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Admin
04-12-02, 19:09
HOW TO GET RID OF ALL THE CLUTTER FROM YOUR HARD DRIVE!

All of the following is written about Win98 SE, so it may be slightly different for later version of the software. Unless I say otherwise, all clicking is left clicking.

Windows is a program that stores a lot of information on where you have been on the Internet. Anyone else who has access to you computer will be able to find out where you have been. Depending on your settings, you may have up to 20 Mb of wasted space on your hard drive, which you can feel up. There are some programs that you can buy like Internet Eraser and so on for about US$69.95 which may do all of this. The only program that I have tried on a 30 day evaluation, did not do all of what I am going to show you for free. (Perhaps I should sell these instructions!) However, if you have a computer at work that is connected to a network to go on the Internet, it will not stop the tracking software that your employer may be using to track where you go. Be warmed! Most companies now have tracking software that you cannot get around, unless you have a stand-alone computer that has its own dedicated internet connection that is not used my any other computer, like your home computer.

Windows has a hidden folder called C:\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5, which you cannot view under any settings in an explorer window, even if you have the settings to “View Hidden Files”. (It may be IE6 in Win2000 or WinXP.)

Some of the instructions may be a bit confusing, but it is assuming a basic understanding of operating a computer. If you have any problems, please feel free e-mail me.

The first thing is to ensure that all your windows that you open in your computer show the files as “Details”. When ever you open a folder, it should show, starting from the left column with “Name”, “Size”, “Type”, “Modified” and so on rather than the default large icon. To change this, with one folder open go to “View”, then click on “Details”. The go to “View”> “Folder Options”, click on “Like Current Folder” and also “Reset all folders”. Then every time you open a folder, all the contents are displayed as details.

Next, you need to rename one system folder within Windows. This only needs to be done once. Open the “C:” drive, open “Windows” and depending on your settings you may need to click on “View Details”. Find the folder named “Temporary Internet Files” and click once in the name. The name should be highlighted in blue. When it is, type in “Temp1” and press “Enter”. You will be asked if you want to rename this folder, so click “Yes”. If you want to know the reason for this it is because DOS does not recognise this folder but by renaming it like above, it does. (Yes if you want to, you are going to be using some DOS to move a file, but this is optional. What is DOS you may ask, especially the people who have never used a pre-Windows computer? For people who are using Win2000 or Win XP, you may need a Win98 boot disk to restart your computer in the DOS mode as I understand that these operating systems do not have the “Start in DOS Mode” feature. DOS simply means Disk Operating System and is not a Microsoft invention as it predates them. That is the preparation done.

The next time you are on the internet and are going to disconnect, do it this way. Right click on the connection icon on the bottom right of the screen while your Explorer window is still open and left click on “Disconnect”. You will now be disconnected but still have your last window of the site you visited still on the screen. This is important for the next operation and it is the way you should always disconnect from the internet from now on to do the following.

In that window, go to “Tools” and then “Internet Options”. The window should open in the “General” tab. Here I would suggest that you reset the “Days to keep pages in history” option to 0 or ZERO. Do that now. Then click on “Clear History”. This will clear all the history from explorer of all the pages you have visited. I suggest that you click on the “Settings” tab. I suggest that you check the bottom tab to “Never” in checking for new version option. Then move the slider bar at the bottom to as far as to the left as possible which should be about 1 Mb. The click “OK”. So now your computer will not be able to store any more than 1 Mb of data in this folder. The default is about 20 Mb.

Just this should clear some of the history that you have in this folder, which will in many cases be up to 20 Mb of wasted space. The slight downside for this, and it is just a slight one, is that some pages will take slightly longer to load.

Then you click “Delete files” option and you will be asked if you want to do this so click “Yes”. Depending on how many files you have in the folder will determine how long this will take, but it won’t be very long.

That has got rid on most of the files, but not all so there is another operation that you need to do to clear all the details. Close the Explorer window.

Go “Start”> “Find” > “Files and Folder” and click on it. Then click on the “Date” tab and click in the window for “During the previous” which should be 1 day circle. The click “Find now”. You now need to maximize the window by clicking in the second to right square in the top right of the window so the windows will fill the screen. To make this folder easier to use, I suggest that you enlarge the “Name” column by putting the cursor on the line just to the left of the “In Folder” box, left click on and hold down the button. Then you drag the line to the right so that the “Name” column fills almost half of the screen. The will only need to do this one time, provided that you close this window for the first time by going to “File” and “Exit”. If you close the “Find Files” window this time by clicking in the “X” in the top right box, for the first time, you may loose this change.

Scroll down the window until you find files in the “Windows\Cookies” folder. Put your cursor just to the right of the name of the first file but not the index, which you cannot delete. What you want to do is to delete the Cookies. Click there and drag down and if you move the cursor slightly to the left or right while you are doing this, you will see and enlarging rectangle appear. Go down to the last file in that folder and then to the left and completely under the last file and release. All the files should be highlighted in blue. It may take a little bit of practice in doing this until you can get all the files selected, particularly if the files go down past the bottom of the screen but with a bit of practice, you will get used to it.

When they are highlighted, hit “Delete” on the keyboard and the then “Yes” at the prompt. All the files you have selected will be deleted except if you have selected the index, which you cannot delete this way.

Then scroll further down the page until you get to Windows\Temp1\content.ie5. Select all the files and folders in this folder and delete them in the same way as you did above. (It will be content.ie6 if you have Explorer 6.)

Having done all of the above, you will have deleted all of the wasted space on your hard drive and only allow Explorer to have a maximum of 1 Mb storage now. It will also make it very difficult for someone to now track you activity on the Internet.

If you are doing this for the first time, you will need to increase your search several times until you do not find any more files in the above named folders. Do it in a series like 9 days, 1 month, 3 months and up to an many months as you have had your computer until you do not find any more files. The first time I did this, I eliminated 20 Mb of files, but that was because I had not set the internet setting to 1 Mb.

However there may be a way for someone to track what you have been doing by opening the Index.dat file. There are three of them in Windows in Windows\cookies, Windows\Temporary Internet Files (or Temp1 if you have renamed it) and Windows\Temp1\Content.IE5. The last one will be the largest on and in my case it go up to 1.5Mb. These files seemed to be written in machine code but they may be able to be read by someone else. However I am not sure on that point.

You can make these files much smaller and in doing so if will remove all the previous information stored in them. However, to do this you will need to use DOS and it cannot be done in a DOS window. If you are able to, you need to restart your computer in the DOS mode. In Win98SE it is Start > Programs >MSDOS prompt. If you are using a later version of the software, you will have to use the emergency boot disk. However, I cannot tell you if it starts the computer in the DOS mode. If you still have a Win98 boot disk, that will do the trick. If you cannot get a Win98 boot disk, please feel free to e-mail me and I will send you all the files, 1.3 Mb which would need to be sent in two e-mails. harryrose_nz@hotmail.com.

When you have the computer started in the DOS mode you need to type the following. The case does not matter but make it all the same

MOVE C:\WINDOWS\TEMP1\CONTENT.IE5\INDEX.DAT C:\ (These are only two spaces in that line: just after “MOVE” and just after “.DAT”) The hit Enter. The computer will confirm that the file has been move.

You can move the other two by typing the following;

MOVE C:\WINDOWS\COOKIE\INDEX.DAT C:\

MOVE C:\WINDOWS\TEMP1\CONTENT\INDEX.DAT C:\

When you do it the second time, you will get as prompt “Overwrite?” and you have to type “Y” and Enter to move.

These will greatly reduce the size of these files and only need to be moved very month or so. But people will not be able to track you web activities.

Admin
04-15-02, 12:36
For those of you who are concerned about divulging you email address, you might want to consider seting up an email acct at www.ziplip.com.

Bammbamm
05-23-02, 16:56
I have 2 tricks I use to help me stay anon. 1, I use a Remailer program to clean off the headers before they get to the final recipient, and 2 I use a proxy server to obfuscate my referring info as well as my originating IP addy.
A cheap and easy method for anon. surfing is megaproxy.com. for email you can find MANY remailers on the web or you can pay for it at www.sendfakemail.com its 9 bux a month, but if you're emailing a potential provider that turns out to be a sting, or someone that is just a malicious bastard, there is potential to be caught if you let your IP addy out of the bag. If nothing else, you can be humiliated by having some jack ass call your IT department and let them know that someone using the IP addy of xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx is posting to the WSGforum, this is no fun...

Hopefully this helps

Be safe,
Bammbamm

Freeler
02-09-03, 04:16
Jackson, all,

How I clean my drives....

I dl'ed 'eraser' from www.tolvanen.com. It is freeware.

After installing it I added these folders to the 'new task' list.

C:\recycled
C:\windows\cookies
C:\windows\*******.pwl (passwordlist, you may want to keep this)
C:\windows\recently opened
C:\windows\recent
C:\windows\temp
C:\windows\temporary internet files
C:\windows\history
You can add any folder you like.

Some of these folders are 'hidden folders', to add these you must make them visible through: Open any folder: View, properties, view and tick 'Show all files' after adding the tasks reset to 'Do not show hidden or systems files'

MAKE SURE that 'keep task on the list' is ticked, you have to tick for every new task!

After (almost) every internet session I erase these folders and all the files in them. Windows rebuilds all these folders at reboot, so don't worry! Erasing ('overwriting') one time will do if you erase regularly.

Next I reboot in DOS-made and I delete certain leftovers, like : temporary internet files (C:\windows\tempor~1), cookies (C:\windows\cookies) and history (C:\windows\history).
These remain after erasing as windows claims it needs them, which is utter BillyBoyM$BS!
These folders have the index.dat files that will keep info on your internet activities until you destroy them!

If you want to see what's in them: Copy the index.dat file, move to a folder outside windows and change <.dat> in <.doc>, open and don't cry!

Honestly, I don't care if people who get emails from me know my IP-address. It tells them nothing about where I go on the net.

Now, if you think 'I don't give a shit about cleaning my drive' let me ask this: Do you throw your mail out so everybody can read it after you have. NO!
So why leave everything for everyone to read on your drives?

One Great Man
08-20-03, 14:35
Jackson:

I was distressed to see a posting from GPiper that I had contaminated his site!

I did contact him to get a telephone number, but I have done absolutely nothing to cause him to receive spam.

In fact, my own inbox has been filled with spam since, but I'm not blaming GPiper for that! Many of the "undeliverable" messages are requests to unsubscribe to ClubAss and other services which I have requested. Someone is having their sick fun at our expense.

I have also experienced a virus problem at the same time, which my techie is trying to track down.

GPiper and I are experiencing what seems to be the same problem, but I'm not blaming him. If the source can be determined, I will pass it along to the board.

Easyas123
08-20-03, 15:52
Greatman... you probably have a version of the Sobig virus. its one of those nasty ones that gets into your system, finds things from contact lists to cookies and e mails eveyone on those lists. It also puts a fdake header in the from space so you cannot track it down. In other words who is SAYS it is from is not who it is actually from.

You can solve things like this from happening by

1: Installing a virus scanner on your CPU. KEEP IT UPDATED!!

2: Install a firewall on your personal CPU, if you do the computer thing from work your system may already have one.

3: Keep up with your microsoft updates. The icon for it is in your start menu. If you do not use IE just go to the microsoft website and navagate to it. A lot of times microsoft has fixed the problem before anyone tries to exploit it.

You can get a lot of free software off of the net that does the job if you are into the piracy thing, or freeware that is 1 time use or limited use from the software designers. Either way it is pretty easy to NOT get a virus.

Freeler
02-23-04, 11:10
One Great Man,

You made a BIG mistake in trying to 'unsubscribe' to unwanted services.
This only tells the provider of such services that your email is active!

What you should do/have done:
-Report ANY unwanted email to your provider, Yahoo for instance have a Report Spam button to make this very easy.
-If you block emailaddresses, make sure the email isn't returned to sender! Sender will know that your addy is active and simply use another emailaddress to send from.
Better not to block at all!

Blair
02-23-04, 12:13
For those who are really concerned about security an excellent solution is to use one of the 'Virtual PC' programs such as VMWare or Connectix Virtual PC (Now Microsoft Virtual PC 2004). There are also a couple of open source offerings : Boch and Plex86.

These programs emulate a completely isolated PC on your machine with its own operating system and files. This PC's data is stored in a single file and is easy to identify, delete or reset to a known state if necessary.

Not cheap, though there may be 'informal' copies around, and you have to setup the OS yourself.

Very simple to use and very secure.

Blair

NC Hunter
03-20-04, 13:18
I posted the message below on the Charlotte, NC board on 3/12/04 to assist Lurkers who used the excuse of being "found out" as a reason for not posting. Jackson pointed out that this is the section where it should have been posted.

I am now copying my post to where it should have initially been placed.

Lurkers,

It has come to my attention that some lurkers may not post because of the fear of detection. There are some who has only one computer in the household and are not very computer savy to cover their tracks.

Well Lurkers, fear no more. You can now post to your hearts content. Follow my steps below and you can become valuable contributors to the WSG family and will easily find others to provide you valuable info.

To cover your tracks:

1. In the Explorer bar select Tools
2. Then select Internet Options
3. On the General tab select "Delete Cookie" and then select Okay
4. Then select "Delete Files" (if you desire, you can alos select to delete offline content) and then select Okay
5. Finally select Delete History (This is very important to prevent anyone from tracking that you have visited WSG. This will clear all your history
6. Then click Okay to close the Internet Options page (You have just removed traces that you have visited WSG

This deletes all sites visited at anytime.

Now if you only want to delete your visits to WSG or anywhere else you would love to keep discrete, in the Explorer bar. select History and in the left pane delete the particular URL that you have visited. This maintains all the sites but the ones that you don't want anyone else to know about.

As an added option security option for those that are still a teeny bit cautious, open an email account with one of the many free email entities such as hotmail. Make up a fake name, location, etc and open your WSG account with that so that it cannot be traced to you. If you are concerned about having your IP address traced, post from a public library using the method I describe above.

Now Lurkers, what excuse do you now have for not posting?

NC Hunter

Freeler
03-24-04, 15:16
NC Hunter,

(This is a repetition/ addition to my post of 02-09-03 07:16 below)

Ever looked at your index.dat files in History and Temprorary internet folders?
To view the data in them, copy the files and paste them to any folder outside the windows folder and change .dat in .doc and open.
Cry if you want to...

To get rid of the index.dat files:
Reboot in dos, go to Windows (c:\windows>) and type:
deltree cookies, enter and confirm delete.

Do the same for history and tempor~1.
This cleans your c drive of your complete internet history.
(To do this in e'XP'eriment you have to have W98 - which includes DOS - installed.)

James D 2004
03-24-04, 16:34
I think you cleaning up the computer every now and then isn't practical, even if you buy some cleanup program to do it rather than manually.

