[vox] [OT] WinXP applications spamming me

[Bill Kendrick]

So I just turned my laptop on at work and booted into Windows XP.
The first thing I get is that Adobe Reader Download Manager "needs my
attention."  Okay, yeah, it was trying to install some kind of update
yesterday, and I told it "Remind me later."  That's fine.

Then McAfee pops up warning me about some new Windows virus.  High threat.
It can cause my computer to reboot continuously.  Simply "going online"
can get me infected.  I don't have their virus scanner installed, but
have their firewall or something.  To me, this warning is three things:

(1) Useless.  "Going online."  Oops, too late.  I'm online.  Am I infected?
    How can I tell?  Does it matter if I run any particular apps?
    (IE? Outlook?  I run Mozilla Navigator and Mozilla Mail.)
    What about firewalls?  We have one on the LAN, and I have one on my
    laptop itself.

(2) Scary.  See most of above.  I bet grandmas everywhere are fainting.

(3) Spamy.  So, how can I tell if I'm infected?  O-o-ohh... riiiight.
    "30 day free trial."

*close*


Then the Adobe download manager doo-dad pops up another window saying
it's all done.  It has a big "Quit" button.  I click it.
Guess what happens?  Suddenly, Adobe Reader pops up and starts loading
some PDF file to show me.

*close*


File this under:  "Reasons I like Linux."


-- 
-bill!
bill at newbreedsoftware.com
http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/