Should you turn your computer off with a broadband connection?

[programmer]

Yep agreed about MAC filtering as said previously. I did say WEP earlier when I meant WPA though

[Barrykgerdes]

Yes I agree that the encryption can be cracked even with long "passwords". Public keys are all mathmatical algorithms and if you can find the start point you have cracked the code.

Mac addresses are a convenient filter for me because I only need to stop accidental use of my internet by close neighbours who aren't on my net. If I really want to encrypt something I can generate my own exclusive random key that I will defy anyone to crack, but that means I have to pass the key to anyone who needs it which would defeat the object. I spent 25 years in defence cryptography maintaining the machines.

Barry

[joshman (Josh)]

i don't see what the big deal is with viruses. store all your personal files on a removeable disk (second hdd and the like) and anyhting you download gets stored ina folder on the desktop.

if viruses attack, then simply keep the programs that work and are useful out of your downloads folder on teh desktop. format, and re-install. viruses gone, clean machine. no problems mate

[jakob]

Originally Posted by Barrykgerdes

On the subject of slowing of computers. I have a lovely 2.5GH Pentium 4 computer in my garage that I was given by a friend who got another because it had become so slow and no one could fix it. She had children that had ipods, Limewire etc and Norton Anti Virus that got into a loop and 2000 errors in the registry. It took me 6 hours to remove all the garbage and clean it up but now it simply flies as a basic computer on my network and does real processing work for me.

Barry

Barry, I'm interested in your cleanup of the P4.
Do yo have a good tool for this that you could recommend?

Regards Jakob

[programmer]

Originally Posted by jakob

Barry, I'm interested in your cleanup of the P4.
Do yo have a good tool for this that you could recommend?

Regards Jakob

format.com?

[Starkler (Geoff)]

Originally Posted by Dooghan

It better then nothing. I would also be looking to see if I could upgrade to WPA by firmware. I use nothing less then a 63 character random encryption key (non dictionary) on my wireless (WPA) network. They say 20 is the minimum you should use.

I have seen this said also. I use a WPA key that I can remember rather than some 20+ character recommended military strength security.

Is there even such a thing as a wpa password cracker in the public domain that could threaten my 7 character passphrase? I doubt it.

[Barrykgerdes]

Originally Posted by jakob

Barry, I'm interested in your cleanup of the P4.
Do yo have a good tool for this that you could recommend?

Regards Jakob

Format was not an option as I wanted to retain the Windows XP with service pack 2.

The main tool I used was patience! But some of the things I did were
Start Windows in safe mode and remove as many of the programs as possible. The first priority was Norton Anti Virus which caused most of the problems. Basically getting the computer to boot into a stable condition. Doing this was slow and tedious and required rebooting many times as I slowly got it out of the system. I also used a self booting CD I made that booted Dos 7.0 and had PCillan integrated into it. This did a virus check, there weren't any but it allowed me to erase lots of the garbage on the disk that was not integrated into the windows installation. This also was used to remove a large batch of temporary files from Windows including Windows internet tempory files and history. Some of these are difficult to remove completely using windows.

Next I ran a program called Registy Scrub that was a freeby from one of the computer magazines. This repaired hundreds of problems out of the registry.

After getting Norton out I was able to start the computer normally. I then continued to remove programs on the Windows list (add/remove programs). Most of these were programs to do with Ipod tunes, Internet games and other un-recognised software. I also got rid of all the cookies.

The 80 GB Hard disk started with about 60 GB of junk and I eventually got it down to about 3.5GB. With my basic suite of Nero, Office 2000, Photo Shop, The Gimp, Adobe Pro 6.0. partition magic, Drive image etc

I repeated the clean with Registry scrub and and Adware-se.

At this stage I had no virus program on it so I removed the hard disk and put it into my main computer that has PCillan on it and ran a full scan clean which removed a couple of trojans but found no other viruses.

The hard disk was then re-installed in its own computer. I partitioned it into two partitions C and D, I ran disk defragmentiser,then made an image of the clean operating system and stored it on Drive D. The computer now starts up very quickly and has no problems. It has no anti virus program at the moment but I only use it on the internet to collect source code for Stellarium which is connected via the router and it is only turned on when I need it.

Oh yes! I have now installed Tortoise SVN, Dev-Cpp, MinGW, Msys and a batch of dependancies for the compiler and regularly compile Stellarium on it. I also use it to cut data DVD's of Meccano manuals and magazines as it has a very good DVD burner.

