Computer questions

[Lord Tim]

^^ Good advice.

There's a couple of things in there that could possibly be spyware, though. The names are kind of ambiguous. What's Floater, for instance? (Not suggesting it IS spyware, but what I'm saying is unless you have a program to sniff packets to see what's being sent from your machine to see if anything is phoning out and someone who knows how to read it, it's hard to say if any of those programs are for real or malicious).

The best way is definitely to block anything that doesn't need to talk to the net as Josh said.

[outrageous]

Originally Posted by KoichCPA

What actually makes you think you are being spied on? I can't see anything you're running that shouldn't be there.

Just some information I got given, that was suspicious. Things that could have only happened if I had been spied on. Lol sounds so secretive.

[outrageous]

Originally Posted by Lord Tim

^^ Good advice.

There's a couple of things in there that could possibly be spyware, though. The names are kind of ambiguous. What's Floater, for instance? (Not suggesting it IS spyware, but what I'm saying is unless you have a program to sniff packets to see what's being sent from your machine to see if anything is phoning out and someone who knows how to read it, it's hard to say if any of those programs are for real or malicious).

The best way is definitely to block anything that doesn't need to talk to the net as Josh said.

"floater.exe is a process belonging to WinPortrait Pivot for portrait enabled monitors. This program is a non-essential process, but should not be terminated unless suspected to be causing problems."

Thats what I found out about it, nothing serious I dont think...

[Lord Tim]

Ah, there you go - it's a video utility that likely came bundled with your monitor or video card, so it's not spyware, which is what I was saying before. A lot of spyware is hidden with innocent looking names, but sometimes the programmer can be a little careless.

I'd definitely lock down your firewall and see how that goes.

[flip`]

Don't just look at task manager though, get Hijackthis to see everything that is running! Then search (google) each running app and see what it is.

[bsercombe]

Hmmm. If someone you don't know on the web gave you some "suspicious information" it could be someone you know pretending to be someone else. There are a lots of possible explanations, but most people are simply not sufficiently educated and motivated to pull off an effective spyware attack against an individual. Most spyware is non-specific so if someone you know gave you this "suspicious information" then its more likely that they came by it by another means (perhaps a google search for your name or aliases you use on the web or someone you told the suspicious information told them).

Many spyware tools go out of their way to hide and can't be seen in the "list of running processes" even though they are running. Others masquarde using normal program names. Hackers build stuff into pirated software. People you "know" can transmit files directly to you through IM and people you know send you things via email that can hide nasties such as Powerpoint Slideshow files (PPS). But most of this stuff should be caught by antivirus or antispyware programs- which goes back to my comment about being sufficiently educated and motivated- meaning motivated enough to write or sufficiently modify some program so that it isn't detected by normal scans.

As Flip says, there are many good tools out there- Hijackthis is the top one, but Spybot search and destroy is a bit more user friendly as is Ewidio. If these programs can't clean off what they find, plug the name of the offending program into google along with "removal" and there might be a removal tool you can download or a procedure you can follow.

[Celestial-Todd]

Over the last month or so, I've had several people (family, friends, friends of friends etc etc) ask me to help them build a computer. I did this for my sister recently, spent hours researching her needs, finding the cheapest deals on parts, building the pc and setting up the software she required. Then I handed over the complete computer with the receipts from the stores. Basically alot of work for no reward.

Jess's dad jokingly suggested setting up my own business so I could charge whatever I want (ie, buy the parts for $100, sell for $150 when I build a computer). I was having a think about it over the weekend and wondered if maybe it is a way I can earn some money on the side.

I don't expect to get rich off it, far from it in fact. I may only build a few computers a year. I guess what I'm trying to weigh up is whether it's worth registering a company name ($140 for 3 years) and applying for an ABN. By doing that, I can provide my own customers with invoices and what I've paid for the parts isn't an issue

Does it sound worthwhile?

[Lord Tim]

It does, but ask this: what are you offering that people who are already established aren't already offerring?

[Celestial-Todd]

I'd be targetting a very select customer group... ie, the kind of people who would just walk into Harvey Norman and go "ok that's sounds good, gimme gimme". In otherwords, people who want a computer but don't know where to start (ie, they wouldn't know/be willing to shop around the cheap stores and build the pc themselves).

Like I said, I don't expect to see a big turn-around on it

[Goreripper]

An ABN is a pain in the arse unless you make a crapload of money. Doing quarterly BAS is fairly easy, but unless you're in the habit of keeping every single piece of paper from everything you buy and use, every bill, stamp etc. and giving it to an accountant then your taxes are more of a PIA than they are already. Plus, unless you make $50,000 a year, you have to defer any losses and can't write them off against your other income until the year you do make that much, which might be now or it might be never. So if you're only doing a couple a year, best just call it a hobby until you're doing enough to make it worthwhile.