Hey Tim - Great news mate!!
We have been a little lucky to 'pick' the culprit early on in the piece, and just as lucky that it turned out to be something which was relatively easy to deal with.
Anyway, pleased to hear all is well now.
Cheers....Jim
Oh, by the way: did you manage to save your 'favourites' OK, as per my guide? Even though the list of favourites was not needed this time it's always handy to have a backup of them.
Tim! That's awesome!
Glad everything is working for you now. That's exciting news. I'm even happy to be wrong. (woo hoo!)
One thing bothers me though:
[quote="someone in an earlier post":1z1313wx]
Third...how do you connect to the Internet? You mentioned that there is no router hooked up....are just plugged directly into your DSL/Cable?
[/quote:1z1313wx]
My fear is that if you are directly connected via your DSL/Cable modem, this could happen again. If you have a firewall of any kind between you and the Internet, then all is well.
Thanks!
Tim,
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[u:2anhjn3k][b:2anhjn3k]Dave,[/b:2anhjn3k][/u:2anhjn3k]
Thank you for the donation link, have no fear, I have already been 'extolling your virtues' and actively promoting the [b:2anhjn3k]'quality service'[/b:2anhjn3k] provided by yourself and 'De Boyze' on this superb site.
One question...having already purchased AVG, are there likely to be compatibility issues with Microsoft Security Essentials etc resulting, if I was to re-install it as a secondary 'reinforcing anti-virus,' or, because it didn't identify my 'problems' previously, is it worth re-installing anyway? To expand upon this issue, in your opinion, is it worth having 'secondary, back up' software to support existing anti-virus or system efficiency products?
[u:2anhjn3k][b:2anhjn3k]Ziggie[/b:2anhjn3k][/u:2anhjn3k]
Yes, my cable modem is directly connected into my computer. I wasn't aware there was any need to safeguard at that point, although thinking about it, logic dictates it's a sensible place to 'protect.' I would appreciate some suggestions as to what type of 'Firewall' (hardware/software?)I should buy to facilitate this?
[u:2anhjn3k][b:2anhjn3k]ozbloke[/b:2anhjn3k][/u:2anhjn3k]
Thank you for taking the time to write out the 'easy to follow steps' to enable me to save my 'bookmarks/favourites' to my external hard drive as a precaution. Y'know, computing, like most things in life, is so easy when you know what to do isn't it eh? Yes, it worked a treat Jim.
Thanks again all.
Tim.
[quote="Clubofjacks":1w3eh2f6][u:1w3eh2f6][b:1w3eh2f6]Dave,[/b:1w3eh2f6][/u:1w3eh2f6]
One question...having already purchased AVG, are there likely to be compatibility issues with Microsoft Security Essentials etc resulting, if I was to re-install it as a secondary 'reinforcing anti-virus,' or, because it didn't identify my 'problems' previously, is it worth re-installing anyway? To expand upon this issue, in your opinion, is it worth having 'secondary, back up' software to support existing anti-virus or system efficiency products?[/quote:1w3eh2f6]
Tim,
I would not install AVG. You should only run one antivirus program. Microsoft Security Essentials is more than capable of handling your antivirus needs, and has shown itself (in your case) to be more capable that AVG. AVG used to be a great free product, but in the last few years their product has gone downhill in my opinion. It is less effective than many other offerings, including MSE, and the program uses too many resources.
I suspect the problem has to deal with the kids being on the internet (not that it is a bad thing). Kids are a little more likely to visit places or click things that adults wouldn't. I would keep MSE and install SuperAntispyware along with MalwareBytes. You can set MSE to do scans daily and do manual scans with SuperAntispyware and Malwarebytes weekly. That should keep you pretty clean!
[quote:1w3eh2f6][u:1w3eh2f6][b:1w3eh2f6]Ziggie[/b:1w3eh2f6][/u:1w3eh2f6]
Yes, my cable modem is directly connected into my computer. I wasn't aware there was any need to safeguard at that point, although thinking about it, logic dictates it's a sensible place to 'protect.' I would appreciate some suggestions as to what type of 'Firewall' (hardware/software?)I should buy to facilitate this?[/quote:1w3eh2f6]
I'm not Ziggie, but since I'm here I'll throw in my 2 cents...
