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The LangaList
Standard Edition

2006-01-19

A Free Email Newsletter from Fred Langa
That Helps You Get More From Your Hardware, 
Software, and Time Online

Please visit our sponsors and help keep the LangaList S.E. free!

1) "Pretexting," "Pharming" And Other Dangers

You've heard of worms, trojans and viruses; you probably know what phishing is, and have a good idea of how to fight malware. But even if you're extremely well-versed in online dangers, there probably are some new ones that you may not know about. The two terms above, for example--- "pharming" and "pretexting"---  were new to me until I was researching the current InformationWeek article, now posted at http://www.informationweek.com/windows/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=177100010

The article is called  "Five Essential Steps To PC Security," and it's an attempt to boil down a ton of scattered information on online security into one concentrated, easy-to-access, easy-to-bookmark place for future reference.

Even if you're well-informed about online security, there are probably a few terms or exploits that will be new to you. And if you're relatively new to online security, the whole package will help you button up your PC, making it about as secure as it can be.

Then. no matter what the new year brings in terms of online threats, you--- and your data--- will be secure!

Click on over:
http://www.informationweek.com/windows/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=177100010

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2) Drive Errors (Fred's Take)

Fred: I am a long time subscriber, first to the free edition and then to the Plus! Edition when it started up....

I recently purchased a new Seagate Barracuda 250GB drive and subjected it to testing by [Steve Gibson's] SpinRite 6.0. After finding a high number of ECC correctable errors, and a high number of seek errors, I ran the same test on a two year- old Maxtor DiamondMax 160GB and found no errors at all.

Based on this comparison, I sent back the Seagate drive and bought another one. SpinRite shows similar high error rates on this one as well.

Either Seagate has problems with Barracuda drives, or the error rates don't matter .... or, possibly, Maxtor has some way of hiding errors from SpinRite. The last seems unlikely. I can't conceive of them beating Steve Gibson at this game.

What is your advice? Should I keep the drive, or return it and move on?

Thanks for your help in the past, and now. ---reader ralph

Here's my initial reply:

Ralph, I'd keep the drive, but watch it closely.

Drives can use a variety of tricks to hide problems. Many kinds of newer drives ship with spare data areas, in anticipation of problems cropping up on the main disk surface. The larger the drive, the more likely there are to be manufacturing defects that will necessitate the automatic, behind-the-scenes use of these "spare" data areas by the hard drive circuitry--- that's what the spare areas are there for.

The use of these spare areas or other error-correction techniques doesn't necessarily mean the drive is bad; the drive manufacturer may have allowed for a certain level of correctable errors in the design of the drive. In other words, as long as the number of correctable errors stays within spec, you're OK.

That means your best bet is to watch to see if the number of errors and corrections goes up: Think of the drive's performance at first-use as a baseline, and if the number of corrections changes for the worse--- especially if you see a sudden increase--- then I'd take that as a sign of trouble brewing. But if the number of correctable errors remains near the baseline, then it's probably just what's normal for that particular drive.

Drives usually either die young or live for a long time. If the drive is OK after a few weeks, and isn't showing an increasing number of errors, it'll probably be OK for years. Just keep an eye on the SMART data ( http://www.google.com/search?as_q=smart&as_sitesearch=langa.com ) and the Spinrite results, and watch for adverse changes.

I then was about to write more on Spinrite, but I thought: Why not go to the source, and ask Steve Gibson himself? He's the author of Spinrite (as well as many other tools: http://www.grc.com/ ).

So, I did. (See next item)

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3) Drive Errors (Steve Gibson's Take)

(continued from previous item)

I wrote:

So there you have it--- my generalist's view and Steve's deep-in-the-guts expert's view, both reaching the same conclusion: The presence of drive errors in itself isn't cause for undue alarm, as long as they're correctable. But you need to see what happens over time, as an adverse change in error rates will probably be your best guide to impending serious trouble.

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4) The WMF Security Flap

Steve Gibson figures in this item, too; he alluded to it in his reply, above.

