Calling all computer geeks

[gumpokc]

i'll give hijackthis a heary second as well.

i use that, system suite 7 antivirus and firewall, adaware and spybot search and destroy.

spybot S&D now had a TSR in it that is very very good

grab a good firewal as well, as was mentioned, windows firewall is ok, zonealarm is pretty good as well, especially the paid versions.

there is also a anti-rootkit software called "blacklight" if i remember correctly. damn good, but it's a paid software after trial.
I used it about a year or so ago to clean a friends computer.

[Brother Rockeye]

if you want a comprehensive anti virus/spyware package that comes FREE-

Avast antivirus-best freeware anti out there,and better than alot of paid ones.

Spyware Terminator-does everything you need as well as preventing spyware from being installed to begin with.

Comodo firewall-simple easy to use and works VERY well.

use hiJack this regularily! to know what's runnin on your system.

remember,your protection is only as good as your last update-STAY UP TO DATE!

that 3 yr old flueshot won't help you this year...

[GoodOlBoy]

First of all Norton AV isn't the problem it is when you install the whole security suite. Symantec AV (which is the corporate version of norton) is the best av out there. AVG basically will catch about 2/3rds of the problems, the rest of the time your system crashes. I wouldn't put McAfee on my worst enemies computer.

The reason it keeps shutting down your AV is because it is either in startup or is in the system registry starting before everything else does. You CAN remove it by hand if you know your way around a registry AND know what virus/worm/trojan/malware it is. MOST antispyware programs by the way REALLY are spyware themselves. EAnthology (one of the worst spyware/malware softwares out there) Xupiter, etc etc. The best thing to do is go get ahold of a copy of Norton or Symantec AV (ONLY THE AV) and install it on another computer. Get it up to date, etc. Scan the system it is on. Then install your drive in the other system as a secondary drive and do a full scan on it. Once it is all removed put your drive back in, fire it up, and assuming it still runs afterwards install the AV on your system and update it. If that doesn't work format the system (which is by FAR the fastest and cleanest way to get the needed results anyway)

Stay away from hijack this and other 3rd party registry viewers unless you are just DYING to know what every protocol and item running is, and then you do about 10 years worth of research to find out what they are for, and by then new ones replace them, so unless you are a geek, or a professional tech (ahem) then leave it be you will sleep better at night. Remember the OLD adage when it comes to FREE anything. There ARE NO free meals. It works for every "free" software package mentioned here. There is a reason they are free they either get access lists to sell to junk mail spammers, steal passwords and account information, or just generally bombard you with pop up ad crap until you scream. Many of the "prevents it from bla bla" also prevents things from running you DO want running.

After all this get your system up to date and KEEP it up to date. I still use IE7, there is nothing wrong with Firefox for a browser. I won't say either of them is better because they BOTH have their ups and downs.



There you go.

GoodOlBoy (Professional Tech for 16+ years)

[jmarriott]

BlackIce firewall is one of the best available. It even catches brighthouse (My cable provider) scanning Ports on my router for Peer-to-peer server issues and what they deem to be Denial of service attacks. (Me trying to constantly ping my own companies servers acrossed the brighthouse network using a macro full of traceroutes and extended pings ect). I was doing this to prove that the companies Network service provider was stuffing more packets into our bandwith space than they were legally allowed to do. At 12 midnight the Bandwidth dropped 50% as they sold non-peak time to others cheaper that I was paying for 24/7 bandwidth.

Norton is what I use and other than slowing down the overall computer response times it works real well for me.

Peter Norton selling his good name to Symantec was a horrific thing as Symantec Fu**'* up every thing that company touches.

What norton is not good at is removing virus that already resides on a PC before the program is installed. Other than that it is just a slow old virus protection program. I do not use the suite of programs just the AV/SPYWARE.

[GoodOlBoy]

Right, however symantec corporate version does not affect performance like the home version does.

Also for the standard user turning on the windows firewall (in XP service pack 2 or in Vista) is usually more than enough. Make sure ALL accounts on your machine have passwords with both letters and numbers or every time you connect to the internet (even if only through dialup and only for a minute) you are in danger of an automated worm latching on to you. If nothing else use a name or word you can remember and the last four digits of a home phone, work phone, SSN etc. You are not trying to stop hard core hackers from attacking you here you are trying to prevent automated sources from latching on to your system (which is by FAR where most of the issues come from).

GoodOlBoy