ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb Posted January 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 I dunno if I much like that idea... I don't even use automatic updates because I want to know what's happening.I actually also would prefer to be prompted; but so far I haven't found any option to set that.I had another - blue - pull-up today, and this time AS asked me to allow or disallow installation of an unknown ActiveX item. I think it allows ActiveX installation only when it's a known safe ActiveX. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scuzzman Posted January 13, 2005 Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 I dunno if I much like that idea... I don't even use automatic updates because I want to know what's happening.I actually also would prefer to be prompted; but so far I haven't found any option to set that.I had another - blue - pull-up today, and this time AS asked me to allow or disallow installation of an unknown ActiveX item. I think it allows ActiveX installation only when it's a known safe ActiveX.Be this as it may - I wouldn't want something just cavalierly installing things on my computer - kinda creeps me out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb Posted January 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 Be this as it may - I wouldn't want something just cavalierly installing things on my computer - kinda creeps me out.I think you can set IE to prompt you before installing any ActiveX controls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scuzzman Posted January 13, 2005 Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 Be this as it may - I wouldn't want something just cavalierly installing things on my computer - kinda creeps me out.I think you can set IE to prompt you before installing any ActiveX controls.You can, but there is an exploit that has yet to be fixed in IE called "force-feeding" where a carefully scripted mixture of ActiveX, IFRAME, and javascript can, even if the user selects "No" or "Cancel" to install the ActiveX control, it will install and launch from the Temp files anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb Posted January 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 You can, but there is an exploit that has yet to be fixed in IE called "force-feeding" where a carefully scripted mixture of ActiveX, IFRAME, and javascript can, even if the user selects "No" or "Cancel" to install the ActiveX control, it will install and launch from the Temp files anyway.Maybe this one would not be automatically be permitted by AS?Either way, I agree with you that I'd like to have more control over what gets installed on my system. AS is a step in the right direction, but it needs also more advanced options, to give us more control. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb Posted January 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 Wow - I just had my designation upgraded to "Windows 98"; must be my 100th post... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scuzzman Posted January 13, 2005 Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 Wow - I just had my designation upgraded to "Windows 98"; must be my 100th post...Congrats :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted January 13, 2005 Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 I've removed it.I caught it doing something just now that I hadn't given it permission for.I noticed the orange/red target thing in the sys tray had appeared (not been there all day) and there was intense Internet activity. I tried clicking on the icon but it wouldn't let me do anything to it. Anyway the Internet activity stopped and all was well - I hope.I hadn't given this thing permission to access the Internet and I object very strongly that it was doing so - that's what spyware does, doesn't it? Anti-spyware acting like spyware is a no-no to me even if I have the detail wrong.Because of this it's now been removed and I will go back to using my tried and trusted antispyware applications. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted January 13, 2005 Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 You've made me think there pops. I will keep a weather eye on things and let you know if I have any cause for concern. So far however so good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
korgg Posted January 13, 2005 Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 I've removed it.I caught it doing something just now that I hadn't given it permission for.I noticed the orange/red target thing in the sys tray had appeared (not been there all day) and there was intense Internet activity. I tried clicking on the icon but it wouldn't let me do anything to it. Anyway the Internet activity stopped and all was well - I hope.I hadn't given this thing permission to access the Internet and I object very strongly that it was doing so - that's what spyware does, doesn't it? Anti-spyware acting like spyware is a no-no to me even if I have the detail wrong.Because of this it's now been removed and I will go back to using my tried and trusted antispyware applications.Probably you selected the option to check for updates and the program wanted to do just that :D ..Anyway, that is the first program that MS managed to release and managed to like me... (beside keyboard shortcuts :D )...I use at work and it does wonders ... Untill a few days ago I had to remove spyware by hand on a few (a lot more ) computers ... Antispyware applications suck when you need them most ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted January 13, 2005 Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 I was very careful that I didn't select anything that would allow it access outside without my permission. I've had it ask me about checking for updates and I did allow it but, there was no permission given to it to update any time it wanted to.It disobeyed me and thus had to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb Posted January 14, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2005 There are a number of reasons why MSAS might access the Internet, and all of them are permission-based:Enable automatic updatesDefinition update notificationsSoftware update notificationsConnect and transmit spyware information to SpyNetIf all of these settings were unchecked, but it still accessed the Internet, then something fishy is going on.I will ask the question over at the MS newsgroup; there are lots of MS experts answering questions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scuzzman Posted January 14, 2005 Report Share Posted January 14, 2005 Connect and transmit spyware information to SpyNetIsn't this what spyware does as well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb Posted January 14, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2005 Connect and transmit spyware information to SpyNetIsn't this what spyware does as well?Spyware doesn't ask permission to do so; spyware isn't even normally known to reside on the computer. MSAS explains and asks permission to do so during setup, and it can be changed in the settings at any time.But if it does even if the permission is not granted, then the comparison with spyware is indeed logical. I'll post again when I hear something in the MS newsgroups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted January 14, 2005 Report Share Posted January 14, 2005 I was very careful that I didn't select anything that would allow it access outside without my permission. I've had it ask me about checking for updates and I did allow it but, there was no permission given to it to update any time it wanted to.It disobeyed me and thus had to go.There is a setting for automatic updating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb Posted January 14, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2005 I was very careful that I didn't select anything that would allow it access outside without my permission. I've had it ask me about checking for updates and I did allow it but, there was no permission given to it to update any time it wanted to.It disobeyed me and thus had to go.Ah - I didn't read that very carefully. I interpreted it as if -pops- had explicitly turned it off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted January 15, 2005 Report Share Posted January 15, 2005 Beta does not mean anything to you lot I see :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted January 15, 2005 Report Share Posted January 15, 2005 Beta does not mean anything to you lot I see :lol:I beta tested all sorts of Microsoft products for almost ten years - back to W95. I've never had any that do things contrary to what they are instructed to do. OK, I had them that don't do what they're supposed to do but not ones that do more or that do things in the style of those they are supposed to prevent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest be@vis Posted January 15, 2005 Report Share Posted January 15, 2005 Perhaps I'm being a bit obtuse here but I fail to see how it can be classed as Beta. Last month it was a fully functioning item of software known as "Giant Antispyware" which scored well in tests against other antispyware products - http://spywarewarrior.com/asw-test-guide.htm#conclusionsThat's hardly Beta. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted January 15, 2005 Report Share Posted January 15, 2005 Perhaps I'm being a bit obtuse here but I fail to see how it can be classed as Beta. Last month it was a fully functioning item of software known as "Giant Antispyware" which scored well in tests against other antispyware products - http://spywarewarrior.com/asw-test-guide.htm#conclusionsThat's hardly Beta.Maybe a few things have been changed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted January 15, 2005 Report Share Posted January 15, 2005 Maybe a few things have been changed.- - and made inferiorLike most of the other things that Gates has filched to put into his far-less-than-perfect operating systems e.g. CD writer, backup, defragmentater etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb Posted January 16, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2005 Maybe a few things have been changed.Like removal of Win9x support... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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