Hotmail

[Phil P]

After some 2 hours of trying various things and interrogating the PC my mate from BT found the problem. I've still not got my e mail address working from my server but by using a remote server I can get into my Hotmail account. The culprit is my Bit Defender. Hotmail has changed to Outlook and because it wasn't me that made the change Bit Defender Anti-fraud programme labelled illegal and won't let me onto Hotmail. We tried switching off Bit Defender and loading in one of the free anti virus programmes Bit Defender blocked it. We only discovered it was the Anti Fraud when one of the Bit defender pages came up ( We're not too sure what we clicked on.) Had in small red print 'Anti Fraud blocking access to this web page'. So that's it. Thank you to Terry G, JPB, Mitsuri, Suffolk Pete & Classic Micro Cars for your help and suggestions. Like I said my Hotmail is sort of available again all be it via a round the houses route. Next job is to take it to my local computer shop to get Bit Defender sorted. Thanks for nothing to the prats who changed my Hotmail to Outlook. No it did NOT make using my e mails easier it made them impossible and it will cost me money to be corrected. How many other people are suffering the same problem as me because of their anti virus system? If it wasn't for the fact my e mail address is well known by so many I would change it.

[JPB]

How many other people are suffering the same problem as me because of their anti virus system?

Probably only the ones who use Windows.
No A/V here (just a bloody good firewall or, if that's too American, a bulkhead ..) I haven't had an infestation since 2007 though more recently some arse - who hasn't the balls to admit that his sense of humour doesn't work with the bathroom window shut - did try their damnedest to make me want to do a Shoestring** to every machine, on every network that I use in the course of work, play and "special" stuff! I didn't, as I do quite like my work wages.

**At the very start of the series, the story that led Eddie into radio presenting was that he'd just come out of hospital after losing it big time and smashing up a whole room filled with computers, the big kind with open reels of tape and flashing lights all over the place. Now that lot might do the double glazing some damage so think on: There's always someone having more trouble.

[Classic Microcars]

Phil, you don't have to get rid of the address you have whatever else you do. My recommendation is to carry on using it, but in parallel with another (IMO) professional address of your choosing. You can give out the new one, without fear of losing anything and once the Hotmail has dropped to a trickle, you won't ned to look at it very often. If you need any help in setting up your own addresses, just let me know.

A further point about your own domain is that you can have "anythingyoulikehere"@philp_or whateverhere.co.uk and they will all come in to you without any complication. The great benefit of that is that you can have throwaway addresses and if you wish, everyone of your contacts can be given a different one. So then if you start getting spammed, you can see who passed your details on!

[TerryG]

Phil, by far the cheapest solution is to dump bitdefender and install AVG Free or even Microsoft security essentials.

Viruses aren't the threat they were 5 years ago and Windows 7/8 are much better at protecting themselves than XP and earlier versions were.

Changing email addresses is a pain in the rear as you are guaranteed to forget someone or a friend you knew a year ago won't have a new address and will mail the old one with something important.

[Luxobarge]

Phil, by far the cheapest solution is to dump bitdefender and install AVG Free or even Microsoft security essentials.

Seconded. I use MS Security Essentials on all our PCs, never had a problem with them, I can't for the life of me understand why any Windows user would install anything else, as it's free and well supported. I also use Hotmail a lot, every day, BT is my ISP and still not having a problem of any kind.

Simples!

[tractorman]

I took Terry's advice a couple of years ago and all of my win 7/8 machines have MS security essentials and they work well enough for me (and the machines are a lot slicker than when they had either Kapersrky or Nortons security suites). I did download some Mcafee thing with either Java or Adobe thing (I think it was Java though!) that checks the security and it seems to think my AV and firewall are OK - but implies that I should install their suite (though not intrusively!). I haven't got a fancy firewall now - but the windows one seems to be OK for my needs - I usually visit safeish sites (though some pics on here are sheer porn!).

I'm still keeping my options open though - I can't afford to upgrade to Win 10 (when it arrives), so I suspect I'll have to look for something cheaper (ie free) when support for Win 7 ends! However, I'd agree that Win7/8 are a lot more secure than the "Microsoft haters" would ever admit!

[JPB]

.....BT is my ISP and still not having a problem of any kind.

