Trojan agent is a different one and very difficult to get rid of if you go on over to LzD you will see several threads there dedicated to trying to clean it out of a lot of pcs, so yes he does need to go there and ask Corrine for help it will not get clean with out special help. If you have ATF which we usually have you use at LzD you do not need ccleaner they are quite similar, you can use it to clear out the same things. And yes it is always best to run ATF or CC prior to running any thing else so that you have gotten rid of all that extra junk and the scans do not have to deal with it so the scanning takes less time. As you know he will have to follow the directions he is given at LzD explicitly to gain the full benefit of their expertise.

On top of checking if add-ons are the concern here, I would also point out that ram/video card may be an issue here. While I realize that if we really wanted to Ubuntu (32 bit) only really needs 128-256 mb of memory to work. However, to make it run efficiently with firefox and so forth more is needed. Accordingly, one way to increase performance would be to increase ram. Slap another 2 gigs ( I dunno if companies make 2gigs any more) in there and it should work better. Furthermore, there is also a program called zram that has done wonders with other machines ( I would try this first). Beyond that all I can really say is double check for any viruses and maybe disable IPv6 if you haven't done so already. Lastly, viruses are theoretically possible on linux based OS's just very, very unlikely. In fact it is more likely you have a virus on your windows partition that is effecting memory consumption.

There are some host file edits that have been posted in the past...this has always been an issue with GardenWeb. I no longer have a link to the post, but this is the Hosts file fix from GardenWebber Frattelli: Here is the part from Fratelli's post that I thought feldon meant. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Universal Solution. This will work on Windows systems for all browsers; IE, FireFox and Netscape. The Windows operating system provides a system-level method to block specific IP addresses before they even get to the browser. To effect this solution you need to edit a Windows system file called hosts. This file is located in the directory: Windows XP: C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC Windows 2K: C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC Windows 98: C:\WINDOWS Open the file in Notepad. Cut the following from this post and paste it to the end of the file. 127.0.0.1 amch.questionmarket.com 127.0.0.1 a820.g.akamai.net 127.0.0.1 iv.doubleclick.net 127.0.0.1 i.ivillage.com 127.0.0.1 m.2mdn.net 127.0.0.1 tste.ivillage.com 127.0.0.1 img-cdn.mediaplex.com 127.0.0.1 ads.vmirror.com 127.0.0.1 cmhtml.ivillage.overture.com 127.0.0.1 ads.pointroll.com Edit each entry so that there is a tab between the IP address 127.0.0.1 and the URLs. Save the file and you're finished. Close and re-open your browser and all the ads will be gone. Unfortunately, iVillage may in the future buy ads from a new source. In this event the new ad source will have to be added to the list. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I did this but had trouble trying to save it, so I had to change the properties of the file from read only. To do that just go to the appropriate folder and right click, select properties and uncheck the read only box. This should work for anyone having trouble saving it, I am using XP, so it might vary a bit if you have another version of Windows. Oh, and so far no more 'wiggle' ads. Thanks God, and thank you feldon and all...glad I was not the only one bugged by this. And here is a very concise fix (similar to the above) that I copied...I did not note the author on this one: This will work on Windows systems for all browsers; IE, FireFox and Netscape. The Windows operating system provides a system-level method to block specific IP addresses before they even get to the browser. To effect this solution you need to edit a Windows system file called hosts. This file is located in the directory: Windows XP: C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC Windows 2K: C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC Windows 98: C:\WINDOWS Open the file in Notepad. Cut the following from this post and paste it to the end of the file. 127.0.0.1 amch.questionmarket.com 127.0.0.1 a820.g.akamai.net 127.0.0.1 iv.doubleclick.net 127.0.0.1 i.ivillage.com 127.0.0.1 m.2mdn.net 127.0.0.1 tste.ivillage.com 127.0.0.1 img-cdn.mediaplex.com 127.0.0.1 ads.vmirror.com 127.0.0.1 cmhtml.ivillage.overture.com 127.0.0.1 ads.pointroll.com Edit each entry so that there is a tab between the IP address 127.0.0.1 and the URLs. Save the file and you're finished. Close and re-open your browser and all the ads will be gone. Unfortunately, iVillage may in the future buy ads from a new source. In this event the new ad source will have to be added to the list. The IE solution. Most of the ads are placed using Java$cript. You can remove the more offensive ads in IE with the browser settings. You can't however remove them all. To improve GW using IE do the following: From the menu select Tools -> Internet Options -> Security and click on Custom Level. Scroll down to the end of the list and you'll see an entry for Scripting. Disable all the sub-entries. Now select the tab labeled Privacy. In the bottom of the box that appears check on the option to block pop-ups. I recommend you also click on the button Advanced and select the option to block Third-party Cookies. NOTE: By disabling Scripting you will also effect the way other websites behave. You may need to get used to switching scripting on and off as desired. That's why this is the least desirable of these various options. The FireFox solution This is an excellent choice -- it's the fastest performing of the options listed here: FireFox is superior to IE in every possible way. FireFox provides the added advantage of blocking all Spyware, an evil that IE brought into this world. * download and install Firefox 1.5 * in the FireFox address bar type about:config * scroll down the list to the entry xpinstall.enabled * right click on the entry and select toggle from the menu * toggle as needed to set the value to true * go to the Firefox website and follow links to extensions * find the extension adblock and install it * remember to toggle xpinstall.enabled back to false * in Firefox select Tools -> Adblock -> Preferences * use the New Filter field to add the following items: http://amch.questionmarket.com http://a820.g.akamai.net http://iv.doubleclick.net http://i.ivillage.com http://m.2mdn.net http://tste.ivillage.com http://img-cdn.mediaplex.com http://ads.vmirror.com http://cmhtml.ivillage.overture.com http://ads.pointroll.com * enable Adblock The trick with Adblock is to block the domain rather than the specific ad. If you click on Adblock to disable an ad. Select Tools -> Adblock -> Preferences from the menu and then edit the new entry; remove anything that follows after .com or .net. This will block everyting from that source. The Netscape solution. With Netscape you can shut down all the iVillage ads using the browser preference settings. From the menu select: Edit -> Preferences -> Privacy and Security -> Cookies Allow cookies for the originating website only Edit -> Preferences -> Privacy and Security -> Images Accept Images that come from the originating server only Edit -> Preferences -> Privacy and Security -> Images Block unrequested popup windows -- turn this on Edit -> Preferences -> Advanced Enable native object scripting -- turn this off Edit -> Preferences -> Advanced -> Scripts & Plug-ins Enable Java$cript for Navigator -- turn this off NOTE: GW will now be ad free, however disabling Java$cript will effect how other websites behave. You may have to get used to switching this setting back and forth. Therefore I suggest the Universal option above is more appropriate. NOTE: You MAC users out there: Sorry I don't have more info for you except to say that FireFox and adblock are available for the MAC. There's no sense in further complaing, iVillage IS an ad. We need to let them be who they are and stop them on our end. Take care all.

