Is Windows a Virus?

[Blknight.aus]

Sorry, its late and Im still waiting for Big Reds headache tablet to turn up.....

the short answer

No, Windows is not a virus. Here's what viruses do:

the logic

* Viruses replicate quickly - okay, Windows does that.

* Viruses use up valuable system resources, slowing down the system as they do so - okay, Windows does that.

* Viruses will, from time to time, trash your hard disk - okay, Windows does that too.

* Viruses are usually carried, unknown to the user, along with valuable programs and systems. Sigh... Windows does that, too.

* Viruses will occasionally make the user suspect their system is too slow (see 2) and the user will buy new hardware. Yup, that's with Windows, too.

Until now it seems Windows is a virus but there are fundamental differences:Viruses are well supported by their authors, are running on most systems, their program code is fast, compact and efficient and they tend to become more sophisticated as they mature.

So Windows is not a virus.

It's a bug.

[moose]

:lol2::lol2::Rolling::Rolling:

[HangOver]

So Windows is not a virus.

It's a bug.



I'm guessing your windows box is giving you trouble? ;)

Short story:
I had the same PC, (upgraded from time to time) and windows install for at least 5 years. The OS was upgraded from w2k to XP, once. In all that time it has never needed to be reformatted and it was running well until two weeks ago when I gave it to the FIL. In those 2 weeks it's been reformatted 3 times, (that I know of) and is now running fine.
So what is the real problem with windows.....

Windows OR User?

PEBKAC :D

[HangOver]

IMHO

W2k & XP can be run trouble free for years IF ...............

The user uninstalls needless programs, (or doesn't install crap in the first place eg free wallpaper programs, goole toolbar etc)
The user deletes/erases temp files and folders once and a while
The user does not customise, (read: hack until they stuff it) the OS config
The user does a defrag once in a blue moon
The user maintains an up to date anti-virus, (a good one, not that plague they call Norton) spyware & firewall.

barring hardware failure or PEBKAC it should last for years

My current laptop runs XPpro and the OS has never crashed in one year of ownership.

[Blknight.aus]

ITs neither now I got it sorted.

Doing the right thing and letting one of my laptops thats lugging vista around install all the updates I got a series of messages along the lines of

"do you want to install XXX" (xxx is a security patch for windows provided by microsoft.com server xyz and is a priority update for security reasons)

so I did the yep

then the "this will change files do you want to continue"

yep

"you need system admin to install this patch"

ok do the system admin thing

"user XYZ has requested to install XXX" do you want to continue

yes

"this install will......"

ok so I click yep ok go ahead FFS NIKE... and finally the installer screen comes up.

and then pops up an error message.

This application is not compatable with your operating system or the like and then rebooted the laptop.

so the lappy boots up and I get

"an application has halted abnormally do you wish to send an error report"

no

"sending error report"

after logging in as the administrator

Then the installer restarts itself tells me that Im not the person who started it can I please go get the administrators password to confirm that I actually want to install it (I was logged in as admin at this point) or kill the app so I kill it and try to run it as admin only to get that its still running (even tho so far I've only logged in once) so I switch users and lo and behold its got the "an application has caused blah blah blahh send report ?" No. and then the lappy reboots.

log in as admin and its the unexpected shut down caused by XXX send error report? NO. so it sends it anyway and the restarts and actually completes the process...

If I have to go through that pfaffle everytime I install a security patch from the company that wrote the OS and the patch I am going to go and get an abacus and use my psp to play games on.

[HangOver]

Ahhhhh you didn't mention Vista !

I havent had a too much exposure to vista, but I would say it's about 80-20 against at the moment from what I have read/heard.
Consider an upgrade to XP ;)

Seriously though I would never change to a new OS until at least the first full service pack is released.
Good luck with Vista till then!

[Pedro_The_Swift]

The only thing wrong with vista is the rest of the worlds product makers need to keep up!

creative X-Fi sound cards,, one lousey 64bit vista driver,, so NONE of the creative software I paid a squillion dollars for now works,, 12 months on.

HP printers,, 18 month old laser they MAY develope a driver for-- 3mg of code,, how much could that cost? as against me not EVER buying another HP??

I realise these two are only small companies with not a lot of financial backing,,,

[loanrangie]

Vista can bit me - for now. Had XP since it came out and never had any problems that werent self inflicted- and very few of them.

[shorty943]

The only thing wrong with vista is the rest of the worlds product makers need to keep up!

creative X-Fi sound cards,, one lousey 64bit vista driver,, so NONE of the creative software I paid a squillion dollars for now works,, 12 months on.

HP printers,, 18 month old laser they MAY develope a driver for-- 3mg of code,, how much could that cost? as against me not EVER buying another HP??

I realise these two are only small companies with not a lot of financial backing,,,


:D:D:D Yep, that's why Linux is so good. It will install all HP stuff, even if you don't have an HP unit in your system.:) At least it did to me, so I now use HP exclusively. Some of it even works with Win XP.:angel:

And on that subject. XP, is the only Windows OS, that I've never had a problem with.
But, I do update every "update Tuesday", anti-virus is self updating (sometimes several times a day), I don't install silly things that windows already has built in anyway.

I have to agree with loanrangie.

I reckon you're wrong about what is wrong with Vista though Pedro.

I reckon it's Microsoft. Big business told them they would not upgrade, this cycle, but they tried to run it out, before they got the rest of the world "hardware wise" up to speed. I can remember reading reports, that big business told Microsoft, they would not upgrade before 2010. That was when MS was still talking Longhorn and other code names for Vista.

(I know I can't afford some dual processor, dual GPU card system, with several truck loads of RAM chips. Just to run the OS. And me, with a mother board 3 gens old, and starting to show its age.:( )

They just don't seem to be able to hear the world saying, "it doesn't bloody work".
A bit like Sol Trujillo, and Telstra, and their 3G rubbish.

It sounds like Dave has been subjected to a case of,

"error code 18-T"

The T designation makes it much worse, because it denotes a teenage "error code 18" origination.:angel:

Did it have World of Warcraft installed during its loan period mate?:(
Or was it Second Life?

So, I don't know if Windows is a virus or not. But, I do know IT people, who reckon "Windows Defender" is.

[Chucaro]

Installing Vista in your PC is one of the most efficient sabotages that you can do.
Forget vista until 2009.
Waith until there are plenty software and drivers to upgrade from XP to a 64 bit OS.
If tomorrow I have to get a laptop or another PC, the first think that I will be doing is formatting the HDD and installing XP or Unix.
Just because you mentioned virus I am taking the opportunity to suggest to install NOD 32 as protection for virus, and Ad Aware & Spybot to scan the pc twice a week.
I am running very demanding photography software in my PC under XP and she is very solid.

Cheers