Windows Truefaster?

[DrDave]

Apologies in advance if this seems like a dumb question, but what exactly is Windows Truefaster?

Internet searches only seem to find download sites, but no description.

Our daughter took her laptop to an internet shop, and had her Windows Vista OS overwritten with Windows Truefaster. She primarily uses her laptop for online gaming and email/messaging. Once I found out she installed this, I ran a virus scan, and found/quarantined 450+ files infected. It seems that part of the installation process was to re-partition the hard drive, and archive the old software in a large set of archive files. Most of the infections were in these archive files (I'm guessing that these might be virus pattern files used by AV software), but there was also a significant number of infected executable objects.

So - my questions are: I know that Truefaster is a modified/hacked version of Windows XP aimed at the Thai market, but why does it exist? What are the benefits and drawbacks? What about security and updates? Is it any more or less secure than XP? Should I be concerned about a notebook running Windows Truefaster being connected to my home network with other XP and Vista machines?

[Supernova]

Apart from the 'eye-candy' (vista look), integrated drivers, and other add-on packs there's no benefit to using it. Better to avoid if possible.

[welo]

It all started with slipstreaming Windows updates (published after the release of Windows XP) into the original Windows XP install CDs to ease and speed up the installation process on new PCs.

In computer jargon, to slipstream updates, patches or service packs means to integrate them into the installation files of their original software, so that the resulting files will allow a direct installation of the updated software.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slipstream_%28computing%29

Originally this was done mainly by administrators of larger companies that had to maintain a large number of computers, but with knowledge and experience spreading and the availability of tools that make the process easier, slipstreaming became popular with geeks and non-professional administrators to create 'their own version' of Windows.

The process does not only allow to integrate system updates, but also drivers, additional software, themes and other (non-official) patches as well as include configuration or optimization settings or even exclude certain components to shrink 'Windows' and/or make it 'faster'.

Main disadvantage of downloading modified versions of Windows XP

• license issues - AFAIK MS does not allow to distribute modified versions of Windows XP (however, it is not forbidden to create your own slipstreamed version of Windows from your original Windows XP install CD). Furthermore, these distros usually come with a pre-configured (pirated) license key and sometimes activation hacks in place.
  
• security concerns - of course it is possible to integrate trojans into the install CD
  
• stability issues - some 'distributions' exclude system components that might cause system instabilities on some systems/in some setups
  

Main advantages

• Time Savings - latest security updates, hardware drivers and common tools (e.g. tweakUI) and settings/configuration might already be included/applies.
  
• Geek and Coolness factor - many 'distributions' popular in Thailand include Vista-like or other themes and Explorer modifications that give Windows XP a more modern look - of course this aspect is always subject to personal taste...
  

I had to work on 2 computers with Trufaster installed (by another person) and found that the wireless zero config service that comes with Windows and manages wireless connections was disabled and completely messed up (couldn't get it going at all) on both systems. I had to use the software provided by the wireless card vendor to get it going, but still had major troubles (>30sec startup delay for the wireless network stack).

One computer had also a rogue/fake antivirus installed (System Defend Antivirus 2010) and was heavily infected with viruses. However, I think this was NOT part of the trufaster install CD, but it might say something either about the expertise of the IT guy setting up the computer or his/her intentions.

Not sure I would trust this particular 'distribution'.

However, I do see the benefit of custom Windows install CDs with latest updates and drivers integrated - it can save a lot of time when setting up a new system.

welo

Edited April 5, 2010 by welo

[Supernova]

^ I agree. There are plenty of ways to customize XP.

DIY resources:

deviantART

Themes, visual styles, wallpaper...

DriverPacks

Looking for that elusive driver? You'll find it here

nLite

Windows XP customization utility and deployment tool

RyanVM Files

Windows XP update packs + add-ons

WMP11 slip-streamer

[welo]

Supernova, do you have experience with driver packages in general and driverpacks.net in particular?

However, I'd like to have a driver package not for slipstreaming but for 'normal' installation. driverpacks.net is for mainly for slipstreaming. They point this out on the website and forums again and again. There is an option to create a driver CD but it didn't work for me (I created the CD but it was not usable as standalone driver CD). I'm also very confused finding which drivers are included in the package and which not.

I found a directory once on an installed computer with a large number of drivers, obviously a leftover of an install by a Thai shop, but couldn't find a source on the internet for it.

I do know that those packages mostly contain the bare drivers without additional tools or even an installer, and I know how to install them from the device manager.

I personally never bothered to create a slipstream CD on my own, way too much work I'm not a professional administrator, but people do approach me frequently for fixing their PC issues, and those integrated install CDs definitely help.

welo

[welo]

One more word on modified versions of Windows XP.

