Quote:

If you're prepared to leave a PC with an Internet connection up with no firewall or AV running then Ryszard you are a braver man than me!



You're absolutely correct, of course. And "brave" is being quite kind. But allow me to elucidate.

I could start a whole new thread in the Off Topic forum: "Everything I Know About Computers I Learned In Self Defense." (Actually, that's only partly true; I learned the rest because I wanted to make music with mine and there was no one to show me how.)

When I first started using computers seriously, I was doing medical transcription on a dialup connection from home with a machine which had to remain pristine and secure. I also had a second PC which I considered disposable, and which allowed me to be Brave and Stupid, i.e., do things which no rational PC tech (I am one--a PC tech, I mean, not rational) would ever do. I won't mention the site I went to once that made this happen--some misguided soul would just have to touch the paint to see if it was wet--but I literally had to pull the power cord to stop my OS from being eaten. I could see files disappearing as I watched, just like in bad movies. I had heard of viruses, of course, but not of antivirus programs. It was two days before the machine would start again normally, even after multiple re-installs of the OS (Win 95, and BB version 7, if that gives you some idea).

Point is, I've done, and had done to me, some of the worst things imaginable. I've even learned how to keep a lot of them from happening. (I also still have a sacrificial PC which I will occasionally use to Boldly Go Where No Sentient Being Oughta Go.) But I would never recommend that someone try something which I had not safely done myself. Like judiciously hopping online to download those lyrics, or a MIDI file, or whatever. And disabling the network connection immediately afterward. Okay?

R.

P.S.: I'm pretty sure my router has a firewall in it, too, just like Unca Mac said. I may be crazy, but I'm not stupid. 8-)

"My primary musical instrument is the personal computer."