Has your PC ever caught a virus?
- Thread starter Ian
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Twice. Once back in 2001 when somebody unwittingly sent a mass mail out with photos of their kids (so it said) as an attachment. They were not photos, it was a virus. Resulted in format: C
Second one around a year ago, I visited a place not really recommended. A virus slipped by all the protection I had in place - fresh installation.
Other than that, in around eleven or twelve years of being online with between two and four machines - nothing.
I could tick two boxes above as Antivir does detect and block a lot of viruses.
Second one around a year ago, I visited a place not really recommended. A virus slipped by all the protection I had in place - fresh installation.
Other than that, in around eleven or twelve years of being online with between two and four machines - nothing.
I could tick two boxes above as Antivir does detect and block a lot of viruses.
Abarbarian
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I've only been a pc user since 2002 and always used Avast Home free version . It has given me about 20 alerts whilst I have been surfimg which the program then stopped the nastys from getting into my machine . It has also shown up some possible nastys from downloads I have made , but some of those could have been false alarms . Touch wood I have never had a nasty infection .
I do run all the time and they do not seem to slow down the pc ,
McAfee Firewall free from AOL
Avast free anti virus
Windows Defender - free from Microsoft
SpyBot Search and Destroy free addaware
There is no reason for anyone not to have their pc protected with all the free programs about . If your pc gets infected its not the end of the world . However you may loose all your important data, pics, music etc etc . Also it will , no matter what you do or how much you know , take a few hours at least to clear the problem up . Thats every time you get infected .
I demonstrated how easy it is to get a pc infected with a friend . I built a pc for them and was going to let them find and download and install all the protection stuff themselves whilst I was there to help them along the way . The teenager I was trying to help did not want to waste time with boring stuff and just wanted to get on with more important stuff , instant messaging etc etc . The parent did not really see the value in it either as they were only going to be surfing and using good sites , not hmm cough cough dodgy sites . So they turned me offer of help down and said they would do the protection stuff later . Like I believed that . Anyways it was the lasses pc so I just shrugged me shoulders and let her carry on and sat in a different room with her mum and chatted away .
Next day I got a call saying that someting was wrong withthe pc . I went around and found that they had downloaded and installed Avast and it kept on showing virus warnings and they did not know what to do . So I showed them how to use the , remove , move to chest etc etc functions of Avast but the pc was still not right . Teenage trauma all round ensued .
Now I was on holiday and had given good advice so I was not prepared to fanny around searching and cleaning up the pc . So I said the best thing would be to do a clean install making sure that protection was in place from the start .
How would this be done and how long would it take me to do this as an important message needed to be sent , asked the teenager .
I laughed wickedly .
Won't take me any time at all I said .
Good said the teenager .
Your going to do it I said .
Me squeaked the teenager , how long will that take .
Not long I said I'll get you started and started the process for her .
Better not take long the teenager muttered .
If you get stuck I'll be in the garden with your mum I said as I closed the door .
It took as you will all know a long time . One angry teenager got angrier and worn out by the end of 4 or 5 hours . I was called for advice quite a few times and met with a angry and glum face every time I said , yes you have finished that part but now you need the updates , you have to download and install this etc etc .
Finally the job was done and messages could be senyt and recieved again .
Was the teenager happy .
Not really .
As there was a problem trying to play some anamie files .
Ahh I said you'll be needing to install some codecs and that nice player they are her in this folder , if you get stuck read the help file . I'll be next door talking to your mum .
I can't read the help file wailed the teenager .
Ahh I said you'll need to install Acrobat or this much quicker FoxitReader. Its here in this folder , I'll be next door talking to your mum.
An so it went on .
All that work setting up the pc down the drain all them programs and tweaks gone in an instant .Did I mind , not really . Do I mind all the phone calls , how do I do this that an tuther, not really .
See the teenager has a pc that works well . She also knows how to install an operating system and all the stuff that entails . She knows how to install and set up programs . Best of all she understands why its important to have up to date protection .
Like me parents always told me . There is an easy way to learn and there is a hard way to learn .
I do run all the time and they do not seem to slow down the pc ,
McAfee Firewall free from AOL
Avast free anti virus
Windows Defender - free from Microsoft
SpyBot Search and Destroy free addaware
There is no reason for anyone not to have their pc protected with all the free programs about . If your pc gets infected its not the end of the world . However you may loose all your important data, pics, music etc etc . Also it will , no matter what you do or how much you know , take a few hours at least to clear the problem up . Thats every time you get infected .
