NationStates Jolt Archive

Okay, here's the thing. I work on a Mac at home so I have no need of any virus or adware protection. At work I work on a PC but it sits behind about $200,000 worth of hardware firewall and other security measures. Here's the problem. I know this girl who has a PC at home and she likes to browse porn a lot. She tells me that her comp is now running really slow and that she gets kicked off line all the time. Now, I can diagnose her first problem, that being she connects through MSN to get to AOL, but I am also sure she is loaded down with adware and spyware and viruses and all manner of ill beasts. Now, I've treid cleaning other people's comps with some of the free stuff our there like Ad Aware and such but they just never seem to be able to get it all. What I'd like to know is what is the best cleaning program out there for PCs either free or bought? Since I never have these problems on my comps it's an aria I am not all that familiar with.

Thanks! :p

Microsoft has a program for free, I believe. It should come with Windows, but maybe she has an old version. It's probably on their website, and it's one of the best, if not the best, virusscan programs out there.

Hvae you tried Spybot Search And Destroy? Its free and a very good program. Sorted my compouter out. Otherwise get McAffee (sp).

I don't know about what the best is, but I've had zero problems with adware, viruses and such on my computer, so I'll tell you what I use. Norton Antivirus Corporate, ZoneAlarm firewall (free version), Adaware (free version), Spysweeper, and occasionally SpyBot. I'm sure someone else will be able to give you some better recommendations though. :p

McAfee has been working out okay for me.

Thanks for all the suggestions. Some I've tried. I'll try the others. :)

Firefox and to look before clicking on porn links, specially if they require you to download an executable or special driver. There's enough free, clean, and reputable porn to go around without the need for antivirus and firewalls.

Norton Antivirus plus Firefox on my home PC keeps me pretty clean.

Make her do adware scans every week as well, some always slips through but I check every few days and usually get rid of it (basic stuff I know but by the sounds of it she NEEDS the basics).

It might be easier, at this point, to go ahead and reformat the thing and start with a fresh slate. Then make sure you install the various protections and firewalls before she starts surfing again. It's a bitch of a job, but it might be easier than chasing down registries to make sure you're rid of everything.

It might be easier, at this point, to go ahead and reformat the thing and start with a fresh slate. Then make sure you install the various protections and firewalls before she starts surfing again. It's a bitch of a job, but it might be easier than chasing down registries to make sure you're rid of everything.

Yeah, that I can do, but I was trying to avoid that because she has missing disks, etc...

She likes surfing porn so I want to keep her happy! :)

Yeah, that I can do, but I was trying to avoid that because she has missing disks, etc...

She likes surfing porn so I want to keep her happy! :)

I don't blame you one bit. ;)

First run Windows Update and ensure all the security updates have been installed.

Assuming they have anti-virus, do the same and ensure its up to date. If the they don't download AVG anti-virus, install, update and full scan.

Download Windows Defender from Microsoft, and do a full scan removing EVERYTHING it flags up, including peer to peer programs, screensavers, whatever it flags, delete, It won't kill anything important.

Download AdAware and run, remove all instances you don't actually know are safe. If in doubt delete.

Download SpyBot SnD and run, it will catch that which Win Defender misses.


Download HijackThis, close all browser windows and run it. I don't know how IT literate you are with non-mac's but what you need to is go through the log it produces and check each instance to see what it is. This may take a while and it's not for novices, some help for you, check out .exe and BHO's first, they are your most likely culprits. Google each instance of an .ese or BHO and they will normally show straight away as malware or safe. Alternatively post the log in the www.experts-exchange.com forum in their Hijack log section and someone will kindly do it for you usually within a couple of hours.

For worst case scenario download RootKit Revealer from sysinternals.com and run that. It will find rootkits operating below the AV/Anti spyware scan range.

Goto Mozilla.org and download Firefox, import Favourites from IE (File, Import) and set this as default browser for general use.

Download Browzar from browzar.com and put it on the desktop Aand ONLY use this browser for dodgy (that is porn, wares, etc) sites. It's new doesn't have any History, cookie, Active-X etc components and is anonymous.

Go to the desktop and delete the IE icon, then delete it from the Program Files list (by right clicking and Delete) then tell her never to use it again. No IE use equals a lot less problems.

Lastly ask her to NEVER download the following:

Screensavers - the biggest infection carriers on the net.
Smiley Add-ons or other crap for email.
Toolbars, except from very well known companies google and yahoo spring to mind.
Handy desktop crap that claims to enhance surfin experience, increase loading speed, brighten your washing or whatever. They are mostly rubbish and malware, avoid them all.
Anti-spyware solutions - the amount of fake ones is frightening (check here for info - http://spywarewarrior.com/)

If she does want things like this goto:

www.webattack.com
www.download.com

and other reputable download sites to get them.


