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Author
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Topic: Would this work?????????
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TheMoMan
BlabberMouth, a Blabber Odyssey
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posted August 23, 2010 04:51
____ Being that some of our group has to maintain computers for total idiots, that seem to catch every virus.
____ Put the OS in a RAM card, or a locked Camera card plugged into the USB port, set the BIOs to look at the USB port to boot.
____ Would WinBlows always point back to the card for saving every little thing, instead of the HDD?
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If it don't glow it ain't Ham Radio
Posts: 5071 | From: Just South of the Huron National Forest, in the water shed of the Rifle River | Registered: Sep 2002
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DoctorWho
Gold Hearted SuperFan!
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posted August 23, 2010 05:55
That only works if the BIOS supports booting from it. Some computers do and some don't. If I have to deal with a user who is not to adept about virus protection my solution is to have 2 hard drives. One dedicated to windows & programs and the other one is dedicated to data. On the first hard drive I install Deep Freeze and not tell them the password. Periodically I will scan the data drive for viruses, clean it out if necessary, unlock it for them and update it myself and then lock it back when it's done. They can download absolutely anything and all it takes is a reboot and the system is clean again.
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Laughter is like changing a baby's diapers. It doesn't solve anything but it sure improves the situation. Leo F. Buscaglia
Posts: 1677 | From: The TARDIS | Registered: Apr 2000
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garlicguy
Member # 3166
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posted August 23, 2010 11:30
Don't forget to always make 'em pull your finger when you give 'em back the restored unit, Mo...
Not that you would ever do such a thing. ![[Wink]](wink.gif)
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I don't know what I was thinking... it seemed like a good idea at the time.
Posts: 3752 | From: Pluto, no matter what you call it, is still my home. | Registered: Dec 2004
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TheMoMan
BlabberMouth, a Blabber Odyssey
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posted August 23, 2010 12:18
____ Some of you may remember the Texas Instruments (TI99/4A) Desk top it ran basic from RAM, or Extended Basic from a card plugged into the game port. The operator could not get to the OS, only run same. There was provision for a cassette recorder or up to three 180k floppy drives. Then others of you weren't even born yet.
____ I wrote a lot of programs for those little suckers, even an auto boot one to automate the thermostats in the house. So even after a power failure it would boot into the thermo program and start running the boiler again.
____ This weekend I was looking at a camera card and saw the lock tab, the lights in my noggin went on and I started thinking about setting up a safe home comp. Well two of the computers here at the hill top can be USB booted the other four nope.
____ Dr Who thanks for the link to Deep Freeze, I hope I can utilize it on one or more of the machines.
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If it don't glow it ain't Ham Radio
Posts: 5071 | From: Just South of the Huron National Forest, in the water shed of the Rifle River | Registered: Sep 2002
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The Famous Druid
Gold Hearted SuperFan!
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posted August 23, 2010 17:19
If the idiots are only using the PC for web and email, you could just install Linux, or better yet, run a linux live CD or DVD.
If it absolutely has to be Windoze, you could try building a Windows Live CD, never done it myself, but it looks plausible.
Or, you could delete the windows web browser and email and install a VMWare virtual appliance. Not a complete solution, but most malware infections happen via email or the web browser, so it's a good start.
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If you watch 'The History Of NASA' backwards, it's about a space agency that has no manned spaceflight capability, then does low-orbit flights, then lands on the Moon.
Posts: 10311 | From: Melbourne, Australia | Registered: Oct 2002
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dragonman97
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posted August 23, 2010 19:13
FWIW: Microsoft has a free equivalent of DeepFreeze for XP called SteadyState:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=d077a52d-93e9-4b02-bd95-9d770ccdb431&displaylang=en
MoMan: Regarding SD cards and the write-protect tab...that's exactly what a very clever colleague of mine does when working with infected computers. She really hates having her tools compromised, so pairing a cheap SD chip and a cheap SD card reader makes for a very good toolkit that can be readily updated. One quick warning from experience: TEST the reader & key for working write-protect before trusting it. One dirt-cheap reader I used didn't actually check/honor the write-protect switch. When I put the same chip in my SanDisk reader, no files could be written to it.
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There are three things you can be sure of in life: Death, taxes, and reading about fake illnesses online...
Posts: 9037 | From: Westchester County, New York | Registered: May 2001
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TheMoMan
BlabberMouth, a Blabber Odyssey
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posted August 24, 2010 04:17
____ Thanks all for the heads up on Steady State, and Deep Freeze.
____ This person TheMrsMoMan, has a huge collection of WinBlows games. She also home sells home beauty products, there is a difference between how a page looks in Linux and WinBlows. So I am trying to get her a locked down setup, so that I do not hear "Fixit". I am considering adding Ram and putting "Seven" on her machine, but considering the age of the Laptop, just going and getting her a new one and then locking it down.
____ On the Dell I use out in the Ham Shack, I have the HDD set up with Ubuntu/WinBlows, no Browser, just Ham Programs, then for PSK I put in DiGiPup
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If it don't glow it ain't Ham Radio
Posts: 5071 | From: Just South of the Huron National Forest, in the water shed of the Rifle River | Registered: Sep 2002
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Ashitaka
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posted August 24, 2010 06:27
wrong thread , DOh!
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-Assif Mandvi
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