Help Mom navigate the pirate bays
January 2, 2011 4:10 PM Subscribe
Mom is using the internet for the first time on an old, old laptop with Windows XP, and using it for email and also streaming movies (the pirated kind) on sites like Megavideo. Anything to help her avoid scams and malware? Hoping for software/Firefox extensions as well as maybe a guide for first-time internet users.
This is a recipe for disaster. Maybe you can do a linux install ?
posted by k8t at 4:27 PM on January 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by k8t at 4:27 PM on January 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
Also, Microsoft Security Essentials running in the background catches some of the crap such as ClickPotato.
posted by hungrysquirrels at 4:27 PM on January 2, 2011
posted by hungrysquirrels at 4:27 PM on January 2, 2011
Don't do this, and not from a piracy is bad angle, but because you'll certainly end up having to reimage this machine multiple times ... your mother will be angry the Internet is always "giving her viruses" and you'll be put out from always having to reinstall Windows on an old, old laptop.
Consider skipping XP all together and running Ubuntu on it. If she's inexperience this is good, she won't be switching to something she already understands ... she'll be using it from the beginning. The downside is that for sketchy sites require sketchy plugins most of the time, and won't be available for Linux. This is a good thing as I don't think you'd want those plugins in the first place, but to a lot of users it is simply, "My video won't work but will work if I have Windows."
I'd really recommend going with a Netflix subscription, it'll put all of these headaches to rest.
posted by geoff. at 4:29 PM on January 2, 2011
Consider skipping XP all together and running Ubuntu on it. If she's inexperience this is good, she won't be switching to something she already understands ... she'll be using it from the beginning. The downside is that for sketchy sites require sketchy plugins most of the time, and won't be available for Linux. This is a good thing as I don't think you'd want those plugins in the first place, but to a lot of users it is simply, "My video won't work but will work if I have Windows."
I'd really recommend going with a Netflix subscription, it'll put all of these headaches to rest.
posted by geoff. at 4:29 PM on January 2, 2011
Wait, I change my answer. k8t got me thinking.
Regardless of the setup, this is not a great idea if the user isn't familiar with the internet and things like "ClickPotato" and "SurftheChannel".
Is a cheapo Netflix subscription out of the question?
posted by vincele at 4:32 PM on January 2, 2011
Regardless of the setup, this is not a great idea if the user isn't familiar with the internet and things like "ClickPotato" and "SurftheChannel".
Is a cheapo Netflix subscription out of the question?
posted by vincele at 4:32 PM on January 2, 2011
I also recommend Netflix. It's easy to use, your mom is new to using the Internet, the quality of the video is good, no risk of malware, it doesn't cost that much.
posted by eliluong at 4:46 PM on January 2, 2011
posted by eliluong at 4:46 PM on January 2, 2011
I'm not in your situation, but I do have a computer setup for child and another setup for DH (who is older and isn't internet-savvy.)
I have Microsoft Security Essentials installed on both computers, which scans, updates, and is pretty good about catching bad clicks.
I also installed firefox, Ad Block Plus, and the WOT safe search extension. For movies, install BOXEE and have her go from there - you can get a lot of shows via the plugins without having to go through iffy sites. You can use netflix and stuff like that with boxee without having to go through a browser, if you choose to go that route.
If she hasn't already, get her a gmail account, or have all her mail routed through gmail. I do this for the DH and it catches spam better than his old hotmail, and is just as easy to use.
Above all, teach her caution. Don't open any attachments she's not expecting, don't trust anybody she doesn't already know, etc, and if she sees suspicious pop-ups, have her call you before she does anything. As long as she doesn't do any banking on that thing or divulge personal information, she can't really do that much damage. You can always re-image!
posted by Sallysings at 4:54 PM on January 2, 2011
I have Microsoft Security Essentials installed on both computers, which scans, updates, and is pretty good about catching bad clicks.
