On Feb 10, 9:28*pm, "Paul Hovnanian P.E." wrote:
"Pete C." wrote:

Umm. You can boot an entire Linux system off a USB key.

Have you (or one of yor kids) ever logged on to the Internet and
downloaded some kewl new application? Its possible that this app is
quietly watching your every keystroke while you are on the corporate VPN
and phoning home with the data whenever the system goes back on the web.

Paul Hovnanian * *

I have AVG, Spybot and AdAware watching for that, plus ZoneAlarm
reporting and blocking Internet access attempts, and ProcessExplorer
and HiJackThis to identify running processes and registry malware. All
are freeware and they play well together. That may be excessive for a
new PC but I buy them used in questionable condition, and have to
patch up outdated office machines to use in the lab sometimes on
contract jobs. If a PC is really dirty I put its C: drive on a USB
adapter to virus-check it.

This PC is physically isolated from my newer one and is used only for
the Net and unimportant tasks. Before loading new programs I back up
the C: drive with Seagate Disk Wizard, which saves and restores a
complete running OS as long as you have a Seagate or Maxtor drive
somewhere. It worked for me with a Western Digital C: drive and a
Maxtor on USB. The manual is incomplete; you need to make the DVD
bootable and add the program before backing up a disk image.

BTW OpenOffice installs on C: but runs fine if you copy it to another
drive and change the desktop icon links. I try to keep C: small enough
that the SDW backup fits on one DVD.

The only real problem is companies that won't take a phone order and
check payment, for instance Newegg and Microsoft. I can't get the XP
SP3 CD without a credit card number.

Jim Wilkins