How to protect yourself from viruses: Tips and tricks
Started by Morgan Moore37 · · 👁 6 views · 41 replies
Participants
#22 ·
Alright folks, or guys, whatever you want to call yourselves—and let's just say this so nobody takes offense—let’s move on. goldenpanther7, maybe try reading the whole thread from the top before you start handing out slaps, yeah? I wasn't even the one who kicked this off, but John Palmer4 decided to take me to task over some punctuation and spelling errors. Honestly, typos and misplaced commas aren't really the point here; the goal should be trying to grasp the actual issue and responding to it, rather than burying someone under a mountain of pedantry that most people would probably just overlook in an attempt to actually help. In every online forum I've ever spent time on, there's always that one person ready to make fools out of those who are just looking for assistance, and I guess that's what really gets to me. That was clearly what John Palmer4 was aiming for, but I'm not going to play along. I'll write however I feel like writing, with or without mistakes; that's my business, not yours. We're all here discussing tech stuff, so maybe focus on the computing instead of nitpicking someone else's business. What we need here is professionalism and a bit of moderation, not people acting like they're superior by belittling others. Cheers to everyone else who hasn't been offended.
#23 ·
Listen, genius, acting entitled when you’re the new guy on the block just makes life harder for yourself. It’s basically a signal that you aren't worth a serious answer, just some jokes at your expense.
Secondly, writing without any punctuation or spacing is exhausting to read, which does nothing to help anyone understand what you're actually struggling with.
If a problem is clear and well-explained, answering is easy. Otherwise, we're all just left guessing what you meant behind that wall of unreadable text.
PS: Being new and making your first move an insult toward the moderator isn't exactly a brilliant strategy. 🙂
Secondly, writing without any punctuation or spacing is exhausting to read, which does nothing to help anyone understand what you're actually struggling with.
If a problem is clear and well-explained, answering is easy. Otherwise, we're all just left guessing what you meant behind that wall of unreadable text.
PS: Being new and making your first move an insult toward the moderator isn't exactly a brilliant strategy. 🙂
#24 ·
This guy is preaching about antivirus protection while his own computer is literally crawling with them.
troj-polupismenost32
troj-polupismenost32
#25 ·
Morgan Moore37, man, don't even listen to that idiot, just go check right now if you actually installed Service Pack 3 for your SQL Server—or MSDE, whatever you're running—if you've got it hosted on your own local machine. See, this whole SQL Slammer thing is specifically targeting SQL Server by exploiting this super ancient vulnerability buried in the code, so if you want to be absolutely certain you aren't sitting ducks, you really need to dive into this link and pay extra close attention to the SQL Scan tool:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...DisplayLang=en
Daniel Fowler9🙄
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...DisplayLang=en
Daniel Fowler9🙄
#26 ·
slycrane94 said:Look, genius, acting all high and mighty when you’re the new kid on the block is just a one-way ticket to making your life miserable here, plain and simple. Not to mention, it’s basically a giant flashing neon sign telling everyone that you aren't worth a serious answer, just a bunch of jokes and getting roasted.
And another thing—when you write without any punctuation or spaces, it becomes an absolute nightmare to read, which doesn't do squat to help anyone actually understand what your problem is.
If a question is clear and laid out properly, it’s way easier to jump in with an answer, unlike when you have to play psychic with some wall of unreadable text just to guess what the author was even trying to say.
PS: Being new and making it your first mission to insult a moderator? Yeah, that’s probably not the smartest move you could make. 🙂
HAHAHA, oh man, look at this guy acting like he’s some kind of scholar who can lecture people on how to write! 😱 😂 😂
Daniel Fowler9🙄
#28 ·
Thanks, Daniel Fowler9, I'll take a look. Goodnight to the rest of you—try to keep your wits about you so I don't have to repeat myself. I'm the one being targeted here, not them, and I suppose I have a right to defend myself if that's how we're playing this. As for those of you who seem to think a serious forum is some kind of playground for jokes, maybe you should find a different community so you aren't constantly under the microscope.
