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Hello, I have a computer on which I still use Windows ME, but sometimes he suddenly crashes;I'm connected to a LAN-network.
Could this be a Denial Of Service atttack ??
If so, which one (cos I was told win ME is less vulnerable for DOS's than the other versions of windows 9x)?
What can I do about it (if I don't want to install a firewall) ?
greetz...
ehh well heres my 2 cents why dont you want to install a firewall? I would if i were you. And windows crashes alot doesent mean your being DDOS but try to install a firewall and see what happens...
well if you are on a small lan and someone is DoSing you from outside the lan it would only affect the gateway. now if you are the gateway it is a possibility. windows me has a lot of stability problems and thats most likely it
I personally haven't heard about too many ME boxes being DOS'ed. What happens when it crashes? Are any particular programs open when it happens? ME's pretty prone to crashes, especially when you have registry errors. If you honestly believe it's a DOS, as hackerdan said, install a firewall. Otherwise, start keeping track of what you're doing when your computer crashes and see if you can isolate the problem.
AJ
I agree with adven, windows ME is considered by many to be the worst OS microsoft has excreeted. It's prone to crashing, often 'forgets' it's configuration and is no more secure than 98. In short it is hardly an excuse for microsoft to charge 99.95 or whatever. now as long as you can put up with the crashing a junk, which will continue to happen randomly and probably more frequently since the last time you formated and recovered, as long as you have a good firewall you should be fine.
the crashes are unpredictable and don't depent on the programs opened.
I'll probably install a firewall if this is really the only option.
thanks all for your help.
greetz
just pull out the network cable for a while and see if you get the same thing. also you could install a network sniffer like tcpdump (donno if that works on doze) and see if you get an increase in traffic when the crash is.
What would a firewall do
Alrighty, I used to use Winblows ME until I got completely sick of its bugs and moved on to Linux. I basically (with WinME) ended up formatting once a month, reinstalling everything because, within a month, my WinME box was so messed up it wouldn't even boot up anymore. I doubt you're being DDoS'ed or DoS'ed, but hey, its alright to be paranoid and think of it as a very real possibility. I've been told by every computer tech I've talked to, if you want to use Windows, stick with 98SE or XP. I just stay away all together.
As for firewalls, you can find free ones all over the net, such as ZoneAlarm or Sygate. (It actually took me a few minutes to remember, its been a while since I've worried about that now that I use Netfilter iptables, also free, but on Linux :))
Just a quick question too, since your on a LAN and connected to the net, are you running it through a hub or a router? I run mine through a router, which has a 'hardware' firewall (basically, NAT) You can get some decent ones for residential use for $200 CAD which use SPI. (Supposed to be better than NAT and are supposed to do a better job of fending off DoS attacks, such as SYN Floods and such) With these, they don't really affect your local resources nearly as much as running something like Norton Internet Security 2003. I'm not bashing Symantec here, just I've noticed that NIS 2003 really uses up some valuable resources! (On the other machine still running WinME)
Lebb, your question on "what would a firewall do?" Everyone, I'm no expert, please correct me if I'm wrong. A firewall, depending what you get, will try to secure your system. I find most Windows-based firewalls are application filtering, which basically means they watch the thread process name and which port it runs on, if its new, it pops up and asks you if you want to allow it or not. They still do (at least Nortons does) watch for ports used for Trojans, and check for port scans, etc. It tries to stop unknown programs from opening up to the internet, and alerts you if a rule is matched. (Such as a trojan opening port 5000!) Ahh, the good ol' Plug'n'Pray! :P
Other firewalls are 'packet-filtering' which, I believe, scan each and every packet header and check them against a set of rules. (Netfilter iptables are like this) Say for example, you don't want to allow any inbound SYN packets (so no-body can remotely set up a connection with your computer) you could block any packet with the SYN flag set. Then comes hardware firewalls like NAT and SPI, which I'm not really familier with, so its likely best I don't try to explain them.
I hope that made sense, please feel free to let me know if I'm wrong. I hope I was accurate, though I'm certainly no expert!
dstevens1958, I'm not connected to a hub (that's all I know about my network).
I 've allready decided that I'll install "norton internet security 2003", and if I still have the same problem, I'll take Windows XP as OS.
greetz.
dsteven: yeah thats it....i think windows needs a nice packet inspection firewall while i think linux needs a nice basic application level firewall. i think these types of firewalls grow out because how the OS is structured.
"If so, which one (cos I was told win ME is less vulnerable
for DOS's than the other versions of windows 9x)?"
For anyone who uses ME and doesn't know
If you ever get infected by a virus or trojan horse make sure 1st you disable
Windows ME restore feature before cleaning your system because
the virus or trojan horse will be backed up in your _restore folder and
re-installed on your computer not good :( Here's the instructions for
disabling it I found it in my desk under a ton of papers from symantec:
To disable Windows Me System Restore:
Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
Double-click the System icon. The System Properties dialog box appears.
NOTE: If the System icon is not visible, click "View all Control Panel options"
to display it.
Click the Performance tab, and then click File System.
The File System Properties dialog box will appear.
Click the Troubleshooting tab, and then check
Disable System Restore.
Click OK, and then click Close. Click Yes, when you are prompted to restart Windows.
Follow the instructions--for example, troubleshooting or virus removal--that instructed
you to disable System Restore.
When all instructions have been completed, enable System Restore
again by following the instructions in the next section.
To enable Windows Me System Restore:
Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
Double-click System, and then click the Performance tab.
Click File System, and then click the Troubleshooting tab.
Uncheck Disable System Restore.
Click OK, and then click Close. Click Yes, when you are prompted to restart Windows.
I
;)
don't get entirely concerned with ME crashing all the time. that's almost like one of its features.
ME is a great operating system for gaming, due to its speed. however, on the flipside, it is very unstable. my friend had it on his box, and it took him something like 22 seconds to boot up, while it took me a good 45 seconds or so with win2k. then again, i go through GRUB and boot.ini to select my OS :p
i still run win2k, despite its poor gaming support. i can run what i need to, and the system only crashes when my brother touches it :rolleyes:
i really dont see the problem with nt kernel and its gaming support. unless of course you are running those games that can only be run in DOS mode then you get problems
Well i dont think it is a DOS attack on you, i personally had alot of problems with ME stability wise. I think it is the problem in your case.
Cheers
If a DOS attack happens check your system/network and use Scan/Defrag to do it.
I've installed "internet security 2003" and it has stopped, so I gues it were DOS'ses.
Problem solved now.
thanks all for your help.
André.
Sounds like you're talking about WinNuke type attacks.. -snicker- I don't think thats the cause.. Most often the cause of a crash is a fault of the hardware itself. I've had this happen to me, it all depends on the reason it says, is it "Page fault.. dumping physical memory" or some sort? or just another "blue screen" I reccomend you write down the message (if you can) because maybe its just a matter of missing files or something simple like that.
I hope this helps.. Good luck.