Viruses, Spyware and other nasties.

[nanosani]

The long list of Read me threads in the viruses, spyware and other nasties looks disgusting ... I just have to scroll deep n deep to access the actual current threads. .... cant we just have a link at the top of the forum to all these threads ??

[dlh6213]

Interesting... I've been thinking about the same thing lately. I think the list seems longer now because of the size of the borders on each side.

I don't think a link is a good idea though because I don't think very many people would bother going there. People frequently post now without looking at them when they're right there.

But there are some older ones there that I think we could consider unpinning, or possibly merging with other pinned threads. Here's what I think:

http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/showthread.php?t=7370 Should be removed; we have very few problems related to this anymore. It's possible this is due to the pinned thread, but I doubt it.

http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/showthread.php?t=8254 Should be removed as there is another pinned thread that has a link to a HijackThis tutorial ("Helping yourself" -- or merge this info with that one)

http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/showthread.php?t=5481 Is this still a problem?

http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/showthread.php?t=12033 Leave this one (or merge it with "Helping yourself")

http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/showthread.php?t=5690 Definitely leave this one, but it needs to be updated -- possibly merge the other threads mentioned, update the links, and maybe add a couple more HijackThis tutorial links.

http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/showthread.php?t=12946 I don't think we need this one anymore do we?

http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/showthread.php?t=13362 I actually suggest this be pinned before I was a mod because it looked like it was a growing problem, but it hasn't gotten as bad as I had expected; I think this could be included with "Helping yourself."

http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/showthread.php?t=16365 Well, I wrote this one myself for the holidays, so I probably can't be trusted to give an unbiased opinion. The information applies year-round, but the way it's written, maybe it could just be pinned from early Nov. to late Jan.?

http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/showthread.php?t=18366 Probably a good idea to keep this one up for awhile yet.

http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/showthread.php?t=18768 I don't think this one is needed, I'd rather see a link to the self-extracting version put in the "Helping yourself" thread.

Well, you have my opinions now, what are yours? :)

[zeroth]

I have to admit that I haven´t gone over all the threads, as dlh so concientously did. However, the point of my post is that I got a lot out of reading the pinned threads when I joined and it helped me get answers to my problems in a very comprehensive and complete way. As a result, I am now running a 5-system wireless net that is clean, fast and safe.

It may be that one or two pinned threads could be amalgamated from all the others, with links inside to the specialized areas. I agree that there are too many to attract newcomers to the one they need, as too many just plunge right in without reading anything. But one ¨Don´t post here until you have read me¨ type thread would help a lot of people...

[caperjack]

Sounds like a good cleanup to me dlh6213,you are also right about the wide borders making the list look longer ,and pinned topics encourages people to help themselves!:)

[DMR]

The long list of Read me threads in the viruses, spyware and other nasties looks disgusting

Hmm... I was just looking at that mess over the weekend and thinking the same thing.
We must all be taking the same little blue pills or something... :mrgreen:

Danny,

I think your assessment is on the money.
I've removed my post concerning HJT 1.99.1; it's rather old news comparatively, and as you said, linkage to the correct download can be provided in a better place. I'll leave the System Restore post where it is until we agree where (if anywhere) to put that info.

[Catweazle]

I've mentioned the mess in that section previously, to Dani via IM and I think in the moderator forum at some stage.

I suspect we can get away with having 3 stickies in that section:

* One dealing with standard system intrusion detection tools and cleaning procedures.
* One dealing with good practices for avoiding infections to start with.
* One dealing with important announcements regarding security matters.

They should be closed topics, and only Moderators should be able to add new posts to them. Additions can originate from items raised by the members, of course, but the stickied topics themselves need to remain as informative announcements.

We should not hesitate to tidy up by merging topics, editing information as necessary, or even removing each other's posts and starting over. I suspect this has led, in part, to the rather ugly conglomerate of stickied threads that we've seen in the section - we've simply been too hesitant to 'touch' a topic because another moderator posted it! Damn that, the topics are there for providing information to people reading the section, and it's the delivery of information which is important, first and foremost.

That's how I look at it, anyway :D

Cheers