FabSwingers.com forum: How do you keep your PC or laptop safe ?

By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

My laptop is year old and Norton run out I was updating and think I may have got a virus not sure .. but still after updating running slow so a friend said about this free site spy thing that scan your files I had over 60 when I run it all sorts and Norton never picked up on them and its running better ? weird ? as you can tell not to good at all this .So how do you look after yours ?

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

go to eset.com they have very good online scanner

i use avast free version and have only had 2 viruses in 5 years

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

oh and defrag hdd as that will slow a laptop or pc down very quickly

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By *lackshadow7Man
over a year ago

Toronto

Use avast as your anti virus. In the same timeframe as the above poster, i've not had a single virus.

Also have Superantispyware running on your PC.

If you need to search for infections already on your PC, then download Malwarebytes AntiMalware and run that.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

As with all anti virus on the market you still have ensure you run updates to keep what ever anti virus software yiu have up to date

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"My laptop is year old and Norton run out I was updating and think I may have got a virus not sure .. but still after updating running slow so a friend said about this free site spy thing that scan your files I had over 60 when I run it all sorts and Norton never picked up on them and its running better ? weird ? as you can tell not to good at all this .So how do you look after yours ?"
. Avg antivirus it's free and never had a virus....also your broadband provider may have a free one.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

I wouldn't give Norton the time of day to be honest. It drags the guts out of your PC.

If your thinking of upgrading, I'd either choose Avast internet security, or Kaspersky Internet Security. Both products are antivirus and firewall.

You could even use Windows' built in firewall and Windows Defender - it's part of the Windows package - anything is better than nothing at all.

Spybot is a free spy/malware killer and it works very well too ....

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

zonealarm and firewall

free

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Go for eset used for about 6 years now and never had any probs,

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

I run AVG, the free version. Have been using it for over 10 years and never had a problem. I set it to run every night at a certain time and use the clean up and defrag programmes already on my windows set up about once a month (or if it starts to run slow)

Just google search avg free or grisoft (the company who make it)

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

oh and i am a computer engineer by trade

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By *teveanddebsCouple
over a year ago

Norwich

Get rid of Norton asap, it will slow your computer down to a virtual standstill.

Avast or AVG are the way to go.

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

"Get rid of Norton asap, it will slow your computer down to a virtual standstill.

Avast or AVG are the way to go."
its running slow ... your right , x

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

What vires are the worst we can get ? I have done a scan picked up one or two not seen before ?

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By *wingerdelightCouple
over a year ago

eastliegh

yes norton is a system hog and expensive,microsoft security essentials is free and made by the people thatmake windows so they ought to know what they are doing, we use it on 3 pc,s and have never had a problem, also ccleaner is a must, it cleans out all the crap left over from surfing, my lappy is 4 years old and still runs faster than most new ones., pm if your stuck

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"Get rid of Norton asap, it will slow your computer down to a virtual standstill.

Avast or AVG are the way to go."

Damn, I've just paid for another year of it too! just bought a tablet and they sold me the Norton Mobile, am I better off not installing it then?

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

NOD32 from eset.co.uk and a good, free firewall and you should be fine.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"What vires are the worst we can get ? I have done a scan picked up one or two not seen before ?"

Trojans and Worms are the nastiest that I've come across..... Basically anything that my AVG picks up, I get rid of.....

Oh and clean out your temp internet files and cookies regularly....

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By *wingerdelightCouple
over a year ago

eastliegh

the biggest thing that slows down computers is the programs that load when you start up, things like i tunes etc, they all take a little bit of power, but most arent often used, disable auto start up, and if you want to run them you still can

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

"What vires are the worst we can get ? I have done a scan picked up one or two not seen before ?

Trojans and Worms are the nastiest that I've come across..... Basically anything that my AVG picks up, I get rid of.....

Oh and clean out your temp internet files and cookies regularly....

"
I think a lot of this started as I am having a clean out and they don't like me taking stuff off ?? not sure as never had all this before ,

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"Get rid of Norton asap, it will slow your computer down to a virtual standstill.

