| Author | Message | ||
     Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 2057 Registered: 6-2009 |
Hello All, . . . or at least I think that's what the dialog box said, but the description that follows should suffice. Windows 10 is a lot more security conscious than prior versions of Windows were. I have received e-mail messages from several people now recounting their tales of woe when they try to download a link that contains a ZIP file that contains an executable (.exe) or batch (.bat) file, among others. You now get a message that says something along the lines of, "Windows has detected a possible security threat from the download of this file," and it presents you with one, and only one, obvious button: Cancel. However, what it strategically hides is that, after the security message, there is a More link, that doesn't look like a link, and if you click it you get a bit more explanatory text along with a "Run Anyway" or "Download Anyway" button. If you are trying to download and/or then run something from someone you consider to be a trusted source, and get the above sort of message, be sure to look for the word "More" or it could be the phrase "More info" at the end of the message text and click that. This will allow you to get the button you need to do what you had originally intended to do. I'm all for security, but there's lots of old and useful stuff out there from sources I trust that will never have digital signatures, etc., added and that will never pass the "Smart Screen Protection" checks but that I damned well want to download and/or install anyway. Brian | ||
| David Gore Moderator Username: david_gore Post Number: 2182 Registered: 4-2003 |
Brian, In this day of malware and widespread hacking, I have become far more cautious when opening email attachments and links which my intuition flags as suspect. The best advice I can give is to always do a file check with a recognised up-to-date anti-virus programme; if you have lingering doubts, wait a week or 2 until there has been an update of your anti-virus programme and check the file[s] again. This gives you extra protection if the file or link contains a new version of malware which has been subsequently added to the threat library of your anti-virus software. | ||
| David Towers Frequent User Username: xtriple Post Number: 65 Registered: 6-2010 |
Thanks for this post Brian, I am one of the people having fun and games with windows 10. I absolutely hate it with a vengeance! It seems to block all sorts of things, changes things without permission or notification, and generally just makes this laptop so slow it's unreal. | ||
| Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 2059 Registered: 6-2009 |
David, The main reason I posted this is because I'm now getting e-mail messages from individuals, one of whom replied after you, having issues downloading material I've directed them to that's on my Google Drive and has been being shared for years. I absolutely agree with you that you should always scan anything you download if it's not automatically done already. One of the things I routinely share via Google Drive is, in the words of Google, "too large for us to virus scan," when anyone goes to download it. It was virus scanned I can't even imagine how many times over the years before I ever ZIPped it up and uploaded it. Discretion about what you download, and from whom, is indeed the best defense against infection with viruses and malware. There are some things, though, that are neither and pose no threat that will now and forevermore be identified as suspect because their creation predates current digital signature protcols and they're never going to be updated. Knowing how to get around what appears to be a brick wall put in place by Windows 10 is vital in this instance. Mr. Towers, unless your laptop is relatively old and has what is "little memory" (less than 4GB, minimum) I suspect that something in your Win10 installation is corrupt. Open a command prompt elevated to administrator and run the command SFC /scannow for starters and see if it detects and fixes anything. Brian | ||
| Geoff Wootton Grand Master Username: dounraey Post Number: 1382 Registered: 5-2012 |
I have to agree with David - I too hate windows 10. I am forced to use it on my laptops however I still run windows XP on my desktop. Sadly this may have to change soon as some of the software I run uses Java and the updates are already baulking at it. My dislike of windows 10 is so great I will seriously consider running Linux if I find it can run the applications I need. Geoff | ||
| ross kowalski Prolific User Username: cdfpw Post Number: 106 Registered: 11-2015 |
