Computer Virus Kicked My **** :-(

bobman1235

hearingimpared wrote: »

Maybe because it's free? Are Avast and Firefox free?;)

I'll charge you for Firefox if you want, but it is free. As is Chrome, Safari, etc.

Heck, technically IE is the one that ISN'T free since you have to buy Windows to get it....

exalted512

Just thought of something else. I DO have upgrade discs for XP and Vista. Could I just install one of those, then once windows is working correctly, install win7 off my hard drive?

I thought I heard before that people trying to go from vista back to XP after they didnt like vista had some issues...so i didnt know if downgrading from win7 to to xp or vista would be an issue?
-Cody

Serendipity

Shouldn't be a problem.

I downgraded to XP on a brand-new Dell Inspiron machine, and XP had no problem recognizing most of the drivers. For those that did not load, I had to install the drivers manually.

exalted512

Ill try that when I get home then. Thanks! Hopefully ill be up and running by tomorrow.
-Cody

exalted512

Well, I found the vista disc first, so thats whats getting installed as we speak...im crossing my fingers!
-Cody

HB27

Where ya at?

Serendipity

Computer virus writers suck.

I mean, what difference does it make if you're robbing a bank by going in with a weapon vs. writing viruses to do the same thing? Computer viruses equal lost business and lost productivity, or can even result in loss of money (Citibank, Chase, etc. have been hacked before) for financial institutions.

inspiredsports

It's a shame that it is so, but you really need:

1) A hardware level firewall where the Internet enters your home (modem or router level)
2) A software level firewall (Windows firewall, or Symantec / McAfee / Zone Alarm / PC tools / etc.)
3) Anti virus / anti spyware (again, Symantec / McAfee / Zone Alarm / PC tools / etc.)
4) Free "Microsoft Security Essentials" to back up whatever you paid for on lines 2 and 3 above.

5) Everything protecting you updated daily (with the exception of the hardware firewall)

6) Enough CPU horsepower to run all of the crap above you have to run to protect yourself from the d-bags writing malicious software.

NOTE: You are better off leaving your computer ALWAYS ON, with updates configured to run at times you don't use the computer. You should also run an uninterruptible power supply (battery backup). "Always on" basically insures "always updated". Many people get hit when updating if there have been very long intervals between updates.

##########

Hackers and virus writers should be de-nutted, but they do contribute to a portion of my income as I'm in the network support industry.

ryanjoachim

inspiredsports wrote: »

It's a shame that it is so, but you really need:

1) A hardware level firewall where the Internet enters your home (modem or router level)
2) A software level firewall (Windows firewall, or Symantec / McAfee / Zone Alarm / PC tools / etc.)
3) Anti virus / anti spyware (again, Symantec / McAfee / Zone Alarm / PC tools / etc.)
4) Free "Microsoft Security Essentials" to back up whatever you paid for on lines 2 and 3 above.

5) Everything protecting you updated daily (with the exception of the hardware firewall)

6) Enough CPU horsepower to run all of the crap above you have to run to protect yourself from the d-bags writing malicious software.

NOTE: You are better off leaving your computer ALWAYS ON, with updates configured to run at times you don't use the computer. You should also run an uninterruptible power supply (battery backup). "Always on" basically insures "always updated". Many people get hit when updating if there have been very long intervals between updates.

##########

Hackers and virus writers should be de-nutted, but they do contribute to a portion of my income as I'm in the computer support industry.

If you have a router, don't bother with a software firewall. They can (and usually do) conflict with each other, causing massive headaches. Your router will do a great job (Make sure you CHANGE THE DEFAULT PASSWORD ON YOUR ROUTER).

Stay away from Norton and McAfee IMO. They are overrated and bloated (although Norton has gotten better).
There are plenty of free AV out there that do an amazing job, and I recommend Microsoft Security Essentials. Takes around 1 minute to install on a slow computer, and is VERY good! (It's been put against other paid AV programs, and has come out on top. Just google it).

inspiredsports

ryanjoachim wrote: »

If you have a router, don't bother with a software firewall. They can (and usually do) conflict with each other, causing massive headaches. Your router will do a great job (Make sure you CHANGE THE DEFAULT PASSWORD ON YOUR ROUTER).