I have cleaned hundreds of PCs over the last 10 years or so, and malware can be a total nightmare to remove. If all this fails you may need to do these operations in safe mode(from the boot menu) and turn off system restore but hopefully that won't be necessary. If thats the case goto experts-exchange or similiar and read up on safe mode/sys restore cleaning as it needs to be done correctly.

Hope that all helped a bit :)

First run Windows Update and ensure all the security updates have been installed.

Assuming they have anti-virus, do the same and ensure its up to date. If the they don't download AVG anti-virus, install, update and full scan.

Download Windows Defender from Microsoft, and do a full scan removing EVERYTHING it flags up, including peer to peer programs, screensavers, whatever it flags, delete, It won't kill anything important.

Download AdAware and run, remove all instances you don't actually know are safe. If in doubt delete.

Download SpyBot SnD and run, it will catch that which Win Defender misses.


Download HijackThis, close all browser windows and run it. I don't know how IT literate you are with non-mac's but what you need to is go through the log it produces and check each instance to see what it is. This may take a while and it's not for novices, some help for you, check out .exe and BHO's first, they are your most likely culprits. Google each instance of an .ese or BHO and they will normally show straight away as malware or safe. Alternatively post the log in the www.experts-exchange.com forum in their Hijack log section and someone will kindly do it for you usually within a couple of hours.

For worst case scenario download RootKit Revealer from sysinternals.com and run that. It will find rootkits operating below the AV/Anti spyware scan range.

Goto Mozilla.org and download Firefox, import Favourites from IE (File, Import) and set this as default browser for general use.

Download Browzar from browzar.com and put it on the desktop Aand ONLY use this browser for dodgy (that is porn, wares, etc) sites. It's new doesn't have any History, cookie, Active-X etc components and is anonymous.

Go to the desktop and delete the IE icon, then delete it from the Program Files list (by right clicking and Delete) then tell her never to use it again. No IE use equals a lot less problems.

Lastly ask her to NEVER download the following:

Screensavers - the biggest infection carriers on the net.
Smiley Add-ons or other crap for email.
Toolbars, except from very well known companies google and yahoo spring to mind.
Handy desktop crap that claims to enhance surfin experience, increase loading speed, brighten your washing or whatever. They are mostly rubbish and malware, avoid them all.
Anti-spyware solutions - the amount of fake ones is frightening (check here for info - http://spywarewarrior.com/)

If she does want things like this goto:

www.webattack.com
www.download.com

and other reputable download sites to get them.


I have cleaned hundreds of PCs over the last 10 years or so, and malware can be a total nightmare to remove. If all this fails you may need to do these operations in safe mode(from the boot menu) and turn off system restore but hopefully that won't be necessary. If thats the case goto experts-exchange or similiar and read up on safe mode/sys restore cleaning as it needs to be done correctly.

Hope that all helped a bit :)

Beautiful. I'm don't speak DOS but I am pretty familiar with PCs, just not outside of a very safe environment. I'll just print this and do it from top to bottom.

Beautiful. I'm don't speak DOS but I am pretty familiar with PCs, just not outside of a very safe environment. I'll just print this and do it from top to bottom.
Perfect list right there!

You might want to run Spybot Search and Destroy, as well as Ad-Aware SE Personal, in Windows' safemode from the start.

And go get a copy of Spywareblaster, too. That reduces the number of instances spy/malware gets installed to begin with.

Once she has Firefox tell her to get Adblock and NoScript. I'd suggest IETab also for websites that don't play nice with Firefox, but probably best not to tempt her.


Also, holy fuck a woman that looks at porn?!

I use AVG Free antivirus (if they dont already have a virus scanner)/Spybot/Adaware on clients PC's when I am helping them with their spyware, adware and virus issues

if those dont work you can download HiJack This and post the log to a number of forums where folks will tell you what to do with that data.

Once she has Firefox tell her to get Adblock and NoScript. I'd suggest IETab also for websites that don't play nice with Firefox, but probably best not to tempt her.


Also, holy fuck a woman that looks at porn?!

She's freakin' hot, too. She's a bartender but does physical training on teh side and has the body to prove it.

Plus, I think the whole, "can you fix my computer" thing is just a pretext. She's actually mentioned other friends that she has taht can do it for her but she still wants me to come over to her house and do it and I've only known here for a couple weeks. :D

She's freakin' hot, too. She's a bartender but does physical training on teh side and has the body to prove it.

