Protecting WINDOWS XP SP3 And My Invasion Of The System Shell
idbruce
Posts: 6,197
Many of you may have noticed that I have not been posting to my ongoing threads for the last couple weeks and that is because my main computer was attacked by several nasty viruses.
Unlike other people, I don't feel the need to keep up with the latest Windows operating system. In fact, I am quite fond of my Windows XP SP3 OS. Mostly because I do not need anything fancy, I just want something dependable, which will support the software I already purchased. Some of my software dates back to Windows 98, but still runs perfectly under XP, and as it stands, my current computer setup, satisfys all of my computing needs.
Well anyhow, the viruses attacked my best computer, and were so deeply rooted, that I could not remove them. However, I must freely admit, that it was my own fault. I have never liked anti-virus software, because it always slowed the computer down, so I always backed up my data, and surfed the net without protection. When I got a virus that I could not remove, I simply formatted the drive and did a fresh install of all the software and drivers, which was always a bit time consuming, but well worth the effort, because the computer would then run like new. Since the end of XP support has arrived, I cannot afford to be so careless anymore, and I now must protect my system with tender loving care. Lucky for me, I had several computers with XP SP3 installed, but no longer my favorite computer. I suppose it is needless to say that anti-virus software is now installed on my new main computer.
In addition to installing anti-virus software, I determined that I should also take several other steps to help ensure my computers safety, which are:
The name of the program is QuickLinks, and as this thread progresses, I will provide you with images and tell you a little more about the functionality of the program. Everyday I come up with something new to save me time.
Please stay tuned for images and further discussion.
Unlike other people, I don't feel the need to keep up with the latest Windows operating system. In fact, I am quite fond of my Windows XP SP3 OS. Mostly because I do not need anything fancy, I just want something dependable, which will support the software I already purchased. Some of my software dates back to Windows 98, but still runs perfectly under XP, and as it stands, my current computer setup, satisfys all of my computing needs.
Well anyhow, the viruses attacked my best computer, and were so deeply rooted, that I could not remove them. However, I must freely admit, that it was my own fault. I have never liked anti-virus software, because it always slowed the computer down, so I always backed up my data, and surfed the net without protection. When I got a virus that I could not remove, I simply formatted the drive and did a fresh install of all the software and drivers, which was always a bit time consuming, but well worth the effort, because the computer would then run like new. Since the end of XP support has arrived, I cannot afford to be so careless anymore, and I now must protect my system with tender loving care. Lucky for me, I had several computers with XP SP3 installed, but no longer my favorite computer. I suppose it is needless to say that anti-virus software is now installed on my new main computer.
In addition to installing anti-virus software, I determined that I should also take several other steps to help ensure my computers safety, which are:
- Disconnect the network connection when I am not surfing the net.
- Avoid the manual typing of urls in the address bar, because I believe I have contracted viruses by going to unintended sites due to typing errors.
The name of the program is QuickLinks, and as this thread progresses, I will provide you with images and tell you a little more about the functionality of the program. Everyday I come up with something new to save me time.
Please stay tuned for images and further discussion.
Comments
Right clicking this icon, brings up the System Tray menu, as shown below.
As for the menu items, you can clearly see some shell functionality. Browsing folders, but more specifically the Favorites folder, indicates shell functionality.
Internet Properties accesses the Control Panel applet Internet Properties and displays the same dialog box and allows the very same options.
Connect/Disconnect accesses the Control Panel applet Network Connections and toggles the Network Adapter on and off to control the internet connection.
I suppose the rest of the menu is self-explanatory, but if you have any questions, just ask.
Left clicking the System Tray icon will display the main window of the application, as shown below.
This window represents 39 of my most visited websites, with a combo view shown below, for left, middle, and right scroll positions.
Although hidden by the appearance, this window represents the QuicksLinks directory, which is a sub-folder of the Favorites folder. One click on an item and the website appears, while the main application window disappears.
And here is a result of a Favorites browse through the System Tray menu.
Same one click action.
More to come.
So what happens when you right click in the list control? I am glad you asked, please allow me to add a few more images.
View type can be selected.
Icons can be arranged by preference
And a wide variety of new items can be created with a simple mouse click.
Many years ago, I came across CSystemTray class, written by Chris Maunder. Anyone interested in System Tray applications should definitely look at his class object. Over the years, I have used this class several times, and it has always worked flawlessly.
Many thanks to Chris Maunder for sharing this class.
"Suicide is painless, it brings on many changes...."
If you must use Windows XP, at least use AV.
