Gaijin.at portable programs

[cmmehl]

However the more likely scenario is the virus will notice the flash drive the moment you plug it in and infect it at once, before you have a chance to run the write-protector app.

I would like to confirm that. The times my stick got infested with pests (not necessary virus, can also be worm or trojan), it happened at the moment I plugged in the stick. Hectic flickering of the USB light, and most of the executables were overwritten by the pest (very nice to start these executables afterwards with Pstart - but that's another story ...).

So beside geek's suggestion to boot from a clean CD (not really suitable in, say, an infested internet-cafe), the only use for I could imagine is carrying a second stick, and have the executable hidden in a zip-file, start it and then plug in your real stick safely.

But honestly, I don't see much advantage for this if you can't save anything to your stick ...

Cheers
Chris

[AlephX]

I would like to confirm that. The times my stick got infested with pests (not necessary virus, can also be worm or trojan), it happened at the moment I plugged in the stick.

So beside geek's suggestion to boot from a clean CD (not really suitable in, say, an infested internet-cafe), the only use for I could imagine is carrying a second stick, and have the executable hidden in a zip-file, start it and then plug in your real stick safely.

But honestly, I don't see much advantage for this if you can't save anything to your stick ...

Hi!
I had a "brief" with Andrew, and the result is: the "write protector" will not included in the Database, even if not rejected.

The application is not "sure" enough for the average user (and for the administrator, who should have to understand why the USB keys don´t work anymore... )
...and, as Chris stated, it does not protect from "infections" if not used in a special way.

Anyway, it can be useful for some users, like FlightGeek wrote.

[Firewrath]

However the more likely scenario is the virus will notice the flash drive the moment you plug it in and infect it at once, before you have a chance to run the write-protector app.

Well,
first off, to you both,

... but meh, better safe then sorry,

And, also, thats why i have a old 128meg self-locking drive for just such a thing, ^-^
itll go on that one,

though, like you was saying,
it all depends if the virus cant just ignore the whole USB-WP bit, -_-
which would just be my luck,

[AlephX]

Well,
first off, to you both,

... but meh, better safe then sorry,

ok ok... you had the

[Hank7]

I tried Outlook Express Message Extractor and it works fine. But has anyone figured out a way to import extracted single messages into Thunderbird Portable?

Thanks in advance!

[Andrew Lee]

USBwrite-protect is also one of them nice tools for running virus scans on infected comps from your USB drive, more as a safe guard kinda thing, so you Know the virus wont write to the files on the USB stick,

I don't get it. Is there any memory stick that does not have a physical switch for enabling R/O mode?

Every memory stick I have seen has one of those.

Why rely on some registry parameter that could potentially wreck havoc if you forget to turn it off?

[technicolordreamcoat]

i don't think that this app is meant to protect the stick:

one of the features of SP2 for XP is that you can manually make
an entry in the registry to disable writing to a USB device

this feature is meant for sys admins to protect companies from
corporate theft via USB devices

it appears that this app is GUI for this registry entry

this would be a wonderful addition for the database (not for rookies i guess,
since you can lock yourself out)

[Firewrath]

Actually Andy,
the main USB stick i use is a 1GB Lexar Jump Drive, and it doesnt have a lock/unlock switch, nor does my 512meg PNY attache,

i havnt seen a stick with a switch since i bought my 128meg one WAY back long ago, -_-;

course, i havnt looked fora while cause im waiting for a decent non-200$ 4gig one to come out,

[Andrew Lee]

one of the features of SP2 for XP is that you can manually make an entry in the registry to disable writing to a USB device

this feature is meant for sys admins to protect companies from corporate theft via USB devices

Thanks techno for the info! I didn't know that.

Which brings me back to the original point in my private reply to AlephX... this should be done through the org's policy settings rather than through a GUI like this. If it is a company-wide policy, there is less possibility of an oh-oh event. IMHO, I just don't see how this could be useful for a user on his own machine. An admin maybe, but shouldn't he be using the policy editor instead?

[technicolordreamcoat]

agreed that Group Policy should be used,
however you are running a portable app site and IMHO you should
consider adding this app regardless of user problems
(would you consider a forum poll to give it a fighting chance?)

i am sure that there are other apps in the database that could do harm
if used carelessly

but in the end it is your site and you will have to decide

may I suggest to add a WARNING for users if you decide to add

just my $0.02

[JohnW]

Belatedly I must thank Aleph for his find. A really interesting site.

I got interested in the tweak program XPConfig
There was not an English translation so I converted the text so that I could understand it a little better. I am now looking for help/feedback.
The 'English' version is available from ..

http://rapidshare.com/files/17253362/Ga ... h.ZIP.html

I'm also interested in Registry Report. Has anyone looked at it.
I couldn't understand the instruction (in the readme) ...
Copy the Registry files "SYSTEM", "SOFTWARE", "SAM" and "USER.DAT" from an image into the folder "Sys32Config".
Can anyone help ?

[technicolordreamcoat]

the way I understand it:

this app lets you look at existing registry settings,
but XP does not allow access to some files in a live session,
like the sam file for obvious security reasons

so you have to work around this problem:
you have to somehow make an image of a running session,
after you have created the image you can copy the needed files
into the mentioned folder,
now you can view all the hidden reg. settings with this app

note:
i have not used this app at all, proceed with caution

[AlephX]

Hi, Volk!

Gaijin is very cooperative and helpful: he is working on translating his own creations, like XPConfig:

http://www.gaijin.at/betatest/xpconfig_beta_11_1.rar

and Etoolz

http://www.gaijin.at/betatest/etoolz_beta_31_1.rar

I think it would be nice to help him in testing his applications!

http://www.gaijin.at/tecbetatest.php

[Andrew Lee]

agreed that Group Policy should be used,
however you are running a portable app site and IMHO you should
consider adding this app regardless of user problems
(would you consider a forum poll to give it a fighting chance?)

Hmmm, I have to agree with this. In this case, I am merely stating my personal opinion about this app, but I will let AlephX decides what he wants to do with it eventually. Starting a poll is a good idea.

[AlephX]

I agree too...
starting a poll could be a good idea too.

If an app is portable, and the users want it in the database, despite opposite opinions (about "usability", security and so on), it is right to give it a chance...

Technicolordreamcoat, would you like to start a poll?