How To Keep Spyware and Viuses Off Your Computer

B

brad541thb

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How To Keep Spyware and Viruses Off Your Computer

I thought I would pass this info along to you guys since your probably like me when it comes to keeping crap off of your computer.

What I am about to show you will drastically help. Read this and it will help if you do some of this to your computer.

http://www.spywareinfoforum.com/index.php?showtopic=60955

If you go to www.pctools.com you can download their free firewall. I have it now on my computer and so far I like it better than any other I have tried including Zone Alarm or Sunbelt Kerio.

Also you can download at www.pctools.com ThreatFire. This thing flat works it seems. It's free as well. I like it.

The Spyware Blaster is very good as well and it's free. It creates a list of bad sites that contains malware and blocks them from getting on your computer regardless if you use internet explorer or firefox for a browser. It's free as well as the rest of the stuff and seems to really help at keeping crap off of your computer. Be sure to check manually for updates each week.

The link above will tell you some good stuff and you can take the Jason Levine's Browser Security Test there as well.

Also there is a Malwarebytes download that is free that works very well. I have this on my computer as well. It's free. I'll try and find the free Malwarebytes Anti-Malware download and post it here.
 
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I don't know squat about pc's.....

....I use spybot and ad-aware & also have AVG....all free. I was told this will cover me.

Is this good enough or do I need something else like this??

All I want is it to turn on and the email and internet to work!!

pf
 
Paul,

I doubt it very seriously if that combo you have there will consistantly work.

I've had those as well. The AVG seems to be a good Anti-Virus. But the Spybot and Adaware I have found don't always seem to catch the hidden stuff.

Here's how you can see what might be on your computer.

http://www.whatthetech.com/hijackthis/

Download hijackthis. And run a system scan. It should show you all the program files you have on your computer. You can sign up at the forums I listed above and post a hijackthis log and they can help you if you are having problems or you think you may have malware embedded in your computer. Some of this stuff is very hard to find. Also you can remove some of the unwanted files with hijackthis as well. If your not sure what is malware, or see something that you don't know, I wouldn't delete it until you get professional help first.

I can also tell you that these guys are very polite and will be glad to help. They get their kicks off working and fixing computers like we do shooting guns and souping them up. :D

Also do not run 2 firewalls at the same time. It will mess things up.

I like the PC Tools firewall along with the ThreatFire. Both are free.

I like the Avast Anti Virus. It seems to really work.

Brad
 
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Also it's ok to run a firewall of your choice along with ThreatFire.

I'll get you the link to read up on it.
 
Also Paul I can tell you that anything PC World recommends is usually good. They are the best source on computers according to my wife. So when they recommend something it usually works.
 
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I'm gonna have to buy a lap top....

...come November Brad.

I just can't be away from the internet during deer season like last year. I need to check my traps and auctions, along w/ email. It cost me some $$$$ this past season so gonna have to bite the bullet.

I tried a friends Dell out w/ his AT&T card as I was worried about reception but it works fine at camp.

I just need email and internet but need it to be pretty fast as I will have to download detailed pics of guns I may buy.

Any ideas....a couple told me to get the tuffbook by Panasonic since I'll be using it in dirty conditions but it is pretty pricy. It would be nice to have to dirt proof but not sure if I want to spend the bones.

pf
 
With the Jotti's Malware Scan you can scan a suspicious file from your computer to see what they say about it.

http://virusscan.jotti.org/

I know my wife had the IWin Games on our computer which is a download that allows you a bunch of free games. Do not put this stuff on your computer. It contains malware. The guy at SWI forums had me remove it by running the Jotti's Malware Scan because he suspected it to be suspicious. It was.

BC
 
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Paul,

When it comes to computers, I pretty much go by what PC World ranks usually as #1 on a lot of current models. That is DELL. They are very hard to beat. That's all I have in my house. I think I had 5 Dells at one time. I have 3 now.

I can tell you that Gateway is good, and so is Hewlett Packard.

If your gonna buy a Dell, do it online. They have specials every week it seems. Computers have really gotten cheap. I paid about $800 for my last Dell last year I think. You probably can buy a comparable system now for $600 or less now.
 
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Downloading the MVPS HOST file and the IE-SPYAD really seem to help as well. The IE-SPYAD puts over 5000 malicious sites in your restricted zone, so you'll be protected when you visit innocent-looking sites that aren't actually innocent at all.
 
Sigh... I remember the Old Days when PC Magazine was about computers instead of televisions and cell phones...

Altho John Dvorak did turn me onto the concept of basmati rice... Guys, trust me... Go down to your local Indian store, and buy a BIG bag. Put it in a strainer, rinse it, boil it for 7-8 minutes (you'll figure out what you like), drain, and serve.
 
Here's what Budfred said about McAfee virus scan at the SWI forums.

I have seen problems with their suite being a resource hog to the point that systems are visibly slowed down by it, so I am not that fond of the suite... I have heard that they have cleaned that up a bit in the latest version, but I am not sure how true that is... I use NOD32 (now called Eset) and the Kerio firewall, both of which seem to take very few resources... I have tried several of the major suites and would not install any of them again, unless I hear that they have dramatically cleaned them up to run well...

http://www.spywareinfoforum.com/index.php?showtopic=105995
 
The point is this, and take it for what it is worth to you and your computer. Afterall, it's your computer. ;) If you continually use the same old products that keep on missing stuff on your computer such as malware that is hard to find, it's more than likely gonna stay there for a good while unless the new updates catch it. And don't hold your breath for that happening anytime soon since if you are in fact infected by what your currently using you have to ask yourself how did it get there in the first place. But again my point is if what your currently running is missing a lot of the stuff that others will either catch or help prevent your computer from getting that crap on there in the first place, why not switch, change what your using or at least use some of the other products being offered that will only help. You really don't know for sure what is on your computer or what will eventually get on your computer unless you do some of the things that these guys have recommended to do with your security settings and downloading some of the best products that will help catch or put a stop to the bad stuff from getting on your computer in the future.

You may think your protected and you really aren't is my whole point of trying to help here with this info. Those that say they are, in reality probably more than likely don't know for sure unless they read and do some of what I provided here to do from the experts who have forgot more about computers than what we probably know.

BC
 
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You owe it to the security of your computer to at least take this test. See how secure your computer really is. Even if you don't want to do any of the rest of the stuff that was mentioned above, this test will show you the light. I myself don't have all the stuff that some of these guys recommend on my computer. But you want a good virus scan and firewall along with a good malware removal tool. I took off the Spy-Bot and AdAware because they never seemed to catch any stuff that the other stuff I had would.

Here's the Jason Levine's Browser Security Tests.

http://www.jasons-toolbox.com/BrowserSecurity/
 
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I've bee using Mac's from the early 80's and have never had problem one. I think most of the miscreants devote their time to PC's.
 
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