From: karthikbalaguru on
On Dec 29, 5:05 am, G <geoffstempbox-use...(a)yahoo.com> wrote:
> In article <80080394-814b-40b1-9b50-
> dda474105...(a)q2g2000yqd.googlegroups.com>, karthikbalagur...(a)gmail.com
> says...
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Dec 28, 4:00 am, Aragorn <arag...(a)chatfactory.invalid> wrote:
> > > On Sunday 27 December 2009 22:01 in comp.os.linux.setup, somebody
>
> > > identifying as karthikbalaguru wrote...
> > > > On Dec 27, 11:59 pm, Aragorn <arag...(a)chatfactory.invalid> wrote:
>
> > > >> On Sunday 27 December 2009 14:34 in comp.os.linux.setup, somebody
> > > >> identifying as karthikbalaguru wrote...
> > > >> > I am looking for a Linux-based application that could scan
> > > >> > computers by accessing them via network. (Especially the
> > > >> > systems(windows based systems) that cannot be booted).
>
> > > >> How on earth are you going to access a computer _which_ _cannot_ _be_
> > > >> _booted_ over the network?  A network connection which shares
> > > >> filesystems over the network for scanning requires at least a minimal
> > > >> running operating system on the target machine.
>
> > > > Yes, it is a valid question. I am exploring various ways.
>
> > > > The problem is, one of the infected windows machine's CD/DVD
> > > > drive does not work . So, i was exploring alternate ways like
> > > > using rescue CD remotely/remote techniques from a remote machine
> > > > that has a CD/DVD drive (though i was aware of the chances
> > > > of its availability was very less).
> > > > Any ideas ?
> > > > For example, in linux there is a 'kickstart installation' technique
> > > > that will enable automated installation of Red Hat Linux on
> > > > indivdual computers based on the answers in the file in the
> > > > server. Similarly, is it not possible to boot windows remotely
> > > > so that rescue CD can be used on similar lines to recover it ?
>
> > > I suppose you could try a PXE boot, but the BIOS has to support it, and
> > > Windows has to support it as well.  On the latter, I have no
> > > knowledge - I don't do Windows, sorry - so you would have to ask about
> > > that in a Windows group, or via the Microsoft Knowledge Base.
>
> > > > One thought is to dis-connect the non-working CD/DVD drive
> > > > and connect a working CD/DVD drive temporarily to fix this
> > > > issue. But, that is ruled out due to various reasons.
>
> > > At the moment it seems like you have no alternative.
>
> > > > Is there no other way except for replacing the CD/DVD
> > > > drive in that windows machine and trying with the rescue CD ?
> > > > No way to avoid the replacement of CD/DVD drive ?
>
> > > Not that I can think of, unless you've got some external USB storage
> > > device that the system can boot from - again, this is BIOS-dependent.
>
> > > If USB boot is supported on the target machine, then there are various
> > > tools in various distributions for making a bootable USB stick from
> > > which you could then scan the system, but none of those USB-based
> > > distributions would then be designated virus scanners, so you would
> > > probably have to add the antivirus software to the USB stick manually..
> > > It can be done, but it's quite a bit of work.
>
> > This sounds great . This will surely be helpful :-) :-)
> > I think, this approach can be tried out. I need to check for the USB-
> > based
> > Free distributions and need to check for the method to add the Free
> > antivirus software to the USB stick. Can you lemme know the
> > steps/links that talk in detail about this ?
>
> > > On the other hand, you should be able to pick up a cheap second-hand
> > > internal CD or DVD drive somewhere and mount it in the machine with the
> > > broken CD player.
>
> > Yeah, this is another good idea, but in the current scenario, this is
> > ruled
> > out due to various reasons.
>
> > Thx in advans,
> > Karthik Balaguru
>
> I've been partial to Fedora for a long time. So here's one for you to
> check out.
>
> https://fedorahosted.org/liveusb-creator/https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/How_to_create_and_use_Live_USB
>
> I've never used, but have heard many good impressions of DSL.
>
> http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/
>
> And here's a little more info.
>
> http://www.linux-live.org/- Hide quoted text -
>

Thanks for the links. They are really helpful.
Looks interesting. I will check these.

Karthik Balaguru

From: Aragorn on
On Tuesday 29 December 2009 04:41 in comp.os.linux.setup, somebody
identifying as karthikbalaguru wrote...

> On Dec 29, 6:04 am, Aragorn <arag...(a)chatfactory.invalid> wrote:
>
>> On Monday 28 December 2009 19:09 in comp.os.linux.setup, somebody
>> identifying as karthikbalaguru wrote...
>>
> I assume that i need to set up the
> network/internet and download the application/
> software of interest(anti-virus, etc ) once the
> linux boots up from the USB stick and occupies
> the RAM.

