Ghosts?

H

HiThere

Every day between 4 and 4:30 my computer is on standby while I exercise.
During that time, it wakes itself up, hums and churns for a few minutes,
then puts itself back on standby.

MS Essentials is programmed to scan on Wednesday at 10 a.m. I've turned on
the monitor when I hear the computer wake up to see if I can see what it's
doing, but nothing is showing. Any idea what it could be? It's a new Acer
Aspire Core 2 Quad, Win 7 Home, with only MS Essentials as my
antivirus/antispyware. Just curious what's going on behind the scene.
Thanks.
 
E

Eric Allen

HiThere said:
Every day between 4 and 4:30 my computer is on standby while I exercise.
During that time, it wakes itself up, hums and churns for a few minutes,
then puts itself back on standby.

MS Essentials is programmed to scan on Wednesday at 10 a.m. I've turned on
the monitor when I hear the computer wake up to see if I can see what it's
doing, but nothing is showing. Any idea what it could be? It's a new Acer
Aspire Core 2 Quad, Win 7 Home, with only MS Essentials as my
antivirus/antispyware. Just curious what's going on behind the scene.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
sounds like it's scanning the hard drive while idle.

--
 
E

ericp

Any idea what it could be?
Click to expand...
Mine was Media Centre at 11am.

Never used it, never had a use for it, but it comes out every day and
tries to download TV data.
 
A

Al Smith

HiThere said:
Every day between 4 and 4:30 my computer is on standby while I exercise.
During that time, it wakes itself up, hums and churns for a few minutes,
then puts itself back on standby.

MS Essentials is programmed to scan on Wednesday at 10 a.m. I've turned on
the monitor when I hear the computer wake up to see if I can see what it's
doing, but nothing is showing. Any idea what it could be? It's a new Acer
Aspire Core 2 Quad, Win 7 Home, with only MS Essentials as my
antivirus/antispyware. Just curious what's going on behind the scene.
Thanks.
Click to expand...

"M. S., phone home ..."

-Al-
 
H

HiThere

(e-mail address removed) wrote in 4ax.com:
Mine was Media Centre at 11am.

Never used it, never had a use for it, but it comes out every day and
tries to download TV data.
Click to expand...
Didn't know I had that. Took a look at it and it's set to download at 12:00
a.m. which it will never be able to do since the modem is off then.
 
A

Al Smith

Frank said:
You actually think avast doesn't "phone home?
Think again pal...all of them do...they must in order to update themselves.
Click to expand...



I don't know about you, but I let nothing update automatically.

-Al-
 
C

Char Jackson

I don't know about you, but I let nothing update automatically.
Click to expand...
Fortunately for the rest of us, you're in the minority. The more
people keep their AV programs up to date the better it is for all of
us.

I long ago lost count of the number of systems I take in with the
owners asking me to remove some kind of malware. More often than not,
they ask how it could have happened since they had ____ (fill in the
blank) running at the time, usually Norton or McAfee, the ones that
come as free trials on new systems. I gently show them that the virus
or malware definitions are months and sometimes years out of date, and
that there is little or no protection afforded in that case.

Al, you may be perfectly capable of keeping your stuff updated
manually, but I'm very thankful that task doesn't rest on the average
computer user's shoulders because many of them simply aren't up to it.
 
C

Char Jackson

(e-mail address removed) wrote in 4ax.com:


Didn't know I had that. Took a look at it and it's set to download at 12:00
a.m. which it will never be able to do since the modem is off then.
Click to expand...
You can always move the modem to a power receptacle that stays on
continuously, thus avoiding the "modem is off" scenario.
 
A

Al Smith

Char said:
Fortunately for the rest of us, you're in the minority. The more
people keep their AV programs up to date the better it is for all of
us.

I long ago lost count of the number of systems I take in with the
owners asking me to remove some kind of malware. More often than not,
they ask how it could have happened since they had ____ (fill in the
blank) running at the time, usually Norton or McAfee, the ones that
come as free trials on new systems. I gently show them that the virus
or malware definitions are months and sometimes years out of date, and
that there is little or no protection afforded in that case.

Al, you may be perfectly capable of keeping your stuff updated
manually, but I'm very thankful that task doesn't rest on the average
computer user's shoulders because many of them simply aren't up to it.
Click to expand...
In my own case, I'm pretty careful about how I surf the Web and
what I download. I don't really depend on my antivirus, but as an
extra precaution, I have it running in the background for files --
I don't use it at all for e-mail or Web pages. I update my
antivirus definitions every week or two, but I'm not a fanatic
about it. I do like to control what my computer is doing, though,
which is why I try to prevent programs from doing anything
automatically, or phoning home. If I do it myself, I know what is
happening.

-Al-
 
E

Eric Allen

I let everything update and install automatically except Windows, where
I have updates set to automatically download and then inform that
updates are available and ready to install. That way if a re-boot is
necessary, I'm ready for it to happen.
Click to expand...
smart move, wish I'd thought of it before the reboot caught me off-guard
--
 
C

Char Jackson

In my own case, I'm pretty careful about how I surf the Web and
what I download. I don't really depend on my antivirus, but as an
extra precaution, I have it running in the background for files --
I don't use it at all for e-mail or Web pages. I update my
antivirus definitions every week or two, but I'm not a fanatic
about it. I do like to control what my computer is doing, though,
which is why I try to prevent programs from doing anything
automatically, or phoning home. If I do it myself, I know what is
happening.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure I'd bother running any AV program if I only updated it
every week or two. Most exploits have come and gone in that time. As
you say, though, if you're relatively careful your risk is minimized.
 
A

Al Smith

Alias said:
And the reason you don't go to the Microsoft Updates web site is because
you run pirated copies of Windows, right?
Click to expand...

That's quite an insulting thing to write, out of nowhere. Where
did that come from?

-Al-
 
P

Pulse

Huh? You are out of it Alias. Maybe it is time you stop posting in the
Windows newsgroups if you want to be that misinformed.

For your information, Windows Vista and Windows 7 users don't go to the
Microsoft Updates site to get their updates - it's all done onboard. Vista
was released years ago - you should know this already. Get up to date, man,
or get lost.
 
C

Char Jackson

It's no joke.

http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/ge...vation-technologies-update-for-windows-7.aspx

http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000681.html

Who Owns Your PC? New Anti-Piracy Windows 7 Update "Phones Home" to
Microsoft Every 90 Days
Click to expand...
Wow. Just wow. Let this be a heads up to everyone.

1. Don't configure your Win7 PC to automatically install updates.
2. Manually reject Update KB971033
3. Periodically check to make sure it hasn't been silently installed
behind your back.

The audacity and unmitigated gall of Microsoft never ceases to amaze
me. Even though the update will initially be optional, I fully expect
at some point they will ignore your update preferences and simply push
it out to everyone, as they have done before with XP updates.
 
O

Ophelia

Char Jackson said:
Wow. Just wow. Let this be a heads up to everyone.

1. Don't configure your Win7 PC to automatically install updates.
2. Manually reject Update KB971033
3. Periodically check to make sure it hasn't been silently installed
behind your back.

The audacity and unmitigated gall of Microsoft never ceases to amaze
me. Even though the update will initially be optional, I fully expect
at some point they will ignore your update preferences and simply push
it out to everyone, as they have done before with XP updates.
Click to expand...
Thank you VERY much for that!!!
 
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