Here's the short form: Over the holidays, a potentially serious "back door" security flaw came to light in Windows; one bad enough that Microsoft dropped its normal once-a-month update schedule and issued an extra, unscheduled patch, posthaste.

If you let WindowsUpdate do its thing, or if you manually retrieved updates recently, you're probably already patched. If you're not sure, see http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/Bulletin/MS06-001.mspx . You can also run a special (free!) "back door vulnerability tester" file called "knockknock.exe," from Steve Gibson, at http://www.grc.com/wmf/wmf.htm .

There was a surprising initial uproar about this particular vulnerability; one that seemed disproportionate to me. Yes, the flaw could have been widely exploited, but unlike myriad worms, trojan, and viruses past and present, it wasn't. In fact, I could find only uncorroborated third-hand references to one small population at a school in Europe that actually had a problem; and I don't know if that really happened. In any case, although huge numbers of PCs contained the flaw--- enough to scare Microsoft into rushing a fix--- it was patched before much, if any, harm was done.

I'm not trying to minimize the potential danger--- the flaw was real, and needed to be fixed--- but I am trying to differentiate between potential danger and actual harm. They're not the same, although some publications treated this security flaw as if it were actively destroying PCs right and left. Yes, it could have been bad; but it wasn't. The problem was patched before much *if any* actual harm was done. There was no need for panic, although panic sure helped to sell newsletters and magazines.

That said, some of the people who dug into the original problem turned up very strange things indeed. I actually think that this might be the *real* story, but it's getting far less play. (Go figure.)

Steve Gibson plays a central role in this follow-on story, too, the gist of which is that the original security hole may not have been an accident, but rather may have been *deliberately* coded in, years ago, by people at Microsoft as a way to inject executable code into remote PCs.

Steve says:

It appears that this was a never-public "feature" that the guys who re-coded the "pure 32-bit GDI" for NT4 added but never talked about. No trace of it appears in earlier Windows, nor in the WINE clone. And it has remained in Windows ever since. So, if nothing else, the creation of this WMF code execution backdoor feature HAD to be deliberate. That much is not a mistake.

WHO in Microsoft knew about it, we'll never know. And HOW and WHY it managed to survive ten years of security reviews, several previous WMF exploits, and even being re-coded again into Vista ... remains a real mystery.

But mostly I'm annoyed that Microsoft has never told the truth about what it is, and instead is hugely confusing the issue either deliberately or through (quite believable) simple buffoonery, saying that it dates back from Windows 3.0 and is about the printer's "SetAbortProc" functions.  It's true that it re-uses the Escape sub-function code for "SetAbortProc" -- since it was unused and available in non-printer contexts -- but it otherwise has nothing at all to do with "SetAbortProc" ... which is not, by the way, at all insecure and cannot be used as an exploit vector.

I seem to always get myself into these complex messes where "the facts" are the first victims. <g>

All the best! Steve

You can read much more about this at Steve's site: http://www.grc.com/sn/SN-022.htm And the general Web still has a ton of info, too: http://www.google.com/search?q=wmf+patch

One bit of cheesiness: Microsoft has declined to issue a patch for older OSes that are about to fall off the support cycle; Win98 and ME. That seems just plain cheap to me: Surely MS could afford the cost of patching these older systems. Instead, MS has sidestepped the issue by calling the WMF flaw "non-critical" on these older systems, even though it's rated "critical" for Win2K and onward.

Here, too, Steve stepped into the breach: He's trying to see for himself whether or not these older systems need a patch, and if so, may produce it himself. His research is ongoing, and you can get the latest at http://www.grc.com/wmf/wmf.htm .

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--- ( Your Clicks On Ad Links Help Keep The LangaList S.E. Free! ) ---

"Dear Fred, Some long time ago I had a problem with my computer.
An online friend suggested I check your website. I did, and
was so impressed that I signed up for the LangaList Plus version immediately.
Thanks to you & the LangaList, I've suffered very few problems since.
Not only that, but friends, family and co-workers think
I'm some sort of a guru, because, when they suffer the problems I've
been able to avoid, it only takes me an average of six minutes to
search the LangaList Plus archives and come up with a solution. Of course,
I always tell them where I got the info and suggest they wise-up and get
their own subscription. (At least seven of them have done so.)