Stay away from Norton and McAfee IMO. They are overrated and bloated (although Norton has gotten better).
There are plenty of free AV out there that do an amazing job, and I recommend Microsoft Security Essentials. Takes around 1 minute to install on a slow computer, and is VERY good! (It's been put against other paid AV programs, and has come out on top. Just google it).

I strongly agreed on MSE (Microsoft Security Essentials), but I'm unwilling to run just 1 application even if most major packages require lots of CPU's. Processors are cheap now.

I don't agree that both hardware and software firewalls conflict when the hardware firewall is configured to be a macro "pre-filter" of ports/services/websites/keywords, but the discussion is involved and better for another place.

vc69

Plus one with what Ryan said.

McAfee, Norton, AVG, etc. are bloated resource hogs. MSE is what I use personally.

Serendipity

None of this stuff runs on my Pentium II. So I only use that computer for word processing and e-mail checking.

However, my HTPC can run an Antivirus, software firewall, and spyware checker at the SAME TIME with no problems!!

A bunch of Polkies were over the other day and it was playing full-screen video with all that crap running in the background, and it still kept up!

So it really depends on your hardware and processing power - I don't run any antivirus on the older (pre-2001 PC's).

hearingimpared

vc69 wrote: »

Plus one with what Ryan said.

McAfee, Norton, AVG, etc. are bloated resource hogs. MSE is what I use personally.

Yep!!! On all counts. I had to let my Trend Micro expire and solicited help on some free virus protection programs awhile back. Many folks suggested AVG and when I asked if it bogs down the system resources all said no.

Not true guys!!! AVG is free and while pretty good has slowed down my PC rather considerably.

I hate McAfee and Norton both! McAfee just sucks the life out of your PC as does Norton but I've found that Norton causes application, driver and hardware conflicts. IMO Norton should be banned from selling that POS program.

BTW Bobman :p:p on you sale of Firefox!!!:D

hearingimpared

inspiredsports wrote: »

NOTE: You are better off leaving your computer ALWAYS ON, with updates configured to run at times you don't use the computer. You should also run an uninterruptible power supply (battery backup). "Always on" basically insures "always updated". Many people get hit when updating if there have been very long intervals between updates.

##########

Hackers and virus writers should be de-nutted, but they do contribute to a portion of my income as I'm in the network support industry.

Greg, I remember when XP first came out and the one of it's claim to fame was that you can leave your PC on all the time. I've tried it and after a while, maybe a day, it J U S T S L O W S D O W N the PC to unbearable time lags.

De-nutting is too good for them, slice their lower gut open down to the through their ding a ling though the sack and light their guts and all on fire and make them watch the whole procedure!!!!:mad:

Serendipity

If you think AVG is slow, then you haven't used Symantec Corporate or Kaspersky. With Symantec Enterprise, it uses 56-64MB of RAM at idle!

hearingimpared

Serendipity wrote: »

If you think AVG is slow, then you haven't used Symantec Corporate or Kaspersky. With Symantec Enterprise, it uses 56-64MB of RAM at idle!

Used them!?! I never even heard of them!:eek:

exalted512

HB27 wrote: »

Where ya at?

Vista is installed...working on Windows 7 as we speak. Yay!!
-Cody

hearingimpared

exalted512 wrote: »

Vista is installed...working on Windows 7 as we speak. Yay!!
-Cody

DA DA DA Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah !!!

Tony M

That's great.:D

Congrats.;)

Serendipity

hearingimpared wrote: »

Used them!?! I never even heard of them!:eek:

They are more geared towards corporate / business users. Same for NOD32.

Serendipity

exalted512 wrote: »

Vista is installed...working on Windows 7 as we speak. Yay!!
-Cody

Congrats!

exalted512

Serendipity wrote: »

Congrats!