Since window 95 (!), I have been setting up one account for each user of the shared computer. For microsoft programs, each user has it's own space. For example, for IE, each user's history, auto adress completion, cookies, are different. I've been doing this for years. Unless the other parties actually goes in my user area to dig up my history and cookie files, I'm pretty safe.

Now with XP, which is a NT type multi-user OS, if you setup the user as non-admin, they can't read you files and can't install programs. When I reinstall another OS in a new drive, I can't even access my old files in another disk. But don't rely on this info if your life depends on it, test it yourself.

Another sure way is to buy an additional cheap laptop just for your own surfing.

Baltimonger
03-24-04, 16:58
I purchased from webroot software, a program called "Privacy Maker", a couple of years ago. It is a program that allowed you to set up a secure browser and secure document folders that could only be opened with a password. This simplified the issue of not having to clean up the browser or delete files if the computer is shared with others. If you use a cleanup program to delete unwanted clutter, you could delete the information that others would see, but keep the secure information intact. I can set up a favorites list in Internet Explorer that no one else who didn't know the password would be able to see. I have been to the webroot website recently, but the "Privacy Maker" program has been replaced with a different program that may not be the same. Either way, they have free downloads that you could try to see if they perform the security functions you would need. The purchase prices are not very high if you wish to keep the programs on your computer.

BM

NY Monger
03-24-04, 16:59
A lot of good ideas, but I'd suggest for the casual pc-user its too hard to remember all the techno-jive. Personally, I think its good to know, but people get lazy and then get caught.

A program many use is Window Washer, which can run whenever you want it to, including on startup, so you washout that nasty Index file. It cleans out all those pesky files that Windows may create as backup, that can catch you.

You can find the software at www.webroot.com and it costs around $20 or $30. IMHO, well worth it. I think there is a nagware version too.

James D 2004
03-24-04, 17:30
I just verified that XP won't allow other non-admin users to open any folders inside My Documents, using the command prompt or not. Of course my account is password protected. I think this OS protection is finally comparable to that of Unix and NT users since many years ago. All your private data are under some system folders similar to My Doc. As for which system, the built in Microsoft or others, is easier to crack, I have no comment. I still have a hard disk mostly not accessible to me. The multi-user setup in XP should be the easiest.

As for favorite list, I sometimes use the bookmark in the yahoo companion bar. So I have the same list on every computer I use. And the yahoo account is of course password protected. You need a tool bar somehow, if only for the pop-up blockers.

Suna
03-24-04, 18:30
Has anyone ever picked up spy from coming to this site. I have myself along with a friend that I turned on to this site has also. His first time opening the board he pick up Gator, Gain and other spy programs total 30. Just wondering if anyone else has seen this.

James D 2004
03-24-04, 19:20
Suna, are you Russian?

Freeler
03-25-04, 01:13
NY Monger,

"but I'd suggest for the casual pc-user its too hard to remember all the techno-jive."

Casual runners have to watch traffic too or they get hurt, not just the pros. Remembering three folders can't be that hard: cookies, history and tempoary internetfiles (dos name tempor~1).

BTW, if you use the MYie shell on top of your M$ie, you have a tool that will remove all but the index.dat files when you close the browser. I've been using this shell for almost a year now and it's great! It kills pop-ups too.

Suna,

This site never got me infected with spyware or anything like that. But if you surf the web without caution, you are bound to pick up more than you bargained for.
Even ISP's that ought to be reliable try to put stuff on my machine that I don't want. Caution and knowing what to look for helps to make them fail in their attempts.
If you want to know more about the spyware you contracted, do a Google search and start reading. Spend an hour on that now, safe hours of unwanted program removal time later!

Lover Boy
03-31-04, 16:27
Go thru a proxy server if you are worried.

Need a list of proxy let me know.

James D 2004
04-02-04, 09:26
If you want to cover your tracks in XP, just copy the 3 lines into notepad and save it as cleanup.bat. If your XP is setup with multiusers, replace username with yours, otherwise there is a directory for all users. Put your bat file anywhere and double click on it to execute whenever you want to clean.

del /f /s "C:\Documents and Settings\username\Cookies\*"
del /f /s "C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\History\*"
del /f /s "C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\*"

Firstly, I don't advice depending your life on it as I said below. Think of it as an arm race. It all depends on how much is the strength of your opponent. Either it can be an overkill, or what if your wife ship the whole computer to an expert and prepare filing for divorce? As simple as auto complete, the addresses are not included in these areas. So you have to disable auto complete in IE also, otherwise when your wife type www.w, the wsgforum address appear instantly. This you can see, but maybe there are others you can't.

If you admin the computer, it's a good idea to setup an account for each user in Windows, as simple as setting up family email accounts in your ISP. There's good reason that only one person can see and edit the system files, and that only one person can download and install programs. So you can password your account and leave it up to the others to use password or not. There's good reason to use password, to avoid accidents created by any user on other user's files. With these setup, others really can't see what you are doing so you don't need to cleanup.

If your father is the admin (hehe), it's a good idea to cleanup if you have a multiuser setup. You just setup your own IE options, cleanup your own tracks and nobody will notice. But it's painful. You are going back in time to use IE 1 instead of 6.

If Windows is used as default, where no user names are setup, cleanup isn't a good idea. How do you explain that the PC is squeaky clean every time after you use it? Even your kids will think that you are watching porn. Do you expect your wife to remember and retype every password she registered?

I only cleanup at work when I expect someone coming for my PC like IT support. Just to avoid embarrassment, or that the guy is nosy. If they really want to target you, there's little you can do about it. They don't even need to come close to your PC. However, there are ethics and privacy issues that will keep their mouth shut.

Surfing at work is a big no no even if you can surf wherever you want. I use my home PC as the proxy. Anything between my work PC and home PC is encrypted, a private tunnel. Network monitoring software cannot know where I've been to.

I can't resisting humoring (good or bad) guys like Suna. He talk the talk, like an Internet junky, or even a Guru. But he is clueless. You cannot 'pickup' spyware, only install it. Either you download some software and install it. Or IE ask you permission to install something when you are surfing. Anything from weather monitoring to internet tool bars. Just a warning, the spy removal programs are even more dangerous than the spywares.

Ciccio
04-02-04, 11:57
Suna is correct: if you enter www.worldsexguide.org you receive the automatic proposal of installing DashBar/Precison time, that is, as far as I know, something like a spyware (or data miner, according to Ad-Aware).

Just say NO and nothing happens.

If you go directly to www.wsgforum.com, you do not receive the above proposal.
In any case, we all are at least 18 yo, and we must know when to say yes or no.... :-)

Joe Zop
04-02-04, 19:29
"Just a warning, the spy removal programs are even more dangerous than the spywares."

This is a misleading blanket statement that is patently untrue -- there are any number of spyware removal tools which are very much on the up-and-up. It's true that the stuff you'll find spamming your mailbox or advertised in pop-ups is bad news, but Lavasoft's Ad-Aware, for example, is not only above reproach but a must-have.

James D 2004
04-02-04, 20:37
"Just a warning, SOME spy removal programs are even more dangerous than the spywares."

If you are picky, use the corrected version. It can't be wrong, can it? Joe, I advice you to do a search for 'best' or 'all' in WSG and you will have a busy time arguing.

Joe Zop
04-03-04, 00:17
TNH, I've got no utterly issue or problem with people giving their opinions, which is most of what WSG is all about, but that's a very different thing than an absolute pronouncement giving technical advice. I've spent far too many hours cleaning up messes on various people's computers created by such statements. It's like a prescription -- the dosage and frequency simply does make a difference. Some things are either correct or incorrect and the specifics matter, regardless of your storied indifference toward usage of language and grammar.

Freeler
04-03-04, 02:06
All,

"if you enter www.worldsexguide.org you receive the automatic proposal of installing DashBar/Precison "

I use Myie as a shell over M$IE and when I enter www.worldsexguide.org in the address bar and click enter I hear a 'pop', meaning that a pop-up was killed.
MYie is G-R-E-A-T.
It's free!
Try it!
It can also be set to clean History, Cookies and Temporary internetfiles. Leaves only the index.dat files to be removed by hand.

Be safe out there....

James D 2004
04-03-04, 11:55
Joe, as I understand English, ALL is blanket, SOME is rather safe to use, and THE that I used originally is rather neutral to me.

Spyware is rather safe, otherwise it will be call a virus, at least a non-infectious virus. You lost your privacy but MOST of it are compiled into statistics for marketing purposes.

The most dangerous part is removal. If you don't remove it, nothing will happen. If you use a bad removal software and try it on a nasty spyware, the OS can be corrupted. My advice is don't download the first removal program that you can find and think that everyone is the same.

Many IE tool bars has pop-up blockers. The yahoo companion has one, the alvista translation has one. I use both so I don't need to install more software.

Joe Zop
04-03-04, 22:05
Sorry, TNH, but the specific way you used "the" does in fact imply all as opposed to being a neutral statement, as would otherwise be the case. Syntactically, by saying "the spy removal programs" you're using it as a statement of a class type, including all members of that class. Cool if you meant it to be neutral, but that's not the meaning as written.

I disagree with you that spyware programs are basically harmless. Outside of the privacy issues, (which is putting aside a lot in a thread about Internet Security) various of these programs have also been conclusively found to be directly responsible for Windows system and Internet browser crashes, and are able to secretly download and cause Windows to execute any arbitrary program into the unsuspecting user's computer. Those are significantly negative things, not even considering that we're talking about about something that basically uses your internet channel without your knowledge or permission -- basically stealing your bandwidth and affecting system responsiveness and performance. To me, that's not harmless stuff. I agree with you that problems can result from using bad removal tools, which is why I mentioned Ad-Aware, which does not have those issues.

I also very agree with you that pop-up blockers such as those from Yahoo or AltaVista are must-haves to help avoid accidently installing such stuff. Great care must also be taken when installing shareware programs, as far too many still have Spyware attached to them.

James D 2004
04-03-04, 22:52
"... THE spyware programs.." implies ALL spyware programs, is eye opening to me. I would think that THE implies specific spyware programs. And since I didn't even tell you what's those programs, I merely imply 'there exists some'.

I think in talking about spyware we all imply that we are mostly talking about adware, at least I'm. The fact that the program from lavasoft is called ad-aware supports this. Most of these softwares are safe in the sense that I explained before. Yes, some of the crude programs can cause crashes, which causes few damages. But if you try to remove those things with equally crude software, you may need to reinstall OS rather than reboot.

I have also mentioned the difference between adware and virus and imply something else. To gain control to your computer using adware is like using anal sex just to make a woman's pussy wet, and then make love via her pussy.

Even simple pop-up blockers will also dismiss invitation for downloading adwares.

Joe Zop
04-04-04, 01:39
Think of the syntax issue like this: if you say "the Democrats" or "the stars" it's a reference to them in general, not to some specific ones. The only way it's specific is if you've previously defined and are referring to a clear data subset.

And the point about spyware programs being able to download updated versions of themselves, including executable files, to have the ability to redirect your browser to wherever it wishes, and to willy-nilly run programs on your computer as desired, regardless of whether or not you give explicit permission for this to happen, is that you are NOT operating in a safe environment. Most folks would frankly be better off weedwhacking the things out and needing to reinstall or repair their OS than to have their precious personal data at the whims of such an insecure situation.

The fact that most spyware doesn't bother to take control of your computer in a malicious manner certainly doesn't mean that it's not possible, and security is all about limiting the negative possibilities.

Freeler
04-04-04, 02:09
TallnHandsome,

As I've said before, I have methods of cleaning up after me, but I gave your cleanup.bat a try. It is small and easy to take along.
But: No work for me on W98. I did remove the local settings bit.
Where do I go wrong?

Joe zop,

Instead of arguing over 'the' you could tell us 'which' spyware program is the best to remove that stuff. Not that you get any if you're careful, but still...

Headhunter2000
04-04-04, 03:46
Q: Which spyware remove program is the best?

A: It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is.

I use Ad-Aware and also Spybot - Search & Destroy. They are unequivocally (some of / all of / the very) best ones. :)

Joe Zop
04-04-04, 11:48
Freeler, I've twice mentioned Ad-Aware as a program that doesn't fit TNH's assertion that removal programs cause problems. It's free for personal use, has numerous options, and is solid and safe. I've used it for several years with no problems. One of the nice things about it is that it will also clean out cookies left by ad-tracking sites you might come across during normal surfing.

I agree with HeadHunter2000s that Spybot - Search & Destroy is an excellent program, and it's also one that works nicely (and is aware of) Ad-Aware. It has a somewhat looser interpretation of spyware, also including various Microsoft issues, and also has one of the best language options I've seen on any program. I didn't mention is before because I've only been using it for a couple of months and I like to see results over a longer time before I recommend such products.

And if you notice, in addition to syntax discussion (which came up in the first place to clarify overly broad technical advice) I have been posting specific on-topic information regarding spyware in those previous posts.

Also, TNH's cleanup.bat won't work properly on Win98 because the file locations it references are different in XP, which is what it's built for. 98's not the true multi-user OS that XP is and it handles user accounts in a different manner.

James D 2004
04-04-04, 13:48
Freeler, yes I'm talking about XP. I thought you know where the directories are in 98? Just replace my directories with whatever names you see in DOS or command prompt, or the full windows names. I think some could be under C:\windows.

JZ, out differences regarding THE is slight. I would think if I didn't define the specific reference, nobody can hold me accountable. If I'm guilty, that's the problem of English, or my English, which doesn't bother me a bit. Because my mind have to be more precise than that to get by.

Spybot hasn't got a good history. If it still claims loudly to 'use it at your own risk' nowadays, I'll think twice about it.

Joe Zop
04-04-04, 18:12
TNH, would you be a bit more specific on your negative statement about Spybot's history? Most of the research I did on it gave it a strong positive recommendation, and many Spyware forums include it as a must-have utility. I've certainly had no problems with it.

James D 2004
04-04-04, 19:35
This software is unmistakable - on the title bar it says "Use it at your own risk!" Need I say more?

It also has the recovery option for you to UNDO what you have destroyed. IMO this reflects try and error approach, and that undo gives you a false sense of security.

It's much more picky than Adware. I guess it's using simple name pattern matching to find known adwares in the registry rather than understanding adware at the functional level.

In the earlier versions, some reported errors are:

After removal, you get error message whenever you boot, ie, windows is trying to run something that is missing.

OS corrupted. Some adware turn themselves into system components. If you delete them without restoring to the old state, you have to repair the OS.

Undo doesn't work, doesn't recover.

Can't say these errors/features are unique to Spybot, but I would be very worry about software that just detect some keywords in the registry.

Joe Zop
04-04-04, 20:49
Again I disagree with you -- the admonition to use the program at your own risk is a reflection of the power of the software and the warranty provided: "removing the threats targeted by Spybot-S&D sometimes involves cutting deep into the system sometimes, and I cannot guarantee that your system will be running the same as before. For example, spyware hosts may stop working. I can also give you no warranty that Spybot-S&D will remove every spy on your system, or that it will give you no false positives. For your own verification the location of the problem is shown with every entry, and if you have any questions remaining you can visit the support forum for more information."

