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8 Slots


redwolfe_98

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the issue is that windows xp has 8 "slots".. what this means is that there is a limited number of security-programs that can be used, together, in realtime, with windows xp..

 

i learned about this when i had too many security-programs installed and then found that one of them was not working properly.. someone explained to me that windows xp only has 8 "slots" and that, if a program needs one of those slots, and the slots are already filled by other programs, windows will boot one of the programs out of one of the "slots" in order to make room for another one, which was why one of the antimalware-programs that i was using was not functioning properly, because it had been booted out of its slot..

 

at the time, i had an av-program- a firewall- and two antimalware programs installed, and i must have had a couple of other HIPS-type programs installed, as well.. what pushed things too far was having two antimalware-programs installed (in addition to my av-program) as opposed to only having one installed..

 

a couple of weeks ago, i happened across an article that gave me the impression that a setting could be tweaked to where, then, windows could have up to 14 of these slots as opposed to being limited to only having 8 of them, and that is what i want help with..

 

i didn't bookmark the article and i am not sure where i saw it, but i think it was at somewhere like "experts exchange" or some other similar website..

 

the way things are, i try to keep the number of security-programs that i use to a minimum, since i know that windows will only allow for using a limited number of them, but, if i can tweak things, to where i would have more "slots", to allow for using more security-programs, i would like to do that..

 

does anyone here know about these 8 "slots" and maybe tweaking a setting to where i then would have up to 14 slots instead of only having the 8 that windows xp has by default?

 

incidentally, i have been told that newer versions of windows have 16 of these slots, but that 8 of them are tied up by "windows" itself..

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.. someone explained to me that windows xp only has 8 "slots" ...

Out of curiosity, WHO? :unsure:

 

... and that, if a program needs one of those slots, and the slots are already filled by other programs, windows will boot one of the programs out of one of the "slots" in order to make room for another one, which was why one of the antimalware-programs that i was using was not functioning properly, because it had been booted out of its slot..

Hmmm, something very UNlike a FCFS approach:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-come,_first-served

which in computing would be correspondent to a FIFO one:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFO_(computing_and_electronics)

This approach is usually connected with "stacks" (and not with ""slots"), what you describe seems more like LABIFS :w00t: (Last Arrived Bully Is First Served) :ph34r:

 

at the time, i had an av-program- a firewall- and two antimalware programs installed, and i must have had a couple of other HIPS-type programs installed, as well.. what pushed things too far was having two antimalware-programs installed (in addition to my av-program) as opposed to only having one installed..

WHAT is a "HIPS-type program"?

Can you name EXACTLY all the programs you had running and which one failed?

 

a couple of weeks ago, i happened across an article that gave me the impression that a setting could be tweaked to where, then, windows could have up to 14 of these slots as opposed to being limited to only having 8 of them, and that is what i want help with..

 

i didn't bookmark the article and i am not sure where i saw it, but i think it was at somewhere like "experts exchange" or some other similar website..

In other words, "somewhere on the internet". :(

 

the way things are, i try to keep the number of security-programs that i use to a minimum, since i know that windows will only allow for using a limited number of them, but, if i can tweak things, to where i would have more "slots", to allow for using more security-programs, i would like to do that..

WHY?

I mean, just for the fun of it, because someone told you that the more antivirus/antimlware programs you manage to run concurrently the more secure is your system, because otherwise your PC would run too fast, etc.?

 

does anyone here know about these 8 "slots" and maybe tweaking a setting to where i then would have up to 14 slots instead of only having the 8 that windows xp has by default?

It would be IMHO advisable to first make sure that the 8 slots exist before increasing their number to 14.

incidentally, i have been told that newer versions of windows have 16 of these slots, but that 8 of them are tied up by "windows" itself..

Told by WHOM?

It is the first time I heard about this concept of "slots".

Can't you remember any other detail about the source of these info?

jaclaz

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jaclaz, it is a long story.. :)

 

the person who told me about the 8 slots was kevin mcaleavey, the author of the "BOClean" antimalware program.. he also was responsible for a lot of the development of the comodo firewall, if not all of it..

 

HIPS stands for "host intrusion prevention system".. a HIPS program will flag files based on their behavior rather than using malware-definitions to flag a file.. however, there can be differences between programs that fall under the umbrella of being called HIPS programs..

 

one HIPS program that i am using now is the "system safety monitor" program which pretty much just controls which files can execute on my computer..

 

right now, i am running the "avira" av-program, "regdefend", which monitors and controls regkeys that are added to my computer's registry, "system safety monitor", which is a HIPS program that controls the execution of files on my computer, and "sandboxie", which i only recently started using.. having all of those programs running in realtime is pushing the limits, where i figure 5 such programs..maybe 4..is the limit.. i wouldn't dare add another security-program to the list of programs that i am already running in realtime, which is a total of 4 security-programs (avira, regdefend, "system safety monitor", sandboxie)..