It is very common in Thailand to disable the Automatic Update feature by default. This is because those versions usually ship with a pirated Windows XP key and people are afraid that they get busted.

Another reason might be that every now and then (once a year) Microsoft issues an update to the Windows Genuine check which caused troubles with pirated Windows versions in the past, so the strategy is to avoid any of those troubles by disabling the updates.

I talked to a friend once (who admittedly has only very limited IT knowledge) and he was quite paranoid about NOT enabling the Automatic Updates. I pointed out that this makes the PC very vulnerable to attacks ('Virus! Virus!') but he explained that he didn't bother and would just re-install Windows when his PC would become too slow due to virus/malware infections.

However, if you use Internet Explorer then enabling Automatic Updates is an absolute MUST since it uses Windows' Automatic Updates service to retrieve browser (security) updates. Internet Explorer is a time bomb without security updates! ('Virus! Virus!').

If you run an alternative web browser which uses its own update service you might get away with it if you use a firewall and know what you are doing.

However, I do NOT recommend disabling Windows Updates for security reasons. Keeping your OS and your software updated is the number one rule of IT security.

welo

(Goto Control Panel / Automatic Updates to check your settings)

[Supernova]

Supernova, do you have experience with driver packages in general and driverpacks.net in particular?

TBH, I couldn't get Driverpacks to work properly. I wanted to integrate various SATA drivers since XP didn't natively support SATA devices out of the box. Using Driverpacks resulted in a system crash during Windows XP installation. After hours of troubleshooting, I gave up and went back to doing things 'manually'. A lot of time and effort went into it, but in the end, things worked out perfectly. BTW, nLite can also be used to integrate drivers which also works very well.

However, I'd like to have a driver package not for slipstreaming but for 'normal' installation.

Can you elaborate? I'm not exactly sure what you mean by this.

I personally never bothered to create a slipstream CD on my own, way too much work I'm not a professional administrator, but people do approach me frequently for fixing their PC issues, and those integrated install CDs definitely help.

welo

Depending on the level of customization, creating an integrated install disc can be a rather meticulous and time-consuming task. This is where nLite comes to the rescue. nLite can get the job done with minimal hassle, but it can't do everything. It took me several 'revisions' to get things the way I wanted. What motivated me to create my own CD was the ability to customize things to my liking. I've been doing this since Windows 98 (long before nLite was around).

Edited April 5, 2010 by Supernova

[DrDave]

Thanks for all of the great information!

I think that the bottom line for me is that this installation of Truefaster presents about the same risk as installing XP from a pirated disc from MBK/Pantip/etc, in terms of security, updatability and the possible inclusion of trojans and viruses in the distribution.

I've enabled automatic updates, and will see how those work out. Thanks again!

[welo]

However, I'd like to have a driver package not for slipstreaming but for 'normal' installation.

Can you elaborate? I'm not exactly sure what you mean by this.

Just a collection of drivers that come with their own setup/install or can be installed through the Device Manager -> Update Driver. Probably organized by manufacturer/model.

When it comes to Windows XP distros I followed 2 strategies in the past.

• Use the MS install CDs with the latests service pack integrated (as published by MS) and use WSUS Offline Update to apply all updates after installation in one go (without downloading).
  
• Use the skz distro that is updated about 4 times a year and comes in a modified eye-candy version and an 'original' version that only includes security updates.
  

I guess nowadays with the availability of virtual machines it is much easier to create and test your own customized windows install CD. Still, can't be bothered to do it myself

welo

[welo]

DrDave,

To come back to your original question..

which anti-virus product did they install for you?

It is hard to tell whether the virus infection came with the system install or with some of the software installed afterwards (maybe by your daughter).

Some trojan infections will first not affect the system but install a backdoor. Later this backdoor is used to download and install all kind of different viruses/malware.

If your first scan found infections I recommend running at least one additional anti-virus/malware program to clean out infections that the first program missed.

Recommended (run both)

Malwarebytes Installer

Hitman Pro Installer

Alternatives

Eset Free Online Scanner Installer

Kaspersky Free Virus Removal Tool Installer

I also recommend securing any thumb drive that you or your daughter is using.

Securing Your Thumb Drive

Another thing that nobody has mentioned is how to prevent infections via your thumb drive.

I recommend disabling the Autorun/Autoplay feature completely. This will prevent viruses infecting your system just by plugging in an infected thumb drive (or external harddisk or cd-rom). Just google for a tutorial (http://www.google.com/search?q=disable+autorun+thumb+drives).

