Avast Web shield

[essexboy]

Ah I must have been thinking of the dragon 

[Dieselman]

Ah I must have been thinking of the dragon 

I guess not cause then that would be "Komodo". LOL.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komodo_dragon

[essexboy]

It depends on where you were drug up and edumikated

[DAV2]

http://forum.avast.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=68839.0;attach=61359
The above was what I got with Avast fw, so I tried Com.... fw and all testable leaks were plugged. Is it normal for files and pictures on the computer to appear in the history of IE9, that have never been associated with it? Thanks

[essexboy]

Personally I do not give much truck to the firewall leak tests

You will see some elements from your computer if you open html files or certain picture files that open in a browser

With windows 7 I think gif files do that - although I will need to test it out

[DAV2]

Essexboy, thanks. I know that if I opened a html file or something that opened in a browser that it would be in the IE9 history file, but these are documents from Word and other files that I have never associated with IE9 on my side in any way. These appear in the history of IE9 and I am stumped as to how. A programmer told me this was normal for IE9, but I can not see how. They were selective and only the sensitive kind. The tester gave ZA 0 for 9, Avast 5 for 9 and Com... went 9 for 9 without leaking any material from the computer. ZA blocked access to its site as did Avast, where Com... allowed access to all support sites and Avast and Malw... both scanned clean during the test. Thanks for all your help.

[DAV2]

Essexboy, the posted files are an example of 2 files that I found in the history file of IE9. There were others, but all were never associated with IE9 by me. Is this normal or is something else going on that needs to be addressed? Thanks.

[essexboy]

Did you access that online ?

[DAV2]

None of the files that appear in the IE9 history were ever accessed on line. They only reside inside the computer and until I sent you copies of 2 of them, they never were on line.

[essexboy]

I have checked on my system and all gif files open with IE - Th thing is though I empty my caches as the browser closes- so I rarely have more than a few hours history at any one time

[DAV2]

Essexboy, thank you for your input. I just am trying to confirm the normalcy of observed behavior, since I have been having so much trouble with Win security in general. Thank you for confirming this normalcy. Now I hope that all the other non picture files were similarly opened in IE9, even though I still do not see why they would be. Thanks in any case. Now maybe I can get back to perfecting making money. Thanks.

[DAV2]

Essexboy, I have removed some unidentified networks set up by Win and placed some attached computers into the banned list by Mac, because I do not know who they are. Is it better to allow only my computers to attach to my network or to ban the strange computers by Mac in the router? The router only gives the option to ban by Mac or allow by Mac. Thanks.

[scythe944]

Essexboy, I have removed some unidentified networks set up by Win and placed some attached computers into the banned list by Mac, because I do not know who they are. Is it better to allow only my computers to attach to my network or to ban the strange computers by Mac in the router? The router only gives the option to ban by Mac or allow by Mac. Thanks.

It depends on how much work you want to do.  If you if you choose to ban certain MAC addresses, then you'll have to constantly have to look at your router's log to find new MAC addresses that have tried to connect to it, and ban them manually.

Or, you could just put the two computer's MAC addresses in the allow list and never have to worry about it again until you get another computer, replace a NIC, or remove a computer (obviously, the better choice).

Still trying to figure out how a completely reformatted and reinstalled computer gets random things in the browser history, and no, that's not "supposed" to happen.  Seems like you have some gremlins in your computer accessing sites while you sleep.

[DAV2]

Scythe944, thanks. The reason I asked, is because I can see devices on the other side of the router and they can see me, both by Mac, but the router does not see them. This makes me wonder how best to configure the router. Yes, it would be nice to only have  2 computers. For now, I have blocked the offending computers that were attached and I am watching for any others. Thanks.

[scythe944]

Sorry, reading through the threads quickly it seemed as though you only had two computers on your network.

You can continue adding unauthorized MAC addresses to the block list, or gather a list of MAC addresses that are known to be good, and then add them to the allow list on your router.

I guess I don't know what kind of environment you're working in, whether it be a work / home / school /etc. environment and I don't know what type of routers / servers you are running.

If you had a Windows DHCP controller, you could easily see the authorized computers on your network, and pull the MAC addresses from there. If your only DHCP server is your router, then you have to rely on it to provide you with the relevant information.