#29 ·
Morgan Moore37 said:Thanks, Daniel Fowler9, I'll check it out. Goodnight to everyone else—try to keep your wits about you. I’m just defending myself here, not picking fights. If you want to treat a serious forum like a playground, maybe find somewhere else where you can be the punchline instead of the target.
The target? You’re the one who kicked things off with that "brilliant" post. Honestly, why not just say you're running an SQL server from the start instead of waiting for the smartest guy on this board—Daniel Fowler9, just so we're clear—to figure it out for you?
#30 ·
slycrane94 said:Who’s attacking who here? You’re the one who kicked things off with that brilliant little post of yours! Honestly, you could have just mentioned you were running an SQL server or something instead of making us all wait around for the absolute smartest guy on this entire board—and let's be clear, I'm talking about Daniel Fowler9 so there's zero confusion.
Hahaha, man, you really didn't need that "so there's zero confusion" part at all! Like, seriously, did you actually think that if you left out the bit in parentheses, someone would somehow mistake you for the "smartest guy on the board"—you know, referring to Leonard or Vinci himself?😁
Daniel Fowler9🙄
#31 ·
Morgan Moore37 said:If you guys love making jokes on a serious forum, why not just find a different one so you don't end up being the main topic of discussion?
Most people actually prefer things exactly how they are right now. Suggesting we change the whole forum is honestly pretty ridiculous since you're clearly in the minority here. If you aren't happy, there's the door! Nobody is forcing anyone to hang out here.
I see you've teamed up with Daniel Fowler9. Why don't you two join forces and start your own forum where you can run everything exactly the way you want it?
#32 ·
Daniel Fowler9 said:Haha, you didn't really need that "to avoid confusion" disclaimer. Did you honestly think anyone would mistake you for being the "forum's greatest genius" if you left out those brackets? (Referring to Leonard, of course!)😁
Daniel Fowler9🙄
I wouldn't dream of stealing the spotlight from my true love.🙂
#33 ·
John Palmer4, look, I didn't set this up myself, which I suppose matters somehow. Just so everyone knows, I don't actually have SQL Server installed if that’s supposed to be a standalone program—because if it were, I definitely wouldn't have put it there. Does anyone know how to get rid of it? For my setup, I'm running Firefox 1.06, using Thunderbird for email, and I've got Bitdefender with its firewall, McAfee desktop firewall, and Trend Micro anti-spyware. I also have Office 2003 on here, all running over an ADSL connection. I could really use some help figuring out how this thing even ended up on my machine; thanks if you can figure it out, and thanks again for trying if you can't.
Greetings to my fellow like-minded people.
Greetings to my fellow like-minded people.
#34 ·
All this security overhead is probably what's crashing your system.
Also, try formatting your posts so they're actually readable; it’s exhausting to follow.
Next time, just write down the exact error message word for word so we know what we're looking at.
Also, try formatting your posts so they're actually readable; it’s exhausting to follow.
Next time, just write down the exact error message word for word so we know what we're looking at.
#35 ·
Morgan Moore37 said:I've got Avast from Norton with a firewall, plus I'm running McAfee desktop firewall too.
I was scrolling back through the start of this thread and just spotted that comment above.
Wait, are you seriously running two different firewalls?
Get it down to just one! You're doing more harm than good by running both.
#36 ·
Morgan Moore37 said:John Palmer4, look, I'm not flying solo here, and that actually counts for something!
True, you've got Daniel Fowler9 on your side... but hey, you know what they say: better to be alone than in bad company, right? 😬
Morgan Moore37 said:And when it comes to the jokers, I'm prepared to fight a war of attrition!
No way, man—there's just too many of us! 😁 😉
#37 ·
Let me try this one more time: my computer isn't actually crashing, but I keep getting hit by this McAfee firewall pop-up about some buffer overflow SQL Slammer thing. It gives me the option to block it, but honestly, I’m just stuck wondering if someone is actively trying to wreck my memory or if there’s already some junk sitting on my hard drive that the firewall is trying to stop from hitting the web. The firewall has this tracking feature that keeps pointing me toward China, though I suppose that might be a stretch. Sometimes I’ll kill the connection and the message just pops right back up again. So, yeah, that’s the dilemma—I can't tell if my machine is actually infected or not.
