Computer WAS running slow as hell... free online programs are the "bizzness"
 

The wife somehow managed to infect the shit out of our computer while I was gone, and I looked at all the latest Norton/Mcafee crap... $100, fuck that. I'd used free online anti-Virus shit before, but checked out CNET to see what their recommendations were. Here's what I downloaded.

Super Anti-Spyware Free Edition
Avast Anti-Virus
Free RAMXP Pro
Advanced System Care Free
*add* Malwarebytes

You wouldn't believe the amount of shit these things uncovered. The Anti-Virus found 4 fucking trojans, and the System Care found 2300 things to correct in the registry. There were more too. My computer is running like greased lightning now. All these programs work in the background with minimal memory and just do their thing. I've got the security setting in Explorer on "medium" and the Windows Firewall "on". Any downsides to using this free shit... I set all of them to "auto-update" and I'm pretty good about being a lemming and installing updates when the little icons in the lower right of the desktop tell me to for all my programs.

now run malwarebytes.

^ This... They use that program here at work when a virus gets through Norton.

^Downloaded and performed QUICK Scan. It found 7 more things from a nasty adware program called Gamevance in the registry, plus a trojan in the registry, and another trojan in "program files". Nice recomendation. I'm going to run the Full Scan when I leave for lunch.

Super anti spyware, malwarebytes, and avg free will remove pretty much everything I have ever run into. Just install, turn off system recovery, and reboot into safe mode (see navy commercial for instructions on how to do that).

My wife picked up a nasty virus a few days ago on her lap top. AVG free took quick care of that.
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How does malwarebytes stack up the something like Adaware?

Tell em to lay off the porn :giggle:

qfmft, especially the safe mode part :D

Lots of wives grinding one out while the men are away. :laugh:

Frank

Avast and System Care are fantastic. Been using them for years. I'll now be looking at the other stuff suggested here like malwarebytes.

Hope the tour went well Sam! Good to have you back.

Its better, adaware dropped the ball years ago when spyware began becoming synonymous with viruses. New spyware/viruses can stop software made to remove it from running, and can reinstall itself by burying itself like a rootkit. Adaware is no longer relevant IMO.

Ugh...please don't turn this into some gay linux V others thing. I cant install Steam or play BC2 in linux, so eat my shorts.

Hehe, don't worry, I'm not one of *those* types. Linux sucks ass for gaming. Plain and simple. But for surfing the web and most basic computing virus free? WIN.

I'll have to try it then. I've been using Adaware since way back in the day, haven't really looked into that kind of software. I rarely get much junk on my computer because I keep my security settings pretty tight. I bet there are a lot of registry errors though. I'll try it when I get home.

Plus, I like a good fresh install every now and then. Every 2 years at LEAST.

This old ass laptop could use a freshening. It's embarrassingly slow..

Thanks for the thread Sam, I'm going to try this when I get home tonight.

I'm gonna try it as well when I get home, I'm an idiot when it comes to comes to computers.

I too use Malwarebytes and AVGFree. I also run Zonealarm instead of Windows Firewall. Doesn't stop everything, but still better than the standard Windows Firewall, and it's free also. The two best things it does is close down unused ports, and allow you to explicitly specify allowed/disallowed programs (as long as it's running).

The absolute best security system, however, is a conservative mouse-clicking finger.

I will add to this...I work on a lot of pc's on the side and the main thing I see is norton (expired) and programs like bearshare etc. Lately I have seen a lot of pop ups for fake antivirus programs which usually means trojans and virus.

AVG+Malwarebytes for security.
ccleaner and auslogics disk defragmenter for clean/speed.

Here is a link to get you to a lot of good programs 61 Free Apps We're Most Thankful For - Thanksgiving - Lifehacker

Yeah, it was a lot easier back when I was a tech. Viruses came on floppies, and what was a trojan? :laugh:

So i downloaded all the software that samnavy recomended and none of them are free! the do the scan and then you have to buy it to clean it up? WTF now my computer is even slower cause i got all these programs running...What do i do?