Sensational post, Len - just the sort of thing I'm looking for :) To answer your questions/observations: Q0. first up where in qld is alabama? if i might ask. A. Its a little known suburb of Rocky :) OK, I tried to change my preferences, and was rewarded with an error from the web server. C'est la Vie. Q1. plant data base, i reckon a good data base is going to take a lot of room on a web site that is if you are going to list the many plants that we can grow here in the sunshine state. so adding plants growths in stages will make that so much larger. for the main i think viewers will be looking for identifiacation and planting and care help. A. I agree that the majority of users will want the text relating to plant culture, but I also envisage providing *links* from the main database entry to allow them to view photos of the plant at different stages of its life. Personally, I find it frustrating trying to envisage the 'true' size of many plants from the label, and the '12-month' estimate is something I think many people would value (granted, conditions and growth rates vary enormously, but I think you know where I'm going with this). Q2.. sounds like a lot of work to manage A2. I absolutely agree, and its part of my reluctance to make this available to the outside world. There are a broad range of issues relating to security that I havent even touched on, but that goes with the territory. Removing the need to maintain all but the most basic membership data (name, username, location and email address) will minimise my concerns in this area, but I dont want to spend my days weeding out SPAM etc - hopefully, we are dealing with a better class of people :) Q3.. for me gardeners are well serviced with forums not long ago an aussie garden forum dissapeared due to lack of interest if i can put it that way. you are in a native plants forum here and it isn't over patronised a good crowd here though. A3. My broader aim is to help gardeners in their attempt to fuse natives with exotics - correct plant choice, companion planting and so on. This wont amuse the local provenance diehards, but it may just lessen the resistance to something with the word 'Native' in the masthead, and we might see more lillipillies and Austormyrtus alongside Gardenias and Camellias throughout Oz. I cant predict whether the site will have a longterm future - I can only put it out there and hope that people like yourself are prepared to give it a go. Q4.. faq's yes they are always handy for all gardeners but they need to be relevent to the point answers and the search engine for the faq's need to lead people to the answer they may be looking for many search engines like this for me just don't hit the mark unless you type in exactly the topic line as the author of the faq's has put it. A4. The whole search engine thing is a big topic - you can customise Google to have it restrict its search to your site, and I'm confident that...