computer virus help needed!

[sandbender]

And backup the backups, and store offline. Dropbox is private, useful for photo's/docs and I use photobucket. I don't turn my PC off though (I turn the monitor off) and have not had malware/virus problems for an age.

Another vote for Dropbox, a great, free resource. Just don't keep plaintext passwords or anything really important (that isn't encrypted) in it. Possibly its most used feature in our family is the ability to have shared folders on each others computers, it makes moving files, movies and pictures so much easier.

 

[Maxip]

Seriously? In windows land it is the norm to always run as an administrator? Over here in Ubuntu and Apple land I never run as an admin, although I'm not sure if that is normal in Apple land.

'Out of the box' Windows doesn't insist on having a user account so many (or most) people either use an admin account or give themselves admin rights. There is no su equivalent command (well, run as admin but not quite the same) and the majority of users don't realise the impact / risk of being an administrator.

Tadpole - sorry to disagree but it's not OK to run as admin all the time no matter how experienced you are. If malicious code can be executed from local drive, USB, email, Javascript, webpage, etc and you have administrator rights, you cannot stop it doing what it wants - a firewall will reduce the risk of malicious traffic and AV can stop an infection but only if it can be identified. Even heuristic scanners are limited in what they can achieve.

Backups are important and everyone should have at least 2 copies of their data in different place and on different media (i.e. NAS box & dropbox, DVD & magnetic tape). However, backups only help you recover in the event of a failure (malware based or not) and as the Doctor says, prevention is better than a cure.

BTW, if anyone wants a Dropbox account, please use this link as it gives both me & you an additional 250Mb of free storage (in addition to the basic 2Gb).

 

[ged]

I disagree ... Infections on systems happen

Not on my systems.

... the best way round is take reasonable precautions, AVG or AVAST, or windows essentials and the like ...

I disagree. The best way is to consign Windows to the bin, where belongs any deliberately crippled, ludicrously resource-intensive, blatantly obsoleted and hopelessly insecure operating system.

 

[BillyBlade]

Not on my systems.



I disagree. The best way is to consign Windows to the bin, where belongs any deliberately crippled, ludicrously resource-intensive, blatantly obsoleted and hopelessly insecure operating system.
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Ged, Bravo

 

[ScotsSurvival]

Had this same problem last week, god knows where I got it from but I ended up havig to use a restore point to get rid of it. Luckily I have more than one profile on my machine and it was only effecting 1 of them.

 

[789987]

what i would do with a windows system is after your clean install - install hijackthis. then ignore all the processes that are running. that way if something comes on the list when you run the scan, chances are thats your problem.

also run noscript on firefox

and keep your antivirus updated

that plus a little savvy will see you all right.

 

[rik_uk3]

Not on my systems.



I disagree. The best way is to consign Windows to the bin, where belongs any deliberately crippled, ludicrously resource-intensive, blatantly obsoleted and hopelessly insecure operating system.
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I thought better of you mate than to come out with that nonsense. Windows 7 is a great operating system and with very little work on the users part its safe and secure. The vast majority of users don't want to be messing about with the likes of Linux and why should they when 7 does all it asks quickly, easily and with excellent compatibility for the massive range of software available to it. My current system has been problem free and maintenance free since day one, Microsoft got it right with this OS.

 

[BillyBlade]

Rik, the fact it's easier for the user to operate than that last abortion Microsoft put out, welll, with that I agree.

Trouble is though mate, it's far, far from safe, and it eats power just to keep itself running.

It's a real 7/10 effort, it just looks better because the last OS they put ut was a 3/10.

 

[rik_uk3]

So what do you reccomend Linux? Won't happen for most, its too much messing about for Joe Public and its not needed. If a mate phones me up and says "Rich, I've a new PC and my W7 disk what do I do" he'll be up and running in no time at all. No messing about drivers for his printer, router and software patches, running around for compatible programmes.

I do indulge myself in computer kit, I have a new system every year, it 'my thing' and until all the big boys start giving easy support for linux it will remain a fringe OS. Can I just install my Adobe Master Collection CS3, Office 2007 and Corel Draw 12 or even Sims 3 on a linux machine as easily as putting in a disk? Without downloading other 'fixes' to get them running? Using linux for me was like stepping back to Windows for work groups.

I'm playing with W8 on a machine just now, jury is still out on that one but its early days yet.