Avast or AVG are the way to go.

Damn, I've just paid for another year of it too! just bought a tablet and they sold me the Norton Mobile, am I better off not installing it then? "

My computer geek told me to go with AVG....

Apparently the hackers spend more time being clever, attacking the big names, and leave the lesser known "relatively" unchallenged....

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By *teveanddebsCouple
over a year ago

Norwich

Maybe we should arrange "PC fixing" socials so people could bring there laptops, tablets etc to get them looked at.

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By *teveanddebsCouple
over a year ago

Norwich

*their* even

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

"Maybe we should arrange "PC fixing" socials so people could bring there laptops, tablets etc to get them looked at."
you could be on to something ,

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By *eryBigGirlWoman
over a year ago

East Yorkshire

Avast is on all my pc's and I've never had a problem!!

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By *ohnjones3210Man
over a year ago

Chester

I've been a software developer/system engineer for ten years and I don't have any anti virus. I've not had a virus in years.

I don't use the windows firewall either as I rely on my routers.

The key is knowing what you're downloading and installing.

However, I hear that nod32 is excellent though.

A poster has aslo mentioned about startup. There's a tool named msconfig.exe which will let you stop programs from starting up at startup. That is correct. Usually, you can see a benefit is tweaking this a little.

Cheers

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Nice to see I'm doing something right

I have Eset, avast, and superantispyware

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By *ohnjones3210Man
over a year ago

Chester

"Get rid of Norton asap, it will slow your computer down to a virtual standstill.

Avast or AVG are the way to go.

Damn, I've just paid for another year of it too! just bought a tablet and they sold me the Norton Mobile, am I better off not installing it then?

My computer geek told me to go with AVG....

Apparently the hackers spend more time being clever, attacking the big names, and leave the lesser known "relatively" unchallenged...."

That's true. There's little benefit in attempting to hack a private persons pc. They will try to infect your pc with phishing software though, keyloggers and all that. Identity theft stuff.

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By *teveanddebsCouple
over a year ago

Norwich

It does seem that there are a lot of people that would benefit. Especially if they could ask questions knowing they wouldn't be judged for their lifestyle choices and could show someone their PC without getting funny looks because of the contents of their Pics folder or browsing history.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

OMG now I'm confused

easily done I know lol I want to set up my new tablet today but after reading what you all say about Norton, I may not load it.

I knew should have ordered online instead of going to the store and having a pushy young lad try to sell me all sorts

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Hi. Ive got a netbook and have downloaded free avg 2013 for mine. Scans are good and it doesnt take long to scan. hope this helps

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

"OMG now I'm confused

easily done I know lol I want to set up my new tablet today but after reading what you all say about Norton, I may not load it.

I knew should have ordered online instead of going to the store and having a pushy young lad try to sell me all sorts

"
I payed for new Norton and now feel I should have had others and may change now as not picking up everything.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

AVG free edition is as good as most paid for antivirus software

if you think you have a virus i`d scan ur computer while in safe mode

you would usually know if your computer had been infected though

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By *annGentMan
over a year ago

With a cracking view

Microsoft Security Essentials is free, and got the nod recently by Which, over and above 'paid for' anti-virus etc

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"Maybe we should arrange "PC fixing" socials so people could bring there laptops, tablets etc to get them looked at."

and have webcam sex for fab to watch...like ur thinkin

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Beware if your installing the update to Windows 8 (Win 8.1) none of the 3rd party antivirus/firewall suites work yet - you only have Windows Defender and Windows Firewall. I'm sure this will change over the next few days/weeks, but at present, that's the score so be warned ....

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

"What vires are the worst we can get ? I have done a scan picked up one or two not seen before ?

Trojans and Worms are the nastiest that I've come across..... Basically anything that my AVG picks up, I get rid of.....

Oh and clean out your temp internet files and cookies regularly....

"
my free sky picked up two Trojans ........ why is Norton not telling me to scan get them off ... weird , When it should be looking after my laptop as payed for it .?

