Thread: #!!%@*&^ computer viruses

My computer came down again with the flu. No bird or pig flu but computer flu.

It still allows me to surf the internet. Does anyone know a reliable virus/worm/trojan fighter that would decontaminate my computer on line? Preferably free as I do have McAfee already. McAfee has unfortunately proved useless once again (this is the second time). The guys who service my computers on line haven't yet managed to decontaminate my computer.

Originally Posted by Kees

My computer came down again with the flu. No bird or pig flu but computer flu.

It still allows me to surf the internet. Does anyone know a reliable virus/worm/trojan fighter that would decontaminate my computer on line? Preferably free as I do have McAfee already. McAfee has unfortunately proved useless once again (this is the second time). The guys who service my computers on line haven't yet managed to decontaminate my computer.

Do you keep your dat files up to date and your windows patches up to date?

but..yeah.. I have found when your pc gets to that point, it is usually best to just wipe the slate clean and reload.

Here are 2 free spyware checkers you can try.

The home of Spybot-S&D!

Ad-Aware Free - Download security software for spyware removal - Lavasoft

I got so sick of the constant problems and patches that my wife and I finally switched over to Macs--and I hated Macs--mainly because I didn't want to change. It took a while to acclimate, but I am so glad that we did it.

If you dont want to buy a mac, i would start from scratch and setup auto update for patches/mcafee, then install firefox w/ noscript.

<rant>
i've got to be honest, i have no idea where people get all these viruses and malware from.

Keeping you machine up to date on patches/dats should be automatic. If you go download some shady software and run it as admin, you are rolling the dice.

I've never had one of my machines have these problems in my 20ish years of using dos,windows,linux.

I've had some seen some servers get infected due to not being patched and assholes bringing infected laptops into the network long long time ago.

</rant>

Originally Posted by Slartibartfast

If you dont want to buy a mac, i would start from scratch and setup auto update for patches/mcafee, then install firefox w/ noscript.

<rant>
i've got to be honest, i have no idea where people get all these viruses and malware from.

Keeping you machine up to date on patches/dats should be automatic. If you go download some shady software and run it as admin, you are rolling the dice.

I've never had one of my machines have these problems in my 20ish years of using dos,windows,linux.

I've had some seen some servers get infected due to not being patched and assholes bringing infected laptops into the network long long time ago.

</rant>

It just happens. I do get updates autamatically both for XP and McAfee. It just happens: you're on line and suddenly you get pop-ups. In this case I suddenly got a pop-up from what looked like an on line poker game site and some other funny sites. Sites I had never visited. I had been on line for a while with I.E and not Mozilla, maybe that was the problem.

I run Linux so there is not as much of a potential for a problem. Also Mozilla Firefox with No Script on a Windows XP box with Avast free anti virus.

Trend Micro online virus check is what you want. I think they call it housecall, and you need java to run it. It may take a long time though, but very good.

Connor

Originally Posted by Kees

It just happens. I do get updates autamatically both for XP and McAfee. It just happens: you're on line and suddenly you get pop-ups. In this case I suddenly got a pop-up from what looked like an on line poker game site and some other funny sites. Sites I had never visited. I had been on line for a while with I.E and not Mozilla, maybe that was the problem.

That doesn't necessarily mean that you're infected - it could mean that the server you were visiting was infected and was injecting those popups into their html. Or sometimes the banner ads have popups in them.

For all the heat it's taken, Vista is much better at resisting viruses than XP, and with the latest service pack it's not too bad to use either.

Kees what you are saying i don't think you are in a big trouble. This will help
Go to kaspersky and download trial for a months. scan it .they will ask email address give them some yahoo .com email account .make one.
then clean your system.
you will need to uninstall other anivirus first.
if i am not mistaken avg does free service for a year .good luck

You could always try linux. Ubuntu just came out with version 9.04.

I've been running linux off and on since I got ****ed off at WindowsMe. (tells you how long I've been using linux)

My first few attempts, I found that linux wasn't even close to being ready for the desktop. Today, it is.

If all you want is a web browser, email, and an office suite, Ubuntu can get you from windows, to a fully installed linux that will do all of that in about 40 minutes.

Everything else can be a bit of a pain to set up, but unlike Windows, once it's set-up, it's done. It will stay stable until your hardware dies, or you do something stupid.