I've been on this forum for several years, as well as a number of other GardenWeb Forums. I participate in several non-GardenWeb forums (but not chat groups) for a number of other purposes. I have had no problems related to GardenWeb, even though my email address is posted here, or with any of the others...not even an increase in junk mail. I, too, have a fast connection, a firewall, and Norton AV. I think it's more likely you're getting the infections elsewhere.

most antiviurs packages will see some spyware as a virus. I have been working in I.T. for many year and have been in various chat rooms and various websites in fact waaaaay too many to count :) I have never been hacked due to being on a site or being in a room. Some could say that getting adware or spyware is getting hacked but thats a whole other discussion :) There are a few simple rules to follow when it comes to the big bad internet monster.
1. Update your windows often to ensure that you have the most up to date hotfix's
2. Adware and spyware come from 70% of all websites. Thsi is something we all have to deal with and combat. To combat adware/spyware on your system i would suggest going to www.microsoft.com and picking up the microsoft anti spy tool . Thsi program is one of the best ones I have found for maintaining a clean and healthy adware free system . as with windows make sure to update it often .
3. donot enter contests :) every contest has a goal that goal is to make the person hosting the contest more money . This can happen either by the increased traffice to their site,revenue generated from popup ads and by selling your personal information name phone number so on that you enter into the form. Donot enter them leave them alone and you will be fine.
4. update your virus scan software this will ensure that you have the most up to date dat files this will ensure the newest virus's are detected.
5. did i mention update
I run 7 computers at my home all connected to the internet 24x7 and rarely have any issue except the occasional nasty spyware . I would say that leaving your web browser open on a web site will have nothing to do with an infection . If a site is infecting you with adware it will happen in the begining . Leaving the site open will not change that at all. Virus scanning programs often misreport suspicious files as a virus. Also alot of virus's are very low threat and not much to worry about. I would continue to do things as you have in the past. I would also take a close look at all of the sites you use to get an idea of which one may be affecting you. I have had no issue with this site except for the occasional popup and I donot get those when I use firefox.

Having had to clean up other peoples virus infected systems, here are my tips for avoiding viruses.

1) Don't run ANY unknown executables, no matter who they are from.

2) Don't run ANY unknown executables, no matter who they are from. I know this is the same as 1, but it is so important it bears repeating. If someone you know sends you a neat screen saver, talk to that person to find out if they actually sent it and where they got it from. Chances are they didn't send it and it will do horrible things to your system if ran. Be wary of ANYTHING with imbeded code. Word documents, EXCEL spreadsheets, ACCESS databases can all contain scripts for infecting your system.

3) Keep your operating system patches uptodate.

4) Keep your anti-virus definitions uptodate.

5) Adaware is a nice anti-spyware program which can be downloaded for free from lavasoft. Use it and keep your anti-spyware definitions uptodate.

6) Don't run ANY unknown executables, no matter who they are from. Yes, that includes those little popup windows that offer to scan your system or offer free anti-virus/spyware software. Don't answer yes or no, just close the window. If necessary, close it via the Task Manager.

7) Don't run ANY unknown executables, no matter who they are from. NO EXCEPTIONS! I have had to repeatedly argue with people who somehow rationalize running unknown executables and wondering how they got infected. "I didn't think it would include this one!"

8) Don't visit questionable websites that download executable scripts or have you download special software to view the content of their website. You know these sites, you get SPAM from them all the time.

9) If you visit chat rooms, don't be talked into accepting executable script files from unknown parties. In other words: Don't run ANY unknown executables, no matter who they are from.

10) And finally, Don't run ANY unknown executables, no matter who they are from.

I'm going to run some unknown executables, no matter who they are from!

Better yet just avoid the whole virus problem all together, !!!DON'T USE MICROSOFT SOFTWARE!!! "the most buggy, virus prone, worm ridden, sloppy code there ever was!" Go with Linux, Unix, Apple, anything but Microsoft. Most viruses are written and sent out to target and infect computers running on a Microsoft Windows, XP, and Pro. And because Microsoft's code is so sloppy and patched together your likely to see a lot more viruses and worms and spyware and whatever. Easier to attack an OS that has so many bugs and problems in the first place.
I have been happily surfing the web for years with my Apple Mac, running on a solid UNIX foundation, and I have never had a problem with a virus or worm. I got a Windows based laptop for business and portability and that computer gets more viruses than I can shake a bamboo stick at. It's so bad that I've had to get a second laptop that I keep off the web just to keep productive. I can't wait until Apple releases their Intel based laptop, then it's bye bye Microsoft Windows forever.

As for this forum, your likely not going to catch anything from here, you've got nothing to download and hardly anything to upload. Hard place for hackers to do anything.

Thanks for the rundown. I have a Mac system which I was running but gave up because you can't have it both ways when Comcast comes to the door for hook-up. My stepson has the newer Microsoft computer, so we went with that hook-up. Microsoft has been acceptable for me, and probably good for me to get somewhat comfortable with, and to see what the rest of the universe runs. But I do open the Firefox Browser pretty exclusively. Naturally, I can't control what my step-son does, but I'll print out the reply's offered, and leave it on his keyboard. Thanks ...

Most viruses are written for Windows because Windows is very commonly used, and virus writers want to infect as many systems as possible. If MACs were as common, then most viruses would be written for MACs. The same applies to the web browser you use.

Personally, I have not had a virus on either my work computer, or my home computer, in years. The same applies to spyware. (I learned my lesson with Gator!)

Some observations on the spread of computer viruses:

One individual I know decided to show someone what an email virus looked like and emailed them a copy. He was suprised that their computer became infected.