Done! My first post from my desktop since Friday!

...now i just need to see how many drivers I'm missing
-Cody

mdaudioguy

I'm behind a router and Windows Firewall and MSE are all I need. I've tried MANY other firewalls and AV programs. I've never had a conflict caused by running Windows Firewall behind my router.

Most infections are incurred via social engineering.

Don't click links in emails, Facebook, myspace, etc... Don't visit **** sites. Practice safe clicking.

bobman1235

inspiredsports wrote: »

NOTE: You are better off leaving your computer ALWAYS ON, with updates configured to run at times you don't use the computer. You should also run an uninterruptible power supply (battery backup). "Always on" basically insures "always updated". Many people get hit when updating if there have been very long intervals between updates.

What do you work for the power company? Turning "off" (standby) my computers when not in use has saved me significant money on my power bill. Like somewhere between 20-30%. I'm not going got leave it on 24/7 just out of some paranoid delusion about when hackers can get in. It wakes up and does updates if needed. Good enough for me. It's on every day, I don't see where I'd miss out on an update in a timely manner.

exalted512

Speaking of...is there a program out there that can wake your computer up and shut it down at certain times during the day?

So I can have it automatically running when i wake up, then turn it off when i go to work, then wake it up again when i get back home?

Just curious.
-Cody

Serendipity

exalted512 wrote: »

Speaking of...is there a program out there that can wake your computer up and shut it down at certain times during the day?

So I can have it automatically running when i wake up, then turn it off when i go to work, then wake it up again when i get back home?

Just curious.
-Cody

Sure, your network card must have Wake-On-LAN support and attach a cable from the card to your motherboard's Power or Reset pins. You can then have it wake the PC over the network or reboot the machine (critical for embedded systems, such as ATM's where the actual reset button can't be acccessed easily).

Some network management software can do this.

bobman1235

Just be warned, routing "wake on LAN" signals through a router has, for me, proven to be difficult at best.

ryanjoachim

Nevermind.

Jstas

exalted512 wrote: »

Speaking of...is there a program out there that can wake your computer up and shut it down at certain times during the day?

So I can have it automatically running when i wake up, then turn it off when i go to work, then wake it up again when i get back home?

Just curious.
-Cody

Yes, you can use the Sleep/Hibernate features in Windows or you can use "Wake-on-LAN" if you want. However, check your BIOS and see if you have a setting there. You can usually set the "Wake-on-LAN" option to a timer. The network card will tend to keep the system up all the time 'cause the heartbeat that the router will send out for the wake-on-LAN signal is constant at constant intervals. I actually had a user have the problem where his system never went to sleep because his sleep interval was set at 5 minutes idle time and his wake-on-LAN signal was broadcasting every 4 minutes. You might be able to have your switch/router timer a wake-on-LAN signal to the specific MAC address of your network card. I know you can set up a script in WRT-DD to do that but I don't know if others can.

But I'm not real sure why you would want to do that. You can just set the system to go down in the "Power Management" options and wake up when you wiggle the mouse. It won't use any more power than when you have it in a hibernation mode. You'll have to have it like that though because if the system is off completely, there is nothing to wake it up. You'll still have to wait for boot-up.

Look in the Power Management options at what you can set for when. I have most of my stuff except my file server running in power save modes when I'm not home. The File Server shuts down unnecessary drives and such during the down times but it's always running and I can access it remotely. Sometimes I have to wait for drives to spin back up when a network resource requests it but it works out fine otherwise. Everything else is laptops so they go in to sleep and hibernation modes all the time.

Serendipity

bobman1235 wrote: »

Just be warned, routing "wake on LAN" signals through a router has, for me, proven to be difficult at best.

I've never had a problem with Wake-on-LAN using Altiris Vision (now part of Symantec) to remotely wake up computers over the network. Then the computers could be powered off remotely so physical access wasn't necessary. Great for presentations where the PC connected to the projector wasn't in the same room as the presenter's PC, like at church.