Ugh... My computer contracted a virus...

[ThomasKaira]

Do not worry, it has been fixed for now, but I am open to suggestions for prevention.


Symptoms: Internet Explorer would crash attempting to open a web page, and would also cause my computer to crash
           

[john_uk]

if you want to stop it contracting the virus's dont sign the contract

[ThomasKaira]

if you want to stop it contracting the virus's dont sign the contract ;D

;D :D >:(

You've got quite a cheek.

[Nick N]

NEVER EVER USE SYSTEM RESTORE TO RECOVER FROM A VIRUS. YOU JUST INFECTED YOURSELF AGAIN AND ALSO INFECTED ALL THE BACKUPS>

ALL SYSTEM RESTORE POINTS MUST BE DELETED

Wiping out and starting over was probably a smart move if you do not know how to clean a system manually. During the wipe it is critical you run a ZERO write to the hard drive. FORMATTING does not delete the data on the drive, it is still there.








I can fix for you so you can go to alll the porn sites you want and never be hacked or bugged again...

[aussiewannabe]

NOD32

Buy IT... the best protection money can buy,. hands down and never kills resources

Now there's something I need - a virus utility that doesn't kill resources. McAfee sure does a number on that

Downloading now.

[Nick N]

yes, it will reduce the overhead and not eat critical resources. It has the smallest footprint on the system to all the AV's

You must make sure the old AV has been completely uninstalled and any side services for the old AV are deleted. Norton AntiComputer installs live update and other junk too.. it must all die and go away. Sometime the AV company provides cleaning tools to make sure the application is deleted all the way. Unfortunately Norton is one that doesnt go completely away without wiping out the system or a major manual search and destroy in the registry





any other takers?



I usually get at least 2 or 3 with the 'safe porn' approach




just kidding

[aussiewannabe]

[quote] I usually get at least 2 or 3 with the 'safe porn' approach

just kidding

[Nick N]

[quote][quote] I usually get at least 2 or 3 with the 'safe porn' approach

just kidding

[aussiewannabe]

Sorry... that was just my opportunistic humor, nothing implied really

I know - that's what I like about this forum 8-)

You will be much better on NOD32, safer and working faster

Working faster? You bet! I just checked the processes running and it's now 34 (down from 44). Start-up is now 7, down from 10.

I have slayed the dragon8-)

Nick, you the man!!!

[jimdbird]

I'm running Firefox, Nod32, Spybot, and ZoneAlarm.

Should I delete ZoneAlarm, and turn on Windows Firewall, or would I need to make other adjustments, because of Firefox?

Thanks,
Jim

[Nick N]

I don

[Akula.]

I'm interested in this Nod32 antivirus. My school's had Nod32 for a while, and to be honest it left me with less-than-good impressions. It would take ages to load once windows had loaded, and we still got lots of viruses. Then again, I suppose it was running on a network of 400+ computers used by students who frequently pump them with viruses for fun.

My laptop has been running McAffee for a while now, but my license has run out and I now realise that the chances of me having a virus is extremely high, so I plan to get all critical data onto a backup disk, then purge my disk and reinstall windows. When I do this, I will also be installing new antivirus.

I've been using Avast for a while on a different PC, and so far I havnt had a single problem in months of use.

If you use anything else like Avast, AVG Norton McAfee, the odds are you may be bugged again eventually .

Is avast really likely to fail? I dont mind putting down money to Nod32, but only if it's going to provide me with the protection that Avast or AVG wont provide.

[Nick N]

School computers?


Where every virus known to man has several thousand walking sources accessing it from inside the network?

LOL

School systems are probably the most vulnerable systems out there no matter what protection is being run simply because of the nature of the environment and the people who are using them.

Kids tend to try and circumvent the network security so they can get on myspace, view porn, P2P, web email, etc. They also bring in disks with their music and files.. which can also be infected. You cant use a school as an example. Security in those environments is only as good as the network engineer who desings and monitors the system. Some are simply idiots.

[Jakemaster]

From what you've been saying I wish I could get NOD32, but unfortunately my school requires Sophos

[Akula.]

I've weighed up the odds, nick, and I think I'm going to stick with Avast for now, but only because I'm sort of broke right now. When I have a free thirty quid that isnt going to be spent on more RAM or more monitors for my system, I'll look into Nod32 again.

Hopefully Avast will keep me upright for a few months.

And I understand about my school's network being bugged over; I get the feeling I've managed to land a few of them accidentally by giving my classmates the power of getting around filters... oops  ;)