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Norton is dire and you have to use removal tools to get shot of it. Even then I'd be suspicious there will be bits left here and there on your system.

I use NOD32 by ESET, have done for years and never had any problems. I don't have any firewall software, my router takes care of that for me.

I use two tools now and then just to ensure I am totally clean. I use Malwarebytes and Combofix.

Everyone has their own preferences though, these are just mine.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

In the days of XP and before, I used to use several programs. Since W7 however, you don't really need to do much.

MSE (Microsoft Security Essentials) is free, unintrusive and works fine. Again, Microsoft Firewall is also fine.

I have TuneUp Utilities but only because I got it free from a friend, pretty much everything in it is in Windows anyway.

I litereally do nothing to maintain it. Check for defragging every few months and let it take care of the rest (TuneUp does all this though).

Computers are pretty low maintenance as long as you don't do anything silly.

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By *teveanddebsCouple
over a year ago

Norwich

"What vires are the worst we can get ? I have done a scan picked up one or two not seen before ?

Trojans and Worms are the nastiest that I've come across..... Basically anything that my AVG picks up, I get rid of.....

Oh and clean out your temp internet files and cookies regularly....

my free sky picked up two Trojans ........ why is Norton not telling me to scan get them off ... weird , When it should be looking after my laptop as payed for it .?

Norton used to have a really good name back in the day, right up until they were bought by Symantec. Since then it has been no better than a lot of virus' in my opinion.

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

"In the days of XP and before, I used to use several programs. Since W7 however, you don't really need to do much.

MSE (Microsoft Security Essentials) is free, unintrusive and works fine. Again, Microsoft Firewall is also fine.

I have TuneUp Utilities but only because I got it free from a friend, pretty much everything in it is in Windows anyway.

I litereally do nothing to maintain it. Check for defragging every few months and let it take care of the rest (TuneUp does all this though).

Computers are pretty low maintenance as long as you don't do anything silly."
see I think I do silly things at times I click on something not knowing what it is . x

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Last time I got a virus was 5 years ago using norton,I was using flash that was outdated and as used to compromise my computer.

I recommend firefox with flash and ad block.

Also avast has been great for me,no problems in years.

Also scan weekly with malwarebytes and superantispyware,again using avast all clean with these scanners.

Other great software is secunia psi that scans your softwre for security updates and can update automatically.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"OMG now I'm confused

easily done I know lol I want to set up my new tablet today but after reading what you all say about Norton, I may not load it.

I knew should have ordered online instead of going to the store and having a pushy young lad try to sell me all sorts

I payed for new Norton and now feel I should have had others and may change now as not picking up everything."

Well I've uninstalled Norton after reading this thread. I'll install something free later. I only use my little netbook for e-mails, surfing occasionally and for Fab so £40 for the Norton was probably a waste of money.

Thanks OP for starting the thread and to everyone for the advice

Just goes to show that Fab has many uses

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By *ashful BazMan
over a year ago

poole dorset

I said to my doctor, "I've badly bruised my penis in a surfing accident. "He said, "Did you fall off your board?"

I said, "No, I had to slam my laptop shut rather quickly."

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By * Jay69Man
over a year ago

Bridgwater - Somerset

"I run AVG, the free version. Have been using it for over 10 years and never had a problem. I set it to run every night at a certain time and use the clean up and defrag programmes already on my windows set up about once a month (or if it starts to run slow)

Just google search avg free or grisoft (the company who make it)

for AVG, make sure you tick the free version though, and not the free trial-version of the pay one.

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

Cant get over all the things everyday I have to take off to keep it all running never was like this ... only the last week.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

NOD32 is probably one of the top ranking AV programs , its minimal highly effective and doesnt weigh heavy on your system.

Norton is bloody awful and should be removed ASAP !! ITS RUBBISH !!!

As most have said all free Anti virus programs will do just as good a job, if you have a decent firewall in place you dont even need an anti virus really lol

I would be happy to offer any advice on software and technical stuff

Win 7 can be made super fast if you disable a lot of the auto start up programs you dont need ( such as fax , bluetooth etc ) this can all be done via services.msc

Anyone wants any advice etc feel free to PM

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

copied from other post

"Weird stuff just happens with computers.

