So many choices...whats a novice to do?

[Guest]

I have read through many posts with suggestions to download particular virus,
spyware, malware scans and "fixers!" After having a ransomeware virus that
was so bad I had to buy a new computer I am terrified this will happen again.
I had Windows ME but now have XP. so I know I have a better firewall. The
preset Mcafee has just expired and seems costly to replace. To those experts
out there, what is a novice to do? Thank you for your time.

 

[Guest]

No system is fool proof and not all software can find all bad acting
programs. You have to take care as to what you download by reading the
reviews of others.

Firstly, make sure your firewall settings are tight and monitor them
frequently. Make sure that your windows firewall has "no exceptions"
selected. And make sure that no additional connections have been added under
the advance tab. You should only have 1 connection selected. As mentioned,
software will attempt to routinely change these without your knowledge. Every
once in a while i find my own settings have been changed as well.

Then I would download the MSDefender from microsoft.com

I also like Spywareterminator because it is a real time spyware monitor.
And if you download it's addin "ClamAV" it will also be a realtime AV too.

And finally, download CCleaner and use it on a daily basis or right after to
browse the net. The analyze button will clear out those tracking cookies and
the issues button will make quick cleanups of your registry.

These things I give to you my little grasshopper so that one day you will
learn to fly, fly fly away to seek new and unchartered lands to
devour.........

 

[Richard]

If your posting to (a) newsgroup (s) then you should make your reply email
address
invalid.

In Outlook Express go to >tools >accounts>news tab>select your news account,
then

properties...you'll see your reply email address

You could then change it to (e-mail address removed) or any
other mod you like.

Since people are supposed to reply to your post in the newsgroup anyway,
you'll still
get your answers. Some people use a signature which instructs others to
change the mod
if they want to reply to your personal address.

The reason for all this is to prevent programs that scan newsgroups for
valid addresses from getting
yours

This is just one way to prevent viruses from being sent to you

I use AVG anti-virus with success

http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1

Richard

 

[cheyenne]

I use Spybot Search and Destroy and AVG Free.

 

[Guest]

AVG (Anti-virus) free for home PC, excellent and it is FREE.
http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/Get+AVG+FREE/lng/us/tpl/v5

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I have read through many posts with suggestions to download
particular virus, spyware, malware scans and "fixers!" After having a
ransomeware virus that was so bad I had to buy a new computer

I don't understand that at all. Absolute worst case, if malware screws up
your system badly enough, you would have to do a format and clean
reinstallation of Windows from scratch. You never have to buy a new computer
because of malware, and if a salesaman told you that, he should be shot!

I am
terrified this will happen again. I had Windows ME but now have XP.
so I know I have a better firewall.

The XP firewall monitors incoming traffic, but does nothing to stop spyware
programs trying to call home. It also is much less configurable than other
choices (although it's much improved in SP2).

For those reasons I recommend the free version of ZoneAlarm (or almost any
third-party firewall) instead.

The preset Mcafee has just
expired and seems costly to replace. To those experts out there, what
is a novice to do? Thank you for your time.

McAfee is not a good choice for anything, and fortuinately, you can get
yourself excellent protection by installing several free products. Here are
my recommendations:

1. Firewall: the free version of ZoneAlarm T
http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/home.jsp

2. Anti-virus program: the free AVAST at http://www.avast.com/. Or instead,
AVG, at http://www.grisoft.com/doc/1 is another good choice.

3. Anti-spyware: First note what Eric Howes, who has done extensive testing
on Anti-Spyware products, states:

"No single anti-spyware scanner removes everything. Even the best-performing
anti-spyware scanner in these tests missed fully one quarter of the
"critical" files and Registry entries"

See http://spywarewarrior.com/asw-test-guide.htm



So I recommend that you run several. Start with these, all free:


Spybot Search and Destroy at http://www.safer-networking.org/


Adaware SE Personal at http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/


Spyware Blaster at http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html