Brian and Geoff, I used a lot of different computers and OS's and like cars, use whatever works for you. Each has it's own benefits and drawbacks which is why Hyundai AND Lotus can stay in business. XP is incredibly lax on security at a structural level. In addition to not implementing ASLR (basically the critical memory locations at boot and runtime are always the same) it doesn't even support Nx bit. From a security level,... yikes. And Yikes. Windows 10 is OK if you turn off metro, the tile looking thing and the jewel thing on the right edge of the screen. There are a lot of sites on the interweb on how to "make 10 XP like" It really isn't that bad to use and is orders of magnitude more secure than XP. I use windows 10 and OSX sometimes at work because some software ... SolidWorks, PTC Creo, UE4 ... likes to run on those systems. All that said, given the choice, Linux all the way. I do not like having to fiddle with computers. It's the 20th century and computers should just work. Think about robust things that don't break, Android, your bank, the internet, OSX, IOS, Netflix, the LHC, facebook, twiter, amazon, etc. ... what do they have in common, linux. People trying to get a job done do not want a paperclip coming up and asking them if they really wanted to delete a file. But, again if XP is working switching to anything is going to be an annoying learning curve to some degree. | ||
| David Gore Moderator Username: david_gore Post Number: 2184 Registered: 4-2003 |
Some useful tweaks to regain some control over your computer running WIN10: I get around the WIN XP problem by using an old notebook running exclusively on WIN XP - these are cheap and easily obtained from a computer repair shop if you do not have an old one laying around at home. Just wipe the hard drive completely and reinstall WIN XP and the Service Packs if you have these on file or are still available on the internet. You do not need to access the internet for updates so no problems will arise with malware, hacking or security provided you do not use this computer for internet access. If you only have a WIN10 computer and the fact that Microsoft have more control over your computer than you do especially where system crashes after automatic updates occur, you can minimise this problem as below: 1. Right click on the windows icon in the bottom left hand corner of your screen. 2. Right click on SEARCH. 3. Left click on SETTINGS. 4. Left click on ADVANCED WINDOWS UPDATE OPTIONS. 5. Go to drop-down box on top of page under "Choose how updates are installed" and left click on down arrow. 6. Select "Notify to schedule restart" option in preference to "automatic (recommended)". 7. Go down the page and left click on "Choose how updates are delivered", turn switch to "Off" setting. 8. Go to bottom of page and left click on Privacy settings, turn off switches as appropriate to your preferences [I have all turned off]. 9. Go to "Manage my Microsoft advertising and other personalisation info", read webpage and act according to your preferences. In future, a message will appear in the message icon pop-up in the bottom RH corner of the screen when updates are available or you can check manually by using the Search facility as above and typing "Updates" in the Search box on the bottom of the page then "Check for Updates" on the next page. When updates are available you can select and install updates individually - I always wait a week and check for installation problem reports before installing. How to stop WIN10 updates on a metered mobile internet connection: 1. Right click on the windows icon in the bottom left hand corner of your screen. 2. Right click on SEARCH. 3. Enter "Change Wi-Fi settings" at bottom of panel. 4. Left click on "Change Wi-Fi settings" on new page. 5. Left click on "Advanced Wi-Fi options". 6 Scroll down to "Metered Connection" and turn "Set as metered connection" switch to on. 7. Close "Settings" window. Saves a lot of wasted internet usage if you use a mobile internet connection as I do when away from home base. | ||
| Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 2060 Registered: 6-2009 |
Just as a note, it appears that the Smart Screen protection, or whatever it actually is, is also being rolled into IE11 on Windows 7 and Windows 8 as well. I've received reports of precisely this same behavior from someone running Windows 7 and using IE11. As to Windows 10, Mr. Gore has given pretty much exactly the instructions I give (or carry out if I'm doing the setup) for new Windows 10 installations. Contrary to a great deal of what's been written, it is very possible to tweak Windows 10 to get it "to your liking" but most people just don't do it. Going through the Privacy settings is where the vast majority of this tweaking takes place. You can also set the level of system health telemetry down in the Feedback & Diagnostics pane of the privacy settings. I leave mine at full simply because I've seen the value this has had in stopping buggy updates very quickly and getting fixes for same. It's also intuitively obvious to me that Microsoft is not analyzing any single machine's telemetry in any meaningful sense, but looking for trends in the aggregate data. I've loved Windows 10 and find it to be a mighty good marriage between what was the best of Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 and is an improvement on either of those predecessors. If you tweak your settings to suit you either during installation and/or immediately afterward virtually all of the things that are regularly ranted about simply do not occur. I wish the defaults were different, but they are what they are and they are pretty easy to adjust compared to in the past. The search feature in Settings itself is something I absolutely love for the more obscure things I don't use very often. Brian | ||