I demonstrated how easy it is to get a pc infected with a friend . I built a pc for them and was going to let them find and download and install all the protection stuff themselves whilst I was there to help them along the way . The teenager I was trying to help did not want to waste time with boring stuff and just wanted to get on with more important stuff , instant messaging etc etc . The parent did not really see the value in it either as they were only going to be surfing and using good sites , not hmm cough cough dodgy sites . So they turned me offer of help down and said they would do the protection stuff later . Like I believed that . Anyways it was the lasses pc so I just shrugged me shoulders and let her carry on and sat in a different room with her mum and chatted away .
Next day I got a call saying that someting was wrong withthe pc . I went around and found that they had downloaded and installed Avast and it kept on showing virus warnings and they did not know what to do . So I showed them how to use the , remove , move to chest etc etc functions of Avast but the pc was still not right . Teenage trauma all round ensued .
Now I was on holiday and had given good advice so I was not prepared to fanny around searching and cleaning up the pc . So I said the best thing would be to do a clean install making sure that protection was in place from the start .
How would this be done and how long would it take me to do this as an important message needed to be sent , asked the teenager .
I laughed wickedly .
Won't take me any time at all I said .
Good said the teenager .
Your going to do it I said .
Me squeaked the teenager , how long will that take .
Not long I said I'll get you started and started the process for her .
Better not take long the teenager muttered .
If you get stuck I'll be in the garden with your mum I said as I closed the door .
It took as you will all know a long time . One angry teenager got angrier and worn out by the end of 4 or 5 hours . I was called for advice quite a few times and met with a angry and glum face every time I said , yes you have finished that part but now you need the updates , you have to download and install this etc etc .
Finally the job was done and messages could be senyt and recieved again .
Was the teenager happy .
Not really .
As there was a problem trying to play some anamie files .
Ahh I said you'll be needing to install some codecs and that nice player they are her in this folder , if you get stuck read the help file . I'll be next door talking to your mum .
I can't read the help file wailed the teenager .
Ahh I said you'll need to install Acrobat or this much quicker FoxitReader. Its here in this folder , I'll be next door talking to your mum.
An so it went on .
All that work setting up the pc down the drain all them programs and tweaks gone in an instant .Did I mind , not really . Do I mind all the phone calls , how do I do this that an tuther, not really .
See the teenager has a pc that works well . She also knows how to install an operating system and all the stuff that entails . She knows how to install and set up programs . Best of all she understands why its important to have up to date protection .
Like me parents always told me . There is an easy way to learn and there is a hard way to learn .
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AVs don't help against socially engineered nasties ...
Oh, there will be some smart person voting they don't use an AV program ... must admit, I never did when using Linux.
I been caught once, not a virus, was the Blaster Worm ... was caught on its first days out, I think ... fortunately it was only the workshop PC, I quickly learnt about "shutdown -a" & got a decent Firewall installed.
Abarbarian, I have many similar stories ... I preferred teaching someone how to use their PC, helped to cut down on phone calls.
May as well add my preferences to the list I use ...
KIS (has its own anti-malware/spyware scanners & Host blacklist)
Windows defender (really is good, but then MS never invented it in the first place)
IE7 (no, really, does offer "protection" to sites, a better alternative than IE6)
Oh, there will be some smart person voting they don't use an AV program ... must admit, I never did when using Linux.
I been caught once, not a virus, was the Blaster Worm ... was caught on its first days out, I think ... fortunately it was only the workshop PC, I quickly learnt about "shutdown -a" & got a decent Firewall installed.
Abarbarian, I have many similar stories ... I preferred teaching someone how to use their PC, helped to cut down on phone calls.
May as well add my preferences to the list I use ...
KIS (has its own anti-malware/spyware scanners & Host blacklist)
Windows defender (really is good, but then MS never invented it in the first place)
IE7 (no, really, does offer "protection" to sites, a better alternative than IE6)
Abarbarian
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muckshifter said:
Abarbarian, I have many similar stories ... I preferred teaching someone how to use their PC, helped to cut down on phone calls.
I prefer teaching simply aswell .
Trouble is if the othere person does not want any teaching there is not a lot you can do .
They paid for the calls at 6p per hour thats fairly cheap but a frustrating way to pick up knowledge .
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I do not understand people not putting a virus checker on in the first place.
If your going on the net you need one and a firewall(free with windows xp).
There are alot of free virus checker on the net and 30 day version.
Download.com is a good place to started.
If your going on the net you need one and a firewall(free with windows xp).
There are alot of free virus checker on the net and 30 day version.
Download.com is a good place to started.
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Well before I started to learn virus protection, I had big problems with viruses, because I liked to download stuff, and because I didn't have a good AV (again, because I didn't know which one's good ).
