win98. People are very resistant to change. Most of 'em, it seems, they'd rather suffer. :/
Screen cap here, in case the data appears soon...
As a "moron" who reads summaries *and* even TFA's, and who even looks further into some things (gasp), I noticed that NetApp's Market Share page for Operating Systems has the same lack of data so far for this month as does the browser page.
Maybe this is just a case of "Nothing to see here, move along..." until we find out they had some mundane reason they were tardy this month.
Show me a government benefit, and I can easily show you two (or more) examples of waste or sloth or plain incompetency.
The only good bureaucrat is one with a pistol at his head. Put it in his hand and it's good-by to the Bill of Rights. - H.L. Mencken
[outrageous_French_accent] I fart in your general direction.[/outrageous_French_accent]
Fixed that for you. ;)
Well, over the years we have seen that they do have authoritative, quality tech spokesperson journalists like Rob Endarle, Mooreen O'gara, and Daniel Lyin's in their pocket.
:/
Maybe they can get a thriving "Shill For Hire" business going. They obviously have the staff for it...
Then why did they introduce them with linux in the first place? If XP support was so important, why didn't we wait until XP could run on them?
My impression was/is that the XP license fee at the time of the introduction of the original netbooks was so much of a higher percentage of the end cost that it was prohibitive to have to pay for that XP installation.
So Linux was kicking MSass in that small but rapidly growing market segment, much to the chagrin of Redmond. Enter ultra-low cost 'subsidization' of XP installation from MS, which not unsurprisingly has successfully largely crowded out default Linux installs.
Shades of IE/NN, and various other MS tactical responses...