It isn't out of the question that the cookies had gotten corrupt for some unknown reason (maybe the browser crashed with those tabs open or something?) as I've seen/experienced similar.

As long as you fixed it, I wouldn't worry about something like that.

Thank you my friend.

I'm just concerned that it is something now present within my laptop and it shall reemerge preventing me entering my favourite sites.

Anti virus wont always pick up spyware or malware so advise you download and scan as even if the problem seems solved the cul[prit could still be sitting in your registry or system files awaiting a return lol "

suffered similar on my old machine with avast. a techy mate of mine recommended the following to me

bin avast/Norton/kasp/other big names

get avg internet security, you can get a free trial from their website.

once loaded carryout a rootkit scan, you can download it from this site http://www.gmer.net/#files run it and it will either carryout a quick or detailed scan of your files. see faq's for how to work it.

I have run this every month for the last 10 months and I have not had a single attack or problem and I run IE10 which is not the best. hope this helps, if you aint sure about anything ask a 12 year old they usually know the answer lol

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By *wingerdelightCouple
over a year ago

eastliegh

"NOD32 is probably one of the top ranking AV programs , its minimal highly effective and doesnt weigh heavy on your system.

Norton is bloody awful and should be removed ASAP !! ITS RUBBISH !!!

As most have said all free Anti virus programs will do just as good a job, if you have a decent firewall in place you dont even need an anti virus really lol

I would be happy to offer any advice on software and technical stuff

Win 7 can be made super fast if you disable a lot of the auto start up programs you dont need ( such as fax , bluetooth etc ) this can all be done via services.msc

Anyone wants any advice etc feel free to PM

feel the need to add to this, those not tech savy ccleaner is a great program and sorts alot of problems, also mse is the most recomended anti virus, after all its made by th people that make windows so they should know the faults

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Beware some of the antispy tools unless its from a reputable vendor - can end up adding more malware.

Before you go hunting:

1) Have you got at least 25% free disk space on your system disk, its essential for normal running

2) Of the free AV avast is pretty much the best and least resource intensive. It also has a great sandbox feature to protect from malicious software installing when browsing. You really need to make sure the machine is clean before installing a new vendor though as you'll often be papering over the cracks.

3) Defrag often (if you're on XP (though unlikely unless its second hard?), 7/8 should schedule it automatically) to ensure its not just your disk

4) Have you been installing lots of programs? How much ram have you got? these days 4gb should be a minimum. Its cheap as chips on crucial dot com

5) Malwarebytes is pretty good at general removal of existing infections.

6) If you really have up 60 infections (multiple different viri) then I'd get the machine to someone professional and consider a clean reinstall

7) Most importantly stop browsing so many filthy porn sites

they are renown for popups and those installing cr4p. Though they are getting better

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

everytime my laptop slows down to the point it gets on my tits I just buy a new one

im sure it would be more environmentally friendly to get it cleaned up but I have no idea how to do that but I do know how to shop lol

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"everytime my laptop slows down to the point it gets on my tits I just buy a new one

im sure it would be more environmentally friendly to get it cleaned up but I have no idea how to do that but I do know how to shop lol

Lol that tickled me, feel free to donate your old ones my way lol

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

avast and spybot search and destroy for me.

Google chrome with adblock plus and the avast plug-ins take care of the browser.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"My laptop is year old and Norton run out I was updating and think I may have got a virus not sure .. but still after updating running slow so a friend said about this free site spy thing that scan your files I had over 60 when I run it all sorts and Norton never picked up on them and its running better ? weird ? as you can tell not to good at all this .So how do you look after yours ?. Avg antivirus it's free and never had a virus....also your broadband provider may have a free one. "

As a techie i have seen lots of AVG installtions with viruses all over them, that and nortons too. people write viruses to beat the common tools so find a less used one. thats the free versions mainly.

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