In my opinion that's simply a realistic statement rarely found in software user agreement, as people who use ANY tool for removing software from their system can put themselves at risk. I've had to clean up after lots of people who've screwed up their system by using the standard Windows program uninstall options.

The error examples you give can also appear when you clear your system of viruses or trojan horses, or even disable them, regardless of the program involved. An understanding of the operating system and its ability to repair itself (such as XP's digital signature or system restore options) is critical if you're going to mess around with this stuff.

Undo options are available on most decent utilities that involve uninstalling things, such as Norton's Cleansweep, GoBack, etc. That's not a "trial and error approach," it's a sensible way of letting people undo possible mistakes they make when rummaging in a system, and is especially important when you're talking about powerful tools that let you modify system settings and features. I personally don't deal with utilities WITHOUT an undo option, and I don't want to deal with utilities too weak to let me have a fair amount of control over what I'm doing.

The bottom line with the program is that it gives you a huge amount of control over what you're doing -- from defining specific things you want to exclude (I exclude my Adobe and Macromedia products, for example) to providing you a lot of specific information about each "threat." To me, that's a responsible utility.

Yes, people can screw up their systems if they just start poking buttons without paying attention to what they're doing. But they can do the same thing by using your cleanup.bat file if they happen to have a typo in it.

James D 2004
04-04-04, 22:49
This is my end game on this issue. One of the 'highly recommended' adware removal program has to put a warning on it's title bar. That's why I try to imply that some can be more dangerous than the adware themselves. That warning is not enough. Some adware cannot easily be removed as they don't come with uninstall instructions to restore to the original state, resulting in missing system components. Undo can be too late as you already crashed and will fail to boot.

The other 'highly recommended' removal program Ad-aware don't have an undo button, and don't come with warning on the title bar. Either it deal with only the adware it can deal with, or it's 100% effective and 100% safe.

At the end we come back to the 1st dilemma that I mentioned. To remove or not to. You know that they don't guarantee to remove everything. Ad-aware typically report less problems than Spybot. Either you still have adware after removal or you are going to destroy something that isn't adware. Virus and Trojan horse are different things. They have to be removed by ALL means and you have to take the consequences. At least as a public service you have to remove them. Another good reason is that your friends will not talk to you anymore.

It's the responsibility of these software to sell to the right users they intend. Average home computers and users, where the money is, should be scared away by the Spybot warnings. It's well known that MS uses windows to screw it's competitors at the OS level. Small developers hate to pay the sum to get the documentation or development system in order to integrate their application into Windows. If you don't deal with Windows OS for a living, only the rich-in-time class can afford to know what the registry means other than a keyword.

For any further questions I suggest to ask the Ad-aware people to hold a debate with the Spybot authors.

Joe Zop
04-05-04, 01:52
You are mistaken on Ad-Aware, TNH. It maintains "quarantined objects" which are basically archives of what's been removed, the same as most antivirus programs do, and these can be restored (or deleted) at any time.

Your statement that "Either you still have adware after removal or you are going to destroy something that isn't adware" is simply untrue. The difference in what the two programs detect is due to differing definitions of adware, and in both cases those definitions can be user-adjusted. And in both cases those definitions are very well documented. In addition, these programs do not "destroy" anything -- they place it in an archive where it can be deleted, restored, examined, etc. Both of these products, used correctly, are excellent and do the job they were designed to do.

Both of these programs, as is the case with countless utilities, are shareware/freeware, (no big money being made here) and, yes, users shouldn't use them unless they can actually read and follow directions. Of course, drunken people shouldn't drive, and casual users also shouldn't activate viruses, say yes to installing spyware in the first place, or create and use .bat files that delete things on their hard drives based on quasi-anonymous postings in non-technical forums unless they actually understand what such files really do, etc., but they still do all this stuff. You can't protect people from themselves merely by suggesting to the rest of the world that they avoid doing things they're perfectly cabable of doing. Unlike spyware and adware, both programs are quite explicit about exactly what they do. Anyone who can actually read and follow documentation will be fine using either of the mentioned products.

Blair
04-05-04, 12:01
To those who are really woried what tracks wife/gf/kids might find I recommend again Microsoft Virtual PC and VMWare.

You have your very own (virtual) PC for mongering, or whatever you are into. The virtual machine is a single file on your HDD, which can be password protected. The virtual machine can be securely deleted if required. By keeping a baseline copy of this file you can restore a complete machine configuration in seconds. Any internet usage tracks only exist within the VM. You can install whatever software you want without upsetting your host machine configuration.

You can get a 30 day trial copy of VMWare from

http://www.vmware.com/vmwarestore/newstore/wkst_eval_login.jsp

Remember you'll need some OS install disks for your new virtual PC.

In terms of peace of mind while the wife/gf/mother-in-law are using your PC, I really think this is the best solution there is.

James D 2004
04-07-04, 05:59
Let me slip in my final moves. Ad-aware do NOT have an UNDO button. Calling it something else is a good philosophical move, otherwise you have to warn 100's of times, as in Spybot, that this UNDO is not the usual UNDO in word processors, a lot more dangerous.

In Ad-aware, remove = quarantee, remove NOT= delete. I don't blame them, it all started with DOS, who doesn't want to call unix remove remove, but delete instead. Most annoying is \ instead of /.

You want to remove adware that give away your privacy when you are not aware of it. If that's defined any differently either you don't get what you wanted, or you get more than you bargained for. In the latter case you might detect something like spy / monitoring software that is secretely installed on your computer. But much more likely you spend much more time to avoid deleting legit components.

There is big money here. People will pay a few dollars to buy adware removal programs when they are bombarded with pop-ups even when they are not surfing (though this is marginally counted as adware). Nowadays, it's better to have millions paying you a few dollars, rather than a few people paying you thousands. You don't even need to buy it. Yahoo probably brought up the best (or whatever) pop-up stopper and put it in their tool bar. People don't pay a few dollars and then consult the MS technical manual on registry entries.

Lover Boy
05-27-04, 11:32
I found a better way for myself, I go thru proxy server. There's plenty of them. I proxy thru local cable or dsl or whatever I can find. But Since I use Unix I don't worry much.
You window people should watch out, look in this folder. I had to do a clean-up for my bud & the shit I found, he is really thankful.

In Win XP WATCH THIS FOLDER & THEN THANKS ME LATER

"C:\Documents and Settings\root\Local Settings\Temp"

Loverboy

Lover Boy
07-27-04, 17:02
Lots of virus out this week for vindow so stay away from porno & gaming sites & hopefully you got a antivirus software. If not go get your your for free at

http://www.download.com/3120-20-0.html?qt=antivirus&tg=dl-2001&search.x=0&search.y=0&search=+Go%21+

11Bravo
08-01-04, 12:24
Just a note about using a non-identifiable e-mail address when registering for wsg. SOMETIMES, not always, but 1 time out of 30-40, when you click on http://www.wsgforum.com/ You will be served up with ANOTHER member's header page (the very top part) as in:
Welcome back 11Bravo. You are currently a Senior Member
If you are a Regular Member, then you don't need to apply for an upgrade to Regular Member. Thanks
Your current membership email address is: xxxxxxxxx
Is your email address active? Have you checked your email recently for WSG Forum messages?

Maybe it has something to do with having the options set to yes for:
Automatically login when you return to the site? (uses cookies)
Browse board with cookies?

As an example, I was just served up with: Member2326's info. I know his e-mail address used to register for the forum, and I know he has 0 messages. Hitting the reload button will bring up YOUR correct page.

So, use an e-mail address that you don't mind others seeing.

Lover Boy
08-13-04, 14:00
11Bravo,
you need to click on forum logoff & it will log you off completely.
See the wsgforum.jpg

loverboy

Lover Boy
08-16-04, 12:19
Attention all,

Senior Member HarryR
Posts: 318 Is the owner of Pic 0bj04.jpg. I got PM saying I did not give him credit. But discussion here is Internet Security anyway dosen't matter to me?

Lets give
Senior Member HarryR 100 POINTS Credit

D Bonn
09-15-04, 09:09
I use Spy Sweeper. It seems to work well and I get regular updates. I even caught a key-logger on a work computer.

QUESTION: How secure is WSG? Can a hacker or LE "hunt you down" from our posts or invading the site?

Da Bone

Short Answer: No.

Sporadic
09-15-04, 11:43
Uh, Jackson? Sorry, that should be a yes. Ever hear of carnivore?

The bottom line is yes, they can. The good news is that it would take the resources of a nation-state and, in the case of LE, a court approved tap.

Another bit of good news is that Jackson would probably not release any logs or IP address´without said court order. But even if he refused, the ISP and hosting service would.

The best news is, that "they" (whoever "they" is) would simply not bother.

Freeler
10-10-04, 07:10
Y'all,

This has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with WSG, but it looks so nice - here it is:

http://www.hamar.sk/sphere/

Go check dat shit out!

Jack Spratt III
10-12-04, 12:46
I posted this on the "Letters to the Editor" section, and at the suggestion of the Editor will repost it here.

Re: Safety on the Internet and cookies.

The Internet is a dangerous place and you never know who may be monitoring your activities. PC software, particularly WINDOWS, is pathetically insecure. Your hard drive may contain many things you would not like others to see, even if you think you deleted it!
I devised a cheap and foolproof method of getting rid of all traces of your Internet surfing from your PC. This also works if you pick up a virus you can't get rid of or when your hard drive crashes.

It is tedious to create but your PC can always be in a pristine state. (Hey! I'm a poet!).

You need to have software that will make a backup of your system to CDR (NERO Burning ROM is the one I use).

1. Take a backup of your hard drive before you start all this, so that if something gets hosed you can always restore to this backup.

2. Copy to a different CDR all of your preferred site addresses and Email address book. I set mine up using WORD so that I can cut and paste the addresses to the action bar and hit "GO". Find a good hiding place for this disk.

3. Perform a FULL reformat your hard drive to clean off everything. NOTE: this may take some time as it erases everything on every track of your HD.

4. Load your WINDOWS software - from scratch.

5. Reinstall all the other applications you use - from scratch (Virus scan, ISP, Word processor, CD player, NERO, etc.).

6. Fire up your Firewall software and set preferences.

7. Log In to your ISP (at this point you have NO cookies(and NO viruses), so you will have to go through the login procedure) and set up your preferences (Click on VIEW and then set up your Internet settings).

8. Open up your Email account (you should not have lost any of your Email or address book).

9. Logoff your ISP. (Your computer is now pristine with basic ISP cookies and NO viruses).

10. Take a backup to CD of your hard drive again. This will be your Start-up set.

11. Test this Start-up set by running it to restore your hard drive including accessing your ISP. If it works OK, destroy the backup you took at step 1 by melting the CDs with a blowtorch to get rid of all previous evidence.

12. You can now cruise the Internet with a modicum of confidence. Every time you think you have too much incriminating stuff on your hard drive, restore to the Start-up set. Remember, every photograph you download and every site you visit can be extracted from your computer by an expert (LE?) unless you periodically wipe it clean! (Most of the time you DELETE something from your hard drive, the software simply changes a flag to say the track that the data was on is free to reuse, but it doesn't physically overwrite the track to remove the data. Tools are available to reset this flag so that the original data can be read again).

13. P.S. A tip on downloading photographs and movies: Never go direct to your hard drive. I use a ZIP 100 mb drive and then copy to CD. After the copy to CD, I delete the files on the ZIP disk and then copy the huge "Program Files" folder to the ZIP disk. This ensures a complete overwrite of every track on the ZIP disk ensuring security.

Always Lookin
10-16-04, 06:30
Jack, Excellant!
I used to use the same technique to build PC's. 20 pc's, all the same hardware all the same image. Any problems...one restore disc!
I never thought to use it for security.
I'm on it!

Thanks,

AL

Jack Spratt III
10-17-04, 00:22
Always Lookin,

I've worked in the IT field for a long time and have experienced many of those "Duh!" moments when you suddenly realize there was a real simple solution to a problem.

Glad to provide a "Duh!" moment for you :-)

Please feel free to share this technique with any other vulnerable folks you know.

I always laugh at the dumshits who get raided by LE who find illegal pics (CP, etc.) on that person's computer. The reports usually say that LE also found some kind of Hard Disc Cleaner software (which, obviously, didn't work!)

I just need to keep the wife and the boss from finding out my WWW browsing habits (especially THIS site).

Happy Hunting.

Rolly Polly
10-27-04, 14:12
Hey, Sporatic does that mean the short answer is still 'no'? :)

Sporadic
10-27-04, 14:29
Rolly Polly,

It depends on exactly what your personal level of comfort is. For ME it is an acceptable risk, with the precautions I personally take.

Having said that, I think full disclosure is important so each one of may evaluate their own risks.

Cheers,

Sporadic

Nanio
12-12-04, 03:11
If you are really paranoid, get a knoppix live cd to do your browsing.

It loads into the ram and doesnt need to even write at all to the HD.

A full fledged linux distro with web browser, email, office suite, etc. It does most of the basic networking for you, given a LAN connection of some sort. IE, with a card, and not a modem.

But you will have to RTFM. I know alot of windows users can't abide that, but that's the way it is.

And of course, you should stop using IE and use Mozilla Firefox on your Windows box, otherwise you most certainly will get that nasty Cool WEb Search and the Porn Dialers.

When Firefox deletes your history, it REALLY deletes it, unlike IE, which as I understand it, has a file somewhere of all hosts visited that it won't erase.

And there's eraser at http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/ to give you a serious clean up that probably will stymie even the FBI from trying to recover your data.
Free. Open Source. Like the Knoppix disk.

Hope this helps!

Freeler
02-26-05, 04:09
Nanio,

Yes indeed, in Windows you can't get rid of the '.dat' files. Windows claims it needs them.
But good old DOS is here to help:
Restart in DOS, you get C:\windows>
Type:deltree cookies, click yes
Type:deltree tempor~1, click yes
Same for any folder you want to get rid of, like:
-temp
-history
Restart windows by pushin' cntr+alt+del
Windows will rebuild the folders you removed in DOS, but the .dat files in them are..... empty!

Get yourself a copy of 'eraser' to completely overwrite the empty space on the HD(s) every now and then.

To reduce the amount of space you have to worry about, reduce the size of your C-drive to a minimum, let's say 'what you need +500MB'.

Get a bunch of seperate HD's for the porn:).

Best Tx Monger
10-24-05, 09:49
As some of you have noticed, the International guide now has a fee to view photos and so on.

Let's just say that I used my credit card. Does anyone know where credit information is stored ?

If this site was to ever come under fire, would the FBI and other agencies have access to such information and persue a presentable prosecution of some extent ?

