puter go fast

well thanks to the genius of the geeks, i now have puter back. however i still need help. whilst we were roaming around the puters deepest darkest reaches, there are a lot of files, programs, proccesses, etc. that i do not understand. i have downloaded a lot of tools that i do not know if i still need. i now have firefox and IE, and need help to figure out if and why i need both. i also need to reset program controls so that this cannot happen again. non of this is urgent, and both hubby and son have been bannned from touching it untill i say its sorted. i love you guys. aloha and my thanks to all

 

First step is to create a second limited user account for your husband and son.

 

ok, and how do i do that effectively.

 

don't forget, baby steps. i haven't learned THAT much on my forays into puter land.

 

Sorry i gotta stop thinking everyone nows lots about computers. Allright goto the control panel, you should see user accounts, click create a new account, give it a name then click next. Then make sure you put it as a limited account in the next screen. There you go , and if they currently know your logon password please change it so the only way they can logon is on the limited account.

 

ok. will do.

 

PS. they have both had to put up with me having the right raving hump for the last three days (quaint old english saying meaning 'very annoyed'). that means :_ no washing, shopping, cooking, cleaning, affection, or communication. i think they may have got the message. i am also going to go through the photo's and delete duplicates etc. and save to disc, as that is the only thing i really don't want to lose. that may take a while, so i will be back when I've done, or with questions on doing it. much aloha as always

 

Laurie, you should use Firefox as your primary browser, and only use IE when needed, such as Windows Updates, and a few other sites that are optimized for Internet Explorer. The other applications I transfered to you can can keep or dump your choice; Ewido is a good app I would keep that one.

As far as locking down your system take a look at this program PeerGuardian 2. I have it loaded, and am testing it; the jury is still out.

 

ok.......................

 

how do i set content controls on firefox? how do i set different controls for each account? how do i set IE for windows and not the other stuff? does ewido play nicely with my other programmes like antivir and zone alarm, and how do i set it?
let me know what you think about peerguardian.
i have opened limited user accounts for both of them, and changed the admin password.much aloha

 

just done one of those speed test thingies. does this look right to you? is the upload, and download supposed to be different?

 

its my ping. ? lol. ok if that looks normal than thats ok. (should i test my ping?lol) still paranoid i guess from all the puter go slow stuff. thanks for the reassurance. ps must get iespell on firefx lol

 

which i dont. my son plays runescapes but thats about it., its just that the update from antivir seemed to take a long time, so i got all worried.

 

this is the verizon test

 

verizon dsl. but its not on ethernet, its connected on usb.

 

no idea. . i have looked on the CD and paperwork and it doesnt say. im not sure that there is different packages.
anyhow. back to current probs.
shadow:- you said to try a different server to download updates on spybot? (still getting 'bad checksum". did you mean to download from new on MG, or change something on the current version?

 

After you press Search for Updates, select a server from the download list.

 

Ok.......

 

ok thats one thing less on my list. i am trying to work through the things i have got and update/reset everything. i am very confused i do not even know where to start.
these are my current dilema's :-

browsers?

firefox/IE/MSN...........what to set to what on what. i have reset the content control on IE.

protection programs:-
spybot which is now up to date. thankyou shadow.i dont know how much or what settings i messed with, or whether that matters any.
spyblaster..which is up to date and doing its thing
antivirXP....which has been updated today, but still seems to be having difficulty updating and completing
zone alarm...which is doing its thing. i dont think i changed anything in it during my recent trips to puterland, but i should probably go through it with someone who understands it.
ewido...which is a demo. i dont know what it does, but it seems happy doing it.

i also have cleanup and ccleaner.

 

$29.99 pm rofl. all i learnt about the subject today was that i have pings.
its working fast enough for me at the mo. so ill address it later.

 

LOL! That last line cracked me up!

I'm glad you're still plugging away at this, Laurie. You seem a patient person. Keep up the good work.

Eric

 

Ewido will run fully functional for 14 days, at which time the resident protection and automatic updates will stop; you can still manually update Ewido after that. If you like the program then you can register the software and sign up for their annual subscription service, or you can unistall it. IMO Ewido is a keeper.

 

ok. ill try keep it. do i have to set anything on it. ?

 

No just leave the default settings.

 

what about the default server/browser thing? i updated windows as well today. will it just stay on IE or do i have to make it. (beat it over the head ) the mail is still on IE, although i can access it on firefox. how do i change it? and windows wants MSN for reasons that escape me, and so does verizon. lol.

i can still do everything though. its just that this seems the logical place to start. much much aloha

 

Well, you can beat it over the head by doing thus:

Click start, control panel, internet options, Programs Tab, Uncheck "Internet Explorer should check to see whether it is the default browser."

Not sure about MSN. Should be an option similar. Then, just use Firefox.