I also installed firefox, Ad Block Plus, and the WOT safe search extension. For movies, install BOXEE and have her go from there - you can get a lot of shows via the plugins without having to go through iffy sites. You can use netflix and stuff like that with boxee without having to go through a browser, if you choose to go that route.
If she hasn't already, get her a gmail account, or have all her mail routed through gmail. I do this for the DH and it catches spam better than his old hotmail, and is just as easy to use.
Above all, teach her caution. Don't open any attachments she's not expecting, don't trust anybody she doesn't already know, etc, and if she sees suspicious pop-ups, have her call you before she does anything. As long as she doesn't do any banking on that thing or divulge personal information, she can't really do that much damage. You can always re-image!
posted by Sallysings at 4:54 PM on January 2, 2011
I'm a big fan of Deepfreeze - this will give her complete immunity from the worst that the internet can throw at her.
I have installed it on the computers of friends children, and over a year later a pair of computers used by an 10 year old and a 13 year old are still running like clockwork.
Deepfreeze stores a snapshot of the entire drive, so a fresh OS is just a reboot away. You can "thaw" partitions if you want her to be able to save downloads/documents.
posted by davey_darling at 5:05 PM on January 2, 2011 [3 favorites]
I have installed it on the computers of friends children, and over a year later a pair of computers used by an 10 year old and a 13 year old are still running like clockwork.
Deepfreeze stores a snapshot of the entire drive, so a fresh OS is just a reboot away. You can "thaw" partitions if you want her to be able to save downloads/documents.
posted by davey_darling at 5:05 PM on January 2, 2011 [3 favorites]
There is only one rule of the internet: Don't click on anything you aren't expecting. Don't agree to anything. All pop-ups are lying. If it seems too good to be true, it is. Never click any button besides the red x to close a window. If all else fails, unplug the computer.
posted by gjc at 5:53 PM on January 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by gjc at 5:53 PM on January 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
For the inevitable day when it does happen, deezil's profile is a lifesaver. Seriously. My last trip home it came in handy BIG TIME for just this reason. (He also offered immediate help via memail when I hit a snag!)
HOORAY FOR DEEZIL!
posted by phunniemee at 7:45 PM on January 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
HOORAY FOR DEEZIL!
posted by phunniemee at 7:45 PM on January 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
Honestly, I've been using surfthechannel and megavideo for several years now, with (apparently and fingers crossed) no issues/malware. I have the free version of AVG installed. I think. I used to use firefox, and have been using chrome since the day it was released. No third-party script or popup blockers.
Is she savvy enough to know to ALWAYS close the megavideo popups right away? Even the ones that *look* like megavideo, with the big play button right in the middle? What if a popup doesn't come up, which sometimes happens? Will she end up accidentally closing her video window? Maybe walk her through looking at the URL of the page she is about to click play (the second play click) on every time and verifying that it is megavideo.
Also, walk her through what to do when she reaches the time limit on megavideo. Is unplugging/replugging the router feasible?
If you can swing it, netflix is not only safer and more legal but also better quality, easier, has a smarter buffering system and will remember her place, what she has been watching, etc. If you put her on 1-dvd-at-a-time, it's affordable and will let her watch whatever she wants to that isn't available in instant viewing. Also, no time limit. Not sure if there are any TV shows that are on hulu that aren't on netflix, but that's another good go-to site.
I don't actually know how legal this is (probably not very) but if you/a friend has a netflix account, it's trivial to just show her how to log into that and allow her to watch videos on that account at no additional cost to the account holder.
And email scams, phishing, etc. are another good thing to discuss. Also, not giving out her email address to every site ever (or set her up with a second spam account if that is something that she is going to want to do). I can't tell if she's been emailing for a while, but that's a good thing to keep in mind.
posted by R a c h e l at 7:49 PM on January 2, 2011
Is she savvy enough to know to ALWAYS close the megavideo popups right away? Even the ones that *look* like megavideo, with the big play button right in the middle? What if a popup doesn't come up, which sometimes happens? Will she end up accidentally closing her video window? Maybe walk her through looking at the URL of the page she is about to click play (the second play click) on every time and verifying that it is megavideo.