The point of this message is: I wouldn't be without the LangaList Plus,
and I won't be without the LangaList Plus. If ever comes the day
I don't renew, it will most likely be because I'm no longer using a computer.
Your loyal & most appreciative fan, Jeanne Neale"

Thanks, Jeanne!

The LangaList Plus! Edition is ad-free, spam-proof,
and carries even more content--- tips, tricks, advice, downloads--- than
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5) Simple Trick

Hi Fred, I needed a reminder of when I did my last backup (I do a clone every week or so) - Created a shortcut (no target needed) named it "Last cloned 12/10/2005". Every time I do a clone I just rename the icon to the current date. Very convenient, no additional  software like 'sticky notes' or 'reminders' is needed.
 
You can use this trick for any short message or reminder that you want to keep always visible, you can also click its 'properties' and change the icon to something that relates to the message, or gets your attention by being different from other icons.
 
An existing familiar icon can of course be used to "attach" your short easily changeable message to.
 
I hope this is of help to you and your readers. ---Eldad

Nice, Eldad--- simple, free, flexible: What's not to like? <g>

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6) Recommend This Newsletter And Win!

If you think the LangaList is a worthwhile read, maybe a friend would find it useful too! Just use the following link to recommend the LangaList---your friend may find a new source of useful information and you just may win one of three FREE ONE YEAR SUBSCRIPTIONS to the LangaList Plus! edition given each month. (If your name is drawn and you're already a Plus! subscriber, your current subscription will be extended by a full year.)

Check out the details at http://langa.com/recommend.htm . Thanks for recommending the LangaList--- and good luck!

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7) More On Storage Media Life

Fred: Your article CD/DVD/Flash Shelf Life ( http://langa.com/newsletters/2006/2006-01-16.htm#9 ) mentioned someone who said that magnetic tape has a shelf life of 30-100 years. Technically, I think that's correct but you should caution your readers that you can only achieve that life by correctly caring for the tape. As I understand it, if you save your data on a tape & then just stick it on a shelf-like the 'expert' assumed that people do with CD's-then you get a tape life of 5-10 years. After that magnetic drift starts degrading the tape.

I was taught that proper care of tape requires spinning it every year-we used a retensioning utility to achieve that. I believe that yearly is more frequent than is necessary, but it's an easily remembered interval. I also remember being told that simply moving it-particularly changing the orientation (i.e. taking tapes that are standing on end & laying them down or vice versa) will help some. Part of the degradation results from the constant pull of gravity in the same direction on each piece of tape & part of it results from the constant proximity of the same two layers of tape.

Whatever the cause, I've run into too many bad tapes to believe the 30-100 year life unless care is taken-and as I understand it, whereas proper CD care involves preparation & storage conditions, proper tape care involves work. Maybe not a lot (unless you have a lot of tapes as we did-I was working in an archive center) but constant. (Measured on a yearly basis.) ---Calvin Crumrine

I agree, Calvin. For all media, best-case lifespans always require careful handling under very controlled conditions. If you want something to last 100 years, you're going to have to protect it from dust and dirt, light, high temperatures and humidity--- you're talking about museum-quality storage.

Under conditions such as exist in most ordinary homes and offices, the lifespan will be much shorter. I have some 20 year old floppies that still work (or did, the last time I checked them), but many others of similar or even newer vintage that can't be read at all. I discovered this some years ago, and soon thereafter moved all the important data from the floppies to a hard drive, and from there to CDs. The CDs won't last 100 years, but then, neither will I. <g> Still, with care, I expect the CDs will last as long as I need them to.