That is correct.

> Another possible method could be to add the
> software/application to a particular folder in USB
> Stick so that it gets added into a directory from
> where it could be executed to get installed once the
> ubuntu gets booted off the USB stick and occupies
> the RAM.

There are several methods for doing this, but if you're going to save it
on a separate partition on the USB stick - as opposed to making it part
of the boot image - then I recommend formatting that partition with a
UNIX-style filesystem, i.e. ext2/3, reiserfs, XFS or JFS, but not with
FAT32, as that does not honor the UNIX permissions and file ownerships.

> Any trick for adding the application/software
> so that the application comes by default when it gets
> booted up from the USB Stick instead of adding
> it everytime ? That is , it need not be installed
> once the linux gets booted up from the USB stick ?

Either use an ext2/3 or similar filesystem on the USB stick and save it
to that, or add it to the boot image from which the GNU/Linux system
boots up from the stick. If push comes to shove, you can temporarily
save the downloaded files to a /tmpfs/ - i.e. a temporary filesystem in
RAM while you are fiddling with the USB stick.

>> http://www.distrowatch.com
>
> Nice link !
> This link would be of great help to me. It is fantastic.
> Your response has been very helpful !!

That link is known to just about every GNU/Linux user. ;-) As you
didn't seem to know about it yet until I mentioned it here, you're
probably not a real GNU/Linux user... :p

--
*Aragorn*
(registered GNU/Linux user #223157)
From: Mark Hobley on
karthikbalaguru <karthikbalaguru79(a)gmail.com> wrote:

> Or, should we need to add clamav by setting
> up the network/internet once the ubuntu is up from the
> USB stick ?

Right, you need to add clamav, after you have built the stick, but this is
very straightforward. The penstick will be updated to reflect changes as
packages are added or removed. (It works justs like a regular installation).

I've got some notes on the creation of the bootable pendrive somewhere. I will
try and dig them out for you.

Mark.

--
Mark Hobley
Linux User: #370818 http://markhobley.yi.org/

From: goarilla on
On Mon, 28 Dec 2009 00:00:53 +0100, Aragorn wrote:

> On Sunday 27 December 2009 22:01 in comp.os.linux.setup, somebody
> identifying as karthikbalaguru wrote...
>
>> On Dec 27, 11:59 pm, Aragorn <arag...(a)chatfactory.invalid> wrote:
>>
>>> On Sunday 27 December 2009 14:34 in comp.os.linux.setup, somebody
>>> identifying as karthikbalaguru wrote...
>>> > I am looking for a Linux-based application that could scan computers
>>> > by accessing them via network. (Especially the systems(windows based
>>> > systems) that cannot be booted).
>>>
>>> How on earth are you going to access a computer _which_ _cannot_ _be_
>>> _booted_ over the network?  A network connection which shares
>>> filesystems over the network for scanning requires at least a minimal
>>> running operating system on the target machine.
>>
>> Yes, it is a valid question. I am exploring various ways.
>>
>> The problem is, one of the infected windows machine's CD/DVD drive does
>> not work . So, i was exploring alternate ways like using rescue CD
>> remotely/remote techniques from a remote machine that has a CD/DVD
>> drive (though i was aware of the chances of its availability was very
>> less).
>> Any ideas ?
>> For example, in linux there is a 'kickstart installation' technique
>> that will enable automated installation of Red Hat Linux on indivdual
>> computers based on the answers in the file in the server. Similarly, is
>> it not possible to boot windows remotely so that rescue CD can be used
>> on similar lines to recover it ?
>
> I suppose you could try a PXE boot, but the BIOS has to support it, and
> Windows has to support it as well.

huh why does windows need to support it ? you just
boot your favorite live cd with PXE boot (BIOS feature), mount the
filesystems and scan with whatever you want:

clamav, ...

personally i also use a few vm's with avast home free, mcafee and
other virus scanners and get it to scan with virtualbox shared folders
feature.

you need the cpu cycles tho for that
but a lot of my time is (invested|lost) in taking an infected
machine's hd and scanning it on my system like that (i dont use
windows either).

then i take the suspected files and run them through virustotal
if possible (obviously infected pagefiles or hiberfiles are
just gonna get deleted).
From: Bob Martin on
in 10003 20091229 093723 Aragorn <aragorn(a)chatfactory.invalid> wrote:

>>> http://www.distrowatch.com
>>
>> Nice link !
>> This link would be of great help to me. It is fantastic.
>> Your response has been very helpful !!
>
>That link is known to just about every GNU/Linux user. ;-) As you
>didn't seem to know about it yet until I mentioned it here, you're
>probably not a real GNU/Linux user... :p

You didn't detect a hint of sarcasm?