Wax On Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 I got a new cracked vsti last week which i'm pretty sure installed some sort of virus on my machine. (dual boot vista & xp - xp just for music) It was changing a registry shell entry from explorer.exe to apples.exe, and when i changed it back it kept doing it. This resulted in the desktop icons and taskbar disappearing, though i could still use whatever software was open. This was mainly on the xp installation (where i'd installed the vsti) but i think it was making the vista installation fuck up too maybe. I got Avast free AV which i ran on the vista installation (the xp is offline) and it brought up loads of exe's ect as potentially affected and whatnot. I tried to repair all but it said none of them could be repaired, so i clicked on "move all to locked" or something. The problem this gave was that on the vista it removed volsnap.sys which fucked up the bootup, and on the xp it had moved all my software exe files. In the end i just reformatted and now the computer just has xp, but with a seperate partition for data. So once it's up and running I want to create disk images when i install new software etc. So here are my questions: Is there any alright free disk imaging software? Did I do really stupid stuff with my AV software, or is it just not very good? Is there a better AV software (free or cheap)? Now i've just got the one OS, is it worth having the computer online just to keep up AV updates? Thanks in advance Waxman If i'm unable to find another instance of this VSTI(assuming this is where the virus came from), is there anything i can do to use the software and stop the virus doing its thing? Its a killer vsti. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 The best two pieces of advice I can give for your separate problems are to get a Mac and to buy your software, neither of which are particularly helpful I'm sure! Completely sidestepping the headache of viruses is great on a Mac, as is the disk recovery, backup, and the way the filesystem doesn't succumb nearly as badly to fragmentation. Buying your software is so simple that it's easy to forget it's even an option when you're so used to jumping through hoops for a pirate copy every time. Both are options that actually cost you though, which isn't ideal! What plugin is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wax On Posted February 7, 2011 Author Share Posted February 7, 2011 haha yeah, i like the thought of having a macbook based setup in future, but not without having a spare few grand unfortunately! Its gforce virtual string machine - seems really nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savwar Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 i have a mac and i just got a trojan virus... it was restarting itself, probably not a result of the trojan, but i got new antivirus software, and it found a trojan.got rid of it... the trojan, not the mac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 Completely sidestepping the headache of viruses is great on a Mac, as is the disk recovery, backup, and the way the filesystem doesn't succumb nearly as badly to fragmentation. A Unix-based OS is susceptible to a virus just as Windows is. It's often argued that Windows has far fewer (identified) security holes than OSX does. Given that Apple's market share is increasing significantly, OSX will become a target. Besides, the point is becoming somewhat vague; exploits are shifting from OS vulnerabilities toward browsers, software etc., Abobe Reader being among the most targeted. But I digress... There's plenty of free disk imaging software out there. What exactly are you trying to achieve with it? Backup a fresh install with all your default software? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wax On Posted February 9, 2011 Author Share Posted February 9, 2011 yep I've reformatted and partitioned my HD to a 100GB sys disk and a 200gb data disk. I want to take an image once my programs are installed, then another when my plugins are installed, then periodically before new installations. I'd like something which is simple to use in both making the images and restoring them ideally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 A Unix-based OS is susceptible to a virus just as Windows is. I'm just as susceptible to a cold as anyone else, I don't worry about them until I have one though It's often argued that Windows has far fewer (identified) security holes than OSX does. Some people will argue about anything Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 OS X is safer than Windows, but arguably even more insecure, at least when comparing current versions of each OS. Until OS X becomes less safe to use, it's not really an issue for the end user though. I use the disc imaging feature built into Windows 7 to keep an up to date image of my boot/apps drive, which takes about 20 minutes to create. For pre-Win 7 boxes, you could try software such as CloneZilla. I don't see much of an argument for persisting with Windows XP over Vista or Win 7 though really, unless you have software that literally won't run at all under Vista/7. I don't use AV software, because the vast majority of Windows infections are self-inflicted (plus I have the image in case of a disaster) and I'm careful with what I install, but if you want/need to use something then I would go with this: - http://www.avira.com/en/avira-free-antivirus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 I don't use AV software, because the vast majority of Windows infections are self-inflicted (plus I have the image in case of a disaster) and I'm careful with what I install ^ what he said. Also: apologies for feeding the troll. I should know better after many years on the internets. p.s. Technics are better than Vestax. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 I don't use AV software, because the vast majority of Windows infections are self-inflicted (plus I have the image in case of a disaster) and I'm careful with what I install ^ what he said. Also: apologies for feeding the troll. I should know better after many years on the internets. p.s. Technics are better than Vestax. how i've missed your particular brand of arrogance, Liam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 I want to take an image once my programs are installed, then another when my plugins are installed, then periodically before new installations. http://clonezilla.org will do the job. It might be worth looking at Win7 next time you flatten and start again, but if you're all set up with XP, don't worry about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wax On Posted February 10, 2011 Author Share Posted February 10, 2011 cheers guys. I've mainly stuck with xp cos the software i use is all try before you buy if you catch my drift, and i don't know it'll work on 7... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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