Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uwm.edu!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!usenet From: tmkk@uiuc.edu (K. Khan) Newsgroups: comp.org.eff.talk Subject: Re: Prodigy charged with invading users' privacy Message-ID: <1991May1.174759.9321@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> Date: 1 May 91 17:47:59 GMT References: <1991Apr20.022809.10259@svc.portal.com> <1991Apr30.143000.17493@cbnewse.att.com> <1991Apr30.184714.4675@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu>, Sender: usenet@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (News) Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana Lines: 37 In article seurer+@rchland.ibm.com (Bill Seurer) writes: >I plan on running a little test tonight to see if this is true. > >1) De-install Prodigy. (Erase all the Prodigy-installed files) >2) Run CLEANDSK (or equivalent) to overwrite all unused disk space with 0's. >3) Run CLEANEND (or equivalent) to overwrite the unused ends of files with 0's. I used Norton's WIPEDISK (version 4.5) which does the same thing, only I overwrote the erased areas with 0x20 (ASCII space character) to make anything else stand right out. I did this on both hard drives, and disconnected my network drives. >4) Modify CONFIG.SYS and/or AUTOEXEC.BAT to have 0 DOS buffers and >remove any disk caching TSRs. >5) Defragment the harddisk. >6) Power PC off and then on to remove any DOS buffers and other resident stuff. >7) Re-install Prodigy. (Use a large STAGE.DAT) >8) Power PC off and then on to remove any DOS buffers and other resident stuff. >9) Immediately sign on Prodigy, poke around a bit, then sign off. >10) Dump STAGE.DAT and see what's inside. > >Does that sound reasonable? Can anyone think of other steps to take? Sounds good. Let us know what you come up with. I am no longer a Prodigy subscriber (they sent me the software free and a 1-month free trial, so I decided to see for myself what everyone was slamming), so I did not go as far as actually logging on, but I did complete the installation, complete with STAGE.DAT. I used Norton Utilities to view the contents of STAGE.DAT. I saw that it contained my complete path string, as well as LOTS of prodigy screens (telling me that if I clicked on 'accept' that I would be agreeing to pay for all charges blah blah blah). That's all I saw - no (recognizable) evidence of data snatched from other files on my two hard disks. on. (Needless to say, I was very disappointed! ;-)