And some folk get away with naming the article on a friday but even knowing that (any) superstition is really, really silly** doesn't stop the fleet from staying in if someone does drop the word!

**Here's hoping you were touching wood with the other hand.

....I'd agree that Win7/8 are a lot more secure than the "Microsoft haters" would ever admit!

Virus attacks may well be less common but it's a firewall that'll keep out the ads and the spyware.



edited: Bumhats! Almost forgot the thing, which is that Windows 10 actually looks half way usable. I've been giving it a go on my Cr48 which is a testbed for pretty much anything and everything these days. Unlike 7 and 8, 10 immediately found the correct drivers for its Pine Trail graphics chip, so set it to the correct 1200x800 without having to be patched with the driver (intended for the Asus equivalent) from the Micro$oft site. Similarly, it found the ex-Apple TV Broadcomm Crystal HD card that I put in there to replace the SIM reader I wasn't using and Bluetooth connected to the Amazon receiver with similarly little effort.
10 is also much easier on system resources than 8 so give it a go while it's available for free. Best bit: They made it a simple task to remove IE! No, I don't mean to disable it or to take down its icons, you can actually take it away completely.


So now, it's only really the whole idea of the damned registry that would prevent my using Windows. That, and the fact that the LAs in whose areas I work don't use it either, but this is probably more about cost than any of the many & varied security-related reasons.

Oh, and while we're at it; Clive, RW is back up now, you are aware of this I take it? Just checking.

[TerryG]

....I'd agree that Win7/8 are a lot more secure than the "Microsoft haters" would ever admit!

Virus attacks may well be less common but it's a firewall that'll keep out the ads and the spyware.

That isn't strictly true. It depends on your definition of a firewall. At home I have a sonicwall which cost (my employer) more than i spent on my daily driver. It does on the fly virus scanning and has a cache almost a proxy server to scan all downloaded files and a load of other stuff I need but won't bore you with. Most domestic "firewalls" just close unused ports. They do nothing at all to filter anything. Firewalls also do nothing to stop ads. Content filters do but very few bits of domestic equipment do that. Adblock plus however is free and does an amazingly good job. it is also superb at catching nasties from websites as it blocks some scripts that can infect your machine with undesirable apps.

The best way of avoiding malware is to have common sense. eg when an advert pops up saying you have won an iphone, they are lying! It is amazing how many people fall for it.

John, be really careful using the beta of Windows 10. it does keystroke logging(!!!!) and can send the log to Microsoft. I have it on the test bench at work and all it gets used for is showing people the interface.

[JPB]

I use Adblock plus, only found it recently when I wanted to see series three of the excellent "Ripper Street" and didn't fancy giving Amazon money for something that will be free to download and keep once the BBC show (most of) it here officially. Couchtuner.ie is wick with ads and that thing stopped most of them on Firefox though I haven't tried it on any other browser.
I have a hardware firewall too, this organised FOC by one of the agencies for which I work as I do some** of my work from home and they insisted on it because I'm responsible for the upkeep of confidential documents relating to a fair old number of vulnerable people.
I did actually win a prize once as a result of clicking an iffy-looking link in a piece of email, a Sony Playstation that was. It was disappointing and didn't play CDs anywhere near as well as my beloved B&O Century does so I flogged it through the small ads to someone who told me that apparently, one can play games on these devices too , with the funny looking wired remote control thing that came in the box with the PS.
I had been told something about the keystroke logging potential of W10, but it's OK, I don't visit the forum with that machine, other than when it's running in its preferred (by me) LMDE mode and when I swap between anything Micro$oft and Debmint, I do so by swapping between separate SSDs, only one of which is in residence at any one time, so good old Micro$oft won't get to see anything relating to old motors, stray animals or green Spandex face wear.


**- by "some" I do of course mean "as much as I can get away with"...

[tractorman]

Another vote for Adblock Plus - I use it on all my machines (with Firefox rather than IE) and it stops most of the ads. Thunderbird 's "Junk" button is used an awful lot too!

I have a feeling that the PlusNet mail server has some AV as I often find old stuff in the site's "junk" folder if I use their email page instead of T'bird. I know they offer a full protection service (at a cost) and, if I felt I needed something else, I would be tempted. Mind you, I don't have any confidential stuff on the machines nowadays (and have it set not to remember passwords, card details or whatever), so security isn't quite as "essential" as it is for some users!