This application tests the on-access scanner component of your antivirus software by creating the harmless EICAR Test file, which any good antivirus package should correctly identify and remove. Don't be surprised if you get an alert from your antivirus package; if it's working correctly, you should.
http://tech.ait.iastate.edu/jbalvanz/eicartest.exe
Both CERT and the US Department of Homeland Security have recommended that Windows users avoid the use of Microsoft Internet Explorer because of numerous unresolved security issues. A good, fast alternative is Mozilla Firefox 0.9.1. This application is for those people who have trouble downloading and installing open source software in Windows. For all versions of Windows, start Internet Explorer (for the last time!), click on the URL below, then select "Open" when you're asked what to do with the executable.
http://tech.ait.iastate.edu/jbalvanz/FirefoxInstall.exe
If you're using another browser, just save FirefoxInstall.exe to your Desktop, close the browser, and double-click on the FirefoxInstall.exe icon.
In case you're curious, FirefoxInstall is written in the AutoIt scripting language. Here is the source code:
http://tech.ait.iastate.edu/jbalvanz/FirefoxInstall.au3
and here is the website from which you can download AutoIt:
http://www.autoitscript.com/autoit3/
Best used in Internet Explorer. Click on the URL below. When asked, have Internet Explorer open the file rather than saving it. In Windows 2000 and XP, an unblock request will be sent to the appropriate authorities. (If you're using it with Windows NT, you'll have to send an unblock request to solution@iastate.edu manually. Sorry...it just works that way.)
http://tech.ait.iastate.edu/jbalvanz/sasclean.bat
If you've got an old Pentium computer you're throwing away, you could do worse than to put Linux on it, but modern versions of Linux (like Red Hat Enterprise 3) can bury an old machine in unneeded services and applications, overflowing the hard disk and making the machine run slower than molasses in a walk-in freezer. The RULE project (http://www.rule-project.org) is dedicated to making old machines usable (and new machines a lot faster) by creating a stripped-down version of Red Hat Linux 9. Since the Fedora Legacy project (http://www.fedoralegacy.org) is continuing to provide critical updates for Red Hat 9, it's possible to have a safe but old Linux machine. See http://tech.ait.iastate.edu/jbalvanz/RH9RULEFedoraLegacy.html for details.
The rest of Jeff's material is located at:
http://www.public.iastate.edu/~jbalvanz/
(jbalvanz)