Plus, I think the whole, "can you fix my computer" thing is just a pretext. She's actually mentioned other friends that she has taht can do it for her but she still wants me to come over to her house and do it and I've only known here for a couple weeks. :D

Remember, it's all fun and games til baby makes three. Tarp your load.

I'd recommend getting the most recent version of IE along with Firefox, if only for backup. See, every so often a virus comes along for Firefox, and it messes everything up worse than you can get with IE, because it hasn't had the trial by fire that IE has. Plus, if Firefox ever gets as prevalent as IE is now, the people who write viruses will start writing them for Firefox. Prepare for the worst, you'll never be disappointed.

Okay, here's the thing. I work on a Mac at home so I have no need of any virus or adware protection. At work I work on a PC but it sits behind about $200,000 worth of hardware firewall and other security measures. Here's the problem. I know this girl who has a PC at home and she likes to browse porn a lot. She tells me that her comp is now running really slow and that she gets kicked off line all the time. Now, I can diagnose her first problem, that being she connects through MSN to get to AOL, but I am also sure she is loaded down with adware and spyware and viruses and all manner of ill beasts. Now, I've treid cleaning other people's comps with some of the free stuff our there like Ad Aware and such but they just never seem to be able to get it all. What I'd like to know is what is the best cleaning program out there for PCs either free or bought? Since I never have these problems on my comps it's an aria I am not all that familiar with.

Thanks! :p

Linux;)

Linux;)

No, see, his friend wants a computer that runs programs.

Okay, here's the thing. I work on a Mac at home so I have no need of any virus or adware protection. At work I work on a PC but it sits behind about $200,000 worth of hardware firewall and other security measures. Here's the problem. I know this girl who has a PC at home and she likes to browse porn a lot. She tells me that her comp is now running really slow and that she gets kicked off line all the time. Now, I can diagnose her first problem, that being she connects through MSN to get to AOL, but I am also sure she is loaded down with adware and spyware and viruses and all manner of ill beasts. Now, I've treid cleaning other people's comps with some of the free stuff our there like Ad Aware and such but they just never seem to be able to get it all. What I'd like to know is what is the best cleaning program out there for PCs either free or bought? Since I never have these problems on my comps it's an aria I am not all that familiar with.

Thanks! :p

Two words: RoadRunner Lite.

Linux;)

If she can't clean her own PC, what makes you think she's gonna learn any *ix soon?

If she can't clean her own PC, what makes you think she's gonna learn any *ix soon?

That's what the ;) was for, but it really looks and acts the same unless you don't want it to.

That's what the ;) was for, but it really looks and acts the same unless you don't want it to.

Yes, I know. I run my server on Redhat, but people like her find it hard to go from OS to OS.

I work on a Mac at home so I have no need of any virus or adware protection.


:headbang:

Obscurity is not security. Several factors will contribute to very quickly bursting the "no viruses!" bubble:


Mac OS X is unix based

I have F-Prot running on all the linux (also unix based) machines I have access to. F-Prot is an antivirus suite specifically for unix systems. The list of viruses that it can detect is hundreds of thousands of entries long Yes, the design and architecture of unix systems makes viruses, and associated damage and such, much less of a threat. But the threat is not gone.
(edit: in fact, displaying the virus list itself [f-prot -virlist] reveals that F-Prot can detect 605 specific unix viruses and trojans, followed by another possible 15,750 via generic indentification processes. Plus, there are many more viruses and trojans listed that affect things like unix shells, Java, PHP, PalmOS, and other things one might use on/with one's Mac. Finally, F-Prot also detects a whole slew of windows viruses, as one may still indeed assist in spreading viruses even if not directly affected by them. Especially internet worms.)

The switch to Intel hardware

Rewriting and porting viruses that plague the windows intel world over to the Mac intel world is childs play

Increasingly popular multi-platform web software

Exploiting security problems in software like Mozilla (and Firefox, Thunderbird e-mail client, etc) is especially advantageous exactly because such software is run on multiple platforms. Worms, trojan horses, direct exploitation of software bugs and flaws; all of these are a threat.

Also, holy fuck a woman that looks at porn?!

Rather, a woman that admits to it?

:headbang:

Obscurity is not security. Several factors will contribute to very quickly bursting the "no viruses!" bubble:


Mac OS X is unix based

I have F-Prot running on all the linux (also unix based) machines I have access to. F-Prot is an antivirus suite specifically for unix systems. The list of viruses that it can detect is many hundreds, if not thousands, of entries long. Yes, the design and architecture of unix systems makes viruses, and associated damage and such, much less of a threat. But the threat is not gone.

