Got Spyware? Throw out the Computer!

geeber writes "The New York Times (reg. required) has an article about a new response to spyware - throw out the computer and buy a new one. The notion is new computers can be had for $400 so it's a cost effective and 'rational response.'" From the article: "While no figures are available on the ranks of those jettisoning their PC's, the scourge of unwanted software is widely felt. This month the Pew group published a study in which 43 percent of the 2,001 adult Internet users polled said they had been confronted with spyware or adware, collectively known as malware. Forty-eight percent said they had stopped visiting Web sites that might deposit unwanted programs on their PC's. Moreover, 68 percent said they had had computer trouble in the last year consistent with the problems caused by spyware or adware, though 60 percent of those were unsure of the problems' origins. Twenty percent of those who tried to fix the problem said it had not been solved; among those who spent money seeking a remedy, the average outlay was $129."

Re:Reformat?

[October_30th]

You want to explain the process of formatting the correct partition and re-installing windows+all drivers to an average user who thinks that the blue E-icon on the desktop is the internet?

Anyway, do brand computers like Dell even come with Windows installation CDs?

Antibitrot

[Doc Ruby]

I keep all my Windows installers archived in a respository, and repartition/reinstall periodically as an "end run" against viruses. I restore my data from backups. I wish config data, which can be infected (like the Registry) could be easily separated from "content data" - and I wish all my data were in a SQL database, so I could easily restore only the less-vulnerable content data, or at least review config data separately before restoring.

Linux could have an even better system than this. I'd like a list of my installed apps, with their data directories and configs. If possible, all in a SQL database, or at least all the pointers in such a database. So I could periodically repartition/reinstall/restore my apps and data, automatically, like in an overnight cronjob. Then my install could be that much safer from bitrot.

The best solution is to...

[canuck57]

...has an article about a new response to spyware - throw out the computer and buy a new one.

The best solution I have ever seen is a tech walks into your office with a CD, Ctrl-Alt-Delete - boot to CD-ROM, enters your user ID and walks away saying keep the CD for next time you infect your machine. It boots from the CD re-installing the entire system.

Users hate it as they store stuff on the local drive but soon learn corporate no-tolerance policy for keeping critical data on the local drive and loading unapproved often unlicensed software. The raw fact still remains, 90% of the corporate spyware issues can be tracked back to the users (mis)behavior.

Tossing out the computer prematurely has several disadvantages, the logistics of disposal, acquisition and software licensing. It is unlikely replacing the system with the same Windows operating system is going to change much. Mind you if the replacement was a locked down system where the user could not load software.... That would have some obvious benefits.

My mom did this!

[jafac]

Yeah, when her winxp computer got sogged up with spyware, after weeks of attempts to clean it up, she got rid of it and bought another computer;

A Mac.

Re:Bill says "thanks"

[mrchaotica]

No, the problem is that Windows is still so braindead that it defaults to administrator instead, and lots of Windows software is so braindead that it requires an administrator to install and run.

If it were the user's problem, then Mac OS would suffer it also -- but it doesn't.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

just the hard drive!

[Anonymous Coward]

I introduced a friend to the joys of removeable hard drives. Now his wife, who knows nothing about safe computing, has one, and he has the other. His drive never sees the internet; hers gets re-formated on a regular basis.

Re:Ford goes on.

[arbitraryaardvark]

While you're at it, if you ever have car problems, just chuck the damn thing and buy a new one! Cars are so cheap nowadays, it's more cost-efficient to buy a new car than to fix your current one, what with car virii and over-priced, shitty mechanics and whatnot.

This works for me. I buy a $500 car about once a year, for cash. Last friday when I thought the transmission went out, I was ready to walk away with no hard feelings. Turned out to be the axle, fixable for $235. If it "crashes" or "burns", or, more likely, gets towed away by the auto pirates, i'm not over a barrel.
Similarly, it makes more sense to buy a new toaster from walmart for $10 than to take the 1950s-era toaster for repair.
The average consumer drives a computer that's at least 2 years old. $400 to replace it, and hand down the old one to cousin timmy or to www.virtualscavengers.com, is reasonable. I'm spending ~ 400/yr on broadband, might as well get a machine that can handle it. This one's a $100 P2. Sometime this year I'll upgrade to a $25 P3.
I run firefox, norton, spybot, adaware, and date a geek who can fixxor it if i catch some malware.

Alternative Solution

[CrazyTalk]

My HP Laptop became so infiltrated with spyware (in spite of running every anti-virus, anti-adware, popup blocker, firewall, etc known to man) that I finally "gave up" and reformatted the hard drive and reinstalled the OS (XP Pro SP 2). Unfortunately, in the case of HP, they don't give you a disk with all of the drivers and associated software on it, nor do they make all of the software available for free on their website, so I have a working but "hobbled" machine at the moment. At least there is no more spyware on it! It was a tense race against time to enable the firewall and install Norton anti-virus after reinstalling Windows XP before the first virus tried to get in.

Built in

[Mistlefoot]

There is a built in firewall that can be turned on as well. Should have been turned on by default but anyone who's formatting an XP box for reinstall should know how to do this. Should. Might not. But should. You can also download a hosts file for free from http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm/ [mvps.org]

This hosts file is updated regularly, and after putting it on a box you will find that adaware needs not be run anymore. And you block lots of ad sites as well. Why this isn't a more common simply solution I'm not sure.

Re:Bit of a waste, surely?

[tehshen]

I bet this is a scam from Microsoft to make people upgrade to Longhorn if/when it is released

</tinfoil>

This can get nasty...

[pe1chl]

throw out the computer and buy a new one.

A Dutch public prosecutor did exactly this. He bought a new computer after his old one got infested with malware and viruses. He put the old one out on the street as garbage.

That got very nasty. Ultimately it cost him his job, because confidential correspondence was leaked when someone picked it up and examined the disk.

In the end he was lucky not to be prosecuted himself, for having child pornography on the system. However, that set some nice precedence: apparently it is no problem to have something on your system when it has gotten there "unintentionally".

Re:Bit of a waste, surely?

[jlarocco]

Maybe they should.

Is it too much to ask that people have a clue about something they likely use for a few hours every single day?

A Ph.D ??

[Helamonster]

From the article:

"Mr. Tucker, an Internet industry executive who holds a Ph.D. in computer science, decided that rather than take the time to remove the offending software, he would spend $400 on a new machine."

and:

"David Gelernter, a professor of computer science at Yale [...] said his own family's computer became so badly infected that he bought a new one this week."

I could understand that your average computer user might throw away their computer after messing it up, but a guy with a Ph.D. in computer science and a professor of computer science at Yale? WTF?
Secondly, WTF is a computer scientist doing with a Dell computer, anyway?
Thirdly, WTF is a computer scientist doing running Windows?
Finally, the title of the article is "Corrupted PC's Find New Home in the Dumpster."
Do you see anything wrong with that? Corrupted is a verb, corrupt is an adjective. Geez! That must have been John Markoff's doing :)

Re:Not just the IT economy

[Anonymous Coward]

Remember, this is Slashdot, where a good number of people believe that if you can't write software, then you're too stupid to even exist let alone use a computer.

Re:Bit of a waste, surely?

[Nqdiddles]

I have. I rebuilt a friends pc, and thought I'd risk the quick connect to upgrade the virus definitions. 17 seconds, and it was infected. So I had to start again, with an offline version of the virus definitions.