MaximumPC 2006 09

watchdodogg MAXIMUM PC TAKES A BITE OUT OF BAD GEAR dog

20

SUPER DELL FOUND NOT GUILTY

OF GUN CHARGES

In June, the Dog reported on the weapons charges

filed against Totally Awesome PC owner “Super”

Dell Schanze for allegedly pulling a pistol on

neighbors. So in all fairness, we must also report

on the disposition of the charges. A jury found

Schanze not guilty of the weapons charges, but

guilty of making a false written statement to the

police, according to a story in the Deseret News.

Schanze was accused of pulling a 10mm

Glock on residents of Draper, Utah, after they

chased him. The residents alleged that Schanze

raced down the street their children had been

playing on, at unsafe speeds. Schanze countered

that he only pulled his weapon after he feared

for his life and the life of his 8-year-old daughter

who was a passenger in his Jaguar. Schanze

pleaded guilty to charges of reckless driving

associated with the case and went to trial on the

other charges. The false-statement conviction

stems from Schanze’s assertion to police that he

had not pulled his pistol.

SPYWARE SCANNER OR IMPLANTER?

I wanted to warn other readers about a potential prob-

lem. My friend downloaded a “spyware scanner” from

SpywareSoftStop.com that I think also installed some

of its own pests. Warning messages now pop up in

the taskbar, linking to fake Windows updates as well

as the Spyware Soft Spot website itself. I think this is

highly unprofessional. A quick “whois” of the domain

says it belongs to some Russian porn site.

—Tim Lau

You’re right to be suspicious, Tim. Not that all

websites registered out of the former Soviet Union,

or even porn sites, are necessarily questionable,

but SpywareSoftStop.com certainly shows all the

signs of being illegit. Numerous anti-spyware

shops have identified the program as a “rogue,” so

the Dog decided to test out the app on a clean-as-

a-whistle virtual version of Windows XP Pro. After

installing and updating

Spyware Soft Stop, the

program immediately

identified numerous

threats including one

file in the root of the

hard drive. Curious. The

Dog killed the session,

erasing the changes and

created another session

with a clean copy of XP.

The Dog checked the root

for any suspicious files

and there were none.

Downloading and install-

ing Spyware Soft Stop

again while watching the

root directory, the Dog

observed a file being created during the installa-

tion. And what a coincidence, Spyware Soft Stop

identified that file as spyware! The other files the

program tagged also did not exist prior to Spyware

Soft Stop being installed. But just how dangerous

are these files? The Dog scanned the allegedly

infected files using AVG, Symantec AntiVirus, and

the spyware/Trojan hunter A-Squared. None keyed

in on the files.

The basic lesson is to avoid Spyware Soft

Stop and to consult SpywareWarrior.com’s list of

rogue spyware products before running some-

thing new. Woof.

DIAMONDS ARE A BOY’S BEST FRIEND

After reading the review of the MSI K8N Diamond Plus

motherboard in your May edition, I was pumped to

get this board. I have the cash now, but the board is

almost nonexistent in online retail. I’m a bit scared;

was the board pulled off the market for some reason?

Talk to me, Dog.

—Dan Kliebhan

The Dog feels your upgrade pain. Numerous

other readers and forum posters on the Internet

have also complained of

the difficulty in obtaining

this motherboard. The

Dog pinged an MSI official

who told him: “The K8N

Diamond Plus board is

one of the most popular boards we have and

we just don’t have enough in stock.” With the

sun rapidly setting on AMD’s Socket 939, the

spokesman said, the factory has switched over

full-force to AM2 boards. So, the good news

for anyone who actually owns this mobo: It’s

a great board. The bad news for anyone who

wants to buy one in S939 trim: You simply

won’t be able to find it.

USB SLOW BOAT TO HONG KONG

I purchased a Corsair USB 2.0 Flash Voyager 2GB

flash drive from USBGeek.com and it stopped work-

ing within a few weeks. As advised by USB Geek, I

returned the drive for a replacement. This was more

than two months ago. USB Geek has not sent me a

replacement, and it has stopped responding to my

repeated emails about this item.

— Edward B. “Ted” Arroyo

The Dog spoke with USB Geek and was told

that the company had just recently received the

drive and examined it. The drive was found to be

defective and USB Geek said it would exchange

the item. The delay, the Dog surmises, was due to

USB Geek’s overseas location. Still, two months

harkens back to the days of tramp steamers or

tall wooden ships. Yar! Although the service in

this case was poor, the company doesn’t appear

to have a bad reputation. No one has bothered

to comment, negatively or positively, about the

MA XIMUMPC SEPTEMBER 2006

Some files identified as spyware didn’t exist on our machine

until after we installed Spyware Soft Stop.

Our consumer advocate investigates...

PSuper Dell PSpyware Soft Stop

PLifetime Warranties PUSB Geek

Moozer, Watchdog of the month

Got a bone to pick with a vendor? Been spiked by a fly-

by-night operation? Sic The Dog on them by writing

[email protected]. The Dog promises to answer as

many letters as possible, but only has four paws to work with.