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RE: Protection from viruses - 7/29/2008 1:01:56 AM
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relady
Posts: 1287
Joined: 4/11/2005
From: Greater St. Louis Metro
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I have been using AVast since my IT admin son installed it for me. He kept telling me I was just crazy for using Norton because it was expensive and didn't do as good a job. Well, he was right. LOL. Avast runs all the time in the background and doesn't eat up resources like Norton & MacAfee will. I also use Spybot and Ad-Aware to watch out for the spyware. I probably won't ever buy another virusprogram although I may send Avast some $$ when I get a little more solvent.
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RE: Protection from viruses - 7/29/2008 10:55:01 AM
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psaulm119
Posts: 192
Joined: 5/11/2005
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Giulia
They clean up some of it the AVG and spyware doctor, but for others they tell me I have to register.
Giulia, at this point I'd recommend going to this forum, where they will have to install a few free programs and then report back detailed results. Here's the URL: http://forums.techguy.org/54-malware-removal-hijackthis-logs/ I've used them before myself when I got hit with a trojan and they were pretty thorough.
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www.paulrittman.com
Clean up your computer @ www.paulrittman.com/ComputerFirstAid.html
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RE: Protection from viruses - 7/29/2008 12:37:14 PM
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Limulus
Posts: 184
Joined: 7/13/2008
From: Omaha, Nebraska
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If you Google these items, Avira AntiVir is a free low resource usage anti-virus program. To help to block phishing sites, pornography, and more, there is free OpenDNS which is very easy to setup on your personal computer which is as easy as installing software.
I just went to the OpenDNS site, signed up, installed their DNS changing software, I then have to login to their site, added my current computer and setup what I wanted to block like porn, phishing sites, etc. It's really very easy to setup and will help to protect your comp and family from the bad stuff. If you have Windows XP or Vista, it would be a good idea to set a system restore point in case you want to reverse any changes easily. If you have a router, you may need to change the DNS settings in your router manually, I have an SMC router and was able to do this with just a few extra steps.
Also having a more secure browser other than Internet Explorer can help with a lot of issues. A lot of people have been switching to http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/
Many viruses are also received through email, changing to a http://www.gmail.com email account is easy and they help to filter out spam and viruses automatically.
< Message edited by Limulus -- 7/29/2008 12:48:57 PM >
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RE: Protection from viruses - 7/29/2008 9:03:21 PM
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DreadPirateRandy
Posts: 7735
Joined: 6/5/2006
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quote:
ORIGINAL: relady
He kept telling me I was just crazy for using Norton because it was expensive and didn't do as good a job.
He is absolutely correct.
Norton is good for CPU consumption, internal errors, and headaches. Unfortunately, that's the only service it offers.
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RE: Protection from viruses - 7/30/2008 9:30:39 AM
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psaulm119
Posts: 192
Joined: 5/11/2005
Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Giulia
This trojan horse keeps coming up. I seem to get rid of it then he rides on his ungodly mission once again to try to make my life difficult! I think I got the thing on safe mode because the screen went blue, but then I couldn't find the MSCONFIG or the SAFEBOOT option. They say it should've been at the bottom of the tray but it is not there. 
OK the thing about Start>Run blah blah blah was to get you into safe mode. If you were able to get a black screen that had various options (such as Safe Mode, Safe Mode with Networking), etc., then you selected one and booted into windows--that is safe mode. If you can do that, you don't need to worry about tinkering with the msconfig command. Like I said, in safe mode you will see on the four corners, the words "Safe Mode."
In Safe Mode with Networking, make sure your antispyware is updated (trojans can escape detection by some antivirus, so make sure you are scanning with antispyware, suhc as AVG 8 or the newest Avast, both of which are combined antivirus and antispyware). DO a full scan and then see.
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Paul
www.paulrittman.com
Clean up your computer @ www.paulrittman.com/ComputerFirstAid.html
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RE: Protection from viruses - 8/2/2008 1:00:43 PM
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Limulus
Posts: 184
Joined: 7/13/2008
From: Omaha, Nebraska
Status: offline
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If you want another way to help eliminate viruses from your computer, you could switch to Linux. There is loads of free software for it and it is quite easy to use from what it used to be 10 years ago.
http://www.ubuntu.com/
or
http://www.kubuntu.org/
The Kubuntu interface is a lot more similar to Windows if you want the same feel.
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RE: Protection from viruses - 8/2/2008 5:26:47 PM
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psaulm119
Posts: 192
Joined: 5/11/2005
Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Limulus
If you want another way to help eliminate viruses from your computer, you could switch to Linux. There is loads of free software for it and it is quite easy to use from what it used to be 10 years ago.
http://www.ubuntu.com/
or
http://www.kubuntu.org/
The Kubuntu interface is a lot more similar to Windows if you want the same feel.
In other words, we're having difficulty booting the computer in question into safe mode, but installing another operating system and finding substitute programs and drivers should be no hassle, right?
_____________________________
Paul
www.paulrittman.com
Clean up your computer @ www.paulrittman.com/ComputerFirstAid.html
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RE: Protection from viruses - 8/2/2008 8:04:51 PM
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Rivermoon
Posts: 56
Joined: 3/20/2006
From: T.O., Ontario, Canada
Status: offline
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In order to go to safe mode, the most traditional way is to press F8 continuously before the standard window starts up after the machine is rebooted.
