All Posts by Paul

Disaster Preperation — 102 Driver Backups

Paul

In my previous post about backing up, I talked about the need to backup the sensitive data. This one I will talk about backing up the important drivers. There are several ways to backup the system drivers. Although this is not always needed. You might however have a program or two that you no longer have the CD or program to install the drivers for. I thought we talk about this and ways you might be able to back up your drivers with.

In computing, a device driver or software driver is a computer program allowing higher-level computer programs to interact with a hardware device.

A driver typically communicates with the device through the computer bus or communications subsystem to which the hardware is connected. When a calling program invokes a routine in the driver, the driver issues commands to the device. Once the device sends data back to the driver, the driver may invoke routines in the original calling program. Drivers are hardware-dependent and operating-system-specific. They usually provide the interrupt handling required for any necessary asynchronous time-dependent hardware interface.

[Via Wikipedia]

A device you might no longer have software for a really old devices or programs drivers.  So how can you backup those old device drivers.  Here are some great programs to help you back up you drivers:

  • Driver Backup — Open source program that can help back up those really important device drivers.  I’ve used this one a lot and it makes re-installing drivers easy.

  • DriverMax — DriverMax extracts the installed drivers in your Windows system and copies them along with the INF files so that they can be reinstalled in the future when needed (such as when you install Windows again)

  • Driver Genius — Diagnoses your hardware and identifies required drivers, Automatically searches for online driver updates – 30,000 drivers supported, Automatically downloads and installs the latest drivers for your machine – Daily updates ensure you always have the latest drivers, Quickly backs up your existing drivers and Restores every driver in a single operation.

Each one comes with there own unique qualities and uses.   I have been using Driver Backup on my Vista system without a problem.   Although some people may want something other than that.  I’ve also added one from my Recommendations the Driver Genius who might be good for people who need the extra hand in finding those rare drivers or backing them up.  If you have backed up your sensitive data this is usually what is needed to be done once a month or so.  Unless you start installing programs left and right, you only have to backup your drivers once in a while.  This is a good step to do to quickly install a system back to running order in under 2 or 3 hours of re-installation.

Inside Generic Pup.Z

Paul

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Infection Methods:

Potentially unwanted programs do not self-replicate. They spread manually, often under the premise that they are beneficial or wanted. They can either be stand alone applications, or come bundled along with other PUPs, Trojans or Rootkits.

Installation methods involve system or security exploitation, and unsuspecting users manually executing unknown programs.

Distribution channels include email, malicious or hacked web pages, Internet Relay Chat (IRC), peer-to-peer networks, etc.

Ways to prevent Infection:

In order to prevent these types of infections you need to understand that most of the time it is something you thought was useful but yet has a virus hidden inside of it.   Some of the things you can do to remove the virus is:

You need to remember about security and how to counter any virus installation by having a firewall and Anti-virus.  I have also put an e-store to better make use of anything I see on Amazon that might help you out.  If you want to visit it, click here.

Virus Handbook — 39.95$ Shows you the theory behind E-mail Virus.

Paul

Amazon reviews this book and says:

E-mail Virus Protection Handbook : Protect your E-mail from Viruses, Tojan Horses, and Mobile Code Attacks (Paperback)E-mail Virus Protection Handbook

The authors of this volume (and there are several) begin by explaining how and why e-mail viruses work–they point the finger mainly at software that’s designed for slick presentation of mail instead of for security, as well as at uninformed end users. Then, they begin to explain what various countermeasures, including antivirus software and firewalls, can do, and offer specific configuration advice. They also explore means of configuring popular e-mail servers and clients for maximum resistance to viruses. Overall, this book is carefully researched and should provide system administrators with the information–both practical and background–that they need to protect their systems from some of the more insidious threats around. –David Wall

Price: $39.95

If your like me and your curious how these viruses work. This book is good for those who want to learn how to fight or combat viruses that usually come with E-mails. You have to know why there are viruses and why you need Anti-virus software. Although I’ve only read some of this, it makes my head spin. I’d recommend people read it at least twice. This is good for technicians who have to fight with viruses a lot, will give you so many good ideas on how to combat them.

Please visit my store for other Recommendations.  I’ll update them when I find more cool stuff.

Some current Threats in December

Paul

Win32/Mydoom.R

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Win32/Mydoom.R is an e-mail worm for Microsoft Windows systems. Its file is approximately 28 kilobytes long, compressed by UPX. After decompression, its size is about 40kB.

Upon execution the form copies itself in the %windir% using the name java.exe. It also saves a file called services.exe there. This file is a backdoor component, that operates on TCP port 1034.

The following Registry entries are set to point to worm executables:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACCHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\JavaVM
HKEY_LOCAL_MACCHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\Services

The first entry contains path to java.exe, and the other points to services.exe.

According to the information on all the website in order to fix this you must use some anti-virus software.

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WORM_AGENT.AHQV [Trend Micro], Dropper/Xema.189952.B [AhnLab], Dropper.Small.LQ [AVG], Trojan.Crypt.Delf.AC [Bit Defender], Worm.W32.Agent-1 [ClamAV], IRC.W.W32.ClickIt.D [Otros], W32/Trojan3.AS [Authentium], I-Worm.Agent.ez [Quick Heal], Win32.HLLM.MyDoom.134 [Doctor Web], Trojan:W32/Agent.GCK [F-Secure], W32/Basine.C [Fortinet], Trojan.Crypt.Delf.AC [G DATA], Trojan.Crypt.Delf.AC [Ikarus], Email-Worm.Win32.Agent.js [K7 Computing], Email-Worm.Win32.Agent.js [Kaspersky], Worm:Win32/Mytob.SD [Microsoft], Win32/Injector.BZ [ESET], W32/P2PWorm.AAK [Norman], Trojan.Delfinject.Gen.3 [PC Tools], Backdoor.Win32.IRCbot.apj [Rising], Mal/Basine-C [Sophos], Dropper.Delf.26624.B [Hauri], Email-Worm.Win32.Agent.js [F-Secure], Backdoor/W32.IRCBot.28160.C [Otros], AGENT.ARQB [PerAntivirus]

According to the information on all the website in order to fix this you must use some anti-virus software. This one is a variant and should be dealt with as if it it the actual worm.  It seems to be spreading through P2p and Email fooling the person into running programs.  So be careful out there.


Got a Virus? Got Spyware? This gadget will fix it!!

Paul

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PC Clean Machine Personal PC Concierge Service

  • Everything you need, including software, is on the thumb drive to get your own personal PC Concierge, a real person working for you. Click on the video to see how it works.

  • Use our anti-virus/anti-spyware and other tools, or we will work with any anti-virus or anti-spyware you already have.

  • PC Concierge will check your computer regularly to keep your data protected and your computer running at optimal levels. Protects both MAC and PC

  • Receive a detailed report explaining what was done to protect your PC and improve its performance

  • Your PC concierge will perform computer maintenance at a time that’s convenient for you

  • Includes ID Theft coverage whether computer related or not

  • Includes computer breakage coverage

  • Includes all security software: anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall, anti-phishing, IM encryption, family network, protection, gamer mode, laptop mode, anti-spam, parental control, backup, tuneup, file vault, anti-adware.

This was found online and I thought about how much this could be for people in the field.  This is also good for people who have a system offline and don’t want to go online to get the software that is need to fix this.   I saw this and couldn’t wait to blog about this.  If you need to have security for when you have a virus this will help protect your for one Year.  I will say this is a very good deal get several programs for a real low price.  All the reviews for this product are good, check out the product for the reviews.  It cost 119.99 but I think it is worth it for people who don’t have enough security programs and need to protect yourself.