OT Puter problem

[Aaron Ford]

Well it happened again. The wifes laptop is in bad shape.

Her puter is gonna need run into the ground and reloaded. Her registry is corrupt and most files are hidden by these darned parasites. I had to hook up an old desktop to the downstairs flatscreen to back up files on to. I kinda like it. I am in my recliner with a cordless keyboard /mouse with a 55 inch monitor across the room.


She continually gets trojans, malware, spyware, and hijackers. I am not sure why hers gets targeted but I am not sure what she is running to prevent it. I usually use AVG or Malwarebytes on mine. What do y"all use?

Thanks in advance,

Aaron

 

[Janicholson]

Corporate (University based) MaCaffee and a firewall. I have had no issues. Jim

 

[robgIN]

Norton 360 on mine and my teenage kids laptops with no issues.

 

[MarkB_MI]

Trying to make Windows secure is a waste of time and money. You can't make ice cream out of horses**t.

I run Fedora.

 

[JDseller]

I used to use Avg and Malwarebytes on mine plus one other that I can't remember. The local computer guy had this list of free stuff that he swore by to protect your computer. The biggest problem was that with the free versions you need to up date them manually. They do not automatically up date. So you forget to do it on a regular basis and you don't have much protection.

My computer crashed three times in two years because of viruses. I purchased Norton 360. I have not had another problem since then. The computer guy said I was wasting money when I could get the same thing for free. Well $69.95 to cover three computers for a year is cheaper than me paying him to clean them up after they are crashed. I have also switched computer guys too. I don't want to waste time doing something I really don't understand what it is doing. So I will continue to buy someone's anti-virus service.

I can go out and earn the cost for it much easier than messing around with the free stuff.

 

[Aaron Ford]

I am not allergic to paying for it 'specially if it frees up a couple of evenings normally spent cleaning up a harddrive. Thanks

Aaron

 

[Brian Schmidt]

Just started using Microsoft Security Essentials. It is free and found a couple issues that an older version of Norton and Avast didn't find. Avast is free too and seems to work OK.

 

[oldtanker]

Nortons, I have no problems. My duaghter has problems all the time but she disables her AV to go on game sites. Another source for this junk is forwards. I never open em even if I know the sender. Sis in law had major problems with that for a number of years. She would tell you that she knew she shouldn't open them but just had to anyway cause they might be cute.

Rick

 

[old bc]

Norton Antivirus 2012 & the paid version of Malwarebytes. So far no problems.

 

[Anonymous-0]

I use AVG and Spybot, both free, no problems.I did buy a Registry cleaner though.

 

[Anonymous-0]

I use Yahoo for email, don't open mails with FWD in front of them, and don't open click on any websites that are in emails from my home computer.... Both our workplaces have the best virus protection you can get so if we HAVE to see an attached website, we look at work..... Especially don't open websites that come in emails from friends have nothing but the link in them... Those are usually from their account being hacked.....

 

[Daryl in PA]

I use the free version of Avast. Never had any issues on several laptops.

 

[Dieselrider]

Get away from windows and find a Linux version you are comfortable with and the problems will be solved.

 

[NEBeef]

Get a Mac... problem solved...

 

[wfw]

I have microsoft security essentials and malwarebytes running on three computers without any problems. the mse is from microsoft. it is free with free updates. as many problems as you seem to have I would recommend the paid version of malwarebytes. to cure your present problem I would reformat the hard drove and reload the operating system. you will need the version on disc or on the D drive on your computer. if you are going to try to get rid of the malware without reloading the system then run your scans in safe mode with networking. to get there just restart the computer and hit f8 repeatedly until it comes up. it will give you an option to start normally, start in safe mode, start in safe mode with networking, etc. in safe mode it only runs what has to run on your system. be sure to update any program to the new virus definitions prior to running to have the latest definations.

frank

 

[TomH in PA]

Create a User account for her to log on with and set a good password for that and the Admin account. The default is to let everyone run as an Administrator which gives malware the keys to the kingdom.

Do not use Outlook for email unless you really know how to lock it down.

 

[flyingace]

(quoted from post at 19:58:04 12/26/11) Trying to make Windows secure is a waste of time and money. You can't make ice cream out of horses**t.

I run Fedora.

Please don't make the mistake of ditching Windows for Linux. I have and use both, and this advice is well taken as long as you don't need a printer or wireless networking or you don't want to watch video. It is not true that you can't make Windows secure.

If you want to switch to a Linux OS, try it out first so you know what you are
getting into.

 

[MarkB_MI]

Ace, Linux isn't for everyone, but you are mistaken (at least with regards to the most popular distributions) about wireless networking and video support. You have to download the video codecs for most distros. Flash has to be downloaded as well, which is to be expected.

Perhaps it is unfair to say that Windows can't be made secure, but it is a fact that it is insecure BY DESIGN which is why you need to install third-party software to make it passably safe to use. There are plenty of cases where hackers were able to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars by exploiting Windows security holes.

 

[flyingace]

(quoted from post at 14:39:42 12/27/11) Ace, Linux isn't for everyone, but you are mistaken (at least with regards to the most popular distributions) about wireless networking and video support. You have to download the video codecs for most distros. Flash has to be downloaded as well, which is to be expected.

Perhaps it is unfair to say that Windows can't be made secure, but it is a fact that it is insecure BY DESIGN which is why you need to install third-party software to make it passably safe to use. There are plenty of cases where hackers were able to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars by exploiting Windows security holes.

Both of these OSes have their strong and weak points. Security is stronger on Linux, no doubt about it. Ease of use, not so much. I was stretching the truth about wireless, printers, etc. Of course they can be gotten to work eventually. It really depends how much time and effort someone is willing to spend, and if they enjoy doing that kind of thing. I do, that's why I have
a Fedora distro.

My point is that Linux is not for the computer illiterate. Windows sells for a reason - it's easier to use. And that is a HUGE factor in the world of users
who just want something that works.

 

[Dieselrider]

There are so many distros of Linux and many of those have come such a long way in recent years. Do not judge all of Linux on your limited experience.

I run Mepis 11.0, and have run versions of it for several years, and do not run windows any longer. Been windows free for about 2 years. I have no trouble with printers and wireless like there were in some of the earlier versions. You should not lump all linux distros into one bag. I see some of the hoops that windows users (especially those trying to run windows servers) get into and it makes linux look like the easier running OS.

The PC world maybe tied up with windows as the major player but almost all other devices that require an operating system are avoiding windows these days.Cell Phones, notebooks, ipads, even most major companies that run servers use Linux based servers now. Just way more secure.