-007

Aether LA
10-24-05, 11:17
Nanio,

Yes indeed, in Windows you can't get rid of the '.dat' files. Windows claims it needs them.
But good old DOS is here to help:
Restart in DOS, you get C:\windows>
Type:deltree cookies, click yes
Type:deltree tempor~1, click yes
Same for any folder you want to get rid of, like:
-temp
-history
Restart windows by pushin' cntr+alt+del
Windows will rebuild the folders you removed in DOS, but the .dat files in them are..... empty!

Get yourself a copy of 'eraser' to completely overwrite the empty space on the HD(s) every now and then.

To reduce the amount of space you have to worry about, reduce the size of your C-drive to a minimum, let's say 'what you need +500MB'.

Get a bunch of seperate HD's for the porn:).Another way is to use CleanUp! (http://www.stevengould.org/software/cleanup/download.html) ... a great free utility that has become a standard install on all the systems I build.

Kindashy3
05-01-06, 01:16
Some good information here. However.....

There are some VERY savy forensics programs now availible to the general public. IMHO only one true way to erase your pc. A strong and I mean STRONG magnetic field.

Yes you can re-format your hard drive. Yes this will delete whatever files you have. BUT the file fragments will still exist, kind of like the old ghost images on TV's from the 80's. I have heard that you could reformat a hardrive 12 or more times and still be able to recover some of the files.

Fire is also another option...lol

Captain Stiffy
05-01-06, 11:58
I've been using HistoryKill for years. Everything seems to run smoother once I get rid of all the things it deletes. Any info on how effective HK is?

Benchseats Rock
05-12-06, 18:04
Some good information here. However.....

There are some VERY savy forensics programs now availible to the general public. IMHO only one true way to erase your pc. A strong and I mean STRONG magnetic field.

Yes you can re-format your hard drive. Yes this will delete whatever files you have. BUT the file fragments will still exist, kind of like the old ghost images on TV's from the 80's. I have heard that you could reformat a hardrive 12 or more times and still be able to recover some of the files.

Fire is also another option...lol

My friend in Boston who teaches CS just ran a class experiment where his post doc students reassembled data from a drive that had been wiped 30 times. The only way to be completely sure that a hard drive is no longer readable is to melt down the lifters into liquid. Of couse having one computer for business and another for everything else is highly advisable.

Having more than one regedit program helps out a bit too.

BR

Benchseats Rock
05-12-06, 18:11
I've been using HistoryKill for years. Everything seems to run smoother once I get rid of all the things it deletes. Any info on how effective HK is?


Just about any history editor will do fine, but not by itself.
This is my main bag of tricks as far as programs I use to maintain security.
There are more, plus a proxy, a hardware firewall, a software firewall, McAfee, spybot s&d and external, dedicated hard drives.

BR

Carlosa
05-13-06, 02:29
Just about any history editor will do fine, but not by itself.
This is my main bag of tricks as far as programs I use to maintain security.
There are more, plus a proxy, a hardware firewall, a software firewall, McAfee, spybot s&d and external, dedicated hard drives.

BR

That is why I use Fedora

Benchseats Rock
05-13-06, 04:22
That is why I use Fedora

Does it handle multiple networking and MCE functionality or am I better off staying with the evil empire? How involved would it be to swap out my laptop OS etc anyway?

Now I have to go and rtff over at cnet. Honestly, I would rather do that than waste a half a tank of gas looking for a sw who won't meet expectations.

Bench

Northside
05-13-06, 12:06
Just about any history editor will do fine, but not by itself.

This is my main bag of tricks as far as programs I use to maintain security.
There are more, plus a proxy, a hardware firewall, a software firewall, McAfee, spybot s&d and external, dedicated hard drives.You could just ditch Windows for Linux or but a MAC. All these spy, security issues are really not Internet issues , but problems for "the great unwashed" that use windows.

Cheers

StreetMeat
05-18-06, 13:32
Hey,

Does anyone know how safe this website is? with all the hoopla over the nsa spying led me to wonder if the LEO could trace the IP or register and try to get e mail addresses and force the ISP to reveal the id of the posters here. Maybe I'm being a little paranoid. any thoughts would be great.

Hi StreetMeat,

You are being paranoid.

The USASexGuide's server is located in Montreal, Canada, well outside the reach of the USA Legal system.

Thanks,

Jackson

Square Tree
07-14-06, 11:36
How does a history/internet browsing cleaner such as Crap Cleaner (CCleaner) compare to the CleanUP and the Eraser products mentioned in earlier posts??
Thanks.
Square Tree

Rockett Man
07-14-06, 15:50
I dunno about those, but cleansweep is a good one I use/have used.




How does a history/internet browsing cleaner such as Crap Cleaner (CCleaner) compare to the CleanUP and the Eraser products mentioned in earlier posts??
Thanks.
Square Tree

Benchseats Rock
07-25-06, 23:27
You could just ditch Windows for Linux or but a MAC. All these spy, security issues are really not Internet issues , but problems for "the great unwashed" that use windows.

Cheers


I'll agree to a point, but Unix alone will not stop someone determined to get into your machine. I am ditching XP for Linux - the downtime will hurt but alot less than having MS anything in my life. As far as Mac, I always thought learning Unix was easier than dropping 3k on a winowed unix system with a killer graphics card. The NeXT machines were great back in the day, I dunno why apple never packaged them into a lappy - they could have dominated the portable market in 1990 that way, but I guess they didn't have their business hats on then.

BSR

Fred Reed
08-03-06, 21:23
I have found that running a LiveCD version of the Linux Operating System offers very good security. Nothing is saved on your hard drive. The best part is that it doesn't use Microsoft Windows for anything!

The hard drive version of Linux is better than windows for internet security. However if the police raid your house, they can access the files on your hard drive. That's why it's best to boot Linux from CDROM. The whole thing runs in RAM and everything you do gets lost when you turn your computer off.

To learn more visit: http://www.knoppix.org/ Be sure to select the appropriate language from the menu at top of web page

Let me know if Knoppix works for you!

Fred

Fred Reed
08-03-06, 21:50
Hi Jackson,

You can tell us in words that your server is in Montreal, Canada but we can never be sure unless we visit your location. You could just as easily tell us your server is in Germany. I was the webmaster for an escort service a few years ago and never new where the server was physically located. You can push files to a server from anywhere in the world with internet access.

I really don't care where your server is located but I sometimes wonder what would happen if the U.S. Government offered you a few million dollars to buy your web site. I know what I would do if the price was right and wouldn't blame you for doing the same. BTW are you CIA, FBI...? Just kidding!

Fred

Benchseats Rock
08-03-06, 22:44
I know what I would do if the price was right and wouldn't blame you for doing the same.
Fred

I guess we're all lucky that Jackson is running the show and not you.

Why should you care where the server is? I think that it is generous if nothing else to even tell us where it is, just to ease our minds. Point being that this is an incredible service that Jackson id running for us here without asking us for penny number one. Not to mention there are no pop-ups, excessive adverts etc., oh, and he'll boot without hesitation anyone smelling like LE or anyone that insinuate that there is an outside knowledge of the user database.

If his track record isn't enough for you to go on in and of itself, you should resign your membership immediately. After the denial of service attacks no Senior would rather soon forget not to mention that you don't need to provide any personal information to get on the site in the first place, I think your comment is at best out of place and at worst, anti-thetical to the concepts of trust and anonymity.

/rant

Thank you Jackson, as always, for continuing to do what it is that you do for us. Next time you're in Baltimore the beer, lodging and women will all be taken care of by us.

Benchseats Rock

PsyberZombie
08-04-06, 09:21
Why should you care where the server is? I think that it is generous if nothing else to even tell us where it is, just to ease our minds. Point being that this is an incredible service that Jackson id running for us here without asking us for penny number one.

Not to mention that running this web site has its costs , some of which are not trivial — like Legal fees =

http://www.usasexguide.info/forum/showpost.php?p=418536&postcount=18


p.s. = He never responded to my offer to contribute to a Legal Defense Fund

XtraBigboy
10-02-06, 11:46
Is it any good?

Baltimonger
01-21-07, 09:35
http://digglicious.********.com/2007/01/how-nsa-access-was-built-into-windows.html

Dubliner
03-17-07, 00:50
It's free.

It's bullet-proof.

It's even got variable levels of overwrite (up to NSA Standards).

Go get it :0)

Oh, and Happy St. Patrick's Day.

Dubliner

Ho Watcher
07-24-07, 23:46
Here is a link to a site called Tech Support Alert. Many links to free software are available there along with product evaluations in many software categories. Caveat emptor.

http://www.techsupportalert.com/best_46_free_utilities.htm

Bigg Mike
09-24-08, 10:16
Don't know if this is the right place for this or not, but here goes anyway.

I just recently clicked on a link in a post here to a video at the www.yourfilehost.com site. Shortly after I got there my computer slowed down noticeably, and though I logged off right away, I still managed to pick up a pretty nasty replicating trojan of some kind. McAfee couldn't find it, and I sure couldn't get rid of it even from DOS.

Long story short. Malwarebyte's Anti-Malware free anti-malware utility did a great job, finding a bunch of infected registry keys, dll's, etc. It's available at www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php.

Bigg Mike

NobodyYouKnow
01-13-09, 18:49
The hard drive version of Linux is better than windows for internet security. However if the police raid your house, they can access the files on your hard drive.The truly paranoid can always encrypt their filesystem(s). Here's an article describing how to encrypt the / filesystem in linux http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/7743, and it contains a reference to an article describing how to encrypt just your $HOME directory. Don't forget your encryption password, or you're screwed.

Windows can do something similar, but I've never used either, so I don't know how good/bad/indifferent a job they do.

Addendum: if you carry a USB thumb drive with any sort of sensitive information on it, you'll probably want to encrypt the thing. These things are ridiculously easy to lose, misplace, or have swiped. For that, you might want to look at TrueCrypt, a free open source encryption program:

http://www.truecrypt.org/

Since my day job is that of BOFH, let me give thumbs up to CCleaner, Eraser, Malwarebytes, Spybot Search and Destroy, Spyware Blaster and the free AVG anti-virus program. I had a couple of clients come in with a nasty little infection, and Malwarebytes cleaned it right out.

Oh, and the folks who made CCleaner have released a free disk defragmenter
http://www.defraggler.com/

One should have bootable CD/DVDs to recover a system that doesn't want to load the OS, be it windows or linux. If for no other reason than to be able to copy your important files to an external HD so if you need to do a wipe & load, you won't actually lose anything.

Ultimate boot cd: http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/ has a boatload of diagnostic utilities and recovery tools. Personally, I'm partial to the Clonezilla/Gparted live CD http://gpartedclonz.tuxfamily.org/ to make an image of a freshly installed machine, and acts like the Ghost program in that you can restore that computer back to that image at any time.

And if you're going to sell/give your computer to someone else, you really should get a copy of Darik's Boot and Nuke live CD http://www.dban.org/ and wipe those disks. I'm partial to an 8 pass PRNG Stream erasure, but YMMV.

NobodyYouKnow
01-13-09, 19:19
How does a history/internet browsing cleaner such as Crap Cleaner (CCleaner) compare to the CleanUP and the Eraser products mentioned in earlier posts??I'm not sure how they compare. CCleaner will find your browser's cache and clean it but you have to turn on the secure deletion in the options, and it handles cookies. Eraser would be less useful as it would involve more work to remove the files, and CleanUP appears to just delete temporary files and not in a secure manner.

"delete in a secure manner" means to overwrite the existing file with random data multiple times. The more passes of random data written, the less likely a snooper will be able to glean useful information, even if they "recover" the file.

Black Treechas
01-25-09, 16:21
Without thinking, I went to usasexguide.com instead of usasexguide.info. The com site brought up a bunch of stuff like free movie clips, webcams, etc. So like an idiot I clicked on one, and got a really really nasty virus. It was a little costly and time consuming. If you go to the com site by accident, leave it right away, don't be tempted to try anything there.

Horndog132
02-04-09, 07:46
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The online networking site ******* has identified and barred some 90,000 registered sex offenders from using the site over the last two years, ******* revealed to an investigative task force on Tuesday.

The "shocking" number was 40,000 more than ******* had previously acknowledged, according to Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, a co-chairman of the task force of state attorneys general looking into sex offenders' use of social networking.

*******, owned by News Corp.'s Fox Interactive Media digital division, disclosed the figures to the task force in response to a subpoena.

"This shocking revelation, resulting from our subpoena, provides compelling proof that social networking sites remain rife with sexual predators," Blumenthal said in a statement.

Blumenthal's office said it was awaiting a response to a similar subpoena issued to Facebook, another popular social networking site that his office said also might host "substantial numbers of convicted offenders."

Facebook's Chief Privacy Officer Chris Kelly said in a statement it was working with Blumenthal's office but said the site had "not yet had to handle a case of a registered sex offender meeting a minor through Facebook."

"Unlike ******* or other social networking sites, Facebook has always enforced a real-name culture and has developed and deployed social verification and powerful privacy rules that allow people to interact in a safer and more trusted environment," the statement said.

Two years ago, ******* commissioned background verification firm Sentinel Safe Tech Holdings Corp. to create a national database of sex offenders after reports that some of its teenage users were abducted by sex predators.

Sentinel operates a U.S. database of sex offenders that includes as many as 120 details for each offender, from their names and addresses to their scars and tattoos, Sentinel Chief Executive John Cardillo said.

Before the national database was created, information on convicted sex offenders was available only locally.

******* said on Tuesday the technology had enabled it to identify 90,000 users as registered sex offenders -- people who have been found guilty of sex crimes and ordered to register with law enforcement officials -- and had removed and blocked them from the site.

"We can confirm that ******* has removed these individuals from our site and is providing data about these offenders to any law enforcement agency including the Attorney General's in Connecticut," *******'s Chief Security Officer Hemanshu Nigam said in a statement.

(Reporting by Edith Honan; Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Philip Barbara)

Bubba261
08-20-09, 18:07
....well done, handled perfectly. And thanks for the lengthy explanation, many other members were concerned with the reaons and ultimate outcome of this "confrontation".

Thanks again.

Jack Ryan
08-20-09, 18:24
....well done, handled perfectly. And thanks for the lengthy explanation, many other members were concerned with the reaons and ultimate outcome of this "confrontation".

Thanks again.

Jackson Thank You for all you do.

Jack

Wolfman Jack
08-20-09, 18:39
Yes, this sick freak is the ultimate definition of the words "cyber stalker".

This just serves as a heads up to everyone that posts here. Be careful who you're sharing information with, especially via PM. I also feel for the girls on the streets. Not only are they already in an unsafe situation, now there's some crazy loon who's going to pick them up just to interrogate them for information on the guys that are picking them up.

I know this Sick Freak Cyber Stalker is reading all this. Get some help before you really end up hurting someone.

Member #1174
08-21-09, 06:53
Jackson, thanks for your post on the Wtby board. It reallys helps to alleviate me of the worries about the site security. My kudos to you!!!

C'est tout.