But some BIOS manufacturers might take the liberty to take away this support from the BIOS code in order to disallow the user to do so (esp. the laptop system). If it happens, I don't know what other ways to boot the system to safe mode. :-( This is as far as I humbly know. :-P
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Hope for the Best, Prepare for the Worst
"And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength." Deuteronomy 6:5 (NLT)
*** PUSH- Pray Until Something Happens ***
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RE: Protection from viruses - 8/3/2008 2:57:22 PM
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Limulus
Posts: 184
Joined: 7/13/2008
From: Omaha, Nebraska
Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: psaulm119
quote:
ORIGINAL: Limulus
If you want another way to help eliminate viruses from your computer, you could switch to Linux. There is loads of free software for it and it is quite easy to use from what it used to be 10 years ago.
http://www.ubuntu.com/
or
http://www.kubuntu.org/
The Kubuntu interface is a lot more similar to Windows if you want the same feel.
In other words, we're having difficulty booting the computer in question into safe mode, but installing another operating system and finding substitute programs and drivers should be no hassle, right?
My point was that switching to Linux offers the benefit of not having to deal with these virus issues. Ubuntu/Kubuntu recognize most hardware on install so you don't have to manually install drivers. As for software, most needed software/office software comes installed with Linux or will be as easy to install as Add/Remove programs, you don't even need to install the extra software using a disk as it will download and install the software for you. Anything new will require some time to learn and adjust to it, but the benefits of Linux far outweigh the little time you spend learning it.
You can also burn Ubuntu/Kubuntu to a disk and use the "Live" option which will only load the operating system in to RAM/temporary memory, allowing you to play with it and to see if it will recognize your hardware before doing a full installation. They also have some great support forums if people have questions or need help to get started.
< Message edited by Limulus -- 8/3/2008 3:05:09 PM >
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RE: Protection from viruses - 8/3/2008 5:41:57 PM
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Strider33
Posts: 150
Joined: 4/24/2008
Status: offline
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One thing to check out is whether your modem/router is actually a residential gateway, and whether it has firewall turned on. Some of the DSL or cable modems provided by ISPs are really gateways. You might be able to get firewall protection from such a gateway, and you might not need a firewall on your PC.
Another thing to check out is whether your mail server scans incoming attachments for viruses. If they do, and if their scanning software is better thant the software you subscribe to, you might be able to drop the subscription.
Neither of these will protect you against installing something you shouldn't.
_____________________________
Not all those who wander are lost.
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RE: Protection from viruses - 9/29/2008 9:40:00 AM
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gigigirrl
Posts: 83
Joined: 3/27/2006
Status: offline
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I use Anti vir on my pc my dh use avast on his. Avast has automatic updates. But not an automatic scan. Antivir automatically updates and automatically scans. However when it updates it pops up with a huge ad. I dont mind that but my dh does which is why he would just rather do a weekly manual scan. We also use Zone Alarm and Superantispyware and adaware.
In my business. I usually get the computers after they are fairly infested. People tend to wait until it gets bad before they call someone. I use a combination of softwares. In a certain order depending on what infestations I find. But that is cleanup.
For maintenance, generally if the person does not practice high risk behaviors. Avast, AVG, or Anti Vir will be fine- in my opinion anti vir is the smallest footprint.
However, if you practice high risk behaviors the software I recommend is a paid software called eset. Virus bulletin is a very good site for information about antivirus softwares.
They do something called the vb 100 - they test antivirus/antimalware softwares on different os systems. These are some ratings. The date is when tests started on that anti virus.
2/98 Eset Nod32: 52 Success / 3 Failure / 5 No Entry
1/98 Norton: 46 Success / 6 Failure / 8 No Entry
2/98 AVG 24 Success / 22 Failure / 14 No Entry
2/05 Avira 14 Success / 3 Failure / 43 No Entry
1/98 McAfee 37 Success / 20 Failure / 3 No Entry
1/98 Kaspersky 43 Success / 17 Failure / 0 No Entry
1/98 Alwil Avast 27 Success / 22 Failure / 11 No Entry
Eset costs 60.00 for 1 year 90.00 for two years. And it is a very small footprint. I have installed it on systems with xp with 512 and it does not affect it any where near like norton.
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RE: Protection from viruses - 9/29/2008 11:19:52 AM
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Row1
Posts: 246
Joined: 12/2/2005
Status: offline
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Another, easy way to stay safe is to periodically replace your computer's "hosts" file with a recent "hosts" file. You can google "hosts file" to learn more.
Wikipedia has a decent entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hosts_file
THis site has a widely recognized, good "hosts" file.
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm
Basically, every time you try to go to a new webpage, your computer will check to see if the webpage, including any advertisement on any webpage, is coming from one of many known 'bad' websites - websites known to put spyware, malware, or greyware, etc., on your computer.
When a website tries to load any webpage (like: one website tries to load an advertisement) from any one of these, your computer simply rejects that webpage (the website you want may show up, but the advertisement will not).
If you feel like your computer skills are good enough, you can add your own websites to be rejected (I did this for all of 'myspace' webpages I could figure out after my stepdaughter was getting our computer infected with trojan programs that were locking up the computer - she did this by downloading a variety of programs, including some that added malware to our computer, to jazz up her myspace).
BTW: if anyone wants my list of 'myspace' websites (there are many for example: blog.myspace.com, not just www. myspace.com) so you can block myspace, PM me.
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. I think I'll have to go and give the man at the shop 70 for another clean 
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, only way to get these disonesti to fess up!