#38 ·
John Palmer4, you just went there and admitted it—you’re only on this forum to mess with people instead of actually giving straight answers. So, I guess my advice is to stop poking the bear before you trip over your own feet, especially since you basically handed me the evidence right here. You wrote this yourself:
so maybe quit picking on decent people and just admit you lost.
quote:Morgan Moore37 says:
John Palmer4, like you can see, I'm not flying solo here, which counts for something, I suppose.
Sure, you've got Daniel Fowler9 on your side... but you know what they say: it's better to be alone than in bad company, I guess.
quote:Morgan Moore37 says:
and I'll fight the jokers until I'm dead on my feet.
You don't stand a chance; there's just too many of us.
so maybe quit picking on decent people and just admit you lost.
quote:Morgan Moore37 says:
John Palmer4, like you can see, I'm not flying solo here, which counts for something, I suppose.
Sure, you've got Daniel Fowler9 on your side... but you know what they say: it's better to be alone than in bad company, I guess.
quote:Morgan Moore37 says:
and I'll fight the jokers until I'm dead on my feet.
You don't stand a chance; there's just too many of us.
#39 ·
mrcina 22222 said:John Palmer4, you just proved my point! You're only on this forum to mess with people instead of giving straight answers. So don't start anything with me, because you just tripped over your own feet—here's the proof of what you wrote:
stop attacking honest folks and just admit defeat already.
quote:mrcina 22222 says:
John Palmer4, as you can see, I'm not alone, and that actually counts for something.
Yeah, you're with Daniel Fowler9... but you know what they say: it's better to be alone than in bad company!
quote:mrcina 22222 says:
and I'll fight the jokers until I'm exhausted.
No way, buddy, you don't stand a chance—there's more of us than there are of you!
Alright, fine, I'll admit defeat!🙂
I hope your computer keeps crashing forever!😛
#40 ·
mrcina 22222 said:Look, let me explain this one more time because I’m stuck: my computer isn't actually crashing or anything, but my McAfee firewall keeps popping up out of nowhere with this warning about a buffer overflow from SQL Slammer, and it gives me an option to block it. So now I'm sitting here wondering—is someone actually trying to wreck my system by overloading the memory, or is there already some junk living on my hard drive that the firewall is just catching before it can hop online? This firewall thing even shows me tracking info that points toward China, but sometimes I'll kill the connection and the message just pops right back up again. That's the real kicker, I guess... I just can't tell if my PC is already infected or not.
Alright, listen, mrcina: I honestly have zero clue how McAfee actually functions because I haven't used it once in my entire life, so I can't tell you exactly what those specific alerts mean.
But look, here's the deal: if you actually have SQL Server installed on your machine (or that stripped-down free version, SQL Server), you seriously need to go check if you've installed the absolute latest service pack for it. Seriously, if you've got that latest update installed, there is absolutely no way you could be sitting there with the Slammer virus on your computer.
Now, if you don't even have SQL Server installed on your rig at all, then what's actually happening is this: some other infected computer out there is basically knocking on your door, trying to sniff out an SQL Server on your machine via the internet—even though you don't even have one! It's likely hunting for it through TCP port 1433 or UDP port 1434.
So, the bottom line is this: if you do have SQL Server, just grab that last service pack (I think I dropped the link for you in my first post). But if you don't have SQL Server on there, just go into your firewall settings and block incoming access on TCP port 1433 and UDP port 1434, and you'll be good to go!
Daniel Fowler9🙄
🔗 Similar threads
- Fantasy Premier League tips and tricks in Soccer · Aug 26, 2022
- Forum search: tips & tricks in Forum Help! · Jun 22, 2021
- File sharing tips and tricks in IT Support · Feb 24, 2020
- When does "protecting the brand" go too far? in Fans · Jul 30, 2026
- When does "protecting the process" become a cover for silence? in Politics · Jul 30, 2026