Misfit
08-23-09, 06:31
Guys be careful on what you click on when watching porn vids on the net. Last weekend I got a nasty program downloaded into my system. It was called braviax.exe
It corrupted my Norton Anti-Virus, Norton Firewall, Spybot, & everytime I booted the computer it would disable my Windows Firewall.

I finally had to buy a Spyware Removal program named Ad-aware Plus which finally got rid of the Malware & fixed my registery. All my programs are fine now. Just be careful on what you let inside your computer.

Misfit

Misfit
12-20-09, 07:24
Cost me a Ben, but am now completely protected with the software Norton 360 Premier Edition with automatic updates every 15 mins. Comes with a 1 yr. license included. Virus & Spyware removal, also a Firewall. Not promoting the software, just a simple comment.

Misfit

Grimpy
03-31-10, 00:55
One thing for many of you who run without antivirus to consider: Many of the major Internet Service Providers provide an antivirus program for you to download and install as a part of your service, either for Free or for a discounted amount. I know ATT offers McAfee (my deluxe pacakage comes with the ability to install on 7 computers), and I also know Comcast offers Norton Security Suite (not sure how many licenses you get there.)

You may also want to consider the free antivirus packages Avast! and AVG.

As to malware protection, I have used Spybot Search & Destroy from SaferNetworking for almost 10 years now. They're much better for cleanup after the fact, not livetime protection, although they do have some good protection in the way of the Immunize function and TeaTimer to try to stop any changes to known areas that malware likes to take hold.

Misfit
04-04-10, 05:09
I also use Spybot Search & Destroy. It's excellent & free.

Misfit

Rich60
05-27-10, 21:29
Microsoft has a free anitvirus program thats pretty good and free updates for personnel computers.

http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/default.aspx

R60

Crazy Jim Wood
11-23-10, 11:42
With the Nazi regime now ensconced in the USA, every aspect of our lives is subject to the most intense scrutiny.

I try to send WU and the person I sent the money to says she cannot get it unless I tell her my name, my city, and my phone.

Well, I do not want her to see these things!

WTF!

She has the MTCN, it is a small amount of money. There is a space where I can put a security question. Her name is on it. Why can't she just get the money from WU by presenting the MTCN?

Is this just some local idiocy at this particular WU, or is this WU everywhere?

I finally found a WU that does not require me to present I'd, I use a fake phone number and PO box. But now the assholes on the other end want me to give my info to the chica so she can get the money.

Does anyone have some advice on how to send money annonymously?

To be honest, it is not so much Big Brother I am worried about, as it is all the other idiots. Not to mention the chica on the other side and the s / o back home.

Willieherman
11-23-10, 11:51
It has been my experience that sending money to Western Union is a big red flag for rip-off. It may be different in your area, but not in mine.

Crazy Jim Wood
11-23-10, 13:49
It has been my experience that sending money to Western Union is a big red flag for rip-off. It may be different in your area, but not in mine.No, I am not sending money "to" WU. I am sending money through WU to people I know, there is no scam. I am not just sending money to WU. The problem is, WU wants the people I send money to to provide my name and phone number. For obvious reasons I do not want the chica to know my full name and phone number, because I don't want them calling my house or googling me and showing up at my front door one day.

Permanent Wood
11-25-10, 18:31
I finally found a WU that does not require me to present I'd, I use a fake phone number and PO box.

But now the assholes on the other end want me to give my info to the chica so she can get the money. If you used faked info on the sending end, give them THAT info. Hell, you're REAL info at this stage would come across as FAKE anyway.

You don't mention an amount, but I would send a small TEST amount first, to feel out how it goes.

Also:

If the intended recipient has a bank account, and there is a branch you can access, even by making a deposit sent through the mail (using no return address of course), all you need then is her bank account number to make a deposit. Banks don't give a shit who puts money into an account, only when it gets taken out.

Bank name
Account number and type e.g. checking or savings
In-person deposit at YOUR local branch
Or, The bank's address for mail-in deposits (this can be researched online at the bank's website)
It's free unless you mail it in, then 44 cents for a stamp.

You don't even need to know her name.

Wylie
11-26-10, 08:52
I finally found a WU that does not require me to present I'd, I use a fake phone number and PO box.

But now the assholes on the other end want me to give my info to the chica so she can get the money.

Google: "green dot moneypak" and see if that will work for you. It's an easy way to send money or pay bills annonymously.

Emme Gee
02-22-11, 03:57
Not sure if this is strictly internet security but this is the best place I could find.

I'm looking to pay for a site using mastercard but I don't want it in any way tied to my person. Is there any truly anonymous card I can find anymore in California? I've tried looking online for a way to use a prepaid debit mastercard to make online purchases but it seems all of the information is outdated.

Does anyone know of a good anonymous mastercard available in California that will let me make online purchases? Thanks a lot for your help fellow mongers. I didn't know where else to turn.

Jethrow1
05-25-11, 06:33
I just got a pm from well his initials are PH, seems his wife got into is account, PM'd me and said stop telling hubby where to find girls that he is married.

I know of several lately who have been careless, e-mail accounts open on phones and txt messages to be read.

Receipts in pockets for lunch with someone.

Browser history not erased on your smart phone, and turn tracking off on your phone also.

And to leave your USA page open for wifey to find,"SHIT".

Just remember to be diligent.

BTW Firefox and I believe now Internet Explorer have Private Browsing where nothing is saved while you are browsing that means no bookmarks either.

Eelectri
05-25-11, 09:19
Just to let you know as it was put before. Explorer has a private brousing if you have google crome but if not on explorer go to tools and it may have "incognito window" just go there and you are safe.

VerySlowly
05-25-11, 10:39
I just got a pm from well his initials are PH, seems his wife got into is account, PM'd me and said stop telling hubby where to find girls that he is married.

I know of several lately who have been careless, e-mail accounts open on phones and txt messages to be read.

Receipts in pockets for lunch with someone.

Browser history not erased on your smart phone, and turn tracking off on your phone also.

And to leave your USA page open for wifey to find,"SHIT".

Just remember to be diligent.

BTW Firefox and I believe now Internet Explorer have Private Browsing where nothing is saved while you are browsing that means no bookmarks either. Apple's Browser "safari' has had private browsing for many years. And you can additionally click it to not bookmark pages. My super computer friends say Firefox is more secure-VS

JaxGator69
05-25-11, 10:56
Apple's Browser "safari' has had private browsing for many years. And you can additionally click it to not bookmark pages. My super computer friends say Firefox is more secure-VSGoogle Chrome browser has under tools an incognito widow selection that does not save any history. Very safe, and also pages load much faster than with other browsers.

Vankleek
05-25-11, 11:14
Apple's Browser "safari' has had private browsing for many years. And you can additionally click it to not bookmark pages. My super computer friends say Firefox is more secure-VSAn apple guy? I knew I liked you for a reason.

Safari is also easy to get rid of cookies. Another area of the computer where even someone with elementary computer skills can snoop.

Webebad
05-25-11, 12:15
You have my wife who say's, have at it BUT don't bring anything home!

Ahhhhhh the lucky monger I am! (and yes I tell her everything-full disclosure)

WBB.


I just got a pm from well his initials are PH, seems his wife got into is account, PM'd me and said stop telling hubby where to find girls that he is married.

I know of several lately who have been careless, e-mail accounts open on phones and txt messages to be read.

Receipts in pockets for lunch with someone.

Browser history not erased on your smart phone, and turn tracking off on your phone also.

And to leave your USA page open for wifey to find,"SHIT".

Just remember to be diligent.

BTW Firefox and I believe now Internet Explorer have Private Browsing where nothing is saved while you are browsing that means no bookmarks either.

MattVajda
07-06-11, 23:12
Heard of tor from the New York Times article and was wondering if anyone has any experience with it. From what I read about tor you can apparently surf the web in anonymity. I'm always looking for ways to keep safe online anyone have any suggestions besides the standard antivirus and firewall software?

Tor link:

https://www.torproject.org/

VaporWaste
07-09-11, 03:44
Hi,

Until I get some reviews up, I thought I'd drop some knowledge that might be useful. Long timers probably know this stuff already, but I figured I'd throw in what I can. I hope general reports is the right place, since I didn't see anywhere more relevant.

Obviously everyone is computer literate, since they are posting on a forum. The last thing I want is to be corresponding with. Someone. And I find a troop of blue or green uniforms at my door. This isn't going to stop an fbi trace, but it's not like anyone here is high on the most wanted list. You can use a proxy server to mask your IP address.

There's a few ways to do it, and obviously you can google if my explanation isn't clear.

One way is to go into your (for internet explorer) web browser's Tools Options Connections Lan Settings. Then select proxy server, enter a proxy IP and port. To find a proxy IP and port just google proxy server IP's. They change too often for me to give out any.

Another way is to use a proxy software like proxy way or whatever you find that is right for you budget (the free ones usually work just fine).

Proxy servers aren't bulletproof, but they are a little protection you might not have otherwise had. (Theoretically, a site could be put up for a fake SW that collected everyone's IP that visited the site, that's one headache that can be avoided).

EthRidge3
07-09-11, 14:33
All,

Read through these posts and want to point out a couple of methods that are useful for ensuring "security" from prying eyes.

This doesn't apply to "internet security" but rather "over the shoulder" security of folks who might use your computer after you do.

"Account Security"

For windows

Turn off auto login. Make a person either 1) pick an account or 2) type in the account name / password. If multiple people use your computer, set up an account for each of them. Also, if you use the "type in the account name" option, make an account that is named something no one will ever guess. Beause Windows won't display the account names, no one will be able to pick it. Also, for every account except YOUR account and the ADMIN account. Disable admin services and make them a guest or user. THis will prevent them from searching folders, etc under other accounts. All of my computers have 3 accounts. 1 for me. 1 for everyone else (wife / kids) and a "guest" account I do all my "other" surfing under.

Also, tell your browser on your "other" account to "delete cache / cookies when closing" and set your "history" to 1 day (or 0 if your super paranoid). Don't ever let it remember passwords or usernames.

If you can't multi-account your computer, get an alternate browser and when you install it, don't let it default to the usual folders. Make a folder somewhere deep (3+ levels) inside another program folder set and have it install there. Put the shortcut somewhere no one will look for it (NOT THE DESKTOP). In the system32 folder is usually a good place. Due to the amount of icons / programs already in it. And then rename it something else such as "Shortcut to 3rd Quarter Fiscal Analysis" or a similar yawn-inducing title.

BROWSING / INTERNET.

Alternate proxy servers and DNS servers are great, so is TOR. But they can be a little complicated, especially running TOR on a shared computer without a user account that is just your own. Best bet is to allow your browsers "private browsing" settings to take care of it. Remember, visiting a website (unless it's kiddie porn *shudder*) isn't against the law. Neither is being interested in prostitution, as far as I know. I'm a graduate student and actually find the "user submitted stories" on this site extrememly helpful when researching human sexuality. The reviews are helpful too *wink. If someone got ahold of my computer and tried to take me to court over it, they would be hard pressed to "prove" beyond a shadow of a doubt that I did anything illegal. If you could be tried on your "fictitious accounts" then every rap star would currently be serving a jail sentence for being drug dealers / murderers and not paying child support.

HARD DRIVE / OVERALL.

If you have a computer that is just your own, that only you use (for the majority) with your own user account. Then encrypt your user folder. Lock and encrypt it using a 20 character password and AES 256-bit. If you are really paranoid, wipe your cache / cookies each time using a program that conforms to NSA (National Security Agency) data shredding (I think Window Washer does this). It basically wipes and overwrites everything 7 times, which completely removes redundant and particulate data. It works, and it works well. My field of expertise in the "real life" sector deals with this constantly, and it's what we use to ensure we leave no trace. If anyone ever got ahold of your computer for legal (or nefarious) purposes, the only thing they can tell is that you have hard drive sectors overwritten with garbage data, indicating you wiped it. It proves nothing, and is non incriminating.

If you have specific questions regarding your situation and how to secure your computer / web stuff, PM me and I'll do the best I can to help. It is the majority of what I do in real life, and I support this site and the people on it. So I'm willing to help the best I can. I even have some friends in the legal realm I can throw hypothetical's at if you want (but it will take some time).

Later.

E.

PS As an alternative to your windows based woes. You could run a mac.

Niteluvr
07-09-11, 22:23
Jackson,

What's the best browser to use for USASG? Seems for the past 2-3 months the site has slowed down. I click on a link and it takes forever to load with IE 9. Also have tried Firefox and Google Chrome. Chrome is slightly better but pages still take way too long to load. Any advice?

Papa Rotzi
07-09-11, 23:18
Clean out your cache and cookies and revert back to IE8 perhaps? I use Safari (Mac) and Chrome with NO ISSUES whatsoever. With this new release the site appears to be faster than ever for me. Just my two centavos worth.


Jackson,

What's the best browser to use for USASG? Seems for the past 2-3 months the site has slowed down. I click on a link and it takes forever to load with IE 9. Also have tried Firefox and Google Chrome. Chrome is slightly better but pages still take way too long to load. Any advice?

Niteluvr
07-09-11, 23:52
Clean out your cache and cookies and revert back to IE8 perhaps? I use Safari (Mac) and Chrome with NO ISSUES whatsoever. With this new release the site appears to be faster than ever for me. Just my two centavos worth.Did all that. Do you happen to run Skype, MSN and Yahoo Messenger while perusing USASG?

Papa Rotzi
07-10-11, 01:06
But not MSN. But do keep multiple browsers open and sometimes run Netflix on the TV (wifi) at the same time. And I'm on DSL not cable.

4 gig dual core MacBook Pro that's 3 years old, running Snow Leopard 10. X. So nothing fancy.


Did all that. Do you happen to run Skype, MSN and Yahoo Messenger while perusing USASG?

Captain Howdy
07-10-11, 10:13
Did all that. Do you happen to run Skype, MSN and Yahoo Messenger while perusing USASG?Nite,

I'm downloading HD porn files from Reality Kings using Firefox and reading USASG on Google Chrome on my Macbook Pro and encountering no slowdown issues on either one. You may want to consider Mac Cleanser (if you're on a Mac) or the Windows equivalent to really scrub your cache, eliminate the flash cookies and other nonsense that accumulates over time. Not sure if that's going to help in your situation, but it's worth a try.

Hope that's helpful.

CH

Papa Rotzi
07-10-11, 19:03
The newest versions from MacAffie and Norton (to name two.) , look at, scan and scrub every effing thing. These programs can seriously impact your performance. Just another thought. I doubt it's your actual computer or IE9, but who the heck actually knows.


Don't have a Mac, got an HP with Windows 7 and IE 9. I've cleared all cookies, temp files, etc, run antivirus, malware, etc. Nothing seems to help. The machine is 2-3 years old, has a AMD Phenom 9750 quad-core 2. 4 Ghz 64-bit processor and 8 GB memory. It came with Vista, then I did the free upgrade to Windows 7, so I don't think I can reinstall it as the upgrade was probably a one time offer. Strange thing is the slowdown happened 2-3 months ago, about the time I downloaded IE 9. However, I can't seem to revert back to IE 8 as my installed programs don't even show IE 9.

