Malware, autoexec, mouse speed, auto-mounting

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rwilliams
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Joined: Tue 27 Sep 2005, 03:55
Location: Big Island of Hawaii

Malware, autoexec, mouse speed, auto-mounting

#1 Post by rwilliams »

As a moderately experienced DOS and MSWindows refugee and Linux Puppy Newbie, I have installed Puppy, read some help stuff and some tutorials and the forum rules.

CIRCUMSTANCES:
Retired in remote Hawaii rural area on solar power, cellphone, and high-speed wireless Internet antenna and modem feed to my 196MB AMD K-6 via my LAN port. To conserve, I only power up external modem when using Internet. I use computer only for word processing and Internet and make a hard copy of anything I want to save so personal stuff backup is not an issue (except for system settings of course). Inspite of trying various firewalls etc. malware has several times messed up my Windows system files. I am trying to learn Puppy because it boots from external read-only, runs in RAM, and has only one file (pup001) to backup. If malware gets in RAM I can just re-boot, or if malware infects pup001 could just revert to a recent clean backup of pup001. No fuss no muss. Nes pas?

QUESTIONS:
1- Under limited usage noted above, why would I need any firewall or other malware fighters?

2- Puppy does not seem to save my mouse speed setting or mount the floppy so I learned to do this manually with every boot. Is it legitimate to edit .bashrc with floppy mount command so it will auto-mount at bootup?
What would the command syntax be for setting Fast mouse speed?

3- Except for pup001, all of Pupy vanishes at shut down so why bother unmounting my floppy after using it?

4- I often do word processing and then want to use the Internet without re-boot so I reach over and power up my external modem, but Puppy seems to only initialize my LAN Internet connection if it sees a live connection at boot-up. Is there a way for me to initialize without having to re-boot after powering my modem?

Thank you all for the Forum and your willingness to help beginners. I hope to learn enough to contribute someday.

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Pizzasgood
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#2 Post by Pizzasgood »

1. You don't :)

3. You don't :) EDIT: Or, maybe you do. See rarsa's post below :oops:

Solar power, eh? Cool. I assume Puppy likes the sunlight?
Last edited by Pizzasgood on Sun 09 Oct 2005, 03:09, edited 1 time in total.
[size=75]Between depriving a man of one hour from his life and depriving him of his life there exists only a difference of degree. --Muad'Dib[/size]
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rarsa
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Re: Malware, autoexec, mouse speed, auto-mounting

#3 Post by rarsa »

rwilliams wrote:1- Under limited usage noted above, why would I need any firewall or other malware fighters?
I don't know why, I don't use one, but I'm careful with what I read and open.
rwilliams wrote:2- Puppy does not seem to save my mouse speed setting or mount the floppy so I learned to do this manually with every boot. Is it legitimate to edit .bashrc with floppy mount command so it will auto-mount at bootup?
The file that you should edit is /etc/rc.d/rc.local
Just add the following command at the end:

Code: Select all

mount   /dev/fd0   /mnt/floppy
Question: Why do you want to automount the floppy? Do you use only 1 floppy ever? Please note that to remove the floppy and insert a new one you must unmount before ejecting and mount the new one after inserting it.
What would the command syntax be for setting Fast mouse speed?

Code: Select all

# To set it to acceleration 4.9 with a threshold of 4
xset m 49/10 4
# To set it to acceleration 5 with a treshold of 6
xset m 5/1  6
3- Except for pup001, all of Pupy vanishes at shut down so why bother unmounting my floppy after using it?
Because if you don't unmount it the file system may get corrupted or files may not be completely written to the disk. They may remain in cash.
4- I often do word processing and then want to use the Internet without re-boot so I reach over and power up my external modem, but Puppy seems to only initialize my LAN Internet connection if it sees a live connection at boot-up. Is there a way for me to initialize without having to re-boot after powering my modem?
Puppy cannot initialize what's not there ;).
Windows does some nice things for the users, but that's what makes it slow and unstable. That's the trade off. In linux you can do the same thing, just have a program running in the background checking every now and then if there is a connection (it's called a daemon). If you are expecting to have a connection most of the time, then that's the solution.

If you want to turn it on and off at will, then:
1. Create a simple script with the commands puppy needs to bring up the connection
3. Set it to be executable (replace <thescript> with the actual script name

Code: Select all

chmod +x   <thescript>
.

4. Drag the script to the desktop.

When you want to connect, turn on the modem and click the icon on the desktop.

I have wireless, and sometimes I forget to insert the card before starting the computer. I just click on my script.
Thank you all for the Forum and your willingness to help beginners. I hope to learn enough to contribute someday.
You'll be helping in no time. I'm sure.

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Lobster
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#4 Post by Lobster »

Wot no pictures? :)

Well you made the Puppy Wiki news for 8 October 2005
http://www.goosee.com/puppy/wikka/LatestNews

Talking of alternative power sauces here is my recipe:

Laptop + Windup clockwork radio (windup mecanism removed)
. . . well I can not wait for that $100 dollar prototype

Cover in solar panels and leave to bake in the sun . . .

Who is up for it?

8)
Puppy Raspup 8.2Final 8)
Puppy Links Page http://www.smokey01.com/bruceb/puppy.html :D

rwilliams
Posts: 24
Joined: Tue 27 Sep 2005, 03:55
Location: Big Island of Hawaii

#5 Post by rwilliams »

To Pizzasgood and rarsa:
Aloha and Mahalo (thanks) for your replies. Your suggestions were exactly what I was looking for. In answer to rarsa's question as to why I might want to auto-mount my floppy and then not necessarily unmount it, I now have new insight as to some differences between Windows and Linux. With Windows I got used to the luxery that once windows booted and scanned my devices I could just exchange and read or write to floppies with a mouse click or two. As a Linux Newbie I had not yet realized that mounting means a "File" as much or more than it means a physical device, somewhat like the Windows "open" and "close" commands. So if I want a similar convenience I guess I could use your example of writing an executable to place on the desktop and code it to let me select whether to mount or unmount the floppy with just a click rather than typing a manual command line each time. This will be a fun challenge for me after I dig into some script writing tutorials.

GuestToo
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Joined: Wed 04 May 2005, 18:11

#6 Post by GuestToo »

to mount/unmount a floppy, you can hold the shift key and click the floppy folder in /mnt (in a Rox window)

to mount a floppy in the newer versions of Rox, like Rox 2.3, just click the floppy folder in /mnt ... to unmount, just close the Rox window

you can do the same thing with the CD drive

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Alucard_the_dex
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#7 Post by Alucard_the_dex »

i still think a simple malware and virus scanner should be included just to be on the safeside i mean it couldnt hurt puppy but then would pple feel puppy is unsafe if those features are included>? is security also a selling point in puppy>?

I got morizot firewall installed but idk how to tell its running or at that if its dong what its supose to do im so use to Sygate on windows alerting me when somthing trys to access my comp or the internet

P.S. if anyone has a link to a site that lists all the viruses out there for linux id be gratefull for a PM of it thanks
~Puppy Linux~ Where mans best friend becomes PCs best friend

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