Running PC on the MacPro - iPhone 3G

geordisjd · 03-11-2008, 05:03 AM

I just realized that the PC section is gone.
I was going to ask for some help with my Windows XP that got infected by replicator viruses. Running on Parallels, it became barely functional. The first virus program I bought quit on start-up, and I tried many times. The second one tried bravely to install, but then wouldn't and after many error messages, would force me to restart many times over, but would not complete the installation. IE stopped working. I would get dozens of error messages each minute. I spent hours doing this. I spent $180 bucks in programs that wouldn't install.
So I gave up. I trashed my MP windows virtual machine.

I transplanted my windows machine from my MBP, but will have to spend the next evening activating Windows again. It took hours last time.

Why do people willingly deal with windows machines and this kind of crap all the time?

chris · 03-11-2008, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by geordisjd

I just realized that the PC section is gone.
I was going to ask for some help with my Windows XP that got infected by replicator viruses. Running on Parallels, it became barely functional. The first virus program I bought quit on start-up, and I tried many times. The second one tried bravely to install, but then wouldn't and after many error messages, would force me to restart many times over, but would not complete the installation. IE stopped working. I would get dozens of error messages each minute. I spent hours doing this. I spent $180 bucks in programs that wouldn't install.
So I gave up. I trashed my MP windows virtual machine.

I transplanted my windows machine from my MBP, but will have to spend the next evening activating Windows again. It took hours last time.

Why do people willingly deal with windows machines and this kind of crap all the time?

To my surprise, I've found that if you set it up correctly, Windows can be very stable. I had a DELL that I was using before my Mac Pro and had zero issues with Vista. I did a clean install of Vista Business, followed by AdAware and Kaspersky Virus Protection. The thing runned like a champ. Keep in mind that I don't expose it to the constant battering that my G5 and now MacPro deal with it on a daily basis.

Both programs were nice additions to my Vista install. I'd avoid MacAfee. It came pre-installed when I first got the bloatware Dell and I found it to be sluggish. My research pointed me in the direction of Kaspersky and glad I found it.

There is a good freeware XP virus protection app, but I forgot the name. I've seen it mentioned a few times, when I was looking around for these apps.

It is nice to just "turn on my Mac" and have it work out of the box. The first thing I noticed about Vista was the warning sign. It would be akin to Ford selling a car that immediately need servicing after driving off the lot.

Ahhhh...such is Windows. Take these steps and I think you'll be pleased.

Good luck.
-Chris

geordisjd · 03-12-2008, 02:04 AM

Thank you for the info.
I managed to install "The Shield", that I had already paid for yesterday, on my transplanted virtual machine on the MacPro, and right now, all appears well!
I tried to do the same on the MBA, and now IE won't even start up, after I got 4 (four!) gray screen-of-death Mac crashes while trying to install The Shield on Parallels/Windows PC. It's actually the same transplanted VM from the MBP, as it wouldn't let me install WinXP from the original CD.

Well, all this complicated business brings me to this: the original installations of WinXP (and eventually Vista) on Parallels were actually quite painful. After installation and before viruses, everything worked smoothly, but I wouldn't want to do it again (natural childbirth is not for everybody).
How's Fusion? Is it pretty easy to install/configure? Does it come with epidural anesthesia?
Any thought about my MBA and IE not starting up (the other stuff on XP works fine) and "The Shield" not installing? How do you get rid of viruses if your anti-viral meds won't even install?

patrickj · 03-12-2008, 02:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by geordisjd

How do you get rid of viruses if your anti-viral meds won't even install?

Sorry for the pain you're going through. Just on that last question, you may have already done this but if not worth trying:
Install Autoruns from SysInternals (MS bought them but that's how I always knew them) - it's a very cool free utility found here, that shows you *everything* that is set to run at startup or on browser startup etc.
You could go check these things in the Registry, but there are a large number of different locations you need to go to see the same thing.
Look especially hard at these locations:

See anything there that you do not recognize as something you asked and approved to run at startup, Google it, see if it is legit. Hopefully you will find some obvious malware culprits here and remove them.

geordisjd · 03-12-2008, 03:11 AM

Thanks, I'll try this tomorrow at work.
Right now, I'm happily enjoying the smooth running of my MacPro

.
Wish I could take it with me everywhere, but it's a little bit cumbersome. Defeats the purpose of having MBA.

patrickj · 03-12-2008, 03:36 AM

Cool, hope it gets resolved soon. I'm still a Windows user (though lusting after a Mac) but having been involved in support for years, I know that an infected machine can be a nightmare ...

geordisjd · 03-12-2008, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by patrickj

Cool, hope it gets resolved soon. I'm still a Windows user (though lusting after a Mac) but having been involved in support for years, I know that an infected machine can be a nightmare ...

While I was able to make Windows XP virus-free (I think) on MBA, I figured out that Parallels wasn't really compatible with MBA yet. Will post it on MBA subforum.

patrickj · 03-12-2008, 08:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by geordisjd

While I was able to make Windows XP virus-free (I think) on MBA, I figured out that Parallels wasn't really compatible with MBA yet. Will post it on MBA subforum.

Ouch. Well, glad it is clean, or cleaner at any rate. Hope Autoruns was of some help. And hope you get your dual-boot working again ...

geordisjd · 03-12-2008, 09:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by patrickj

Ouch. Well, glad it is clean, or cleaner at any rate. Hope Autoruns was of some help. And hope you get your dual-boot working again ...

Yes, thanks. My MacPro's dual booting is restored. It's just the MBA that doesn't like Windows. I might get Fusion if a solution isn't found soon.

x999x · 03-13-2008, 05:25 PM

Fusion has tools to import your Parallels virtual machines. I prefer Fusion, its benchmarked better for actual applications, whereas Parallels performs better for games.

Also, regarding editing your startup items, I think its a lost cause by today's standards in malicious software. Having made my own, I can tell you that any "good" malware is going to reinstall itself every time you restart your machine. Deleting it's registry entries and startup options are fruitless, because the application will recreate itself with a new dynamic name at every boot. This has become a standard, and its extremely difficult to track and get rid of on your own when you don't know where to look.

About 98% of the software designed to remove malware like this cannot undo the installation once the malware set it's hooks into your device. What these programs can do, and do well, is prevent malware like this from infecting you. That is about the only protection you can get, stopping the problem before it starts. I highly recommend starting over with your virtual machines, or restoring back to one that works.

As a PC user by profession, I would adise you to invest in Norton Ghost, and get into the habit of making Ghost Images of your Virtual Machine's local hard drive. In the event of a catostrophic failure, or malware installation, you can restore your system folder (or the entire drive) in just a matter of minutes.

I can go from Zero to XP + SP2 and all my programs installed in less than 7 minutes. Yes, I've timed it because I hate Windows installs too.