windows 98 maintenance wizard?

[johnny]

i have windows 98 on my computer and i can't get the
maintenance to work , and i was wondering if there was a
download or someway i could get it to work again , or what
i needed to do ?? any help appreciated !

[Gary S. Terhune]

I strongly recommend that you *don't* use it and learn to perform the few
things it does for you manually.

See my article, "Clean Boot--What it is and why you need it"
l

Because some of the more recent known invaders are capable of interfering
with the suggestions contained in the above, I suggest you also consider
first doing the following, though it may be necessary to set up a clean
boot, and even then manually kill a malicious process or two before you can
even get these accomplished. Many invaders are built to first detect and
disable protections that are in place, so that you might, for instance, have
to obtain and employ a DOS-boot antivirus like F-Prot. Repeated running of
scanners, booting back and forth from Safe Mode to Normal, or into DOS
Mode--a lot of gymnastics are often required to get to an error-free and
nasties-free condition. Once there, however, some user sanity and education,
plus regular "wetware" updating, will *keep* your system healthy.

Update your Antivirus, run a full scan. Then, if you haven't already,
obtain, update, and run any or all of the following
Trojan/Parasite/Adware/Spyware cleaners. I recommend getting and running
*all* of them. They each target slightly different things. Again, be sure
you update the definitions they are using to identify crap before running
them, each time you run them--which, depending on your surfing habits,
should be anything from once a month, to once a week, to once a day, to once
an hour if you're really into junkware sites (aka "Free goodies", game
sites, fun-places-to-be, etc.)

Tradition had it that Firewalls were generally not needed when using simple
dial-up modem connections. Alas, this is no longer the case. *Everyone*
needs a firewall! Also, I make no bones about it--Norton, McAfee and
Trend-Micro products (and probably a few others) are ABOMINATIONS!,
particularly when it comes to Win9x systems. They are massive suites that
intrude into basic functions where they simply do not need to go. For
freeware solutions, I suggest AVG or AVAST (based upon the recommendations
of others, though each has it's minor drawbacks) and ZoneAlarm Firewall. But
for really good, inexpensive, and trustworthy protection, you simply can't
beat eTrust Armor. Antivirus and Firewall combined, very non-intrusive upon
the system itself (I've *never* seen a crash caused by EZ Antivirus, and
there's hardly any impact whatsoever on Resources, etc.) eTrust is from
Computer Associates Inc.--the antivirus is a version of their corporate
product usually known as Inoculan, and they got smart recently and switched
to using a version of ZoneAlarm for their firewall.

You can get a one-year free trial of eTrust EZ Armor at
http://www.my-etrust.com/microsoft/. This offer was initially slated to end
this June, but has been extended through February 2005. The trial offer is
also included in at least some versions (not sure about all languages) of
Microsoft's Windows Security Update CD, an item *everyone* should own.
(However, do *not* just run the Update CD on your system without a proper
analysis of where your system stands with regard to Updates. Might do more
harm than good.) EZ Armor would normally cost $50 for the first year (a deal
in itself), and yearly renewal subscriptions only cost $25--an absolute
steal when compared with other offerings. Order the Windows Security Update
CD directly from MS, totally free, including S&H, at
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/cd/order.asp

In addition to Antivirus and Firewall protection, I consider the following
items to be indispensable protection and clean-up utilities. My judgment is
based upon their being free, good, accurate, and safe, if handled correctly.
See, also, suggestions from MVP Mike Burgess on his site,
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/, particularly the general Windows/IE
Security page, http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/security.htm. More current
discussions of Security issues can be found at the Windows Support Center
(provided by MVP Jim Eshelman, a true Saint!) at http://www.aumha.org

(SpyBot S&D = "SpyBot Search & Destroy")

Ad-Aware http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/
SpyBot S&D http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=download
HijackThis http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/files/HijackThis.exe
CWShredder http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/files/cwshredder.zip
Spyware Blaster http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html

PLEASE! Before doing any of these, see also,
http://www.mvps.org/inetexplorer/Darnit.htm for suggestions and cautionary
information about internet surfing, and some important hints about using the
above. ESPECIALLY, be aware that HijackThis scans result in a LOT of stuff
that you *don't* want to delete. The admonishment to save a log and show it
to an expert is critically good advice. Not following that advice can really
do some damage to your system. SpyBot S&D, too, is capable of similar
problems, especially if you change default scan settings, or "Immunize".