You can look at a router as a splitter. It splits your internet connection so you can use multiple computers on the net at the same time. A side effect of this is something called NAT, or Network Address Translation. You can read more about this at - https://davescomputertips.com/articl ... rity_2.php. Most of the good routers also have an SPI firewall, or Stateful Packet Inspection. SPI forces the router to reject any communications that were not initiated by your computer.
I prefer D-link products, but Netgear and Linksys are also good brands. Here are a few examples:
D-link - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6833127091
Linksys - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6833124001
Netgear - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6833122008
If you need to have wireless access there are comparable products that offer that feature.
Hope that helps!
Awesome suggestions Dave. Any one of those would be great to use (I personally prefer linksys, but only because they're easy to hack).
For home users, I recommend a hardware firewall / router (these NAT routers are just that). For users who travel a lot with a laptop, usually a software firewall makes the most sense. The built in Windows firewall is sufficient for most users as a software firewall.
Clubofjacks - I'm a little late to the party, but it's good to see you got a handle on the problem. AVG used to be a decent anti-virus, but that was quite some time ago.
The router suggestions are really useful; give them some thought. Additionally, there's no harm in using a software firewall as well. My choice would be Online Armor Pro http://www.online-armor.com/ - OA Free also at http://www.online-armor.com/products-on I use Genie Backup Manager Home http://www.genie-soft.com/Home/Genie_Ba ... fault.aspx (Commercial - there's a 20% off sale going on now) because it's pretty easy to schedule different backups with a variety of options.
Finally - An alcove is a tough spot for a computer - hard on the CPU and the drives if there's not enough airflow to facilitate proper cooling. The max your AMD 7850 should ever hit is 73C; it really shouldn't be much over 40C if you have enough ventilation. Use SIW free version http://www.gtopala.com/ or Everest (Commercial) http://www.lavalys.com/ for system information.
hth
Thank you once again Dave, Ziggie and OldElmerFudd.
There is definitely some really good stuff to 'chew upon' in those postings. I can see me 'taking advantage' of that advice too.
It's great to be able to report that I haven't had even one episode of 'computer malfunction' since installing the protection you've advised me to use. (Long may it continue... )
As promised Dave I have sent through a small donation via PayPal. It's a small token of my gratitude for 'sorting out' my problem.
Now the real test though...could you boys give me some advice regarding my problems with 'her indoors'...
This is a superb site...(spoken in a cockney accent) [i:80ue5cmc]"Gawd bless her and all that sail in her."[/i:80ue5cmc]
Clubofjacks (Tim)
Hey Tim - Ah, she who must be obeyed...not a problem me ol' china plate, I would not tell you any porkies, just follow this simple rule.... [i:16gcuwix]always[/i:16gcuwix] do exactly as she says!!
LOL
You're correct! AVG is a very good anti-virus program. But it is not so good on ad-ware, spyware, rootkits, and other forms of malware.
To sirpaul1
I do not believe there is any one product (software company) which is effective (close to 100% that is), against all the bad stuff out there. Also believe that layered protection is part of a good foundation.
To help protect yourself, you need the following (not in any order - but only one set to be the primary, active online defense) - firewall (hardware and software), a/v and anti-malware.
Adding SpywareBlaster to assist IE and Firefox is nice touch. Having software which do not interfere with each other is very important (but often found by trial and error). Doing online and offline scan help you plug the loop holes too.
These are just my suggestions, and also just the start, Mindblower!
"For the needy, not the greedy"
I'm well aware there is not '1' cure-all. I was just commenting on AVG, not anything else. I use AVG for virus scans (it's never found anything) when my computer 'just isn't right', but because of it's sub-par performance on other malware, it's not my main AV. When I was using AVG, SAS would always find something after browsing.
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