 

so, what other program am i interested in adding to the list? well, maybe the malwarebytes "anti-exploit" program.. :) adding an antimalware-program, like the "trojanhunter" program, as an example, might be something else to consider, except that i am not really wanting to spend the money for that, and i am not really concerned with having another antimalware-program running in realtime, but i have done that in the past.. as i mentioned, before, the issue with the 8 slots actually came up because i had, not one, but two such antimalware-programs, running in realtime, along with my av-program..

 

which two? i am not sure.. i will guess that i was running both the "trojanhunter" program and the "BOClean" program.. and again, the only problem was that, windows, with its 8 slots, couldn't handle all of the security-programs that i had running at the time.. the programs appeared to be running normally, but one or the other of the programs wouldn't flag malware the way that it was suppose to, due to the fact that windows had booted the program out of its "slot"..

 

incidentally, there was another time that i ran into trouble with another antimalware program, the "prevx" antimalware-program, but i don't think that it was the same problem, where the program had been booted out of its slot.. i am not sure what the problem was, there, but apparently, one way or another, it conflicted with my avira av-program, where it wouldn't flag malware the way that it was suppose to.. otherwise, the prevx program seemed to be running normally..

 

i mentioned that i read an article that led me to believe that i could tweak a setting which would add more slots to windows.. that is another long story, but i will try to be brief.. i was trying to install software for a printer on my computer but i was having problems with that, and i was in a hurry to get the issue resolved, so i was searching around the internet for solutions for various problems which i was only imagining existed.. eventually i figured out what the actual problems were, which were some tweaks that i had made, such as my having disabled the "print spooler service", for example.. (i don't normally have a printer set up, with its software installed on my computer)..

 

i was getting some wierd error-message when i was trying to install the software for the printer.. it was saying something like "cannot find autorun.exe", or "cannot find autorun.ini" (or "autorun.inf" ), which seemed strange.. it was like the installer-program thought that the software was being installed from a CD when it wasn't.. at least that was my thinking..

 

incidentally, the file that the installer-program was saying that it couldn't find was there, in the folder, along with the rest of the files that were being used to install the software..

 

it was an HP scanner/printer and i was using an installer-file that i had downloaded from HP.. eventually i got it installed.. i had to undo several tweaks that i had made before the software finally would install.. (and, after i finished using the printer, i "reformatted", to get rid of it).. :)

Edited by redwolfe_98
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So, 8 slots allow for 4 (or 5) programs? :w00t:

 

I guess that you should ask Mr. McAleavey for some clarifications/references to these 8 "slots".

 

What you reported he told you here (set aside the "8 slots theory"):

http://forums.superantispyware.com/index.php?/topic/499-can-i-run-more-than-2-real-time-antispyware-shield-incl-sas/?p=2275

 

makes a lot of sense :yes::

kevin mcaleavey of "privacy software corporation", makers of "BOClean", ran some diagnostics on my computer and determined that the problem was "having too many programs running"

 

 

If I were you I would set aside this "8 slots theory" and run less programs in real time (making use - if you believe that your computer is not secure or not secure enough - some alternate means of protection, like - say - a hardware firewall and possibly an antivirus proxy).

 

It is quite obvious that if you set several different programs, all aimed essentially to the same scope, to run at the same time doing essentially the same thing (accessing files to scan them either by checking their contents against a database of known signature or heuristically analyze them and/or monitoring them for changes) conflicts of some kind may well (please read as will) arise. :ph34r:

 

On the other hand, Mr.McAleavey (do read the set of his articles listed here):

http://www.wilderssecurity.com/threads/kevin-mcaleavey-writes-about-malware.304034/

has since concluded that there is no working/reliable solution if you run Windows and you would better forget about it and get his KNOS secure OS instead:

http://www.knosproject.com/

 

 

jaclaz

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Let's say you have two AV products running real-time. Both products want to scan a given file. Whoever gets there first will start inspecting, while the next will get tied up. Worse, if the first finds a bogie, the next will get all confused and *may* (read is probably *will*) crash -or- cause the *first* to crash. :crazy:

 

That "slots" bit is sheer nonsense. But it sounds good for someone trying to sell their expertise/OS.

 

Rule of thumb - *Never* have more that one Real-Time AV or Firewall running. There *will* be a battle. ;) In all other cases, run an AV "on-demand after the Real-Time has scanned and is disabled. The WWW is rife with this sort of paranoid idiocracy. Some vendors even say when you try to install "Sorry, no can do. Uninstall that other one first." :yes: I have *one* that I (rarely) "Enable". All others (SpyBot, MBAM, etc) are "On Demand".

 

BTW, wonder why (e.g.) DHS doesn't use that OS? Cyber-Security solved!

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