On the other hand, if you really want to keep an old machine running well; dual boot with Linux and use that side for the internet. The Windows XP will be safe. And Linux can even peek in to your NTFS partitions to read documents.
http://www.lyricsfreak.com/j/johnny+mandel/suicide+is+painless_20801409.html
1. Never log in as Administrator.
2. Firewall yourself to H! and back.
Adblocker may be a good idea when surfing s it will kill those pesky pop-ups and pop-unders with fake virus warnings.
(I know of a lot of people who has been hit with those... Partly because my organiation doesn't allow plug-ins in IE... and we have Symantec anti-useful installed. There's not a single fake warnng program that can't disable Symantec by now... )
I have to turn on my old computer (XP), just to find out what virus my lad just tried to send me, Windows 8.1 will not let me get a virus, I've tried*.
it just ignores the page and tells me not to bother opening the page or email.(*if you open the bad page or email, you will get the virus.) just follow the directions, and end your
virus worries. Virus protection is built in, and the best part, they don't brag about it anymore, no more telling me to update, it just does it behind the scenes unnoticed.
Sure, if you are a professional computer user, you would want to use the latest super deluxe Linux version, and all of the command line features
that you type into your computer for to start the thing up.
But for me, I like the simplicity of turning on my machine and waiting an unbelievable 7 seconds for to be on the Internet...
Things have changed, Try it, you will like it.
-Tommy
Just bought a replacement laptop for my wife. Says it has W8.1 but alas it was W8. Its a free upgrade to 8.1 right?
Well first, I had to have an internet connection for W8 and give it an email address so MS could email me a key to use W8. Did that.
Next, finished for the night.. How to shutdown??? Consult the internet - not very good descriptions, but eventually found Acer have a shutdown button you can add, done!
Next, I just go online using IE and the metro interface. First problem, I do a quick post on this forum - hey my enter key is broken so I try the numeric keypad enter key. That's broken too??? Bit weird. So I cannot do a newline on the forum!! OK, give up. Now where is that close box on IE? Nowhere to be seen. Aha, metro doesn't have a close - you just leave the apps open to waste power and processor speed - UGH!!
Now to the desktop, another hidden story - use Windows-D (there is one of those metro boxes you can click too, but which one I forget because its not obvious). BTW the Metro interface goes out to the web all the time - see the updates of time, temperature in lots of places but home, latest news feeds, etc - all wasting my internet download data (I have a limited data before it becomes really expensive because I don't have a landline - I use mobile 3G/4G as a hotspot).
Now I get to update to Windows 8.1. Aha, no go. First you need to upgrade to the latest Windows 8. 2hrs and 800MB later I am onto the latest Windows 8 - and lucky I was at my sons who has unlimited internet downloads (I only get 8GB per month and then its IIRC $1 per 1MB unless I buy another 4GB at ~$30).
I have now checked the internet and the upgrade from 8 to 8.1 is supposedly 3.5GB. I have to wait to go to my sons to complete the process.
This is why we stick to old Windows versions!!!
One does not need to type anything into the command line to start up a Linux machine. Never had had to. Even installing Linux does not require any work on the command line for most distributions, Ubutu, Debian, etc, etc.
There are plenty of non-professionals using Linux all the time. I don't see anyone in this house having a problem with their day to day surfing, facebooking, YouTubing, emailing, etc here. Most of the time they don't even seem to notice it's not Windows.
Your "unbelivable 7 seconds" boot to browser is not so impressive. It's not much faster than this nearly 10 year old 1GHz, single core, AMD 64/Linux machine I am typing this on. And that is from a cold start not just waking from some sleep mode.
Re: XP.
I can see that there are situations where one would need to use such a retro OS. Indeed there are people around me now who have software that will only run on XP. One can save oneself a lot of pain by running XP in a virtual machine, say VirtualBox. This way when it does commit suicide or become virus infested it only takes seconds to revert to your know last good working XP image complete with whatever apps you regularly use, all installed and set up as they were when you took the snapshot.
I don't advise any dual booting set up with XP/Linux or XP/Other Windows. It's a tedious way to proceed and fraught with pitfalls.
I will try that on my brothers computer later this week, although I have never messed around with "VirtualBox".
Depending on the circumstances, dual boots can be a real pain.
As mentioned, I don't feel the need to keep up with the latest Windows operating system, but that does not mean that I am unfamiliar with the various upgrades from XP. Various friends and family members use some of these upgrades and come to me when they have a problem. I like Windows 8, but with XP, I am in my comfort zone, plain, simple, and effective. To achieve the same software functionality that I have now, an upgrade would cost me several thousands of dollars, not including the cost of a new computer to support the upgrade.
- 3D CAD $$$
- Microsoft Office $$$
- Microsoft C++ programming IDE $$$
- Imaging software $$$
- Other various software $$$
Although, with the progress of internet programming technologies, it won't be long before I will have no choice but to upgrade, at which point, it will definitely be a Windows 8 OS. For example, YouTube will soon be stopping their support of XP, which will be a real loss for me.What do you mean by "internet programming technologies"?
