frostybob

For a PC? http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php

Dallas, TX

We use McAfee enterprise-wide . Unfortunately, it's completely worthless (and bloated to say the least, but I digress). I keep Avast and MBAM (Malwarebytes Anti-Malware) on a flash drive for those occasions when one of my brain dead users gets their machine infected (though I only use MBAM when I don't want to go through a boot-time scan in Avast). I've never used AVG, Kapersky, or any of the other free A/V programs. IMHO, Avast Home Edition is just that effective (and completely free, all you have to do is register the software). I've never needed support for it in the years I've used it (it's on every machine I own at the house, and every machine I need to have it on in the office). It's also simple to disable any of the scanning engines that you don't regularly use (Internet Mail, Exchange, etc).

Yeah, it seemed like this UFO hack/glitch was only being used in HCSD matches, but now I'm seeing people use it in every game mode. In some games, it seems like the people abusing it outnumber the people playing straight-up. >

One thing that I'd like to mention, as I've been seeing a lot more of these kinds of things both here at work and outside with friends' machines... If you're ever browsing merrily and you're redirected to some website that looks like it automatically begins scanning for viruses (and subsequently tells you that your PC is infected), close the f'ing window. Don't, under any circumstances, install whatever product the site advises that you install. It doesn't matter what it is, Antivirus2009, AV2010, any sort of spyware-removal utility, anything. These programs are all simply trojans, and while by themselves they aren't too great a threat, as soon as they're installed you're open to the more nefarious viruses out there (rootkits, primarily). A good rule of thumb is, if you didn't initiate the connection, you don't want whatever they're offering.

RNG, what A/V software do you have installed? I'll echo the ever-illustrious Goat and say that if you have Norton or McAfee, get rid of that shite ASAP. AVG was mentioned elsewhere in this thread, and while I haven't used it myself I have colleagues that swear by it. I use Avast! antivirus personally and haven't found much that it won't find/remove. It is a bit of a resource hog (reasonably spec'd machines shouldn't have any trouble with it though), but it's completely free for home/personal use. You will have to register on their website to receive program/signature updates beyond 60 days (but after registering you'll be good for 14 months). I swear by Malwarebytes Anti-Malware also (once you've installed it, launch the program and let it download it's updates, then scan). I'd say your best bet would be to get a decent A/V program, and Malwarebytes Anti-Malware. Make sure they're updated before you begin scanning, and then scan your system. If you go with Avast!, I'd recommend running the boot-time scan to be on the safe side. If it finds memory-resident viruses active, it'll recommend a boot-time scan anyway. If none of this solves the problem, then you may have to resort to hijackthis, but IMHO that's more trouble than I care to deal with...MP3's and downloads be damned, I'd rather just re-image the machine. That's just me, though. I hope this helps.

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That's the ticket. The PS3 NIC has a unique MAC address (AKA hardware address) that (in theory) could be used to ban/blacklist the machine, instead of banning the machine's IP address. Edit: This assumes that there's not currently a way to spoof the PS3's hardware address. If such a way exists, all bets are off.

"I kick ass for the Lord!" -Father McGruder, Dead Alive

+1.

Wow. I'm genuinely astounded at the way some of you treated this guy. Do honor and integrity only apply when you're in-game? I guess it's too much trouble to walk the walk, when all that's really required is lip service. Ethic of reciprocity, anyone?

Awesome. You can't go wrong with a good zombie flick.

