[SOLVED] NFO Files - msinfo32.nfo

jcgriff2 said:
I've only had W10 Pro for 2 or 3 weeks at this point. But then again - I loved Vista! :0

To me, 8.1 was simply an upgrade of 7, but much faster (newer laptop also)

Also, I had a touchscreen, but never used it.

I dislike 10's File Explorer - the way it updates last used directories on the side. I prefer to select them and have them remain fixed.

I do not like the START menu tiles at all and will likely get rid of most of them. I use search or CMD for just about everything (to find an app for example).

Do not yet understand quite a few new W10 features; will have to look into them. There are even more new features with Win 10 Pro to look at and test.

Not impressed with on-board Windows Security at all. Two Chrome extensions that I had on my old 8.1 laptop for years and were imported to Chrome under W10 got hit with malware within 36 hours. This never happened with 6+ years of W8.1 and ESET NOD32.

Don't want to go for a 3rd time, so I deleted all Chrome extensions, reinstalled AdBlock; installed my favorite security software - ESET NOD32. Windows Defender (or whatever it is called) is now turned OFF.

Windows Firewall has been reset and remains active.

Windows 10 is beyond super fast, but it might be the new laptop and upgraded hardware.

W8.1 - 1 GB HDD; 12 GB RAM; 8th generation core i7 CPU released ~2013/2014

W10 - 1 GB SSD; 32 GB RAM; 11th generation core i7 CPU that was just released in November 2020
Click to expand...

What extensions and what malware?
Also how did you tell it came through the extensions?
 
I do not like the START menu tiles at all and will likely get rid of most of them. I use search or CMD for just about everything (to find an app for example).
Click to expand...

jcgriff2

Hi! :)

Of course if you leave the tiles as they are when you bought or upgraded the laptop, you just have a mess in front of you.

You have to personalized the tiles, remove what you do not use and add what you need. You can also make groups of tiles. It helps me a lot.

See how my start menu looks like in the attachment. I like to have organized my things. :)

And if you just right click on the Start button, you have access to many other locations (Device and Disk management, Command Prompt, Event Viewer etc.)
 

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DR M said:
You have to personalized the tiles, remove what you do not use and add what you need. You can also make groups of tiles. It helps me a lot.
Click to expand...

Agreed. And it's not that different from previous versions of Windows in that regard, period. The out-of-the-box state of the start menu (or the 8.1 equivalent thereof) was virtually never anything like what I wanted it to be to maximize its convenience and efficiency for my purposes.

I presuppose I'm going to have to rearrange things. And in my case, I do use groups.

Start_Menu.jpg
 
Wrench97 said:
What extensions and what malware?
Also how did you tell it came through the extensions?
Click to expand...

There were 2 extensions - one was "The Great Suspender" which just refreshes a page based on my time selection; sorry - do not recall the other one.

No idea how the malware came through/got into the extensions except that the extensions remind me of the sidebar in Vista (where you have 3rd party code constantly executing) and you (or at least me) don't know exactly what vulnerabilities are in the extensions - just like I had no idea what vulnerabilities were in sidebar items, if any.

I do not know the name of the malware either. I was just on Sysnative on one occasion and on BC on the other and received a message box at the top-right of the screen stating that "x-extension" contains malware and waited for me to make the next move. I made the wrong move because both reappeared within an hour or so, again ruining ALL Chrome tabs (the content anyway). As I clicked on each tab, it just said something like "Chrome extension aleghoevuiyewn contains malware" and then I got a 404 for each tab I clicked on, thus losing the content that each tab contained. I checked "History" to try and retrieve tab contents, but it too contained the bad extension with the jumbled alpha name.

As I mentioned, after the second or third time the malware message appeared and ruined every tab, I just deleted every Chrome extension, rebooted my system; brought Chrome back up; installed Ad-Block extension; installed 2021 version ESET NOD32; entered the ESET retail keycode from ESET MVP program and have not had any problems since.

As you know, I am not a Security Expert and my methodology was the best that I could come up with at the time.
 
DR M said:
jcgriff2

Hi! :)

Of course if you leave the tiles as they are when you bought or upgraded the laptop, you just have a mess in front of you.

You have to personalized the tiles, remove what you do not use and add what you need. You can also make groups of tiles. It helps me a lot.

See how my start menu looks like in the attachment. I like to have organized my things. :)

And if you just right click on the Start button, you have access to many other locations (Device and Disk management, Command Prompt, Event Viewer etc.)
Click to expand...

That looks very nice - thanks!

John
 
jcgriff2 said:
As I clicked on each tab, it just said something like "Chrome extension aleghoevuiyewn contains malware" and then I got a 404 for each tab I clicked on, thus losing the content that each tab contained. I checked "History" to try and retrieve tab contents, but it too contained the bad extension with the jumbled alpha name.
Click to expand...

Hi.

It seems that Google recently marked hundreds of extensions as malicious.

Heed This Google Chrome Warning: Do NOT Activate Any Of These 500 Extensions
Google remotely deletes The Great Suspender Chrome extension after malware accusations

And here you can see how you recover your tabs again:

Chrome is blocking popular extension The Great Suspender, but there’s a way to recover your tabs
 
jcgriff2 said:
As you know, I am not a Security Expert and my methodology was the best that I could come up with at the time.
Click to expand...

You know, as an aside, you have no idea how much I appreciate seeing someone say something like this. While I think that every one of "the staff" and many of our power users are magnificent technicians broadly, there is absolutely no way any one of us can have depth in every aspect of Windows in particular or computing in general. The field is just too huge.

Just like there are specialist physicians, there are (and should be) specialist technicians. I couldn't deal with BSOD issues to save my life with my current skill set, and since I have no desire to acquire the one that would be necessary, it's better that I just say that than even trying to fake it.

Better to consult with the subject matter experts when I need to fill in my own gaps.

BTW, we all make mistakes. One of my favorite quotations in this regard is:

A learning experience is one of those things that say, "You know that thing you just did? Don't do that."
~ Douglas Adams (1952-2001)
 

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