if you have a firewall that allows configuration of specific programs being allowed/disallowed to access the net, then simply block your media player from going online...this should prevent any exploits and will also prevent your player from reporting back home and telling them you just watched a movie on it that was released to theaters last week (or better yet, that hasn't even been in the theaters yet!..mwahahahahahaha! like a certain DVD kwality flick I watched 2 days before it saw the theaters!)

@ Peerless

I have Windows Firewall. How would I not allow my media player to access the net? Would I not add them to the exceptions on my firewall? Is that what you mean?

I don't think that the windows firewall will do what I describe...I know that Norton's, Kaspersky's and ZoneAlarm will though (I still use Norton's on this machine but am about to change over to Kaspersky's)..

I'm sure other 'commercial' firewalls will do this also, but the above listed one I know for a fact will...

Thanks a lot for your help, Peerless. :super:

I switched from Windows Firewall to Norton's firewall and I have it set like you mentioned. So, hopefully I am good to go!

I haven't downloaded any movies yet...now I don't know if I ever will. I'm too scared! *LOL* :eek::eek::eek::bangh:

The 'numbers' are amazing !

With portables a minimum of 15% of units fail within the first year... 22% in the first 4 years.

Desktops average 5% failure rate within first year and 12% in the first 4 years...

Mainboards and HDDs are the most common components to fail.

If we were discussing automobiles or even washing machines with failure rates such as these there would be people rioting in the streets !!!

You can learn some surprising things at Gartner
Takes a while to learn their site but it's worth the effort.

btw... You're hardly alone... Three weeks ago a musician friend of mine took a big virus hit... Managed to clean and save his C: drive using an external HDD case and another computer for cleaning... BUT, five years of virtual instrument collections and loops and mix sequences were lost from his internal auxiliary HDD - Truly zapped ! This is a guy with two external drives as well - so - he thought he was covered ! Now he knows.........

***cough*** that's why certain things of such value MUST be backed up to a CD/DVD, or even better yet a HDD that is used only for backup and is never connected to a machine unless data is being transferred to it or from it (and being nestled in a nice lead lined case would surely protect it from a lot of 'normal' things...I don't consider a fission/fusion bomb to be normal)

To partly paraphrase peerless, above...

If you are wise enough to have an external HDD,

NEVER allow it to be connected to your computer while you are on line.

Never.
No matter what.