Also, walk her through what to do when she reaches the time limit on megavideo. Is unplugging/replugging the router feasible?
If you can swing it, netflix is not only safer and more legal but also better quality, easier, has a smarter buffering system and will remember her place, what she has been watching, etc. If you put her on 1-dvd-at-a-time, it's affordable and will let her watch whatever she wants to that isn't available in instant viewing. Also, no time limit. Not sure if there are any TV shows that are on hulu that aren't on netflix, but that's another good go-to site.
I don't actually know how legal this is (probably not very) but if you/a friend has a netflix account, it's trivial to just show her how to log into that and allow her to watch videos on that account at no additional cost to the account holder.
And email scams, phishing, etc. are another good thing to discuss. Also, not giving out her email address to every site ever (or set her up with a second spam account if that is something that she is going to want to do). I can't tell if she's been emailing for a while, but that's a good thing to keep in mind.
posted by R a c h e l at 7:49 PM on January 2, 2011
The one thing that works to protect Windows XP (and most other multi-user systems) is to run as an unprivileged user for everyday use, and create another user for administrative tasks. This works almost all the time. Some infections can begin to do their thing but won't get far. The only real risk is that the user will log in to the admin and allow things to install which shouldn't, as all the semi-dormant infections that may be present will wake up when that happens and try to stick their claws in. The major problem with this setup is the typical user not understanding the abstraction of the admin and regular user and/or getting lazy, and software publishers designing their programs only to run under administrator. Other than this, tools like Deepfreeze can help more than antivirus when something finally does make it through, although I recommend both.
I am in the IT business, although that will no longer be true in a few months ... Believe me, an open platform with vulnerabilities is much easier to control centrally, as in a server-client setting in an office, but most home users are unlikely to start setting up networks like this or learning how to administer them.
posted by krinklyfig at 1:51 AM on January 3, 2011
I am in the IT business, although that will no longer be true in a few months ... Believe me, an open platform with vulnerabilities is much easier to control centrally, as in a server-client setting in an office, but most home users are unlikely to start setting up networks like this or learning how to administer them.
posted by krinklyfig at 1:51 AM on January 3, 2011
How about putting NoScript on her Firefox? You could set it up for her, browse through most of the sites she's going to be using and marking what can be trusted, while leaving anything else totally blocked.
posted by Gordafarin at 4:00 AM on January 3, 2011
posted by Gordafarin at 4:00 AM on January 3, 2011
Install the Firefox extensions Noscript and Adblock Plus.
How about putting NoScript on her Firefox?
NoScript is great for those of us who know what we're doing; it can be a real pain for noobs, because they'll constantly be working to figure out why this or that functionality isn't working (this is from experience with multiple users -- if you don't know what a "script" is or does, then blocking scripts adds a new level of confusion to a large number of popular websites).
Seconding Deepfreeze, and a class at a local college on surfing safely.
posted by coolguymichael at 11:33 AM on January 3, 2011
How about putting NoScript on her Firefox?
NoScript is great for those of us who know what we're doing; it can be a real pain for noobs, because they'll constantly be working to figure out why this or that functionality isn't working (this is from experience with multiple users -- if you don't know what a "script" is or does, then blocking scripts adds a new level of confusion to a large number of popular websites).
Seconding Deepfreeze, and a class at a local college on surfing safely.
posted by coolguymichael at 11:33 AM on January 3, 2011
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Install and run periodically the software Malwarebytes.
Install the Firefox extensions Noscript and Adblock Plus.
Don't search for movies using Surf the Channel.
She shouldn't have problems with Megavideo if she does those things.
posted by vincele at 4:25 PM on January 2, 2011