An additional tool that is very helpful in protecting your machine is a
HOSTS file. Microsoft MVP Mike Burgess maintain a frequently updated list of
bad sites. They may be sites that provide most of the junky advertisements
you see in other places, or sites that install spyware/adware, or that, for
whatever reason, you shouldn't allow into your system. Using the HOSTS
file, you can redirect such addresses to a site that's guaranteed will fail
to load on most machines--your own computer.
HOSTS Overview -- http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm

Also handy is MVP George Geyde's HOSTS File Manager. You can find it at the
bottom of this page:
http://www.mvps.org/PracticallyNerded/Software.htm


--
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP for Win9x

"johnny" > wrote in message
...
> i have windows 98 on my computer and i can't get the
> maintenance to work , and i was wondering if there was a
> download or someway i could get it to work again , or what
> i needed to do ?? any help appreciated !

[ArtWilder]

Great post Gary -- can I have the clean boot link one more time -- sorry to
bother you again and can you suggest a good book that I can order from
amazon.com on dual-booting. In my opinion, you are one of the smartest
MVP's on this newsgroup and that includes others as well -- and I am being
serious -- not just trying to boost your ego. LOL

"Gary S. Terhune" > wrote in message
...
> I strongly recommend that you *don't* use it and learn to perform the few
> things it does for you manually.
>
> See my article, "Clean Boot--What it is and why you need it"
> l
>
> Because some of the more recent known invaders are capable of interfering
> with the suggestions contained in the above, I suggest you also consider
> first doing the following, though it may be necessary to set up a clean
> boot, and even then manually kill a malicious process or two before you
can
> even get these accomplished. Many invaders are built to first detect and
> disable protections that are in place, so that you might, for instance,
have
> to obtain and employ a DOS-boot antivirus like F-Prot. Repeated running of
> scanners, booting back and forth from Safe Mode to Normal, or into DOS
> Mode--a lot of gymnastics are often required to get to an error-free and
> nasties-free condition. Once there, however, some user sanity and
education,
> plus regular "wetware" updating, will *keep* your system healthy.
>
> Update your Antivirus, run a full scan. Then, if you haven't already,
> obtain, update, and run any or all of the following
> Trojan/Parasite/Adware/Spyware cleaners. I recommend getting and running
> *all* of them. They each target slightly different things. Again, be sure
> you update the definitions they are using to identify crap before running
> them, each time you run them--which, depending on your surfing habits,
> should be anything from once a month, to once a week, to once a day, to
once
> an hour if you're really into junkware sites (aka "Free goodies", game
> sites, fun-places-to-be, etc.)
>
> Tradition had it that Firewalls were generally not needed when using
simple
> dial-up modem connections. Alas, this is no longer the case. *Everyone*
> needs a firewall! Also, I make no bones about it--Norton, McAfee and
> Trend-Micro products (and probably a few others) are ABOMINATIONS!,
> particularly when it comes to Win9x systems. They are massive suites that
> intrude into basic functions where they simply do not need to go. For
> freeware solutions, I suggest AVG or AVAST (based upon the recommendations
> of others, though each has it's minor drawbacks) and ZoneAlarm Firewall.
But
> for really good, inexpensive, and trustworthy protection, you simply can't
> beat eTrust Armor. Antivirus and Firewall combined, very non-intrusive
upon
> the system itself (I've *never* seen a crash caused by EZ Antivirus, and
> there's hardly any impact whatsoever on Resources, etc.) eTrust is from
> Computer Associates Inc.--the antivirus is a version of their corporate
> product usually known as Inoculan, and they got smart recently and
switched
> to using a version of ZoneAlarm for their firewall.
>
> You can get a one-year free trial of eTrust EZ Armor at
> http://www.my-etrust.com/microsoft/. This offer was initially slated to
end
> this June, but has been extended through February 2005. The trial offer is
> also included in at least some versions (not sure about all languages) of
> Microsoft's Windows Security Update CD, an item *everyone* should own.
> (However, do *not* just run the Update CD on your system without a proper
> analysis of where your system stands with regard to Updates. Might do more
> harm than good.) EZ Armor would normally cost $50 for the first year (a
deal
> in itself), and yearly renewal subscriptions only cost $25--an absolute
> steal when compared with other offerings. Order the Windows Security
Update
> CD directly from MS, totally free, including S&H, at
> http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/cd/order.asp
>
> In addition to Antivirus and Firewall protection, I consider the following
> items to be indispensable protection and clean-up utilities. My judgment
is
> based upon their being free, good, accurate, and safe, if handled
correctly.
> See, also, suggestions from MVP Mike Burgess on his site,
> http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/, particularly the general Windows/IE
> Security page, http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/security.htm. More current
> discussions of Security issues can be found at the Windows Support Center
> (provided by MVP Jim Eshelman, a true Saint!) at http://www.aumha.org
>
> (SpyBot S&D = "SpyBot Search & Destroy")
>
> Ad-Aware http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/
> SpyBot S&D http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=download
> HijackThis http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/files/HijackThis.exe
> CWShredder http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/files/cwshredder.zip
> Spyware Blaster http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html
>
> PLEASE! Before doing any of these, see also,
> http://www.mvps.org/inetexplorer/Darnit.htm for suggestions and cautionary
> information about internet surfing, and some important hints about using
the
> above. ESPECIALLY, be aware that HijackThis scans result in a LOT of stuff
> that you *don't* want to delete. The admonishment to save a log and show
it
> to an expert is critically good advice. Not following that advice can
really
> do some damage to your system. SpyBot S&D, too, is capable of similar
> problems, especially if you change default scan settings, or "Immunize".
>
> An additional tool that is very helpful in protecting your machine is a
> HOSTS file. Microsoft MVP Mike Burgess maintain a frequently updated list
of
> bad sites. They may be sites that provide most of the junky advertisements
> you see in other places, or sites that install spyware/adware, or that,
for
> whatever reason, you shouldn't allow into your system. Using the HOSTS
> file, you can redirect such addresses to a site that's guaranteed will
fail
> to load on most machines--your own computer.
> HOSTS Overview -- http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm
>
> Also handy is MVP George Geyde's HOSTS File Manager. You can find it at
the
> bottom of this page:
> http://www.mvps.org/PracticallyNerded/Software.htm
>
>
> --
> Gary S. Terhune
> MS MVP for Win9x
>
> "johnny" > wrote in message
> ...
> > i have windows 98 on my computer and i can't get the
> > maintenance to work , and i was wondering if there was a
> > download or someway i could get it to work again , or what
> > i needed to do ?? any help appreciated !
>