| Vladimir Ivanovich Kirillov Grand Master Username: soviet Post Number: 577 Registered: 2-2013 |
Brian thanks for the warning on windows ten. I use xp and will be staying with it until it fails to function. I get used to using a certain software and then the fat boys in silicon valley produce a new model which inevitably annoys me because it requires me to learn new ways to do things I already knew how to do with the old system. That aside its time for me to give yahoo a publicity plug. As you know my email was snatched by scammers who thereafter wrote hideous letters internationally to friends seeking loot. So after becoming frustrated by attempting to reach a human by telephone I wrote yahoo a detailed letter in Sydney pointing out that the scammers had managed to get back into my email AFTER I changed my password upon scenting the scammers. Yahoo's response was massive by virtue of its complete absence ie zero reply. I thought of then writing another letter to yahoo head office in California requesting they tell their Australian office to wake up and do something but I have decided that since yahoo can afford to pay their CEO millions per year to annoy me by changing yahoos format ie sent messages are mingled with received messages that my complaint would not be valued by yahoo and thus ergo I should not waste a postage stamp for another letter. Yahoo has failed to understand this Maxim - if it ain't broken don't fix it!!!!! My theory of capitalistic world society is this. One day somewhere amongst mega security will be a computer that will have all the personality of Stalin and it will enjoy an infinite lifetime of power until the rebels thaw out Magnus the Robot Fighter give him a titanium axe and send him to go chop. I sacked my bank yesterday upon finding out that I could no longer be told by telephone by a human my balance. I say the swine who decided we have deal with robots need to be hunted down now and icepicked Trotsky style before its too late! Not moving from XP to Ten is my start to the revolution! | ||
| Omar M. Shams Grand Master Username: omar Post Number: 776 Registered: 4-2009 |
glad i am not the only grumpy old man on this planet....... | ||
| Vladimir Ivanovich Kirillov Grand Master Username: soviet Post Number: 580 Registered: 2-2013 |
This morning my boss came screaming out of his office ranting and raving about how he used to be able to plug the workshop camera into his computer and easily send photos of damaged parts as attached to emails until the company upgraded to Windows 10 and this was without me ever mentioning Windows 10. Top marks to Microsoft! | ||
| Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 2061 Registered: 6-2009 |
The fact that many are so very willing to "rant and rave" rather than spending a few short minutes to adjust to the constant changes that are part and parcel of life, particularly technological life, doesn't make them right. With each and every update to Windows, Mac OS or iOS, and now very often Android I am treated to this sort of behavior in my professional life. If I were not a gentleman of supreme restraint there'd be an awful lot of people being slapped silly. There is nothing so constant as change. I suggest you deal and know darned well that the energy expended grousing is far and away more than would be needed to learn a couple of new skills and very slight changes to stuff you already actually know how to do. Brian, plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose | ||
| Vladimir Ivanovich Kirillov Grand Master Username: soviet Post Number: 582 Registered: 2-2013 |
Brian I am not talking about a few short minutes or even a few short hours - I am talking about days of inconvenience and in particular I am talking about mega rich softwear development companies that keep churning out new better products that inconvenience the general public for the sole purpose of their profit margin. Now when oh so generous Mr Gates starts with his Google mates to police the internet to remove the criminal scammers then and only then will your change argument find slight merit in my bag of survival tricks. | ||
| David Towers Frequent User Username: xtriple Post Number: 66 Registered: 6-2010 |
Brian, I thank you for all your help and advice but you have to realise that some of us (me for one) are computer 'numpties' and the act of delving into settings and so on leaves me with the eebie jeebies on a mammoth scale! My old laptop was running Vista which I had got very used to and could navigate around happily but I rarely needed to. This new laptop is not short of specification/memory/RAM or anything else as far as I know, but windows 10 is seriously annoying. It was pre-installed on the laptop as I only bought it a few months ago. Even after all the advice on the internet regarding some of the problems with this OS, I am still having problems with it randomly dropping the internet and refusing to restart it - quick fix now is just shut the lid and then open it again! A friend of mine is a computer whizz (owns a shop dedicated to these machines of the dark arts) and I am going to take it in to him to have the issues fixed. Failing that, I'll just have to give up and return to the medieval times I fear I would hate equally  | ||