+1

OK, I'll start by saying that I know nothing whatsoever about Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum. I've never used it or seen it. What I can tell you, though, is this: whenever you receive errors relating to CRC's (cyclic redundancy check), it usually indicates bad media (bad CD/DVD, or bad spots on the hard drive). Without having run any kind of diagnostic test on the drive in your machine it's difficult to say how bad the problem is, but I can give you a few pointers that will hopefully get you going in the right direction. First, if you have Windows XP installed, I'd begin by running "chkdsk". The easiest way to go about doing so is this: 1. Click Start 2. Select "Run" 3. In the Run dialog box, type in "chkdsk" (without the quotes) and hit enter/click OK Using chkdsk in this fashion (without any additional switches) runs the program in read-only mode, meaning that it will find errors and display info about them, but it won't actually fix anything. Since you're using chkdsk to first get a clearer picture of the problem you're dealing with, this should be ok. Keep in mind that there's no way of telling how bad off your drive is until you've done this. If you use chkdsk to fix the problem, the possibility exists that you'll lose data. The only way to really fix the problem is to use a utility like chkdsk, which marks the bad spots on your hard drive, and prevents the system from trying to write data to those bad locations in the future. Another alternative would be purchasing a new HDD, backing up what files you want to save, and then reinstalling on the new drive. Make no mistake, this isn't an enviable situation to find yourself in. Were I you, though, I would begin by backing up anything/everything I wanted to save. Once that had been done, I'd turn back to chkdsk and see what, if anything, can be recovered once you set it to fix the problem (with any luck). 1. Click Start 2. Select "Run" 3. In the Run dialog box, type in "chkdsk /R" (without the quotes) and hit enter/click OK. A small MS-DOS window should pop up informing you that the volume is in use by another process (or something similar), and ask if you want to schedule it to run when the system restarts next. You would then type N or Y to answer the question. If you answered Y, then go ahead and manually restart. The utility will run automagically when booting back up. When you run "chkdsk /R", it will automatically try to fix any errors that it finds, and will try and recover any readable info from bad spots it finds on the hard drive. Additionally, it'll mark those spots as bad, and prevent the operating system from writing back to those locations in the future. You'll likely effectively lose hard drive space when you do this, no way around it (and no way of knowing how much until you know how bad the problem is). Truthfully this is only a band-aid for the problem, though. Eventually it's likely that you'll have to get a new drive and reinstall, but this may allow you to keep on chooglin' until you can get that done. I hope this helps. Sorry for so lengthy a response. :-[

Meh. I just steal one of the wife's mac keyboards and make due. Works perfectly when I need a keyboard, and I don't have to spend any extra scratch. ;D

Where the hell were these people when we bought our GSP? >

What do you have against the ta-ta's, man? Personally, if given the choice I'll always side with the boobs. I knew I smelled a hint of bias when I first read through this thread, though. I mean really, how can you go wrong with this? And yeah, apparently they're real.

Pfft. Denise Milani. http://www.chickipedia.com/denise-milani/

FWIW, if/when I need to test & verify whether or not I have memory-related issues, I use a program called Memtest86+ (http://www.memtest.org/). Using the program is as simple as downloading an ISO disk image, burning it to CD, and then booting from the CD to run the app. The downside to this, of course, is if your machine doesn't boot at all, it's all for naught. If your machine at least starts up (it doesn't have to boot into the OS, just power on and proceed through it's POST), then it should be able to boot from the app and proceed through the tests. As far as the OS CD is concerned, if you're dealing with a retail copy of the operating system CD, you're good to go regardless of the machine you're trying to install it on (provided of course that you have the serial number for the CD you're using). If you're trying to install the OS from, let's say, a Dell Windows XP CD (on a machine that's not a Dell), it's prolly not going to work. I hope this helps.

Blackened Voodoo! Wow, talk about bringing back memories. I thought Katrina did Dixie Brewing Co. in, but I heard a while back that they're back in business. I'll have to see if I can find any of the good ol' Voodoo beers this weekend. Crimson Voodoo was pretty good, too...but nowhere near as good as Blackened Voodoo (IMHO).

Blasphemy! Feel free to ship those cases down to TX, I'd be more than happy to take 'em off your hands! I won't even bother commenting on the Zima/Smirnoff debate. I mean, if you're drinking that crap, why not just go for the Boone's Farm or Wild Irish Rose? I usually keep a good supply of Shiner Bock, Shiner Bohemian Lager, and Guinness in the fridge. Otherwise, I like to pick up some Mackeson's Triple Stout, Rogue Shakespeare Stout, or my personal favorite, Paulaner Salvator. If I'm in the mood for something a little lighter, it'll always be Chimay or Newcastle Brown Ale.

This will make a helluva Christmas gift for the wife. Thanks, Nacku!

Another vote for #3.

2211 MB? That's just madness. Madness, I say!

Just received my R2 beta e-mail this morning. How massive is the download?