New laptop security query

[AE35Unit]

Nah just use regedit and hunt down all instances of AOL, Only take you a week...

[Tansy]

AOL would have to give me more than a free Laptop I'm afrqaid

[AE35Unit]

Originally Posted by Tansy

AOL would have to give me more than a free Laptop I'm afrqaid

Aye,thats why we went with Tmobile instead! Couldn't have AOL anyway as our line can't pass BT broadband down it. Everyone else in the street can but our house can't.

[Tansy]

AOL are evil *brrr shivers*

[ktabic]

Originally Posted by Lenny

There's also the bad point, with AOL, that it can be an absolute swine to uninstall the software they give you. When I was eight I installed one of those free discs they give out, and my Dad was furious - it took him three days and five formats to get the computer back in working order.

I seem to recall there was a class action against AOL because their software was so bad people where convinced it was damaging their computers. Personally, I have never used AOL. And never will.

[AE35Unit]

Lol i find that quite funny,that people believe that software can harm a computer.

[Lenny]

Oh it can, there's no doubt about it. Sure, there's little chance it would harm the physical components, unless the program changed fan settings and the like and thus made overheating a much bigger threat, but software can load lots of little things that can get into hard-to-find places, and cause chaoos - delete a few key files, add some malicious ones, replace key files with infected versions, and generally make the computer operate a lot slower and more sluggishly. Whilst it doesn't harm the computer per se, there's a chance it can really damage your files.

[AE35Unit]

Yes software,including viruses,can harm files but not your hard drive,RAM or other hardware. Its just paranoia.

[Lenny]

In themselves they can't, no, but they can change hardware settings which can lead to a damaged hard drive, or RAM, or something else.

There are programs you can download which allow you to manually change the speed of your fans and when they come on without having to go into the BIOS. A virus can be coded to do just that, except without letting you know. If it turns off all your fans, then you're in trouble, particularly if the CPU fan is shut off. Things will overheat, and if you're not quick to sort it, then components can be damaged beyond repair and you'll need new ones.

[ktabic]

There was once a virus that would change CRT monitor settings, on certain CRTs it could shift the refresh rates to such that it would kill the monitor. Then there are the various BIOS trashing viruses that went around. Erase, corrupt or otherwise muck with the BIOS and that would prevent the PC from booting, and at a time that recovering BIOSes meant replacing the BIOS chip.

Software can damage hardware - but it is incredible rare now a days. Generally, most people make no distinction between the software and the hardware, so damaging a computer for most people means damaging Windows, a task that isn't particularly difficult.

[Tansy]

Microsoft updates may not damage hardware but the annoy me the last one slowed my pc to a crawl, now have auto update turned off

[AE35Unit]

Someone fetch the can opener,I've found some SPAM!

[mosaix]

Originally Posted by AE35Unit

Yes software,including viruses,can harm files but not your hard drive,RAM or other hardware. Its just paranoia.

I think it was on the NCR / Elliot 4100 that if you selected / deselected a tape drive continuously in a tight loop for more than a minute or two then one of the status light bulbs would blow.

[Ursa major]

As it happens, The Carphone Warehouse bought AOL UK in October 2006.

[tangaloomababe]

I got a new laptop this week, not free, but a gift, so free for me I guess. I've never seen Vista in use before and I actually dont mind putting in the password each time, at least that way I know no one else can access it and stuff it up. I had to purchase Office 2007 thought because 2003 won't run on Vista, still its nice and new but I have to hunt around for stuff I knew exactly where to locate on my old office package. Still I am not complaining.