To avoid infections of your thumb drive (or any other drive) you can create a read-only autorun.inf folder at the root of your drive and place an empty txt file in it. This will prevent viruses from creating an autorun.inf file on your drive, the file will make it harder for the virus to delete the folder. The virus will still infect your thumb drive with an infected .exe file (or whatsoever) but will not be able to automatically run this program as part of the autorun process.

Of course this does not avoid viruses infecting or destroying existing files on your thumb drive, it just prevents the infection of your (or other) systems by means of autorun.

Google: http://www.google.com/search?q=autorun.inf+folder

welo

Edited April 5, 2010 by welo

[Supernova]

The Truefaster distributions I've seen are virus-free, but there are issues with it.

Disable Autorun/AutoPlay:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Time-Complet...52#entry3250152

[Supernova]

However, I'd like to have a driver package not for slipstreaming but for 'normal' installation.

Can you elaborate? I'm not exactly sure what you mean by this.

Just a collection of drivers that come with their own setup/install or can be installed through the Device Manager -> Update Driver. Probably organized by manufacturer/model.

Driverpacks.net has everything you need. Slipstreaming is not required.

Everything on site is neatly categorized; simply download the .7z packages and store it somewhere.

[DrDave]

welo,

Thanks for the reminder about securing the thumbdrive. Making a dummy read-only autorun.inf seems like a good solution.

As for AV software, Avast was installed along with Truefaster. I subsequently downloaded and installed AVG, which found most of the infections. I'm going to continue scanning w/both of these, and will also try your suggested packages.

Thanks for your help!

DrDave

[welo]

Make sure you run Malwarebytes', that's a reputable Anti-Malware scanner and an excellent addition to any antivirus program. The free version doesn't come with a real-time shield and therefore has null impact on system performance when not actually running a scan. Just install, then it will automatically update and do a full system scan.

For future scans (maybe once or twice a month) you'll have to trigger the update manually, then run the scan.

Hitman is another on-demand scanner that uses 5 major antivirus engines to scan suspicious files. It uses a cloud-based technique - the actual antivirus engines are not running on your computer but suspicious files are uploaded to computer network where the scan takes place.

The scan on your computer is very fast and lightweight on resources, but it's good to have a proper internet connection so the uploads don't take forever.

Btw AVG is not as good anymore as it used to be.

welo

[james24]

mmm I just bought a new copy of windows sp pro truefaster so I can format my drive and install it fresh.

Can I do this as when I restart the computer and boot from cd it does ask me what I would like to install but Im not sure if this just means its going to overwrite the windows I have now and just install in this one whilst keeping all my old files etc which I dont want.

Any ideas what to do. Shall i format drive first then install or will it format automatically...?

The options I have are

1. Install windows truefaster v complete.

2. boot from hardrive

Edited August 24, 2010 by james24

[siamect]

Apologies in advance if this seems like a dumb question, but what exactly is Windows Truefaster?

Internet searches only seem to find download sites, but no description.

Our daughter took her laptop to an internet shop, and had her Windows Vista OS overwritten with Windows Truefaster

Have you ever asked your daughter why she installed this Truefaster thing? What was the answer?

Martin

[transam]

I have the same XP Truefaster on my repaired PC but now l have a window come up on start up...

. No Disk-Exception Processing Message-c0000013-parameters 75b6bf7c 4 75b6bf7c 75b6bf7c.

None of the boxes on the window respond. Looked on the Net for a fix in ''regedit'' but did not work for me.

Any ideas, please.

PS. When l got the PC home l went to MS updates and it took 100, and forever to download.

Edited July 1, 2011 by transam

[transam]

I have the same XP Truefaster on my repaired PC but now l have a window come up on start up...

. No Disk-Exception Processing Message-c0000013-parameters 75b6bf7c 4 75b6bf7c 75b6bf7c.

None of the boxes on the window respond. Looked on the Net for a fix in ''regedit'' but did not work for me.

Any ideas, please.

PS. When l got the PC home l went to MS updates and it took 100, and forever to download.

Nobody have a fix.

[Supernova]

I have the same XP Truefaster on my repaired PC but now l have a window come up on start up...

. No Disk-Exception Processing Message-c0000013-parameters 75b6bf7c 4 75b6bf7c 75b6bf7c.

None of the boxes on the window respond. Looked on the Net for a fix in ''regedit'' but did not work for me.

Any ideas, please.

PS. When l got the PC home l went to MS updates and it took 100, and forever to download.

Possible causes:

USB device removed while in use

- Plug in the device that wasn't properly removed and use the 'safe remove' option to stop the device

Windows searching for a non-existent floppy drive

- Disable the floppy controller in the BIOS or Device Manager

SD Card Reader

- Disable the card reader in the Device Manager (if not using it)

Also scan your computer for malware/viruses.

Have a look at this thread.