Here are the links to download directly from CNET so you know they're legit. The reason you're being asked to pay is because you're not downloading the "Free" version. Almost all of these programs also have a "deluxe" or "expert" version for sale that has a few more bells&whistles than the Free one, and if you found these sites through a Google search, you undoubtedly went to a website selling the "executive" downloads.

Uninstall the programs you already downloaded, and use the links below for the Free versions. You'll see that almost all of these have literally millions of downloads each... AVG has NO SHIT 270,000,000 downloads. Apparently some of us need to get on the internet more.

MALWAREBYTES
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET Download.com
**When this one is done scanning, the button to CLEAN/DELETE is on the left-side of the screen at the bottom. On the right side at the bottom, there is a "PURCHASE" button, pretty sneaky on the screen design... many people probably assume they need to buy it, just look on the other side of the screen.**

FREE RAM XP PRO
FreeRAM XP Pro - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET Download.com

SUPER ANTISPYWARE FREE EDITION
SuperAntiSpyware Free Edition - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET Download.com

AVAST
Avast Free Antivirus - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET Download.com

ADVANCED SYSTEM CARE
Advanced SystemCare Free - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET Download.com

AVG
AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET Download.com

ZONEALARM
ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite 2010 - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET Download.com

Malware bytes and advanced system care found some stuff, I had been using AVG forever, thanks for the great post. I always wondered if i should get something else.

Ran malwarebytes earlier and it only found 3 minor registry bugs, then again my Windows 7 install is only about 2 weeks old.

I wanted to live on the wild side so after I removed the bloated version of the latest AVG free, I installed Microsoft Security Essentials and haven't had any problems and I do visit some questionable websites.

I was an AVG guy for a few years but now run Avast on a my wife and kid's machines.

Frank

I did the same thing; it's heaps quicker on my fairly crap spec laptop.

I'm not gonna lie, windows 7 is win.

Also for people who actually want to buy it, you can save 100$ if you download an illegal copy, then purchase it through the "Make my windows genuine" thing.

Ran Malwarebytes with no problems detected. Although I'm fairly careful about my computer activities.

I've run malwarebytes for some time, but which one mentioned (or is there a better one that hasn't been mentioned) for cleaning up old registry values and stuff that is slowing down my boot up?

Thanks.

If you've got "something" on the PC already you are fucked. Plain and simple the only real fix is fdisk, format, install.

Any time rogue code executes on your machine you are most likely fucked. Unless your user is not running with admin privledges on the machine and you are running NTFS that is locked down very well, there is no fixing what has happened. Of course unless you are prepared to run something like hijack this to give a report and doing all the detective work yourself.

Imagine this. You execute some code, you've double clicked on something or a hole in IE or in the OS itself has allowed code to be executed as administrator. That bit of code appears to do nothing, or runs some fancy greeting card thing you go through email. First thing it will do is kill your AV/Adware/Zonealarm. Then it'll patch a legit service or steamed in commands to a legit service that was sloppily coded. Next this little bit of code will open up a call back service that will contact an ircbot somewhere and the next thing you know your machine is now a zombie. Or worse it quietly logs your key strokes and sends them off somewhere to be harvested.

Bottom line. Once you run the code as admin (or equiv) you are already fucked.

Why is Linux or Mac OS more secure? Very few things run with system (admin) privileges. Look at your windows box, what does pretty much every service run as? SYSTEM.

Security is multi-faceted. AV is ok, but it can only scan what it already knows about. Keep your machine patched, again this usually only fixes known security issues. Run a Stateful Firewall (aka Windows Firewall) on your machine. Run your home network behind a router (OpenBSD with PF rocks) which is setup to NAT on the inside. Make sure you are only running with the privledges you NEED, shut down services you aren't using, close ports that aren't needed. Minimize your exposed surface area and don't do stupid shit.

Anyone who thinks they are ok because they are running AV Product X and have automatic updates configured are kidding themselves. It's like counting on that condom you've had in your wallet since you were 15.

Rant off.

Advanced System Care. Also has a bunch of other features to use. Great program.