If you know of a good Windows cleanup program, I'd appreciate it. I always do a Windows update weekly and use Sytem Tools to do a disk cleanup weekly as well in addition to auto-running antivirus and anti-spyware.

Papa Rotzi
07-10-11, 19:04
Back when I used Windows machines, I swore by program called "CCleaner" for finding and erasing all of the flotsom that can clog up a PC. Not sure if it's still around, but 3 years ago it was a good program to have.


The newest versions from MacAffie and Norton (to name two.) , look at, scan and scrub every effing thing. These programs can seriously impact your performance. Just another thought. I doubt it's your actual computer or IE9, but who the heck actually knows.

Navingp
07-10-11, 21:41
Back when I used Windows machines, I swore by program called "CCleaner" for finding and erasing all of the flotsom that can clog up a PC. Not sure if it's still around, but 3 years ago it was a good program to have.CCleaner is still alive and I have been using for last 3-4 years.

Ga Marky Mark
07-10-11, 22:28
Don't have a Mac, got an HP with Windows 7 and IE 9. I've cleared all cookies, temp files, etc, run antivirus, malware, etc. Nothing seems to help. The machine is 2-3 years old, has a AMD Phenom 9750 quad-core 2. 4 Ghz 64-bit processor and 8 GB memory. It came with Vista, then I did the free upgrade to Windows 7, so I don't think I can reinstall it as the upgrade was probably a one time offer. Strange thing is the slowdown happened 2-3 months ago, about the time I downloaded IE 9. However, I can't seem to revert back to IE 8 as my installed programs don't even show IE 9.

If you know of a good Windows cleanup program, I'd appreciate it. I always do a Windows update weekly and use Sytem Tools to do a disk cleanup weekly as well in addition to auto-running antivirus and anti-spyware.I would download CC Cleaner or History Kills. They do a good job of cleaning up your disk of all the fragments. You might want to run a De Frag hard drive and then do a Check Disk. Do a massive clean up and lining up all the program files seems to make my computer run a lot faster.

Xxxx9998
07-11-11, 00:00
I had a problem recently where my pc was going really slow when surfing the web, turns out new version of my antivirus software has a setting to virus check every webpage and every link. Rather than just look for viruses in downloads etc. This setting is definitely valueable, but if you are surfing (reasonably) reliable websites, you can switch off and see a noticeable improvement.


Back when I used Windows machines, I swore by program called "CCleaner" for finding and erasing all of the flotsom that can clog up a PC. Not sure if it's still around, but 3 years ago it was a good program to have.

Papa Rotzi
07-11-11, 08:56
Since we are on the subject of PC's and such, here's something you all should know from a privacy perspective. WIndows has a file, "index.dat" That that tracks ALL of your web pages accessed, URL's visited, even all emails sent if using Outlook or Outlook Express. There are ways to delete these files, but it's not easy. Here's a youtube link that describes what I'm talking about. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev3Lew9czkA GOOGLE the term "index.dat files" and read up on them. You can erase all of your cookies, history, etc. But these puppies can give you away. Just an FYI. I read somewhere that CCleaner removes these files. NOT SURE on that so research is needed to confirm. Just letting all you guys know about the "backdoor" Windows has to trap our sorry asses.

Bizzy Muhn
07-13-11, 14:29
I read somewhere that CCleaner removes these files.While CCleaner works, it's kinda annoying when it deletes site preferences to legit regularly visited forums / sites. It also doesn't help that whomever has access to your router can see where you've been dredging on the internets even after you've cleaned out your history! With that said, I use TOR to visit sites anonymously and when am done, I close TOR and fire up my regular browser and don't have to worry about anyone seeing my web history. With that said nothing is foolproof.

SirMister
08-10-11, 14:36
[Deleted by Admin]

============================================

Greetings Gentlemen,

With all due respect, I would very much appreciate it if you would not use my forum to publicly solicit or exchange information on how to find and/or use my competitor's website(s).

Thanks,

Jackson

Aacountyman
08-11-11, 05:53
I am getting browser warnings from google about this site. It seems one of your banner ads is sending out malicious software. FYI.

Max #01
08-11-11, 06:39
I am getting browser warnings from google about this site. It seems one of your banner ads is sending out malicious software. FYI.The same thing happened to me last night. I use Firefox and all the bells & whistles went off when it blocked USASG.

Seva Lurker
08-11-11, 07:39
My browser of preference is Mozilla's Firefox. Well it seems to have (several years ago no less) teamed up with Google to protect us from ourselves.

Now I do not deny there is way to much 'phishing' and 'malware' floating around the web. However, my AV and internet security do an adequate job of stopping it.

Anyway, for those (like me) getting the Google safe browsing problem with Firefox or Chrome, the solution seems to be to use Interet Explorer. I personally DO NOT like using IE for ANYTHING, but there are some times when there is no choice. This may be one of them.

It is too bad that Firefox / Google do not give us the option of permanently accepting accessing the site. At least I have not found that option in my searches, but then I was using Google (hey I just woke up). I may have to try another search engine.

Okay, a bit more info. First using 'Bing', I found this site that is 'supposed' to allow us to turn 'safe browsing' on or off. Well for me it did not work.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/safesearch-off/

Now there was link on the 'blocked' notice (this is not an attack site) that has an option that will stop this. In Firefox, go to your Tools/Options menu and click the security tab. Then uncheck the 'block reported attack sites' and then click OK.

You may want to restart Firefox, but I didn't and things are now working nicely.

TwistedBrother
08-11-11, 09:22
Thanks for the info; I was worried the problem was my computer or the site. I had the same problem last night. I will try and change that setting, because I'd prefer to use Firefox instead of I. E.

Jaxback
08-11-11, 14:52
I had a similar issue with Google Chrome. Here is what it says:

What is the current listing status for usasexguide. Info?

Site is listed as suspicious. Visiting this web site may harm your computer.

Part of this site was listed for suspicious activity 1 time (s) over the past 90 days.

What happened when Google visited this site?

Of the 89 pages we tested on the site over the past 90 days. 2 page (s) resulted in malicious software being downloaded and installed without user consent. The last time Google visited this site was on 2011-08-11, and the last time suspicious content was found on this site was on 2011-08-10.

Malicious software includes 3 scripting exploit (s). Successful infection resulted in an average of 2 new process (es) on the target machine.

Malicious software is hosted on 1 domain (s) , including loj7g. CZ. Cc.

Joinem Us
08-11-11, 16:35
My Camino browser gave me the same malware message (derived from Google information) every time I tried to reach a new page. It also wouldn't let me post this message. I fixed it by unchecking the proper box in "preferences; security", and now it is back to normal. Fortunately, I use a mac.

J US

Loving302
08-11-11, 19:52
Why do I keep getting this warning on several different computers and on Safari and Firefox Browsers. I have done a variety of things to try to bypass, but it keeps blocking me. Any help you can provide would be appreciated. Either PM or post here.

Thank You!

140670

Loving302
08-11-11, 19:56
Why do I keep getting this warning on several different computers and on Safari and Firefox Browsers. I have done a variety of things to try to bypass, but it keeps blocking me. Any help you can provide would be appreciated. Either PM or post here.

Thank You

ArrowMaker
08-11-11, 20:21
Why do I keep getting this warning on several different computers and on Safari and Firefox Browsers. I have done a variety of things to try to bypass, but it keeps blocking me. Any help you can provide would be appreciated. Either PM or post here.

Thank YouI am getting the same warning and block on Google Chrome. Saying it has detected malware on two instances of test.

Austins66
08-11-11, 20:31
Why do I keep getting this warning on several different computers and on Safari and Firefox Browsers. I have done a variety of things to try to bypass, but it keeps blocking me. Any help you can provide would be appreciated. Either PM or post here.

Thank YouFor some reason this site was listed as a possible site for trying to install malicious software while visiting the site. I can honestly say that is bull. I have never had any issues with this site.

To stop the blocked pages messages you are getting in Firefox please do the following.

Go to tools.

Options.

Security.

Uncheck the box that states " Block reported attack sites "

I hope this helps. Until the administrators of this site contact Google on this matter it will remain on the block site list.

Be safe.

Austin

AsianLPGAfan
08-11-11, 20:45
I have to try another search engine if I type in the site. You get a warning this a "bad" site.

I don't have it bookmarked on my home computer.

Dicktracey
08-11-11, 22:00
Why do I keep getting this warning on several different computers and on Safari and Firefox Browsers. I have done a variety of things to try to bypass, but it keeps blocking me. Any help you can provide would be appreciated. Either PM or post here.

Thank YouI had this problem pop-up also on Safari and it made browsing this site difficult and posting impossible. The fix is similar to the firefox fix described below. If you're using Safari on a mac click on the word Safari in the upper left then select preferences, then security, and then uncheck the "warn about fraudulent sites" tab. This problem just started popping up Tuesday night August 9th.

CoolHand66
08-11-11, 22:02
My browser of preference is Mozilla's Firefox. Well it seems to have (several years ago no less) teamed up with Google to protect us from ourselves.

Now I do not deny there is way to much 'phishing' and 'malware' floating around the web. However, my AV and internet security do an adequate job of stopping it.

Anyway, for those (like me) getting the Google safe browsing problem with Firefox or Chrome, the solution seems to be to use Interet Explorer. I personally DO NOT like using IE for ANYTHING, but there are some times when there is no choice. This may be one of them.

It is too bad that Firefox / Google do not give us the option of permanently accepting accessing the site. At least I have not found that option in my searches, but then I was using Google (hey I just woke up). I may have to try another search engine.

Okay, a bit more info. First using 'Bing', I found this site that is 'supposed' to allow us to turn 'safe browsing' on or off. Well for me it did not work.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/safesearch-off/

Now there was link on the 'blocked' notice (this is not an attack site) that has an option that will stop this. In Firefox, go to your Tools / Options menu and click the security tab. Then uncheck the 'block reported attack sites' and then click OK.

You may want to restart Firefox, but I didn't and things are now working nicely.Have internet explorer working grate.

Just Mozilla's Firefox is doing it.

Coolhand66

Sanptn
08-11-11, 22:35
I am not sure what is going on but usasexguide is getting blocked by my safari & firefox browser. Has any one else had similar experience. I am now posting this using the Opera browser.

Sanptn
08-11-11, 22:54
I am not sure what is going on but usasexguide is getting blocked by my safari & firefox browser. Has any one else had similar experience. I am now posting this using the Opera browser.Here's the message that I get on my browser.

Safe Browsing.

Diagnostic page for usasexguide. Info.

What is the current listing status for usasexguide. Info?

Site is listed as suspicious. Visiting this web site may harm your computer.

Part of this site was listed for suspicious activity 1 time (s) over the past 90 days.

What happened when Google visited this site?

Of the 120 pages we tested on the site over the past 90 days. 2 page (s) resulted in malicious software being downloaded and installed without user consent. The last time Google visited this site was on 2011-08-11, and the last time suspicious content was found on this site was on 2011-08-10.

Malicious software includes 3 scripting exploit (s). Successful infection resulted in an average of 2 new process (es) on the target machine.

Malicious software is hosted on 1 domain (s) , including loj7g. CZ. Cc.

This site was hosted on 1 network (s) including AS8972 (PLUSSERVER).

Has this site acted as an intermediary resulting in further distribution of malware?

Over the past 90 days, usasexguide. Info did not appear to function as an intermediary for the infection of any sites.

Has this site hosted malware?

No, this site has not hosted malicious software over the past 90 days.

How did this happen?

In some cases, third parties can add malicious code to legitimate sites, which would cause us to show the warning message.

Next steps:

Return to the previous page.

If you are the owner of this web site, you can request a review of your site using Google Webmaster Tools. More information about the review process is available in Google's Webmaster Help Center.

Lordsoth78
08-11-11, 23:22
I have tried logging into these sites today but have unable to even bring them up. Anyone else having trouble?

Tungphumaster
08-11-11, 23:57
In firefox, go to tools, options, security. Uncheck block reported attack sites. That "fixes" it. It does however leave you unprotected from dangerous sites.


Why do I keep getting this warning on several different computers and on Safari and Firefox Browsers. I have done a variety of things to try to bypass, but it keeps blocking me. Any help you can provide would be appreciated. Either PM or post here.

Thank You!

140670

PoonHunter1
08-12-11, 00:07
That is the message I get when I attempt to come to this site from firefox google, or IE google. I was only able to login using my iPhone, which is what I'm typing with. Never had this issue before. Wonder if the administrator knows that the site is blacklisted by google? Anybody else having same problems?

Aesder
08-12-11, 01:38
Why do I keep getting this warning on several different computers and on Safari and irefox Browsers. I have done a variety of things to try to bypass, but it keeps blocking me. Any help you can provide would be appreciated. Either PM or post here.

Thank You!

140670Its a google thing. Do a google search on usasexguide. Info and you will see several warnings. Click on the link for the explanation from google.

Admin
08-12-11, 02:41
Greetings Everyone,

Approximately 30 hours ago the forum's server was the target of a low level attack by a hacker who was attempting to upload his SPAM malware advertisements onto the website. A by-product of this attempted attack was a security advisory issued by Google.

24 hours ago, just 6 hours later, we discovered the hack attempt, cut the hacker off, replaced the effected files and took the necessary measures to prevent similar future attacks.

12 hours ago, Google reviewed the site and gave us a clean bill of health, but it will take approximately 24 hours for the Google security advisories to stop.

Let me stress that the forum's database, which is kept on a separate server, was not compromised in any way and remains as secure as it has always been since I first started the forum 10 years ago.

Thanks,

Jackson

Massage52
08-12-11, 03:16
I have tried logging into these sites today but have unable to even bring them up. Anyone else having trouble?I also couldn't log into these sites, I wonder if there's some sort of bust or something we should know about the servers?

Jagrr
08-12-11, 04:15
I have tried logging into these sites today but have unable to even bring them up. Anyone else having trouble?Same here. Ae and ev are down.

Seva Lurker
08-12-11, 06:48
Greetings Everyone,

Approximately 30 hours ago the forum's server was the target of a low level attack by a hacker who was attempting to upload his SPAM malware advertisements onto the website. A by-product of this attempted attack was a security advisory issued by Google.

24 hours ago, just 6 hours later, we discovered the hack attempt, cut the hacker off, replaced the effected files and took the necessary measures to prevent similar future attacks.

12 hours ago, Google reviewed the site and gave us a clean bill of health, but it will take approximately 24 hours for the Google security advisories to stop.

Let me stress that the forum's database, which is kept on a separate server, was not compromised in any way and remains as secure as it has always been since I first started the forum 10 years ago.

Thanks,

JacksonJackson, thank you so much for the follow up. Now we'll see how long it takes Google and Webroot (My AV software which has copied the Google alert) to clear their systems.

