Computer problems (Kazaa, virus, spyware)

[2000AD]

I've got back home and my brother still hasn't got the computer fixed. However he is now trying to pin the blame for it breaking on me even more.

Apparently he had one of his friends who knows about PC's come round and take a look and apparently the main problems were caused by:
-A virus, which somehow made the DVD-Rom drive stop working
-A shitload of spyware, which caused general slow down and stuff

Now he's trying to pin the blame on me by saying that Kazaa comes with a virus (:wtf:) so because i installed Kazaa it's my fault. He also says it's the sites i visit that come with all the spyware.

Soooooo:

1) Does Kazaa come with a virus which waits for at least 6 months before messing up your CD drive?
2) Do Gamespy, TheForce.net, Ucomics,SD.Net and Maddox have more spyware than porn sites that my brother tends to visit?
3) Is it likely to be a virus that's FUBARed the Cd-drive anyway?

Any help would be appreciated as i intend to tell my brother to go fuck himslef and have some proof that it was his fault next time he tries to pin the blame on me.

[phongn]

1. Kazaa includes spyware/adware, but does not include a virus. That would be monumentally stupid.
2. His porn sites have probably loaded him up with spyware and he's trying to foist the blame on you.
3. There are a few things that could go wrong, mostly related to poor drivers (esp. ASPI drivers).

[sketerpot]

1) Does Kazaa come with a virus which waits for at least 6 months before messing up your CD drive?

No. It comes with a buttload of spyware, though. Uninstall it, run Ad-aware, and then install Kazaa Lite instead.

2) Do Gamespy, TheForce.net, Ucomics,SD.Net and Maddox have more spyware than porn sites that my brother tends to visit?

I recommend that you install Mozilla Firefox (to prevent further IE-exploiting spyware and such), go to windows update and bring the computer up to date, install and run AVG antivirus, bring up one of the porn sites your brother frequents, and then tell him to go fuck himself.

[2000AD]

Thanks. I already got him on the spyware as when i ran Spybot half of them had sex in the title, now i just need to get him on the virus/fucking up of the Cd drive.

[darthdavid]

Thanks. I already got him on the spyware as when i ran Spybot half of them had sex in the title, now i just need to get him on the virus/fucking up of the Cd drive.

If it corrupted drivers then yes a Virus could FUBAR a CD drive. But that would be stupid and needlessly specific. I call bullshit. Try going back to earlier drivers and if that doesn't fix it then it's probably a hardware failure. And a note, Kazaa lite was illegal last time i checked so, don't use it if you care about that sorta thing.

[phongn]

Using Kazaa Lite is not illegal (AFAIK), but using it to grab copywrited material isn't exactly legal, either.

[darthdavid]

Using Kazaa Lite is not illegal (AFAIK), but using it to grab copywrited material isn't exactly legal, either.

I thought Kazaa was threatening to sue users of Lite because they get all their money from spyware.

[General Zod]

Using Kazaa Lite is not illegal (AFAIK), but using it to grab copywrited material isn't exactly legal, either.

I thought Kazaa was threatening to sue users of Lite because they get all their money from spyware.

kazaa sued them and shut down the company producing it, iirc. Due to, ironically enough, copyright infringement. Although the program itself still works and can be found on the web with relative ease still i think.

[2000AD]

Thanks. I already got him on the spyware as when i ran Spybot half of them had sex in the title, now i just need to get him on the virus/fucking up of the Cd drive.

If it corrupted drivers then yes a Virus could FUBAR a CD drive. But that would be stupid and needlessly specific. I call bullshit. Try going back to earlier drivers and if that doesn't fix it then it's probably a hardware failure. And a note, Kazaa lite was illegal last time i checked so, don't use it if you care about that sorta thing.

I don't think we've actually changed the drivers for the CD-Drive at anytime. We've formatted the HD a couple of times but we've always used the drivers that came with the driver disc.

And we (i say we, but it's mainly my bro) use Kazaa, not KLite.