The Ur-Quan Masters Discussion Forum

ok this is starting to annoy me..

how do you get rid of the bubbles that pop up at the lower right corner of the screen that says "YOUR UPDATES ARE READY FOR DOWNLOAD", and then when i shut automatic updates off it says "YOUR COMPUTER MAY BE AT RISK, CLICK HERE TO TURN AUTOMATIC UPDATES ON", i want to get rid of thos bubbles all together, i dont give a shit about updating anything, i update manually as to have more CTRL of my computer ;)


any help would be appreciated

Switch it to automatic updates with automatic installation, then, and it won't bug you at all.

Seriously, failing to keep a Windows box that connects to the public Internet patched is idiotic and irresponsible, at best.  If your box gets owned and turned into a spam-spewing zombie, it's everyone's problem, not just yours; so be a good neighbour and keep the damn thing patched (or disconnect it from the Internet altogether if you just use it as a Wintendo)

funny enough every time i do fully keep my computer updated, i get a virus EVERY TIME, then i have to re-install again and again

That's because M$ keeps to their schedule of updates, even if it means waiting a month after an exploit is made public and script kiddies have their hands on a brand new utility.  They've even been lax in their fixing of exploits that prolific worms use.

Regardless, a patched box is still better than an unpatched one, even if only marginally so.

i dont think it matters when the box was brand new in '98 :-\

I use windows xp, and if I patch it my internet doesnt work. Same thing happens with my bro's computor. The computor people tried fixing it, and then just gave up and said dont patch it.

What sort of viruses have you been getting? The fact that you're getting repeated infections suggests that you are doing something very wrong. BTW, are you getting hit by viruses (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_virus) or worms (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_worm)?

A properly-configured firewall keeps out most worms; the important part is to never connect a Windows machine (2000 and XP in particular) to the Internet without a firewall. An unprotected XP box connected to the Internet can easily be infected in less time than it takes to activate the firewall if it is off; this is one of the reasons why installing XP from updated XP CDs with Service Pack 2 are a very good idea, and installing the original XP or XP SP1 is a bad idea. Keeping your systems behind a NAT router is even better, as it is almost impossible for a worm to actually enter the system.

Viruses on the other hand are easily kept at bay with anti-virus software that contains an automatic scanner. I like AVG Free Edition from Grisoft (http://www.grisoft.com/). Virus scanners are only effective if they are kept up to date with information on the latest viruses.

Software that processes data from the Net can also be vulnerable. In particular, web browsers and email clients should be kept up to date.

Also make sure that the bubble telling you to update is actually a part of the system and not itself malware.

when has the malware bubble happened to you? im talking about those annnoying yellow bubble popups that tell me 'a new hardware has been found' when i have already installed it, and the windows update thing i do manually, i am behind a router and a firewall so no problems there, its just updating a computer from 1998 with xp is not good for some reason :-\

At the risk of saying it's an ID-10-T User issue (sorry, I work in IT, that's what we call them), also make sure you're not regurlarly using an account that has administrator privileges (the windows 3.1/95/98/ME/XP [not NT/2000] default setup).  Admin privileges are a great way for trojans to get complete control in your system.

He did say he performs updates manually. So perhaps we shouldn't
accuse him of not patching his box.

Seriously though, most of the computers I clean of viruses have
up-to-date AV software on them. However, AV companies can't
protect against viruses they don't know about yet.

Many viruses are a result of poor user practices, not the lack of
patching or anti-virus tools. To illistrate this, I once ran a Win98
box connected to the 'Net without AV or firewall software....
for two years without any malware installing itself.

Now, perhaps we can answer Korh-Ah Death's question. My suggestion
would be to bring up a list of running processes (CTRL-ALT-DEL) and find the
one causing these bubbles. It's probably called "Windows Updater"
or "Windows Auto-Update" etc. Then remove it using the Add/Remove
Programs function under the Control Panel. If it's not there, use the
Find function to search & destroy its butt.

If you're really desperate, use the "msconfig" program to find where it
starts up and disable it at boot-time.

Actually, they can to some extent. Virus scanners can examine programs for suspicious behaviour such as modifying other programs. See, for example, Wikipedia's article on Anti-virus software (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-virus).

Or run a RAM test (at start-up), or try other RAM, because strange hardware errors can come from a malfunctioning RAM or CPU, or even soundcard.

That is true, some anti-virus software does attemp to detect
unknown viruses. However, I've found this feature tends to be
very buggy and issues a lot of false errors. Especially with
older programs. Norton I recall was terrible for this.

If my memory is accurate Norton only really had these errors when you tried to install/uninstall something, which fits under the category of suspicious behavior. Back to the point has there ever been a Windows XP application that didn't nag and harass you with text bubbles and/or error messages? (It's a serious question I just doubt that the answer is yes.)

TERMINATOR-The Obnoxious One

Strictly Windows programs, as in ones made by Microsoft? Or do
you mean programs running on Windows? Non-annoying programs
which spring to mind include Firefox, OpenOffice.

One non-annoying program put out by Microsoft in Windows XP is
cmd.exe. I just love how quiet it is.

OK, I have just SP2 upgraded my Windows 98SE->XP box  and I get the same problem but my new Dell which came loaded with SP2 doesn't have that annoying bubble at all.

I'm going to figure this out because I have a great firewall and antivirus installed and don't need to keep hearing M$'s whining.  Besides there are some M$ patches which I DO NOT WANT INSTALLED!!!  Like any IE patch (removed IE from the old machine completely...)  or Media Player patch ( also completely removed) or MS Framework... etc.

I might not get back to these forums so my email is alatari@excite.com

i shoulda replied that i fixed my problem... it wasnt really my computer it was another that was "in my hands" at the time.
Apparently the USB ports were fried and the whole motherboard started going to shit...
and as for updating the box, i update mine as often as i can now.