[Gary S. Terhune]

It's one I post fairly regularly, and it's long overdue for a re-write.

Repost the link? Why, the one in my previous, or the one in your response,
or the one *below* doesn't work?

For dual-booting, why not just go to http://bootitng.com, aka
http://terabyteunlimited.com/ and schmooze with the pros in the forums
there?

I don't even know if there *are* any good books on multi-booting at Amazon,
and I usually don't go in for such books, anyway. They tend to be made
obsolete in very short order.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP for Win9x

"ArtWilder" > wrote in message
news:f9uxc.27828$My6.25473@fed1read05...
> Great post Gary -- can I have the clean boot link one more time -- sorry
to
> bother you again and can you suggest a good book that I can order from
> amazon.com on dual-booting. In my opinion, you are one of the smartest
> MVP's on this newsgroup and that includes others as well -- and I am being
> serious -- not just trying to boost your ego. LOL
>
> "Gary S. Terhune" > wrote in message
> ...
> > See my article, "Clean Boot--What it is and why you need it"
> >
l

[ArtWilder]

Sorry, I was tired and did not see that you had posted the link. I will
investigate those weblink on dual-booting. Thanks. :>

"Gary S. Terhune" > wrote in message
...
> It's one I post fairly regularly, and it's long overdue for a re-write.
>
> Repost the link? Why, the one in my previous, or the one in your response,
> or the one *below* doesn't work?
>
> For dual-booting, why not just go to http://bootitng.com, aka
> http://terabyteunlimited.com/ and schmooze with the pros in the forums
> there?
>
> I don't even know if there *are* any good books on multi-booting at
Amazon,
> and I usually don't go in for such books, anyway. They tend to be made
> obsolete in very short order.
>
> --
> Gary S. Terhune
> MS MVP for Win9x
>
> "ArtWilder" > wrote in message
> news:f9uxc.27828$My6.25473@fed1read05...
> > Great post Gary -- can I have the clean boot link one more time -- sorry
> to
> > bother you again and can you suggest a good book that I can order from
> > amazon.com on dual-booting. In my opinion, you are one of the smartest
> > MVP's on this newsgroup and that includes others as well -- and I am
being
> > serious -- not just trying to boost your ego. LOL
> >
> > "Gary S. Terhune" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > > See my article, "Clean Boot--What it is and why you need it"
> > >
> l
>