HeffeD's Setup

HeffeD

Level 1
Thread author
Feb 28, 2011
1,690
I put beginner as my general computer knowledge because there is always room for improvement. :dodgy:

My security risk rating actually varies wildly depending on the machine.
I also run various VM's to test things.

I currently have a clone of my physical machine, a bare-bones XP Pro SP3 machine, an Ubuntu 10.10 machine, and an OpenSUSE 11.3 machine.

My host machine gets used for very little adventurous activities. I will test a few unknown apps in Sandboxie just to watch what they do, but I use the VM's for more long-term, intensive, or hazardous testing.
 

LoftedAphid86

New Member
Feb 24, 2011
1,107
You need WoT for your browsers.
I was thinking for a moment, 'how did a beginner become a moderator on comodo forums?' then I got it.
 

LaserWraith

Level 1
Feb 24, 2011
497
Hello!

I have to wonder why your set "General computer knowledge" as "Beginner". I would at least call it intermediate, if not advanced. :p True, you can always learn more, but you know more than most.

@Elliot HeffeD is one of the anti-WOT people, I think. :)
 

Jack

Administrator
Verified
Staff Member
Well-known
Jan 24, 2011
9,378
Welcome to MTips!
As you probably know,your config is very good. :D

Do you use any secure DNS ?


You can add VTzilla - link to your browser.
 

LoftedAphid86

New Member
Feb 24, 2011
1,107
LaserWraith said:
Hello!

I have to wonder why your set "General computer knowledge" as "Beginner". I would at least call it intermediate, if not advanced.
HeffeD said:
I put beginner as my general computer knowledge because there is always room for improvement. :dodgy:
 

LaserWraith

Level 1
Feb 24, 2011
497
elliotcroft said:
LaserWraith said:
Hello!

I have to wonder why your set "General computer knowledge" as "Beginner". I would at least call it intermediate, if not advanced.
HeffeD said:
I put beginner as my general computer knowledge because there is always room for improvement. :dodgy:

Check my post again...I had updated it. :p
 

HeffeD

Level 1
Thread author
Feb 28, 2011
1,690
elliotcroft said:
You need WoT for your browsers.

Now that you mention it, I think it is installed on IE... :blush: As for the other browsers, with Sandboxie, I'm not too concerned. And I'll use a proxy if I want to venture off the beaten path.

No Laser, I'm not Anti-WOT. I just always say that you need to view WOT's ratings with certain amount of skepticism. Much like Wikipedia or the majority of what you read on the internet. :exclamation: :biggrin:
 

HeffeD

Level 1
Thread author
Feb 28, 2011
1,690
Jack said:
Welcome to MTips!
As you probably know,your config is very good. :D

Do you use any secure DNS ?


You can add VTzilla - link to your browser.

Thanks Jack!

I did use OpenDNS for many years, but switched back to my ISP's servers about a year ago because they're marginally quicker. And we all need that extra 2ms per page load, right? :sleepy:

Thanks for the VT tip. I keep thinking I need to get around to installing that extension, but I've just been doing it old school and upload manually.
 

Chiron

Level 1
Feb 24, 2011
250
As I hope you already know, you should change the sandbox in CIS to restricted or untrusted. Otherwise bad things can happen. :s

Also, I'm not convinced you're a beginner in terms of computer knowledge. (Wait, isn't there something lower than that?) :p
 

HeffeD

Level 1
Thread author
Feb 28, 2011
1,690
Chiron said:
As I hope you already know, you should change the sandbox in CIS to restricted or untrusted. Otherwise bad things can happen. :s

Maybe I should bump my risk level up! :exclamation:

Like I said, on my main machine, things are pretty tame.

Chiron said:
Also, I'm not convinced you're a beginner in terms of computer knowledge. (Wait, isn't there something lower than that?) :p

I looked, but there was nothing lower that I could choose... :huh: Perhaps that's something they could add?
 

Chiron

Level 1
Feb 24, 2011
250
HeffeD said:
Maybe I should bump my risk level up! :exclamation:

Yes, the default settings are actually vulnerable to some forms of ransomware. Not exactly something you want to get hit with.

HeffeD said:
I looked, but there was nothing lower that I could choose... Perhaps that's something they could add?
:lol:

Not sure what it would be called though. Oh well, I guess the people it would apply to probably wouldn't be able to log in here anyway. :D

Seriously though, why did you select beginner. You're definitely at least intermediate.
 

Chiron

Level 1
Feb 24, 2011
250
LaserWraith said:
Chiron, am I vulnerable if I don't use the sandbox at all?

I don't think so. Essentially the automatic sandbox works like an automated Defense+. Therefore if you have it disabled there shouldn't be any problems with some action being allowed.

That said, I haven't seen any tests with the sandbox disabled. Therefore I can't give you any sort of guarantee.
 

HeffeD

Level 1
Thread author
Feb 28, 2011
1,690
Chiron said:
Seriously though, why did you select beginner. You're definitely at least intermediate.

Well, going by the definition in the guide, I'd have to classify myself as advanced, but it seems like I encounter things daily that make me feel as though I'm a complete novice. (Which I suspect is the same with most people if they're honest about it)

Either I'll stumble on a new scripting language that looks pretty cool and it's like I'm a kid again learning to write programs in Basic, or I'll start researching a .dll I've never heard of and I'll end up going off on some bizarre only slightly related tangent because I discovered some interesting utility that monitors something I'm unfamiliar with...

Computers are kind of a never ending journey of discovery for me. Man, that sounds corny... :s

So basically, I do know a lot more than the average user, but I still feel like I've only touched the tip of the iceberg. That's why I selected beginner.
 

Chiron

Level 1
Feb 24, 2011
250
To tell you the truth if you know a good amount about a subject, and realize there's so much you still don't know, then you're definately not a beginner.

A beginning user either knows almost nothing or knows just enough that they think they know everything.

True experts usually realize that compared to what they could know, they know nearly nothing.
 

LaserWraith

Level 1
Feb 24, 2011
497
I measured myself against other people: I know tons more than the average human with a computer. But there are many people who know a lot more than me. Included HeffeD...so I feel bad listing myself as an intermediate while he is a "beginner."

I only know a bit of Java and Python, some more of HTML (tons know all the basics) and CSS...nothing deep like I really want to know. See on the Comodo forums, wj32 knows a lot of deep computer things. Just read some of his posts in that link I gave you: that is what I wish I knew about. :p

Considering that I'm still a younger teen, I'm not expected to (hey, I know a lot more than many teens my age seem to know, especially if the number that fall to simple FB scams is any guide), and I am well aware of the amount I don't know. (People say that teens often think they know everything, or everything that matters. Either that isn't true, or I'm an exception, because am learning all the time and reading some things I don't know enough to understand. Which makes me upset.)


Apparently, the main way people get knowledge like this is taking a college course. Since I'm a bit impatient, I got a recommendation from someone to read a CompTIA A+ Certification Exam Guide (huge book to read myself without any outside motivation). I have it sitting beside me from the library. Anyone know if this will be useful to helping me toward my goal?

Sorry I hijacked your thread HeffeD...though the subject was straying to "knowledge", and I'm not sure if there is much to change in your configuration.
 

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