Another individual runs executables for "cute" programs and insists on FAT32 over NTFS which is more secure. He keeps having to rebuild his WINXP systems for some reason. He can't figure out why.

I agree on the microsoft comment one of the reasons you get more virus's with windows isnt so much due to sloppy code more due to it is the most widely used system. I would love to see everyone use linux but there is a pretty big learning curve there and if the person is having this conversation then linux isnt for them . As far as mac goes it is laid out great for a begginer and if very simple to use just open you wallet and let apple dive in and take as much as they like. Macs are genrally much more expensive than a pc. The jury is still out on how good the intel version of mac os will be because alot of the applications will have a hard time crossing over from my understanding. Really though back on subject is just keep everything up for date and be carefull what you open .

Well not to beat a dead horse but I am a little slap happy from being up so late so oh well. Macs are not that expensive, get a Mac Mini for $400 bucks, and as far as what macs are used for you got to get passed the ipod and Imac. The current G5 runs on two 2.5GHz dual core processors running on a architecture designed to run bus loads of data and store it on 16 Gigabytes of DDRAM. Why have two processors so while your encoding video you can multitask and download and process 20MB RAW image files while typing a reply on a forum. Macs aint just for kids.

I'd hate to disagree with you on Microsofts Legacy software, their whole problem is their software. Ever wonder why all your applications you run on Windows look different, why Explorer looks different then your dial up connection app, or why Windows Media Player looks nothing like Windows Movie Maker; or why Outlook does not resemble Word, Similar apps, but way different code running each. Reason why is that Microsoft has hundreds of departments writing code for apps that don't work together. As a result you get a bloated operating system named Window XP that has to manage all of these apps that have conflicting code and stich it together so you have a working computer. It really is a big mess when you look at XP in the old DOS. !!!DOS!!! I can't believe anything still drags DOS around. Why do you think Windows based computers need to have liquid cooling systems in them today; they need to cool the CPU that has to run Windows. !!!Liquid Cooling!!! Last time I checked liquid and electronics are a bad mix.

Here is an interesting quote:

Microsoft chairman told "It's not going to work"

By Andy McCue

Published: Monday 26 September 2005

Microsoft was forced to scrap the first incarnation of Longhorn  now called Windows Vista  after a senior executive warned chairman Bill Gates that it was too complex to work properly.

Jim Allchin, group VP in charge of Windows, told the Wall Street Journal he dropped the bombshell last summer, simply telling Gates "It's not going to work". Longhorn was so complex that Microsoft's developers would never be able to make it run properly, Allchin told Gates.

The root of the problem was Microsoft's historical approach to developing software  the so-called 'spaghetti code culture'  where the company's thousands of programmers would each develop their own piece of code and it would then all be stitched together at the end.

According to the WSJ interview, Allchin faced opposition to his call for a completely new approach to how Microsoft develops Windows  firstly from Gates himself and then the company's engineers.

The new approach was to develop a clean solid core code base for Windows which new features could more easily be added to over time and Allchin introduced new tools that would automatically reject buggy code."

end quote

Well maybe next summer you might get something to replace Windows XP and yes it is sloppy code and yes hackers find flaws in that code to take advantage of weaknesses in Windows based computer systems. As for Vista, or Longhorn, or whatever it's called it's a long way off, they had to start from scratch, thats how bad the operating system your using now is. Microsoft should have started from scratch a long time ago.

To everyone I know this is a gardening site, not a tech site, so I apologize for the rant and I will not speak of this matter again. I think I'll follow up on some bamboo threads.

Oh and by the way Comcast Broadband is available for Apple computer users too. Including yours truely. If SeatleBoo wants to resurrect your Mac for web surfing here's Comcasts how to link.

Strangelove, I really enjoyed your "rant", which gives me nothing to disagree with. The comcast installer did tell me I could hook-up for either Mac or Microsoft, but he said I couldn't have it both ways. I chose Microsoft because, as I said, my stepson had the newer computer, and as I didn't mention, because my wife also uses Microsoft at work. But thanks anyway ...

SeattleBoo: It would seem to me that you could get a router and have both computers hooked up to the internet, we have two computers hooked up at home and that's how we did it.

Strangelove: Everything displayed in Windows is a Window, its appearance and behavior is determined by the parameters passed to the operating system by the program. These parameters specify what images and labels are displayed to give the different applications their look.

foxd: You have a Mac and a Microsoft both hooked up to a router? And both have an internet comcast connection? I'd like to know, since we do have a router already. Thanks ...
Strangelove: I will go to that web address now, and see what I can see. Thanks ...

SeattleBoo: Two WINXP machines, but there is no reason a Mac couldn't be connected up, the router doesn't care.

Yep I have a wireless router that lets me take my WINDOWS, yep I said Windows laptop around the house to couch surf while watching the evening news. The router is connected to my Mac G4 as well. All your seeing on the internet is HTML, JAVA, etc. Your browser is the app that translates the code so you can use it on your computer, PC or Mac. Your comcast connection is just a cable that routes you to the internet. Your comcast installer must have been ill informed.

Thank you so much! I will hook up and try it, since the Mac downstairs can still boot up, even if it is only a G3.

Right on SeattleBoo, surfing a Mac is the way to go. I had a G3 before I got my G5. Loved the G3 lasted me all through college with some upgrading. If I were you I would try upgrading your software to run OSX Tiger, it's like a whole new computer, you can emulate OS9 under OSX so you don't lose your old programs. OSX even comes with a built in Firewall that works really well. Macafee also makes a solid firewall as a backup. Apple just released an update that tightens up security even more, mainly password protection and improves the Safari internet browser. Below is a link to the article. And just for your info I ran my virus protect program and no viruses or worms detected.