| Omar M. Shams Grand Master Username: omar Post Number: 777 Registered: 4-2009 |
I am like Vlad - I like change but when change is detrimental in a world where constant improvement is the accepted modus operandum - I struggle. I dont really like to accept regression. | ||
| Vladimir Ivanovich Kirillov Grand Master Username: soviet Post Number: 632 Registered: 2-2013 |
Is changing to Linux OS a good solution for virus avoidance ???. My smart phone gets continually pinged by a message from who knows from whom and where that states " your smart phone has been infected by six viruses blah blah and blah " then the screen freezes and usually I find my way around it by running a reset on the phone or swapping my sim to another phone. I have read that the worms who write these viruses only bother to attack the windows operating system and Linux is immune to these viruses. Does anybody know if this is true or just cyber propaganda. As you know jetsetters one of my yahoo emails was seized by some sneaky swine who thereafter sent embarrassing emails to all of you seeking fast loot for my sister in hospital blah blah. I wrote to yahoo headquarters months ago stating that I wished them to investigate and got no reply back whatsoever which has now turned me into a walking talking complaint machine for all things yahoo until the end of this universe and the next. So chaps what is your opinion of changing to Linux ? | ||
| David Gore Moderator Username: david_gore Post Number: 2296 Registered: 4-2003 |
Vladimir, It is my understanding professional hackers have developed malicious viruses that detect what operating system is used by the target device and then uses the appropriate delivery system for that device. The most effective anti-virus measure is self-discipline by not accessing unknown websites offering dubious enticements or whatever and not opening unsolicited links regardless of whether they appear to come from known sources or otherwise. I recently received an email from a long-time family friend in the USA containing a potentially malicious link - my intuition twitched that this was suspect so I did not open it and a subsequent check revealed her email address had been accessed through a malicious link she unwittingly opened recently allowing the hacker to access her computer and use her contact list to distribute the malicious link to probable unsuspecting people. To get around the mobile phone problem, I only use mine to make/receive calls and take photographs. I do not use it for Bluetooth/Wi-Fi connections or accessing the internet as I am not confident mobile phone security is adequate. At all times, the most effective protection is "if in doubt, don't open or access links/websites regardless of whether they come from known/unknown sources." | ||
| Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 2092 Registered: 6-2009 |
David Gore wrote: "The most effective anti-virus measure is self-discipline," to which I respond, I only wish this would be loudly trumpeted by more people and that their listeners would take it to heart! Being a tech geek, and having been on the web for years on all platforms, I cannot recall the last time I had an infection of any sort. A lot of people endlessly worry about having "the best" antivirus or security suite. If they have good browsing hygiene those programs will very seldom, if ever, be needed (and that's not saying you shouldn't have and use them - you'd be insane not to since "accidents can happen"). I run antivirus/antimalware/antispyware programs on both the Windows platforms and Android platforms. Android has become a popular target as it's "taken over the world" on smartphones and many tablets. Linux is now becoming a more popular target for virus writers given its popularity in data centers, which is huge compared to the market penetration on personal computers (which isn't insignificant, either). If you've noticed that there's been nothing in your virus vault/quarantine/whatever your product calls it for as long as you can remember and you behave similarly on all platforms you use you'll remain very unlikely to be accidentally infected. Brian | ||
| Christian S. Hansen Grand Master Username: enquiring_mind Post Number: 408 Registered: 4-2015 |
Brian & David... "good browsing hygiene" and "self-discipline"? So much for my healthy interest in pornography! | ||
| Geoff Wootton Grand Master Username: dounraey Post Number: 1466 Registered: 5-2012 |
lol | ||
| Vladimir Ivanovich Kirillov Grand Master Username: soviet Post Number: 635 Registered: 2-2013 |
Christian didn't mean porn David - because he is a Californian and as you all know there is no porn in CA just as their is no truth in Pravda. He meant car styles |