Barry

[Dooghan (Dooghan)]

Originally Posted by Starkler

Is there even such a thing as a wpa password cracker in the public domain that could threaten my 7 character passphrase? I doubt it.

HELL YES. Given enough computer power your password could be cracked in 1 hour or less. If it was me I would just and use your neighbours who's left theirs open. And yes there is a number of WPA password cracker programs on the net.

[programmer]

Originally Posted by Dooghan

HELL YES. Given enough computer power your password could be cracked in 1 hour or less.

'Given enough computing power' is a wide open statement. According to this page, using a single PC, a 7 chacter passphrase will take some years to crack, if it consists of only alphanumeric characters. I don't think anyone is going to park a black van outside his house with 100 PCs to crack his home network in 'only' a few months or weeks. I think he's safe. I hope your passphrase is random however, or brute-force attacks could discover it in a much shorter period.

[Glenhuon (Bill)]

Quote:
Oh, the task manager is processes running with no applications. We wore one computer out as it took 30 minutes to get to the login because it took so long for all the viruses to start up. We had someone remove them once and they got over a thousand of all varieties. Within a month most of them were back...
Quote:

HeHe looks very like the puter I had in for repair a couple of years back. The lady owner let her daughter use it for playing Sims etc. Not a good idea as it also had her business data on it. Report was running slow. Not surprising, she has the, so far unbeaten, record, 2,473 instances of spyware and trojans on one HDD.
Cleaned it up and installed the full version of Spyware Doctor and AVG anti virus, gave a quiet lecture on internet security and, as far as I know, no problems since.

Bill

[GTB_an_Owl (Geoff)]

sorry Bill

i once had a laptop that was previously being used in vietnam that had about 5600 variants on it

the reported problem ! - it's running a bit slow

geoff

[Stevo69]

IMHO a simple waste of power. Apart from downloading while you are out, or work requirements, I cannot think of one reason to leave a computer switched on.

And this whole argument of hackers on live broadband lines and other concerns are urban myths which perpetuate themselves to the point of becoming actual events in the minds of the common people. Ok, go ahead, shoot me down.......now!

[Ian Robinson]

My PC card wireless adapter for my ADSL is lucky to pick up the signal from the ADSL modem if I move the laptop to the other of the house.

There is no way I would share my account with anyone but my family (even if they had wireless adapters capable of picking up my modem's wireless transmitter and I gave them the option).... you would never know what other people are looking at , or what they are doing , and if you are the one who is paying for the link , you're the first one the cops will visit .... if they are pedofiles or terrorist supporters or scam artists it will be very hard to convince the law it wasn't you or you didn't know.

I turn off and unplug from the mains all my computers when they are not being used - I had a laptop fried by a lightning strike once and don't want to repeat the experience (took over 6 months of haggling to get a replacement laptop off GIO).

I also turn off my ADSL modem when it is not being used (I connect by wireless link to it with the laptop , the desktop is not connected to it at present (until I resolve the wireless adapter issue).... why waste power by staying connected.

[renormalised (Carl)]

I pull the plugs and connection each and every night. No need to waste power.

[Glenhuon (Bill)]

Originally Posted by GTB_an_Owl

sorry Bill

i once had a laptop that was previously being used in vietnam that had about 5600 variants on it

the reported problem ! - it's running a bit slow

geoff

Yes, would slow it down a bit
That one takes the prize for sure.

Bill

[TrevorW]

In the scheme of things no why not just turn everything on becuase at the end of the day the Govt and the utility suppliers really want you to use more otherwise they'd turn street lights off after 1:00pm like they used too

[Barrykgerdes]

My modem and wireless router run 24/7. I do turn the computers and printers off at night because they are not required all the time. I am in a position where I can trust my neighbours and am quite happy to let them log on to my ADSL as they are not able to get ADSL themselves. The rewards non monetry are worth it.

As for the costs. I run the airconditioner nearly all the time and admit my quarterly electric bill of $350 and my monthly phone/ADSL bill $100 may be a bit extravagant, it is of no consequence to me as a poor pensioner who has a large surplus at the end of the financial year. The simple reason is good finacial management and a realistic budget.

Barry

[Ian Robinson]

I turn the ADSL modem off when I go to bed or am not using it.

I unplug the computer when I am not using it.

ops: already said that ....