None of the applications you mentioned there have anything to do with the internet.
Of course if Microsoft and others have their way you will not just be spending dollars on an upgrade to all your apps but rather you will be paying a subscription every year, forever....That is the MS idea of "internet programming technologies".
I'm not sure how YouTube can stop supporting XP or even why there is any support required. YouTube videos were always played in the browser using Adobe FLASH. Adobe can certainly stop supporting FLASH for XP. Which could cause problems for you.
I thought YouTube now plays without FLASH in browsers that support HTML5 video. So as long as you have Chrome or FireFox in your installation you should be good to go. Then again, Google and Mozzila may well stop supporting XP as a platform for their browsers at some point.
JavaScript and such other languages meant for controlling content.
if(OS > XP)
{
else
{
Several websites are already doing something similar
OK Javascript.
if(OS > XP) { ....Well, that is not giving up support for XP, that is actively blocking it.
If anyone is actually doing that I think it is totally despicable and we should complain like hell.
Using JS to test for browser features and capabilities is to be expected. It means that a web page can "fail gracefully". There is no point in trying to show webgl or video if the browser does not have it.
However it is no business of the website what frikken operating system or browser or computer I am actually using. And certainly would be very rude of them to tell me to change from using my pride and joy just because their web pages won't work on it.
Banks around here used to do that in the 1990's. If your browser was not IE they would not let you in. Oddly that meant they insisted on you using the least secure option!
Happily changing the user agent string sent to the site by the browser usually got around that blockage. It would certainly defeat the simple OS test you suggested.
Do you have any examples to offer? I'm curious to try and see what they put in their JS.
I have never verified it, but I believe Google Chrome relies upon a drop in IE interface, perhaps Firefox as well.
There was a thing called chrome-frame that put the chrome engine inside the IE interface but that project is now retired and unsupported.
https://developers.google.com/chrome/chrome-frame/
Then there is the opposite. Put the IE engine inside the chrome interface: http://https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ie-tab/hehijbfgiekmjfkfjpbkbammjbdenadd?hl=en
Which sounds like a really dumb idea.
I apologize for spreading misinformation. It is not the OS they are blocking, but the browser, however it is essentially the same, because you cannot upgrade IE any higher than Version 8 on an XP OS.
As for examples:
How is this done? I would assume it is a registry value. Where is it located?
On the other hand the lack of IE is should not be a problem. Nobody should be using it anyway.
On yet another hand, how long are Mozilla and Google going to bother to make sure their browsers work on XP? When XP sage drops below some threshold they will not bother any more.
Adobe is an interesting case. FLASH is basically a dead end product. Adobe has said as so. So they don't bother supporting it on older platforms or mobile devices.
Oddly there is an XP machine with IE8 right next to me. I get no such message visiting YouTube and it plays the vids play just fine.
We can of course expect MS to make using XP has hard as possible so that you give them a pile more of your cash for an upgrade.
I'm sure something similar can be done in Firefox.
The best way to change the user agent string when using IE is to change browser:)
I am getting by with Winders 7 and will simply go total Linux once things I want to do demand WIN 8.
Always remember that most the major players on the net leave themselves a backdoor into your system. It goes hand in glove with their agreements with our older male sibling(read:in.ess.aye). Why do you think Gaggle had so much trouble getting into the EU or were you even aware of those issues? That being the case it is only a matter of time until the mean hackers figure out the key to the backdoor. I work with this in mind and do all my work with the modem turned off. I save all my work to thumb drives and unplug them before I go back to the net. I personally choose not to use sites or products from sites that demand cross-scripting. I made a temporary exception for this site just to have access to this forum.
The project I am working on with a friend would most likely be a piece of cake to most of the super-mega-users on this forum. All I can say about it is that I convinced my friend that both of us had to go through lawyers and get separate opinions from the FTA that we were not breaking any laws.
Unless Parallax has a manual and editor available for PASM by the time I finish my current project I will be out of here.
Tim
certified crackpot
"Total Linux", I like it, it's got a certain ring to it.
I don't know about "crackpot" but certainly your paranoia is showing. Just to make you feel even more nervous, remember stuxnet? All that not being connected to the internet and using thumb drives did not prevent the the hacking of Iran's nuke making facility.
Do remind me again what this project of your is. Perhaps people out here can help.
This I don't understand.
Everything you need to know to program a Propeller in Spin and PASM is in the Propeller Manual.
Perhaps others can point you to some tutorials out there.
