Oh yeah!  I saw that no subject and just the email addy (a clue) so I didn't open it. Lots of people getting "infected" and the deadly programs look so "legitimate". Beware Vista users too, as a program comes up; Win 7 too.  One way to "stop" the popup boxes is to hit ALT+F4 and don't click on anything, not even to close the boxes telling you a scan or an infection was detected! (only makes things worse!)!  Or shut down and get out using CTRL+ALT+DEL to run Task Manager, close all programs and shut down safely.  Then SCAN and SCAN again.  (Comprehensive Scan)  My son had unwittingly allowed what looked like legit anti-virus to run which disabled his computer completely. We had to take it back to factory!  (He's not on my network, but next door.  Norton helped us get everything back to be useable, but all data was infected and lost.)  My mother had something come in & called me immediately w/o closing or clicking anything.  (also next door and we were able to catch it (Norton did catch it as well) an "intrusion was blocked"... I did the above, shut down, scanned, scanned again,  and she's fine.     Another friend suggests a malware removal tool in addition to Anti-virus but I misplaced the link. I'm sure it can be found on-line and is free, but be careful what you downlaod!   Also, Back up your files before these things hit, change passwords where you can too.  My son found a "Fix" for a Vista intrusion that scared me to death, saved it to my desktop via phone as I rapidly typed the "fix" into a Notepad and then opened it.  Not everyone is as lucky to have good, fast help.    These are just suggestions that worked for me to remain (so far) pretty free of these buggers!   (Delete your history too and allow critical automatic updates as the fixes come thru that as well) Hope this helps some who may be new to all "this".  But do your own searches on what I've said here too.  Don't just take my word for it.  Different systems respond in different ways...) Happy computing!   Kathie B. --- On Tue, 10/19/10, Freeps List Admin <freepages-help-admin@rootsweb.com> wrote: From: Freeps List Admin <freepages-help-admin@rootsweb.com> Subject: [FreeHelp] ADMIN NOTE: Trojans and loggers, oh my! To: "Freepages-Help" <Freepages-Help@rootsweb.com> Date: Tuesday, October 19, 2010, 3:31 PM A recent sp*m post to the list was not intentionally sent by the list member.  His/her computer has been compromised by malware that plants a trojan or key stroke logger on a computer and can then take over that computer to do many things, including sending sp*m emails to any and all email addresses located in files on the compromised computer.  That member, and any other member whose computer is compromised will be placed on moderation until they verify to me that the problem has been corrected. However, before you become a victim and have a compromised computer, remember that the consequences for the owner of the computer may be even more serious that sending unwanted emails.  The trojan may also be copying personal information stored on your computer, e.g. your social security number, medical records, the name of your bank, the password you use for online banking, -- the list is as long as the list of things for which you use your computer. Please folks -- protect yourselves. Use a firewall. Install an anti-virus program and keep it updated. Run a malware detection program regularly if your AV program does not include one.  You can also run one of the freebies such as AdAware in addition to your AV program. Do not click on links in emails sent to you by people you do not know Even if you do know the person who supposedly sent you the link, check it out before clicking on the link.  Links do not necessarily go to the site they say they do. Do not allow programs to make changes to your computer unless you verify the source of those changes. If you visit a web site and are asked to download something or update a program on your computer, and your AV program pops up a warning, READ and HEED that warning.  Many  malware authors are adept at making malware appear to be an authentic update to a popular program. Pat Asher Freepages List Admin ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to FREEPAGES-HELP-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

One thing that will help avoid junk is to go to Control Panel > User Accounts [ or similar ] and set up a new user with no privileges to speak of. When you use the computer only log in as the new user. By default a Windows computer installs with only one user with administrative privileges. This is a big security hole. If the user has no administrative privileges programs cannot "auto-install" without the users knowledge. Makes it kind of a pain in the, ......... well you know what, at times but it sure helps avoid issues. On 10/19/2010 03:12 PM, Kabe wrote: > Oh yeah! I saw that no subject and just the email addy (a clue) so I didn't open it. > Lots of people getting "infected" and the deadly programs look so "legitimate". > Beware Vista users too, as a program comes up; Win 7 too. One way to "stop" the popup boxes is to hit ALT+F4 and don't click on anything, not even to close the boxes telling you a scan or an infection was detected! (only makes things worse!)! > Or shut down and get out using CTRL+ALT+DEL to run Task Manager, close all proA Rider of the Cherokee Stripgrams and shut down safely. Then SCAN and SCAN again. (Comprehensive Scan) My son had unwittingly allowed what looked like legit anti-virus to run which disabled his computer completely. We had to take it back to factory! (He's not on my network, but next door. Norton helped us get everything back to be useable, but all data was infected and lost.) > My mother had something come in& called me immediately w/o closing or clicking anything. (also next door and we were able to catch it (Norton did catch it as well) an "intrusion was blocked"... I did the above, shut down, scanned, scanned again, and she's fine. > > Another friend suggests a malware removal tool in addition to Anti-virus but I misplaced the link. I'm sure it can be found on-line and is free, but be careful what you downlaod! > > Also, Back up your files before these things hit, change passwords where you can too. My son found a "Fix" for a Vista intrusion that scared me to death, saved it to my desktop via phone as I rapidly typed the "fix" into a Notepad and then opened it. Not everyone is as lucky to have good, fast help. > > These are just suggestions that worked for me to remain (so far) pretty free of these buggers! > > (Delete your history too and allow critical automatic updates as the fixes come thru that as well) > Hope this helps some who may be new to all "this". But do your own searches on what I've said here too. Don't just take my word for it. Different systems respond in different ways...) > Happy computing! > > Kathie B. > > --- On Tue, 10/19/10, Freeps List Admin<freepages-help-admin@rootsweb.com> wrote: > > > From: Freeps List Admin<freepages-help-admin@rootsweb.com> > Subject: [FreeHelp] ADMIN NOTE: Trojans and loggers, oh my! > To: "Freepages-Help"<Freepages-Help@rootsweb.com> > Date: Tuesday, October 19, 2010, 3:31 PM > > > A recent sp*m post to the list was not intentionally sent by the list > member. His/her computer has been compromised by malware that plants > a trojan or key stroke logger on a computer and can then take over > that computer to do many things, including sending sp*m emails to any > and all email addresses located in files on the compromised > computer. That member, and any other member whose computer is > compromised will be placed on moderation until they verify to me that > the problem has been corrected. > > However, before you become a victim and have a compromised computer, > remember that the consequences for the owner of the computer may be > even more serious that sending unwanted emails. The trojan may also > be copying personal information stored on your computer, e.g. your > social security number, medical records, the name of your bank, the > password you use for online banking, -- the list is as long as the > list of things for which you use your computer. > > Please folks -- protect yourselves. > Use a firewall. > Install an anti-virus program and keep it updated. > Run a malware detection program regularly if your AV program does not > include one. You can also run one of the freebies such as AdAware in > addition to your AV program. > Do not click on links in emails sent to you by people you do not know > Even if you do know the person who supposedly sent you the link, > check it out before clicking on the link. Links do not necessarily > go to the site they say they do. > Do not allow programs to make changes to your computer unless you > verify the source of those changes. > If you visit a web site and are asked to download something or update > a program on your computer, and your AV program pops up a warning, > READ and HEED that warning. Many malware authors are adept at > making malware appear to be an authentic update to a popular program. > > > Pat Asher > Freepages List Admin > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to FREEPAGES-HELP-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to FREEPAGES-HELP-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > -- "A good moral character is the first essential in a man." George Washington