Virus from USB-stick

[lopdog]

Hi!
I have a problem with virus from USB-sticks on my Laptop
My friends often connect their (virus infected) USB-sticks to my Laptop to share files, and I get a lot of virus even though I'm using NOD32 (updated). I don't even open any folders on their device, I only rightclick on the file from my computer and selects "send to-Removable drive".
Is there anything I could do to reduce the risk of getting infected?

 

[DelJo63]

yea --- tell your friends to "TAKE A HIKE!"

Infections via USB are just like the old floppy disks; just insert and infect!

You might be able to diable AUTORUN, but not sure that would be sufficient.

 

[lopdog]

That would probably be the best solution, and if can´t come up with something better I´ll never connect an unknown USB to my computer. But I once had a small program that would ask for permission before it let´s any program run from the USB-stick, almost like a Firewall. Does anyone know about this, or was it only a strange dream I had?

 

[lopdog]

Would it be safer to connect an unknown USB-stick if I create a "Guest" account? I suppose that would set the user rights to a minimum, and therefore reduce the risk of infection?

 

[DelJo63]

that might work as intended -- the issue is running the mount under the existing
logged-in user.

I think you will find that you can mount the device without ANYONE logged onto the system

btw: you should ALWAYS and ONLY run from an LUA account unless you are performing maintenance, eg ms-updates!

 

[lopdog]

I´ll give it a try.

btw: can I convert my existing Administrator account into a normal user account? (what does LUA account mean?)

 

[DelJo63]

define: LUA. Limited User Access. Such accounts can not (directly) install
software or modify configuration files.

The account "Administrator" is special for booting Safe Mode.

Any other account name with Admin privileges can be converted to LUA.

Personally, I recommend cp->User Accounts->create new user
and set Full Admin rights on it and set a new password
Switch users to it and let it configure --

While on the new account, use CP->User Accounts->Change Account Type
and modify your OLD account to LUA.

The one known problem running under LUA is Quickbooks/Quicken.
The brain-dead install programer allowed the user files to be placed into the
same directory as the program (eg \Program Files\Quicken ) which is a protected area.
The XP way to store user files is under the users profile
\Documents & Settings\your-login-id\


ALSO change the Way Users Login to present the welcome screen.

NO account should be allowed w/o a password.

The circumvention for installing software:

right-click an installer (eg xxx.msi setup.exe) and pull
down to Run As ... You get a prompt for user/password and away you go.
This works 99% of the time, except for installing MS Updates where you need
to Switch Users.​

The object of running under an LUA is to insure that *IF* you get some trojan/virus,
it will also run under the LUA status and thus not be able to modify the system.