The switch to Intel hardware

Rewriting and porting viruses that plague the windows intel world over to the Mac intel world is childs play

Increasingly popular multi-platform web software

Exploiting security problems in software like Mozilla (and Firefox, Thunderbird e-mail client, etc) is not especially advantageous exactly because such software is run on multiple platforms.



Yes. You're right! By golly!

See I know a little Unix and some DOS and I work all day on a Mac and PC (PC for office stuff, Mac for digitizing my dailies) I also used to have a server that I ran my website on that ran on Redhat. They are all vulnerable to viruses. :) I learned that first hand on my server and, though I haven't had any problems on my PC every person that I know who has one has. Never learned that lesson on my Mac, though.

Okay, now for the facts. Not one single time in my life ever have I ever been infected with a virus on my Mac. Not since it was called an Apple II+ and had 64k of RAM. This even though I am on the internet all the time, am somewhat reckless with email (I don't download attachments but I open a lot of emails) and, as I said earlier, was running a server that got hacked often. Not only that, but I did a bit of light Mac tech support in college from time to time and a few of my friends who have Macs call me for help when they have problems. Again, not one single time ever have I come across a Mac that was infected by a virus.. or adware or spyware for that matter. Does it happen? I'm sure it does. But the FACT of the matter is that if you have a PC and you are on the internet you WILL get infected. Period. Fast. In one week out of the box. If you have a Mac, at least for now, throw any old virus program on it and forget about it. the overwhelming odds are that you will not have any problems and, even if there is a virus out there, Mac's OS is open source so the fixes and patches come right on the heels of the vulnerabilities so, as long as you leave your software update on to run automatically, chances are you'll never even know about it.

Yes. You're right! By golly!

See I know a little Unix and some DOS and I work all day on a Mac and PC (PC for office stuff, Mac for digitizing my dailies) I also used to have a server that I ran my website on that ran on Redhat. They are all vulnerable to viruses. :) I learned that first hand on my server and, though I haven't had any problems on my PC every person that I know who has one has. Never learned that lesson on my Mac, though.

Okay, now for the facts. Not one single time in my life ever have I ever been infected with a virus on my Mac. Not since it was called an Apple II+ and had 64k of RAM. This even though I am on the internet all the time, am somewhat reckless with email (I don't download attachments but I open a lot of emails) and, as I said earlier, was running a server that got hacked often. Not only that, but I did a bit of light Mac tech support in college from time to time and a few of my friends who have Macs call me for help when they have problems. Again, not one single time ever have I come across a Mac that was infected by a virus.. or adware or spyware for that matter. Does it happen? I'm sure it does. But the FACT of the matter is that if you have a PC and you are on the internet you WILL get infected. Period. Fast. In one week out of the box. If you have a Mac, at least for now, throw any old virus program on it and forget about it. the overwhelming odds are that you will not have any problems and, even if there is a virus out there, Mac's OS is open source so the fixes and patches come right on the heels of the vulnerabilities so, as long as you leave your software update on to run automatically, chances are you'll never even know about it.

I've never gotten infected with a virus on a PC that I've noticed in over 10 years of using them. The only reason that Macs have the aura of invincibility around them is that so few people use them that there's not reason to make viruses. Do you recall the virus a few years back that completely ravaged Macs? It messed with them horribly. Macs are no better at dealing with viruses than PCs. In fact, they're worse. The viruses that inflict PCs today are extremely well made. They're better made than some software. They have to be good, because PCs have an absolutely brutal virus protection system.

Again, not one single time ever have I come across a Mac that was infected by a virus.. or adware or spyware for that matter.


Ok. But I get the feeling that the vast majority of this experience comes from a time when Macs were running an operating system even more obscure than *nix. Such is no longer the case, and, if Macs become as popular as Apple apparently wants them to be, it will only get worse.


But the FACT of the matter is that if you have a PC and you are on the internet you WILL get infected. Period. Fast. In one week out of the box.


False. Not once have I ever had a Windows machine with a virus infection. But that's exactly because I'm a paranoid bastard who knows that a machine is never secure enough. :)

I've never gotten infected with a virus on a PC that I've noticed in over 10 years of using them.
Same here. Of course, I'm very careful about doing everything in my power to prevent that from happening, but still.