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8) Code-Load Success Story

Code-loader Adrian State writes:

Hi Fred: Just a quick message to say a big thank you for my sites ( http://www.introduced-species.co.uk ) huge increase in traffic. Within 2 1/2 hours of the LangaList being published which listed me in "they loaded the code" I received over 10000 hits...! Luckily I have a reseller account and was able to immediately allocate more bandwidth to my site. Many thanks from a long time LangaList reader. Adrian

Do you have a home page or website? (It doesn't matter what size.) Please click over to http://langa.com/code.htm , and maybe you can join the thousands of LangaList readers who have "Loaded the Code!" (If you've already "Loaded The Code" and are wondering if your site will appear here or on the Langa.Com web site, please see http://langa.com/link.txt )

Speaking of which: Here's another eclectic sample of reader sites---some professional, some very personal:

View A Randomly-Chosen Reader Site
http://langa.com/randomlink.htm

Manually Browse All Posted-to-Date Sites Starting At
http://langa.com/readersites.htm

Office Soul
http://www.officesoul.com/

Chinese for Everyone
http://www.internetchinese.com/

"Overweight Starving Artist"
http://slosh.smugmug.com/

Lawson Family Site
http://www.home.surewest.net/lawson/index.html

Dayton Masons
http://daytonlodge147.org/news.htm

The "For Sale" Page
http://www.siamman.com/forsale.html

Douglas Ofner
http://www.sdofner.com/

Creative Writer
http://www.asthewordsturn.com/

Thompson Trading (AU)
http://www.thomsontrading.com.au/

Computer Recyclers
http://webpages.charter.net/tmang/RECYCLER.htm

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9) That *Other* Startup Logo Screen

Hi Fred---concerning the startup logo on boot ["That Pesky Vendor StartUp Logo" http://langa.com/newsletters/2006/2006-01-16.htm#4 ] : If I can remember correctly the startup logo in windows is controlled by the logo.sys or the logo1.sys file in the system directory.  You can replace the file but it supposedly has to be replaced with the same size file made from a graphic file.  I do not remember the exact procedure to do this.  As long as the graphic is the same file size, it can be used--even a blank graphic.  I hope I remember correctly--It's been a long time. Great newsletter---Thanks-H. L. Cox

The original question was about the logo that "stays on the screen before my PC boots up." That's the logo controlled by the BIOS. Only the BIOS is active at the very start of the boot process.

But the *next* logo--- the logo that appears after the initial boot, when Windows begins to start up--- is indeed entirely controlled by software. It can be a vendor logo or the classic Windows logo. For that matter, it can be almost anything you want it to be--- you just have to replace the graphic with one of your own.

Here's how:
http://www.google.com/search?q=xp+startup+screen
http://www.google.com/search?q=millennium+startup+screen
http://www.google.com/search?q=98+startup+screen

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10, 11, 12, 13) Plus! Edition Only:

Today's LangaList Plus! Edition contains about 40% more content including:

• 10) Psst! Don't Tell!
     (special money-saving info just for Plus! subscribers)
• 11) Free VPN Alternative
     (no practical limits, and totally free!)
• 12) Linux--- Are 400 Distributions Enough?
     (reader says no; here's why)
• 13) Wikipedia Woes
     (can you trust its info?)

The Plus! edition is only pennies per issue, and comes with a MONEY BACK
GUARANTEE from Fred. How can you lose? Check out the details:
http://langa.com/plus.htm

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14) Just For Grins

I thought this would be a good addition to your "just for grins" section. 
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9584_22-5893374.html?tag=nl.e589
Regards, Will

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(Give a gift subscription to the LangaList Plus edition!
Click <a href= " http://langa.com/plus_gift.htm ">here</a>)

The LangaList is published about 72 times a year, or about 6 times a month. See you next issue, 2006-01-23!

Best,

Fred
( Editor@Langa.Com )

Please recommend the LangaList to a friend! (And maybe win a prize!)

An easier-to read formatted HTML version is available in the "Current Issue" section of http://langa.com.  (The HTML version of each issue normally is available by 9AM EST [UT-5] of the issue date.) All past LangaList issues are also available at the Langa.Com site.

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