The only editor you need to Program the Propeller, on a Windows machine, is the Propeller Tool. It allows you to easily edit, compile, load and run your code. It comes with some example code.
Then of course the is SimpleIDE as discussed now on the Propeller section of this forum.
Added to all that, this is the version of choice to hack into and take over, preferred by the notorious and hostile forces - the Russian Mob, the Japanese Yakusa, the Triads of Hong Kong, the Cosa Nostra, terrorist groups and so on. All of them have gotten into loading poorly secured XP machines with software to serve their own purposes.
And then there is the simple fact that Microsoft no longer supports XP.
So it seems a bit futile to desire to make XP secure and one's first choice for the WWW in 2014.
Just consider this link.
http://archive.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2005/08/68589
http://mirror.uncyc.org/wiki/Windows_XP_Pirate_Edition
BTW, I paid good money for WindowsXP Professional and MS Office 2003 with the hopes that it would liberate me from previous crashes. It never did and only helped to convince me to never pay another dollar for any MS product.
I do have a dear friend here in Taiwan that is completely loyal to Windows XP, Windows98, and Windows Millenium. He even has a corporate international version of Norton AV that he gets via his consulting work with corporate American. But the bottom line is that he absolutely believes that all updates should be avoided. And even then, he has managed to suffer some rather huge crashes while Linux has been nearly painless for me during the same time frame.
You could do a lot better by using Windows7 with support for XP software.
There is no such thing as a "pirated Open Office", It is open source software released under the Apache License, Version 2.0.
That is unless you are using some hacked up version by some unknown party that does not respect the terms of the license. Who would be dumb enough to do that?
Visit GuangZhou with me. I can get you a great deal on a fake Rolex and quite a few other fashion items you might desire.
In Taiwan, the street vendors would pretend to sell me the pirated software. If I tried to order anything, they would take my order and when I came back they handed me a pile of CDs that seem right and said 'No Charge'.
And when I go home, the CDs were all empty. IOW, you had to look Taiwanese or at least Asian. They figured I was working for Microsoft or the US government. Nonetheless, the market for this stuff went on for years and covered a street that ran for about 10 blocks with everyone selling the stuff.
The whole point is that throughout SE Asia, the pirated MicroSoft software of the XP generation is considered a better value and more stable that the real software. Even the AV software that is pirated seems to work well.
I'd love to visit you in GuangZhou. Fashion items are not really my thing but a fake Rolex might be good for a giggle.
What I really dream of is a visit to Huaqiangbei the electronics market in Shenzhen. For that once in a life time visit I need a guide and native language speaker.
As for all the pirate XP and other software, good for them, they seem to be making productive use of it.
Only dreaming...
I hope that softens things up. I din't mean to start a Window/Linux war...:frown:
Bruce sounded very serious about Virus protection, so, I piped up about the wonders of 8.1, it just works now,(with a little self training, of course).
Had I left well enough alone, I should have just said, "Great work on the Task Tray stuff Bruce!"
I use XP Pro and have zero intentions of migrating to Linux, I used it(early 2000) but it's a acquired taste that I don't care for.
That said, if you want to continue to use XP, get Microsoft Security Essentials and a firewall. I use Sygate Personal Firewall. This will block the vast majority of bad things out there.
Software ware wise.I use FireFox and MSOffice 2000 and it works just fine.
I do my best to avoid the upgrade rat race that so many find attractive for some odd reason.
You are either talking about a different book than the one I bought, Programming The Propeller With Spin A beginner's guide to parallel processing, or my reading comprehension is finally headed into the crapper. Once I got to the bottom half of page XIII in the preface I figured I had been had and put the book away. Every so often I search this site for 'PSAM' and always get the same useless results.
I came across what I considered a good purchase of 'P8X32A Quick Start' boards at Radio Shack and based on what was said on this site about PASM I bought them and ordered the book with the idea of maybe learning something new. As they say, the rest is (bad)history from there.
I do appreciate your continued patience with me.
A propeller would be of no use to me on my current project because I have critical timing constraints. It cost me much less in timing to check the state of pins and then jump to where I need to in the program flow. That and not being able to branch on a Condition Code after an instruction have made programming Basic a whole new playing field for me and I have no time left over to learn new stuff anyway.
Tim
Just because I am delusional and paranoid does not mean that real people are not out to get me.<g>
Same can be found from the Help menu item in the Propeller Tool (standard IDE).
Chapter 3 is titled, "Assembly Language Reference". You won't much more detailed information about programming in PASM than the language reference.
Tim,
This is going completely off topic. You may want to start a new thread.
Tim, No reason to buy the manual. It is available for free at:
http://www.parallax.com/sites/default/files/downloads/P8X32A-Web-PropellerManual-v1.2.pdf