Ok. But I get the feeling that the vast majority of this experience comes from a time when Macs were running an operating system even more obscure than *nix. Such is no longer the case, and, if Macs become as popular as Apple apparently wants them to be, it will only get worse.But I'm an early adopter. I order their operating systems before they come out. I've ran the Beta of OSX, in fact. It's been what, six years now? Seven? Never a virus or malware of anykind. I know it happens and I know with the Intel switch and the ability to run Windows that Mac may be leaving that level of security behind soon, but I still trust them as a company more than Windows and, at least for teh time being, it still is a much more carefree system. I don't think there's any argument about that and, as I said, I'm not just some guy sitting at home on my Mac. I use multiple platforms and my life is surrounded by computers.



False. Not once have I ever had a Windows machine with a virus infection. But that's exactly because I'm a paranoid bastard who knows that a machine is never secure enough. :)

but you answered your own question as to why. You know as well as I do that most people have problems all the time and, if they don't, it's because they have all these security routines that they run constantly.

...but I still trust them as a company more than Windows and, at least for teh time being, it still is a much more carefree system.


Of course, I would take any *nix based system over Windows exactly because the *nix architecture if far more robust against attacks and such. But...


You know as well as I do that most people have problems all the time and, if they don't, it's because they have all these security routines that they run constantly.

...I would prefer that people get into the habit of properly administrating and maintaining their systems, rather than relying on obscurity and persisting in poor habits. PCs are not more vulnerable than Macs. Macs are not more secure. Users are just idiots. I would prefer they not be idiots. Not only for their security, but for my own as well.

Easy. Buy a computer from me (I promise you'll get it), And I will evenually program you a custom OS.

Once she has Firefox tell her to get Adblock and NoScript. I'd suggest IETab also for websites that don't play nice with Firefox, but probably best not to tempt her.


Also, holy fuck a woman that looks at porn?!

Firefox, NoScript, Spybot S&D, PC-cillin, and Spysweeper is incinvible.

But the FACT of the matter is that if you have a PC and you are on the internet you WILL get infected. Period. Fast.
Meh. I've been using PCs for about 18 years now and I have never used an antivirus or firewall and I have never EVER gotten a virus, even though I spend several hours a day browsing the internet, downloading stuff, watching porn and reading email.

Sure, I watch where I click, I'm cautious with what I download and where I download it from, I keep a careful watch on the stuff that's running in my computer, I keep the OS and apps updated. It sounds like a lot, but most of it is good computing habits and the rest doesn't take more than a couple of minutes each day.

Meh. I've been using PCs for about 18 years now and I have never used an antivirus or firewall and I have never EVER gotten a virus, even though I spend several hours a day browsing the internet, downloading stuff, watching porn and reading email.

Sure, I watch where I click, I'm cautious with what I download and where I download it from, I keep a careful watch on the stuff that's running in my computer, I keep the OS and apps updated. It sounds like a lot, but most of it is good computing habits and the rest doesn't take more than a couple of minutes each day.
See, I have the opposite problem. I'll go 4 weeks without using Windows, which means a re-install. Before I get my wireless drivers gong, it starts running like crap. I mean apps take forever to load, you need to restart because the idiots think that everything that should be run in kernel land, and most drivers aren't a part of the kernel.

At least it boots quickly.

See, I have the opposite problem. I'll go 4 weeks without using Windows, which means a re-install. Before I get my wireless drivers gong, it starts running like crap. I mean apps take forever to load, you need to restart because the idiots think that everything that should be run in kernel land, and most drivers aren't a part of the kernel.


That's never happened to me. And I'm a guy who makes a copy of a freshly installed partition. That beats reinstalling hands down.

That's never happened to me. And I'm a guy who makes a copy of a freshly installed partition. That beats reinstalling hands down.
I have nothing to copy the image to.

I have nothing to copy the image to.

Oh, noes! :(

Oh, noes! :(
And it is low priority. Like I said, once a month. Besides, I need new RAM and a slick RAID setup too.

And it is low priority. Like I said, once a month. Besides, I need new RAM and a slick RAID setup too.

Get a good RAID controller, not one of those cheap ones that only let you set up 0+1.

Get a good RAID controller, not one of those cheap ones that only let you set up 0+1.

You think they wouldn't be able to market one without 0,1,5,10,01,JBODand 3.14

You think they wouldn't be able to market one without 0,1,5,10,01,JBODand 3.14

You never know.

Ewido AntiSpyware (http://free.grisoft.com) from Grisoft is the best AntiSpyware I have come across so far.

Hijack This and Brute Force Uninstaller (http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/programs.php) are also excellent programs.

I am a tech support specialist with a major telecommunications company and a good part of my day is spent rescuing people from spyware and viruses.

I use the above programs on a daily basis.