Re: Corrupted PC's Find New Home in the Dumpster

Steve Sobol wrote:
>> M>>> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: And how long do they have those _new_ >>> machines until they also get polluted and have to be replaced? >> The sad thing is that it's simply not that hard to protect yourself. >> We have two computers here that never get infected ... the other one >> can't be infected because it's not on the Net, but my wife's and mine >> both are. > One can't be infected because it's not on the internet. Why is the > other one safe?

Because these days the only real way to get infected is user stupidity ...

Free hint: When you get an email from "Microsoft" with a patch, don't install it.

Configure your browser properly to not install unrequested shit.

Don't install spyware laced crap.

[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: And how long do they have those _new_ > machines until they also get polluted and have to be replaced? I'd > think there might be a market in doing some dumpster diving, retrieving > those old machines, doing a total init of the hard drive and starting > over from scratch, reloading them, etc. My pay for same would come > from refurbishing the old machines with a totally new (and as of > then unmolested) hard drive, absolutely _loaded_ with all the most > recent virus protection and spam protection software. Then I would > sell them for fifty or a hundred dollars each. And I would probably > load Linux on them instead of Windows, or maybe in addition to Windows > 2000 or Windows 98. PAT]

What kind of dumbass wouldn't try to sell it for $20?

[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: _This_ kind of dumbass probably. At the internet cafe here in town, the guy who runs the place typically offers his refurbished, reloaded machines for $50-100 each, and considering how little income I have otherwise I would like to recoup my expenses (usually a few hours work) somewhere around ten dollars per hour; in other words a wee bit above minimum wage. But I have heard Chris (the guy who runs the internet cafe) listen to some very sad stories from guys then reduce his price to 20-35 dollars on a specific request for 'hardship rates', which is probably how I would do it also. In other words, try to make some money for your work, and as circumsances dictate, give it away.

Also I would like to comment on your allegation 'the only way to get infected is by user stupidity'. I think that is sort of a harsh assessment. _Not everyone_ who owns a computer knows everything about it; some guys work hard; save their money and buy a computer only to have some virus writer load some crap from a web site onto his page. Not every program which gets loaded on your computer is there because you gave an okay to load it in. I am reasonably intelligent, yet I have had that crap dumped on me before my hands were quick enough to hit a key combination to stop the load from occurring. PAT]