For verizon, there is a way to get rid of all the junk that verizon forces down your throat. But, I believe it takes a router to accomplish this ( i could be wrong ).

When ever I hookup a Verizon DSL connection for a customer, I NEVER install their software.

 

ok, so went there and that bit was already done. the msn thing came up a few times whilst i was wandering the interior. something about default mail. hasnt appeared since so maybe just ignor it? ditto verizon? they werent any help anyway.lol


so next question would be content control on firefox, or does it just use the one on IE?

 

I wish I could give you an answer. So, I'll give you an excuse instead.

I don't use the OFFICIAL release of FireFox. I use the daily updated version, which fixes and breaks things, uh, daily.

Officialy, I've been using FireFox(FireBird/Pheonix) for a good 4 years now. Never had a real malware issue.

Thunderbird as email also.

Sunbird as my calendar.

 

I don't think FF has an option for that; but here is an extension you may want to consider:

https://addons.mozilla.org/extensio...irefox&category=Miscellaneous&numpg=10&id=226

 

Errgh, forgot about email. What email program do you use?

 

yahoo??

 

Yahoo, as in internet mail?

mail.yahoo.com? If so, then no problem. FireFox works great with that. (Or anyother browser for that matter).

 

yes. so its ok? it goes to the mail from the home page, but there is a seperate desktop icon for the mail, and thats still set to IE.

 

On the Yahoo! Mail icon, right-click select Properties, replace the contents of the Target box with "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" http://mail.yahoo.com. Do this With the Yahoo! Mail icons in your Start Menu also.

 

did that, little box came up saying the name 'c:\program files' is not valid. i reduced it to http://mail.yahoo.com and it would have that either.

this is what is on it C:\WINDOWS\system32\RUNDLL32.EXE C:\PROGRA~1\Yahoo!\Common\YMMAPI~1.DLL,OpenURL http://mail.yahoo.com/?.redir=ymmapi9

as for the content control, more questions.
does the host file whatnot apply to firefox as well as IE?
although i appreciate that firefox is more secure as far as letting in malware,
if it doesnt allow me any control over where it goes, maybe im better of with IE??
i dont need to prevent everything, just the worst hardcore stuff, including games with lots of blood and gore, which i find equelly offensive. i am fairly open minded, but there is a limit.
i am reticent about installing programs that babysit for me, as i am unsure how discriminate they are. hubbie and son are still banned from puter until i feel i have this sorted. aloha.

 

Copy this "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" http://mail.yahoo.com quotes included, then paste it into the target box in properties for the shortcut.

The hosts files apllies to all internet connections.

Firefox doen't have content control like IE.

 

bum. did that. little box did not come up. but now i cant access the shortcut at all, lol.

 

ok, so glad i pasted the target box. lol. so its back to what it was. ie., IE. lol.
still cant see that firefox is a good choice though, if one wants any control over sites visited. or does the hosts thing pretty much take care of it? much aloha
ps, went back through chaslangs article in spyware, and followed the instructions for active x. but again, this is only going to apply to IE, isnt it?

 

Laureie replace the contents of the Target box. Delete everyting in it and paste the other command into the box, the http: address included. There is a space between " and h.

Disabling ActiveX only works for IE. Content Control is an IE only function, Firefox doesn't have a similar function. Yo would need a third party application for that. The hosts file works for both.

 

ok. done that. what happens is that instead of comming up as a seperate page on mail, it changes the page i am on to mail. (ie. this one. lol)

so i will take a closer look at peerguardian.

 

looked at peerguardian, but didnt understand what it does. what i need is a way of blocking XXX rated sites. (If there is such a thing). or a program that has 'levels' of censorship. jacob plays runescape, which although p2p, seems harmless enough, and we would like kazaa back, or something like it to download music from. peerguardian, if i understand correctly would block those but not hardcore sites neccessarily.

 

reviewed this. comments are most discouraging

 

Either one of these as a Kazaa replacement:
http://www.majorgeeks.com/eMule_d4157.html
http://www.majorgeeks.com/eMule_d4302.html

 

thanks

 

I'm looking for Content Filering Software.

Found this one http://www.radiance.m6.net/ looking for others.

 

lets, talk about the seperate accounts then. what exactly is a limited account. what is it they cannot do?

 

oh...it has to be that one because of the name. (naomi...long story) i think it depends on how much i can control it. having read the frequently asked questions, not very much!. i think it will probably be shutting down all over the place, unless i become jehova's whitness. (no offence to Jehova or his whitnesses ) is it just me, or does there seem to be a question of extremes here? no control, or total censorship?

 

This explains the type of account and what can be done under that account type.
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/...xp/all/proddocs/en-us/ua_c_account_types.mspx

Using content filtering software is a 'mixed bag', when it comes to what gets filtered and what doesn't. Somethings will get through and some stuff will get filtered that shouldn't.