Had great problems with PC Cilin ( in fact, no problems at all, my computer was getting slower and slower, I've been scanning my PC every 3 days, I have never found a virus. ) Until I had to reformat because I had xxx number of worms in the registry.
Next I had Kaspersky, then AVG. Kaspersky was unregistered version (*embarassed*) then AVG was great...but yet, I had to reformat my PC because my Hard Drive died :eek!: That was 2 mnths ago.
Then I said, Hell and the viruses!
I got Nod32, and after that...I got very few viruses, everything I download is scanned and terminated if nasty.
So, what can I say? Yes to the first question, yes to the last one.
Had great problems with PC Cilin ( in fact, no problems at all, my computer was getting slower and slower, I've been scanning my PC every 3 days, I have never found a virus. ) Until I had to reformat because I had xxx number of worms in the registry.
Next I had Kaspersky, then AVG. Kaspersky was unregistered version (*embarassed*) then AVG was great...but yet, I had to reformat my PC because my Hard Drive died :eek!: That was 2 mnths ago.
Then I said, Hell and the viruses!
I got Nod32, and after that...I got very few viruses, everything I download is scanned and terminated if nasty.
So, what can I say? Yes to the first question, yes to the last one.
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Best Freeware Av
www.free-av.com
Anti-Vir is a german based AV that is completely free with no subscription costs.
Every update will open a advertiesement (FRom AV) asking you to buy the license. There is no viagra or other ads, and you can close right away, only one, on updates.
I paid $80 (US) to license 3 computers for a year, pretty good deal i thought based on the experience i have ghad with it.
I have never got a bug since I began using it 4 years ago. I have had several "Anti_Vir heuristic found supisicous activity" and caught too many stupid IM worms beofre they infected me.
Also when you chip in the money for a license they give you email protection too!
www.free-av.com
Anti-Vir is a german based AV that is completely free with no subscription costs.
Every update will open a advertiesement (FRom AV) asking you to buy the license. There is no viagra or other ads, and you can close right away, only one, on updates.
I paid $80 (US) to license 3 computers for a year, pretty good deal i thought based on the experience i have ghad with it.
I have never got a bug since I began using it 4 years ago. I have had several "Anti_Vir heuristic found supisicous activity" and caught too many stupid IM worms beofre they infected me.
Also when you chip in the money for a license they give you email protection too!
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masterkeedu said:
I like Antivir, it is my AV software of choice, but it's fair to point out that as far as I know the free version of Avast also contains an e-mail checking function, you don't have to pay for it.
So if that's a priority Avast may be a better choice for some.
I'm not sure but I think the free version of AVG also contains an e-mail function. Perhaps an AVG user could confirm this?
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I have 12 pc in college...
And have try Freeware by this time..
regards
And have try Freeware by this time..
regards
Abarbarian
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Why am I not surprised by 76 people's ignorance, or, stupidity.
What I am a little concerned by, is, some 300 people have an AV program, yet still got caught ... I know these days a lot has to do with the nature of the Internet, and that, a lot of people want something for nothing and feel that, that is what the Internet was designed for ... a lot of people abuse the Internet, and, get their fingers burnt.
Socially Engineered nasties are all too common these days, most are easily avoided with a little commonsense, with a little bit of knowledge, in the mix, it should be even easier to avoid them.
What I am a little concerned by, is, some 300 people have an AV program, yet still got caught ... I know these days a lot has to do with the nature of the Internet, and that, a lot of people want something for nothing and feel that, that is what the Internet was designed for ... a lot of people abuse the Internet, and, get their fingers burnt.
Socially Engineered nasties are all too common these days, most are easily avoided with a little commonsense, with a little bit of knowledge, in the mix, it should be even easier to avoid them.
Captain Jack Sparrow
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It won't let me vote in poll, it gives me
Fatal error: Maximum execution time of 60 seconds exceeded in C:\Inetpub\vhosts\pcreview.co.uk\httpdocs\forums\includes\db_mysql.php on line 212
So I'll have to post it. Yes it has caught a virus even with Mcafee because MCafee can't stop dust. The poor laptop went mad and started doing random Stop 0x00000008 BSODs and I had to put a stop to it by renstalling Windows XP Pro.
Fatal error: Maximum execution time of 60 seconds exceeded in C:\Inetpub\vhosts\pcreview.co.uk\httpdocs\forums\includes\db_mysql.php on line 212
So I'll have to post it. Yes it has caught a virus even with Mcafee because MCafee can't stop dust. The poor laptop went mad and started doing random Stop 0x00000008 BSODs and I had to put a stop to it by renstalling Windows XP Pro.
Captain Jack Sparrow
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Works now, thanks.