Yeah daily PC work makes it worth the $70 for sure. But once or twice a year might not be.

For some reason I don't really trust virus scanners, I use Norton 360 since it is free from Comcast but really only rely on it to block intrusions and warn me of websites that might be bad. I have to rely on my own paranoia to keep from downloading viruses I tried Malwarebytes once on a clean fresh installed xp computer and it came up with some 1000 infected files or something. I believe I got it from Cnet as well and they normally have clean reliable programs so I thought I would try it... I didn't really like it despite what I've heard.

 

Malwarebytes is a great program.. One that has been in my IT Toolbox for years.. It probably just flagged all the tracking cookies, which are not serious infections..

The only way to protect yourself is to be paranoid and suspicious of everything on the net

 

Heh, I have grown paranoid of everything on the net. I doubt it was tracking cookies though. Maybe I will try it again at some point, Norton seems to do fine though as well as allowing me to use a defragment function and it can tell me if my laptop is optimized.

 

That, and be able to rescue your stuff since hardware fails too.

If it isn't burned at slowest available speed to read-only media, it isn't "backed up" (for home purposes anyway). Redundant hard drives HELP, but they die too.

If it isn't TESTED, backup isn't trustworthy.

Prepare and learn to use live CD/DVD/USB keys to boot your PC when the installed OS will not boot. They can rescue valued files.

Collect and have HANDY all the software you need to reload a new hard drive from bare metal in case yours dies. If you buy a new PC, the first thing to do is make recovery media and store them where you can find them.

Archive all your passwords and login info. I burn those to DVD.

The Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset (MSDaRT) has .isos of live DVDs you should have available to boot from, and includes password reset tools. It's very common for users to forget their password.

I also have live Knoppix (light, fast, many tools), Ubuntu (most current drivers) and various other Linux distro media handy. Besides rescues, you can surf for information while you are working on your hosed system.

If you have a notebook without a DVD drive, make a Windows 7 installation USB key.
If the hard disk dies, you can reload the new one easily. Don't forget to download drivers, software, office software, etc and have that handy too.

A PC is like a truck. Have tools, no problem. Like trucks, PCs don't care what you want. They respond to specific actions and inputs.

I really like the FalconFour 4.5 multiboot live CD. It has tools to load it to USB too.

FalconFour’s Ultimate Boot CD/USB 4.5 « FalconFour’s Perpetual Musings

 

Dang. Late to the party....

If you have another issue, go ahead and PM me. I didn't find this thread until right now so I didn't reply before you restored your system. I could have probably talked you through cleaning this thing up.

Note that Windows 7 has a really easy way to keep these kinds of viruses from attacking your PC. That is, DO NOT USE AN ACCOUNT WITH ADMINISTRATOR RIGHTS FOR NORMAL ACTIVITY! Create a regular user Manfred, Me, Bob, or any other name that you want and use it. If you run something that needs/wants to change system programs, Windows 7 will ask you for the administrator password. If you suspect that the software is malicious, just don't provide the password and the malware can't install.


~Bass