Laptop

....... View attachment 71717 .........

 

I have no understanding on how to do anything with computers other then to look at the internet and run my very small business off of it. I've had one for several years and have never had a virus or had to wipe it or anything like that. I guess maybe I've been lucky or maybe I'm not hanging out where I shouldn't be? I seriously don't know.

 

Here is the thing Snowwy, and Ill leave it at this. And I mean this with all due respect, honestly.

You are the type of computer owner that IT people hate, but people like the Geeksquad love. You know just enough to get yourself in trouble, but arent techy enough to know how to fix it. If you are being rerouted to another site, thats called Malware. Its a forced redirect. Its usually caused because of something you installed/downloaded. You said it yourself, you dont have antivirus. Well no #### you dont, you keep getting viruses. no antivirus is worse than having a horrible antivirus. But hey myself and other individuals here have all said some of the same things, you should have some sort of protection. You have NONE. And yet you wander why you keep getting viruses? Why not try a little experiment? Download AVG antivirus, leave it on your laptop, make sure it updates at least once a week. Do this on a full newly wiped hard drive. I promise you it will work, if you do as some of us have suggested, you shouldn't be faced with a wipe.

I am curious though. Do you ever install updates from Microsoft? if so how often?

 

You will figure out after awhile that what snowwy says and what he does do not exactly match up.

 

you all really need to get off that kick. it's not good.

 

avg is all i ever use. but like norton and mcaffee. it's not perfect. something always slips through one of the other.

as for registry repairs. if the registy is already whacked. how is it supposed to repair??? cuz that's where crap likes to hang out.

repair programs, i did a fresh installation once. and the first thing i loaded was a repair program. didn't even bother with drivers or anything else. right off the bat. 1000's of errors.
apparently, registry repair programs know how windows is supposed to run better then windows itself.

as for backing up. simply plug my external hard drive and retrieve everything they want to save. not that hard to do. usually.

as for updates, that slows the computer down. when it takes 15 minutes before you can use the computer. i install service packs instead. all the updates bunched into one. works better that way. but what does updates have to do with anything? we're talking about viruses.

dot don't want to wait 15 minutes for my machine to boot up before he can see my logs.

yep, IT hate me. but that's none of my business.

but as for home general use. most people like mj really don't do anything with their computers other then the simple surf and what not.

me, i do a heck of a lot more. and well, viruses are just the nature of the beast. avg is what i use. but it's not perfect. like everything else.
i do much more then just surf the internet. much much more. my cell phone is one of those things.

 

So you never install the updates, you wait for service packs to come out? You do realize how utterly asinine that is? The updates fix vulnerabilities in the software. That's the point of the updates. I can't believe you actually think you know how a computer program works over the #### manufacturer. You should ALWAYS install all your drivers before you attempt any registry repairs. Installing the os doesn't create the full drivers, it just gets you functionality ask you can use the system. My good man, you haven't got a #### clue as to what your are doing. Like I said, just enough to get you into trouble, but not techy enough to know what you're doing

 

Not to start a debate, but currently, Microsoft Security Essentials is leading the pack. OTOH, Norton Antivirus became so bad that Peter Norton had to sue Symantec to get them to stop using his name on it.

Antivirus programs don't stop viruses. They simply tell you when you have one.

A registry cleaner is the surest way to screw up a Windows install, in my experience.

The registry was the biggest piece of crap to come out of Redmond. Even the Microsoft employees I know say so. The whole reason for the registry is copy protection; Bill Gates is a big proponent of it. That's why you have to install your programs from scratch when you do a rebuild of your OS.

Too bad you can't do the same with your installed applications.

Here's why the updates are important:

Someone finds a bug in Windows. Most likely, it's a programmer who discovers that a certain function call doesn't return what is expected. Microsoft fixes it, and it goes out on the next "Patch Tuesday". Bad Guy looks at the patches to see what has been fixed. He takes a look at the broken code (since there are a few million Windows machines out there that haven't been patched) to see if there's something there he can use. If so, he writes something to take advantage of that bug (called an exploit), and sets his new virus out into the wild. Others use the same exploit for their stuff. Microsoft doesn't say anything about it, since the bug has already been fixed.

Meanwhile, service packs are released what, about once a year? Meanwhile, your computer sits vulnerable to anything using this exploit.

If you're using your computer for logging, then it should already be booted.

Besides, that "15 minute" wait happens ONCE.

That's why most people should be running something like a tablet or a Chromebook. A Windows machine (or a Mac) is overkill.

 

not to argue. but Microsoft Sec Essentials is what I had when my last computer FRIED..kept saying i was protected....one morn got a msg had a virus...JUST HAD RAN A SCAN..with the HOUR my computer was history

 

if i use a computer for logging it should already be booted.

umm, no. sure fire way to fry a laptop the fastest. trucks don't have clean electricity like a house. my first laptop lasted 6 months leaving it on. some of the time. electricity in a truck is worse then a house.

that 15 minute boot up ONCE. yep, once every time i boot up.

getting myself into trouble, ummmm ok. it is what it is. and i deal with it.

remember, i use my laptop for more then just surfing and reading emails. viruses are the nature of the beast with what i do.

installing programs. they had to be installed in the first place. no one usually cares about reinstalling again. they just want the machine to work. they can handle the rest. to which they usually only have office as the only program to install. they know how to backup and import backup file. they could care less about what the kids want.

everybody has their own way of handling their own machines. nobodies way is right or wrong. some of us just simply do more then most of you. therefore, we get attacked more then most of you. no security in the world can stop it.

as for the computers i take care of, which isn't very often anymore becuase i don't have time like i used to. all they do, is surf the net. and email. nothing more. they still handle their finances through the post office.

virus software in the old days. was basically worthless, like msjamie said. they could tell you what you had. but was incapable of doing anything about most of them. so why even bother. you get whacked you were basically screwed anyways. still happens today but not as much, least with avg anyways.

nobodies way is right or wrong. and if we don't use our machines for personal information. then security really means nothing. only way your life is going to get breached, would either be the post office. or the electronic loan processing at the bank.

as for my problem. it came with the software i downloaded for my phone. so that i could unroot and return my phone to stock form. just about every available link is hacked. and unfortunately, you can't install phone software with your antivirus activated, which means turning it off.

my problem, is imbedded into the recovery software of the partition. to which avg and malware can't seem to find. i can't do a simple wipe and recover without reinstalling the malware and viruses. i'm looking at a whole new hard drive.

unless all those who insist on argueing, have a better idea to find the d--n thing. this hard drive, is screwed.