Matty Moo
08-12-11, 06:53
I have tried logging into these sites today but have unable to even bring them up. Anyone else having trouble?They are still down as of this morning. F'in typical, I have a very valid reason to travel up to Detroit today with no way of setting something up with a reliable provider. Ughh

Muskie1
08-12-11, 07:19
I have tried logging into these sites today but have unable to even bring them up. Anyone else having trouble?I found this coded comment on another site with a discussion about aes and ev," Storm clouds gathering for both BK and McDonalds. Both establishments have heavy "blue" presence. Caution is advised when ordering off the menu. Make sure you get what you order, or you may drive off disappointed. Know who you are talking to when you speak into the clown's mouth."

While I was doing some searching on google about aes the info said the sites server was gone, not that savy with computer lingo but it sounds like they have been wiped out.

Head Man65
08-12-11, 07:53
I have tried logging into these sites today but have unable to even bring them up. Anyone else having trouble?I haven't been able to access EV yesterday or today. So far. Don't know what is going on.

Road King #1
08-12-11, 08:21
I have tried logging into these sites today but have unable to even bring them up. Anyone else having trouble?Ditto Same problem. This site also showed up as infected. Anybody else with that issue?

Pineapple100
08-12-11, 08:23
I am not sure what is going on but usasexguide is getting blocked by my safari & firefox browser. Has any one else had similar experience. I am now posting this using the Opera browser.I think its fixed now cause I was getting the same message using Safari.

RedfordRebel
08-12-11, 09:27
Ditto Same problem. This site also showed up as infected. Anybody else with that issue?I tried visiting last night, and just now. Aes, EV, and Masp all still seem to be down.

All three of them use vBulletin as their hosting / forum provider, correct? I kinda wondering if that may be the problem since I'm having difficulty accessing other sites (non hobby related) that use vBulletin this morning as well.

Hobbymaster
08-12-11, 09:34
Jackson, thank you so much for the follow up. Now we'll see how long it takes Google and Webroot (My AV software which has copied the Google alert) to clear their systems.I was totally confused. I even use Ubuntu Linux and could not understand why I was blocked. I had to use a browser that is bare bones to surf this site. I am glad to be able to use Chrome and / or Firefox again. It is ashame these spammers exist. Oh well, great job Jackson we appreciate getting it back to normal again.

Jagrr
08-12-11, 09:45
This site is no longer showing up as infected. The 3 boards are still down.


Ditto Same problem. This site also showed up as infected. Anybody else with that issue?

SteelHorseRide
08-12-11, 09:56
Ditto Same problem. This site also showed up as infected. Anybody else with that issue?Same thing here. Anyone know what is going on?

German1
08-12-11, 10:14
Same thing here. Anyone know what is going on?Call me paranoid but I find it worrisome that both AE and EV are not accessible. LE have something to do with this? I do not put anything past our esteemed government.

Spongebob357
08-12-11, 10:28
Same thing here. Anyone know what is going on?I have had the same problem, it alway's make me a little nervous when these things happen but they have alway's returned in the past.

OneHour
08-12-11, 11:35
I have had the same problem, it alway's make me a little nervous when these things happen but they have alway's returned in the past.With all the other boards being busted around the country. I would not want to bet my money the Feds did not close them down.

IloveHEs
08-12-11, 11:43
So did anyone else get the "This is an attack site" warning the last few days? I could read what people had posted, but it was in old BB style bulletin format. Now the warning is gone.

Weezer1220
08-12-11, 12:02
So did anyone else get the "This is an attack site" warning the last few days? I could read what people had posted, but it was in old BB style bulletin format. Now the warning is gone.Same thing with me.

Majordude2626
08-12-11, 12:55
I have tried logging into these sites today but have unable to even bring them up. Anyone else having trouble?Yeah I can't log onto any of monger sites. Very curious indeed.

Golden3
08-12-11, 13:01
So did anyone else get the "This is an attack site" warning the last few days? I could read what people had posted, but it was in old BB style bulletin format. Now the warning is gone.I got it, and I stayed away for a while. It looks like someone included malware in a posting. Most of the site was obviously safe, but I wasn't sure which part. Anyway, I suppose that Jackson has removed the problem.

The Good Doctor
08-12-11, 13:44
In firefox, go to tools, options, security. Uncheck block reported attack sites. That "fixes" it. It does however leave you unprotected from dangerous sites.That was a handy little trick. Thanks for the info. Now that the site is secure again I need to go back and recheck that box.

The Good Doctor
08-12-11, 13:46
I just rechecked the box "block reported attack sites" thinking the problem was over. The warning page block immediately came up again. Is the problem fix not yet acknowledged by google or is there something I am missing?

SteelHorseRide
08-12-11, 15:05
I have tried logging into these sites today but have unable to even bring them up. Anyone else having trouble?AES is back up but the orther two are still down.

Walle
08-12-11, 15:21
I tried visiting last night, and just now. Aes, EV, and Masp all still seem to be down.

All three of them use vBulletin as their hosting / forum provider, correct? I kinda wondering if that may be the problem since I'm having difficulty accessing other sites (non hobby related) that use vBulletin this morning as well.AE and EV do not use VB as a forum platform. This site does. See bottom footer. There are assholes all over the world that get their kicks bringing down websites.

It is usually done by flooding the site with page requests locking it up.

It has happened to many escort forum sites over the years. Read the wikipedia article for more info.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denial-of-service_attack

I hope they all did daily server backups and their hosting company is prepared to fight it. AE ans EV are 2 of the best sites around I hope they recover.

MrPepper1980
08-12-11, 17:32
Did anyone else get this alert when the tired to access the site here? I could not get on for a couple days. And kept getting that page when I tired to get here.Normally I'll google and jump to this site, but they havee it flagged as malicious.

I now have to type www.usasexguide.info On the address line.

No biggie.

Marlowe
08-12-11, 18:04
I was unable to access this forum for the past three days. It was reported as an attack site, and my computer wouldn't let me access it. Glad to see things are back to normal. WTF happened?

Anna Marie
08-12-11, 20:15
I did also but only for a day. Does anyone know what was going on?


Did anyone else get this alert when the tired to access the site here? I could not get on for a couple days. And kept getting that page when I tired to get here.

Mark1160
08-12-11, 21:30
Yes I had the same problem with google chrome, and same message when I tried to get on yesterday, but today no problems went straight to it.


Here's the message that I get on my browser.

Safe Browsing.

Diagnostic page for usasexguide. Info.

What is the current listing status for usasexguide. Info?

Site is listed as suspicious. Visiting this web site may harm your computer.

Part of this site was listed for suspicious activity 1 time (s) over the past 90 days.

What happened when Google visited this site?

Of the 120 pages we tested on the site over the past 90 days. 2 page (s) resulted in malicious software being downloaded and installed without user consent. The last time Google visited this site was on 2011-08-11, and the last time suspicious content was found on this site was on 2011-08-10.

Malicious software includes 3 scripting exploit (s). Successful infection resulted in an average of 2 new process (es) on the target machine.

Malicious software is hosted on 1 domain (s) , including loj7g. CZ. Cc.

This site was hosted on 1 network (s) including AS8972 (PLUSSERVER).

Has this site acted as an intermediary resulting in further distribution of malware?

Over the past 90 days, usasexguide. Info did not appear to function as an intermediary for the infection of any sites.

Has this site hosted malware?

No, this site has not hosted malicious software over the past 90 days.

How did this happen?

In some cases, third parties can add malicious code to legitimate sites, which would cause us to show the warning message.

Next steps:

Return to the previous page.

If you are the owner of this web site, you can request a review of your site using Google Webmaster Tools. More information about the review process is available in Google's Webmaster Help Center.

Rockhard 441
08-12-11, 22:07
I was unable to access this forum for the past three days. It was reported as an attack site, and my computer wouldn't let me access it. Glad to see things are back to normal. WTF happened?I had the same problem. Tried over and over, and thought Jackson had 86'd my account! LOL. There's some glitch with Firefox, and I happened to catch a quick post about it on the front page. Had to disable the notices of attack sites in the options under security. Worked right away though.

Marlowe
08-13-11, 00:30
I had the same problem. Tried over and over, and thought Jackson had 86'd my account! LOL. There's some glitch with Firefox, and I happened to catch a quick post about it on the front page. Had to disable the notices of attack sites in the options under security. Worked right away though.I didn't have to do any of that. I tried it today, and it just worked. I guess once they knew what the problem was they fixed it.

Waltmore
08-13-11, 00:34
I got it, and I stayed away for a while. It looks like someone included malware in a posting. Most of the site was obviously safe, but I wasn't sure which part. Anyway, I suppose that Jackson has removed the problem.Well I toughed it out and tried to actually still use the site, that was a cluster for me, all these windows popping open, opening new tabs, it sucked. It did make me appreciate this site when it is up and running correctly, which it is doing right now. Be safe and careful, and please keep Bill Fanta posting, I love his posts, they always make my day. As always.

Heathwood
08-13-11, 01:02
Any one have trouble accessing this site the past few days. Firefox kept blocking me.

Gary Man
08-13-11, 02:26
Any one have trouble accessing this site the past few days. Firefox kept blocking me.Yes, when using chrome too. But it was easier to get around the block with chrome. When I did, my antivirus prevented an attack. Someone tried to upload malware, hence the warnings when we tried to visit. It's happened before. All good now.

Prowler069
08-13-11, 04:03
I had the same problem!


Any one have trouble accessing this site the past few days. Firefox kept blocking me.

High Riser
08-13-11, 04:27
I had the same problem!Had the same problem. According to Google the site had a problem with a virus. The Google report made it seem to be very minor but blocked my access anyway. It must have been dealt with as I don't have a problem now.

Ozmosis
08-13-11, 05:49
Same thing with me.I avoided it like I do all viruses. LOL. Seems to be working better now.

Tomautoman
08-13-11, 05:59
Did anyone else get this alert when the tired to access the site here? I could not get on for a couple days. And kept getting that page when I tired to get here.Had the same problem. Got better in a few days. Glad it went away.

Red51
08-13-11, 08:04
Did anyone else get this alert when the tired to access the site here? I could not get on for a couple days. And kept getting that page when I tired to get here.I did, I figure someone with an axe to grind reported it.

Lusty52
08-13-11, 08:28
I had the same problem. Tried over and over, and thought Jackson had 86'd my account! LOL. There's some glitch with Firefox, and I happened to catch a quick post about it on the front page. Had to disable the notices of attack sites in the options under security. Worked right away though.It wasn't just Firefox. I had the same message using Chrome. Glad everything is back to normal now!

Teapot15
08-13-11, 13:47
No statement from Jackson on what happened or have I just not found it yet?

Admin
08-13-11, 13:50
Reposted from yesterday:

Greetings Everyone,

Approximately 30 hours ago the forum's server was the target of a low level attack by a hacker who was attempting to upload his SPAM malware advertisements onto the website. A by-product of this attempted attack was a security advisory issued by Google.

24 hours ago, just 6 hours later, we discovered the hack attempt, cut the hacker off, replaced the effected files and took the necessary measures to prevent similar future attacks.

12 hours ago, Google reviewed the site and gave us a clean bill of health, but it will take approximately 24 hours for the Google security advisories to stop.

Let me stress that the forum's database, which is kept on a separate server, was not compromised in any way and remains as secure as it has always been since I first started the forum 10 years ago.

Thanks,

Jackson

Teapot15
08-13-11, 14:50
Reposted from yesterday:

Greetings Everyone,

Approximately 30 hours ago the forum's server was the target of a low level attack by a hacker who was attempting to upload his SPAM malware advertisements onto the website. A by-product of this attempted attack was a security advisory issued by Google.

24 hours ago, just 6 hours later, we discovered the hack attempt, cut the hacker off, replaced the effected files and took the necessary measures to prevent similar future attacks.

12 hours ago, Google reviewed the site and gave us a clean bill of health, but it will take approximately 24 hours for the Google security advisories to stop.

Let me stress that the forum's database, which is kept on a separate server, was not compromised in any way and remains as secure as it has always been since I first started the forum 10 years ago.

Thanks,

JacksonThat's why you are the man!

Muskie1
10-16-11, 17:10
I found this coded comment on another site with a discussion about aes and ev," Storm clouds gathering for both BK and McDonalds. Both establishments have heavy "blue" presence. Caution is advised when ordering off the menu. Make sure you get what you order, or you may drive off disappointed. Know who you are talking to when you speak into the clown's mouth."

While I was doing some searching on google about aes the info said the sites server was gone, not that savy with computer lingo but it sounds like they have been wiped out.This is a quote from someone named " Thaifood" I found back in August. Sorry I can not find the link, makes you wonder who was using his name.

DetLurker
12-27-13, 14:26
Getting this page all of a sudden:

Safe Browsing.

Diagnostic page for usasexguide.info.

What is the current listing status for usasexguide.info?

Site is listed as suspicious. Visiting this web site may harm your computer.

Part of this site was listed for suspicious activity 7 time (s) over the past 90 days.

What happened when Google visited this site?

Of the 1775 pages we tested on the site over the past 90 days, 491 page (s) resulted in malicious software being downloaded and installed without user consent. The last time Google visited this site was on 2013-12-27, and the last time suspicious content was found on this site was on 2013-12-27.

Malicious software includes 18 exploit (s). Successful infection resulted in an average of 2 new process (es) on the target machine.

Bigsqueeze
12-29-13, 17:32
Second instance of this URL being blocked in the past month:

"humanhuman.net/wp-content/themes/premiumnews/in.php"

IP = 81.177.6.231:80

It tries to load with every screen you access.

Admin
12-29-13, 18:30
Greetings Everyone,

Google has been erroneously reporting that the USASG forum contains malware.

We subscribe to a virus/malware scanning service that scans the USASG site every hour looking for viruses, malware and/or other security hacks on the forum. This service alerted us of the Google warning within minutes of Google's notice.

Our virus/malware scanning service immediately scanned our entire server and advised us that there is no virus or malware hosted on our website or the server itself.



You may read the Google report at...

http://safebrowsing.clients.google.com/safebrowsing/diagnostic?client=Firefox&hl=en-US&site=http://www.usasexguide.info/forum/

Please read the text in the middle of the Google report that states...


Has this site hosted malware? No, this site has not hosted malicious software over the past 90 days.According to Google, the problem they have is that apparently the forum contains an EXTERNAL LINK to another website that they believe has a virus and/or malware.

My programmer and server admin are both working now to identify and remove the EXTERNAL LINK.

Let me repeat: According to Google's own report, the warning is DUE to a MALWARE ISSUE on ANOTHER WEBSITE.

We expect to have problematic links removed from the forum and functioning normally within a few hours.

Of course, it would be very helpful if fucking Google would tell us what is or where they found the link to the alleged malware website, but they are of no fucking use whatsoever.

The reality is that it's probably a redirected link, so we're only going to find it by clicking on every one of the thousands of links in the forum until we find the link that redirects us to the alleged malware website.

Google is a bunch of complete assholes posting these public warnings when they acknowledge that our website is clean of malware and without telling us what link is the problem.

Why don't they just blacklist the alleged malware website and leave it at that?

Anyway, I appreciate your patience in this regard.

Thanks,

Jackson

===========================================

Dildo Baggens
12-30-13, 14:58
As you say, this may be all well and true that Google isn't helping much, however I did use IE through Bing and got the same warnings via AVG. Perhaps you can request more info through them instead. It would sure be nice to know what the heck happened and if there are any other issues besides this one.

Sincerely,

D. Baggens.

Sensei69
12-30-13, 22:49
Greetings Everyone,

Google has been erroneously reporting that the USASG forum contains malware.

We subscribe to a virus/malware scanning service that scans the USASG site every hour looking for viruses, malware and/or other security hacks on the forum. This service alerted us of the Google warning within minutes of Google's notice.

Our virus/malware scanning service immediately scanned our entire server and advised us that there is no virus or malware hosted

----------------Cut ----------------.=It actually more than just Google, I get this from Firefox and McAfee, and I.E and Norton. Doesn't your scanning service scan hosted links as well? I would think that if Google and other crawlers can detect the links then a paid service should be able to as well.

The upshot is that it does not show up on phones and tablets, yet.

Fly Dangler
12-31-13, 00:52
Google has been erroneously reporting that the USASG forum contains malware Actually it reported that a link here from another site was the source of the buggly wugglies. I also tried using Firefox (which also alerted to the problems) and Internet Explorer, but my AVG alerted to Java script from a third party site linked from here trying to sneak stuff through my firewall.

Barn0318
12-31-13, 11:21
Everything seems to be OK now as I get no warnings. I was getting them in both Google Chrome and IE. Now nothing. Thanks for fixing whatever the issue was.

ItsFillerTime
12-31-13, 16:27
Greetings Everyone,

Google has been erroneously reporting that the USASG forum contains malware.

We subscribe to a virus/malware scanning service that scans the USASG site every hour looking for viruses, malware and/or other security hacks on the forum. This service alerted us of the Google warning within minutes of Google's notice.

Our virus/malware scanning service immediately scanned our entire server and advised us that there is no virus or malware hosted on our website or the server itself.



You may read the Google report at...

http://safebrowsing.clients.google.com/safebrowsing/diagnostic?client=Firefox&hl=en-US&site=http://www.usasexguide.info/forum/

Please read the text in the middle of the Google report that states...

According to Google, the problem they have is that apparently the forum contains an EXTERNAL LINK to another website that they believe has a virus and/or malware.

My programmer and server admin are both working now to identify and remove the

Let me repeat: According to Google's own report, the warning is [b][size=4]DUE to a MALWARE ISSUE on ANOTHER WEBSITE.

We expect to have problematic links removed from the forum and functioning normally within a few hours.

Of course, it would be very helpful if fucking Google would tell us what is or where they found the link to the alleged malware website, but they are of no fucking use whatsoever.

The reality is that it's probably a redirected link, so we're only going to find it by clicking on every one of the thousands of links in the forum until we find the link that redirects us to the alleged malware website.

Google is a bunch of complete assholes posting these public warnings when they acknowledge that our website is clean of malware and without telling us what link is the problem.

Why don't they just blacklist the alleged malware website and leave it at that?

Anyway, I appreciate your patience in this regard.

Thanks,

Jackson

===========================================I was wondering if this wasn't all some kind of LEO scare tactic.

Why would the Myanmar police decided to screw with mongers in the States? (Or German, or Nigerian, or Liberian, or wherever we have the servers this week.)

No part of this site is in an area under US control.

A2

A2[/blue]

HornyGoatWeed
12-31-13, 17:27
Actually it reported that a link here from another site was the source of the buggly wugglies. I also tried using Firefox (which also alerted to the problems) and Internet Explorer, but my AVG alerted to Java script from a third party site linked from here trying to sneak stuff through my firewall.I got it in Chrome and Safari. I could understand one browser but it sounds like they were all reporting it.

Honolulu Yobo
12-31-13, 19:59
I was wondering if this wasn't all some kind of LEO scare tactic.

Why would the Myanmar police decided to screw with mongers in the States? (Or German, or Nigerian, or Liberian, or wherever we have the servers this week.)

No part of this site is in an area under US control.

A2

A2[/blue]
Considering that google has ties to the NSA and the CIA, wouldn't the Government want to know what's being said on these sites? Google analytics wants to track your every move.

After all, isn't this an easy way to track the movement of all people, in all countries, and sexual activities that they are involved in? It's just one p[iece of the puzzle.

Rippa
01-15-14, 19:43
Hello Jackson,

I have a very strong suspicion your system may have suffered a security breach in regards to payment for subscriptions. I recently used a seldom accessed Visa card to pay my annual fees for your services, and within a week I've had two attempts made to use that card for significant internet purchases, forcing me to cancel the card.

As there has been virtually no other activity on this card for quite some time, it is very concerning that a payment rendered to you may have somehow made access to my credit card number and information available to thieves. Obviously there is no way I or anyone can prove this one way or the other, but thought it best to share my concerns.

-- Rippa.

Bigsqueeze
01-24-14, 07:14
Today my antivirus has blocked intrusions on this site from IP 81.177.6.231:80, from URL " humanhuman. Net / see / help / php". The see in this URL is actually the third letter of the alphabet that identifies most main drives on a personal computer, but was changed by the forum editor.

JoeD999
01-30-14, 21:29
Today my antivirus has blocked intrusions on this site from IP 81.177.6.231:80, from URL " humanhuman. Net / see / help / php". The see in this URL is actually the third letter of the alphabet that identifies most main drives on a personal computer, but was changed by the forum editor.Just thought I would add that I am getting warnings from the same IP address for several days now. Also the site is very slow compared to other sites I am visiting. Yesterday the site was faster. I am in the Chicago area.

Barn0318
02-02-14, 13:38
Greetings Everyone,

Google has been erroneously reporting that the USASG forum contains malware.

We subscribe to a virus/malware scanning service that scans the USASG site every hour looking for viruses, malware and/or other security hacks on the forum. This service alerted us of the Google warning within minutes of Google's notice.

Our virus/malware scanning service immediately scanned our entire server and advised us that there is no virus or malware hosted on our website or the server itself.



You may read the Google report at...

http://safebrowsing.clients.google.com/safebrowsing/diagnostic?client=Firefox&hl=en-US&site=http://www.usasexguide.info/forum/

Please read the text in the middle of the Google report that states...

According to Google, the problem they have is that apparently the forum contains an EXTERNAL LINK to another website that they believe has a virus and/or malware.

My programmer and server admin are both working now to identify and remove the

Let me repeat: According to Google's own report, the warning is [b][size=4]DUE to a MALWARE ISSUE on ANOTHER WEBSITE.

We expect to have problematic links removed from the forum and functioning normally within a few hours.

Of course, it would be very helpful if fucking Google would tell us what is or where they found the link to the alleged malware website, but they are of no fucking use whatsoever.

The reality is that it's probably a redirected link, so we're only going to find it by clicking on every one of the thousands of links in the forum until we find the link that redirects us to the alleged malware website.

Google is a bunch of complete assholes posting these public warnings when they acknowledge that our website is clean of malware and without telling us what link is the problem.

Why don't they just blacklist the alleged malware website and leave it at that?

Anyway, I appreciate your patience in this regard.

Thanks,

Jackson

===========================================Wanted to make sure someone in admin knew about it in case something can be done. Thanks.

Grjack72
02-02-14, 14:28
Wanted to make sure someone in admin knew about it in case something can be done. Thanks.Confirming for admins that I'm seeing the same warning again too.

Beady
02-02-14, 15:10
Here is a copy of the warning made a minute ago by Avast:

Safe Browsing.

Diagnostic page for usasexguide.info/ forum.

What is the current listing status for usasexguide.info/ forum?

Site is listed as suspicious. Visiting this website may harm your computer.

Part of this site was listed for suspicious activity 7 time (s) over the past 90 days.

What happened when Google visited this site?

Of the 8088 pages we tested on the site over the past 90 days, 3068 page (s) resulted in malicious software being downloaded and installed without user consent. The last time Google visited this site was on 2014-02-02, and the last time suspicious content was found on this site was on 2014-02-02.

Malicious software includes 1017 exploit (s), 739 trojan (s). Successful infection resulted in an average of 2 new process (es) on the target machine.

Malicious software is hosted on 89 domain (s), including humanhuman.net/, onmypc. Biz /, dancerhunter. Pw /.

2 domain (s) appear to be functioning as intermediaries for distributing malware to visitors of this site, including humanhuman.net/, retsmeno. Biz /.

This site was hosted on 1 network (s) including AS8972 (PLUSSERVER-AS).

Has this site acted as an intermediary resulting in further distribution of malware?

Over the past 90 days, usasexguide.info/ forum appeared to function as an intermediary for the infection of 5 site (s) including myway.com/, redirect. Am /, xoxohth.com/.

Has this site hosted malware?

No, this site has not hosted malicious software over the past 90 days.

How did this happen?

In some cases, third parties can add malicious code to legitimate sites, which would cause us to show the warning message.

Next steps:

Return to the previous page.

If you are the owner of this website, you can request a review of your site using Google Webmaster Tools. More information about the review process is available in Google's Webmaster Help Centre.

It still gives the option of overriding and visiting the site. Up until about two hours ago Malwarebytes Pro was issuing a warning at each page change, but this seems to have stopped now.

Beady.

JoeD999
02-04-14, 20:51
Warnings are gone for me. The site loads fast now. Whatever you did it worked. Thank you!

Serge and Vlad say thanks.

A2

Cartog
02-06-14, 20:15
Although I currently see no malware warnings, the performance of the website has been quite ragged. It is slow most of the time and non-responsive sometimes. I have seen this for at least a couple of weeks. Are others seeing this?

Fly Dangler
02-07-14, 09:55
Although I currently see no malware warnings, the performance of the website has been quite ragged. It is slow most of the time and non-responsive sometimes. I have seen this for at least a couple of weeks. Are others seeing this?To be honest I've only seen it THIS TIME over the past couple days, and then only sporadically. Could it be a bandwidth problem?

DC248
02-19-14, 16:42
Every time a forum page loads I get a warning popup from Avast.

303068 303069.

I've tried looking up info on the address but no results. Is anyone else having this problem?

Beady
02-19-14, 17:38
Every time a forum page loads I get a warning popup from Avast.

303068 303069.

I've tried looking up info on the address but no results. Is anyone else having this problem?I'm getting exactly the same in the UK.

Beady.

Beady
02-19-14, 17:44
Is it my imagination or have all the problems started since advertisements were introduced.

I know Jackson has to finance the site somehow so certainly not meant as any form of criticism, after all it's his site to do with as he sees fit.

No idea what the solution might be, the closest I come to IT is in tITties.

Beady.

Beady
02-25-14, 17:06
Avast is signalling the site as malware, although Malwarebytes is showing no interest as yet.

Otherwise, pages are loading as normal.

Beady.

Harry Plopper
02-25-14, 22:54
Chrome is throwing the "this site contains malware " warning again as well...


Avast is signalling the site as malware, although Malwarebytes is showing no interest as yet.

Otherwise, pages are loading as normal.

Beady.

Beady
02-27-14, 02:24
Avast is signalling the site as malware, although Malwarebytes is showing no interest as yet.

Otherwise, pages are loading as normal.

Beady.All seems back to normal now!

Wish we knew what the possible cause was.

Beady.

Oldmonger
02-27-14, 22:50
All seems back to normal now!

Wish we knew what the possible cause was.

Beady.http://safebrowsing.clients.google.com/safebrowsing/diagnostic?client=Firefox&hl=en-US&site=http://www.usasexguide.info/forum/forumdisplay.php?54-Massachusetts

Here's the status as of www.usasexguide.info at the time of this posting:

Safe Browsing.

Diagnostic page for www.usasexguide.info/forum.

What is the current listing status for www.usasexguide.info/forum?.

This site is not currently listed as suspicious.

Part of this site was listed for suspicious activity 3 time (s) over the past 90 days.

What happened when Google visited this site?

Of the 7222 pages we tested on the site over the past 90 days, 2536 page (s) resulted in malicious software being downloaded and installed without user consent. The last time Google visited this site was on 2014-02-27, and the last time suspicious content was found on this site was on 2014-02-25.

Malicious software includes 920 exploit (s), 633 trojan (s). Successful infection resulted in an average of 2 new process (es) on the target machine.

Malicious software is hosted on 87 domain (s), including humanhuman.net/, onmypc. Biz /, dancerhunter. Pw /.

2 domain (s) appear to be functioning as intermediaries for distributing malware to visitors of this site, including humanhuman.net/, xmastips.com/.

This site was hosted on 1 network (s) including AS8972 (PLUSSERVER-AS).

Has this site acted as an intermediary resulting in further distribution of malware?

Over the past 90 days, www.usasexguide.info/forum appeared to function as an intermediary for the infection of 3 site (s) including xoxohth.com/, dontknow. Me /, *******.com/.

Has this site hosted malware?

No, this site has not hosted malicious software over the past 90 days.

Note: Check the Google URL for the unmodified data. The Forum's report editing software is changing the domain names in this report.

Calizum69
07-10-15, 13:25
I have heard the news about laws about girls coming back to sue or what not. So I didn't know where the server is located, I found this about server located in Germany. What a piece of mind on know local enforcement has no jurisdiction in Germany. So I feel safe I hope cause any pic I take is mine and I can to what I want with it, including posting them here, feeling safe.

Beady
08-05-15, 12:53
Those of you that may be worried about the personal information security aspect of Windows 10 may wish to reference the following:

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/windows-10-around-microsofts-privacy-044145397.html#9 EQlrKJ.

Beady.

Member #4959
12-09-15, 22:05
I've been searching and couldn't find anything on deleting my account. I didn't know where to post so I figured I'd post here. If anyone can help me out it'd be greatly appreciated thanks.

HenryA77
03-14-20, 17:57
Those of you that may be worried about the personal information security aspect of Windows 10 may wish to reference the following:

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/windows-10-around-microsofts-privacy-044145397.html#9 EQlrKJ.

Beady.Or you could dual boot, and use linux for your naughty boy stuff. Or all of your stuff!

Fredies Dream
05-15-20, 09:04
Maybe this was already in place with the Patriot Act IDK. But this is scary on many levels. Makes me think twice about coming to this site. What do you think?

https://www.vice.com/amp/en_us/article/jgxxvk/senate-votes-to-allow-fbi-to-look-at-your-web-browsing-history-without-a-warrant?__twitter_impression=true&fbclid=IwAR35YcyP_hZ2hzZXsApaiJas410aD55lVv-u_713tbYGYcpHalJvwFknjq0