Thursday, October 31, 2013
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
What is the best virus software
What is the best virus software to use. I get asked that question on a daily basis. For myself in the free category I prefer free Avast antivirus software. When I was trying to decide I took a look at a number of reviews. The Avast antivirus was rated number one in the free category. I run that In my computer and it really does perform very well. I have had a number of times where it has stopped some malicious site from infecting my computer. I would definitely recommend it to any person.
The next two antivirus programs in the free category I would recommend are free AVG antivirus and Microsoft Security Essentials. Both of these seem to do a pretty good job. I tend to prefer the AVG before Microsoft Security Essentials. The Microsoft Security Essentials does seem to be a little less intrusive then AVG.
The next category would be the paid versions of software. The top rated seems to be Bitdefender followed by Kaspersky. Honestly I have not used Bitdefender so I really can`t say anything about it. I have heard from others that it does a good job. I have on the other hand used Kaspersky and it does seem to do a pretty thorough job.Next in line would be Norton Antivirus. I have installed this on some machines and it does a pretty good job. A few years back it was found to use a lot of resources and slow machines down. That does not seem to be a problem with newer computers due to faster microprocessors, memory and a front side bus speed.
As usual my advise will always be back up your data, because you never know what will happen.
Thanks for reading and comments are always welcome.
The next two antivirus programs in the free category I would recommend are free AVG antivirus and Microsoft Security Essentials. Both of these seem to do a pretty good job. I tend to prefer the AVG before Microsoft Security Essentials. The Microsoft Security Essentials does seem to be a little less intrusive then AVG.
The next category would be the paid versions of software. The top rated seems to be Bitdefender followed by Kaspersky. Honestly I have not used Bitdefender so I really can`t say anything about it. I have heard from others that it does a good job. I have on the other hand used Kaspersky and it does seem to do a pretty thorough job.Next in line would be Norton Antivirus. I have installed this on some machines and it does a pretty good job. A few years back it was found to use a lot of resources and slow machines down. That does not seem to be a problem with newer computers due to faster microprocessors, memory and a front side bus speed.
As usual my advise will always be back up your data, because you never know what will happen.
Thanks for reading and comments are always welcome.
Resetting your browsers after a virus cleaning
With most viruses there are toolbars that come in as well as adware. After I am satisfied all the junk programs have been removed I clean up all the browsers. I will reset internet explorer, google chome and mozilla firefox. With internet explorer go to tools, internet options, advanced, click on restore advanced settings and the click on reset. I always put a check mark in the delete personal settings. This way it clears any change to the search choice and will reset it back to msn. Once restarted it will go through the settings choices. Choose to do that manually and follow it through. This does not remove your favorites, managed ad ons or favorites bar. After internet explorer has restarted you can reset up your home page. I would always make note of what your home page was previous to any infection. The next thing to do is to check the managed ad ons to see if any junk is left over such as conduit etc.... If you are not sure of one then google it. If anything is left in managed ad ons I use a free program called Hijack This, it is free on the internet. Just do a scan of the system and look through the list and check the box. Only remove the lines associated with the particular ad on. One you are satisfied there are no more then choose to remove them. The system may have to be restarted. Go back into internet explorer and check to see if the ad on is gone. I have had occasions where I had to go through the registry and remove certain lines. This is usually best for a professional to do.
To reset the mozilla firefox program go to help in the top row and click on it. Next click the selection called Troubleshooting Information. Next click the button at the top of the screen on the right side called Reset Firefox. This will reset the program and clear out any settings that may have been changed by the infections. I would also make note of you homepage, because it will be set to the default screen. It will also create a folder with the bookmarks and some other information in case they have to be reinstalled. I generally have not had to do anything with the folder. You should not lose any of your bookmarks .
The next browser to reset is the google chrome program. First bring up the program and click the customize and control google chrome in the upper right hand corner. When it does a drop down windows click on the settings choice. When it opens the settings window scoll to the bottom and click show advanced settings. Again scroll to the bottom of the window and click reset browser settings. The next step is to go to the upper left side of the window and click the history choice. Click the clear browsing data and select clear history from the beginning of time. After the history is cleared I then click on the extensions choice in the upper left side and delete any extension from the viruses. If you do not know what it is delete it. Now you can close out the chrome program and restart it. If it still has a home page from the infections then go to google.com and press enter or whatever you want you home page to be. Go back to settings again and go to on start up. Click the open a specific page or set of pages. Now click set pages at the end of that and click the use current pages button.
Now you can close out chrome and then restart the program. See if it goes to your desired home page and you should be all set. I would advise to go to each of the browsers one at a time and go to various websites. This is done for two reasons, one to make sure there is no redirecting to other websites and there are no pop ups. I also look at the web page such as this old house to make sure you don`t any ad that should not be there.
I hope this information helps, thank you for reading. Leave any comments you would like I am always happy to hear from anyone.
To reset the mozilla firefox program go to help in the top row and click on it. Next click the selection called Troubleshooting Information. Next click the button at the top of the screen on the right side called Reset Firefox. This will reset the program and clear out any settings that may have been changed by the infections. I would also make note of you homepage, because it will be set to the default screen. It will also create a folder with the bookmarks and some other information in case they have to be reinstalled. I generally have not had to do anything with the folder. You should not lose any of your bookmarks .
The next browser to reset is the google chrome program. First bring up the program and click the customize and control google chrome in the upper right hand corner. When it does a drop down windows click on the settings choice. When it opens the settings window scoll to the bottom and click show advanced settings. Again scroll to the bottom of the window and click reset browser settings. The next step is to go to the upper left side of the window and click the history choice. Click the clear browsing data and select clear history from the beginning of time. After the history is cleared I then click on the extensions choice in the upper left side and delete any extension from the viruses. If you do not know what it is delete it. Now you can close out the chrome program and restart it. If it still has a home page from the infections then go to google.com and press enter or whatever you want you home page to be. Go back to settings again and go to on start up. Click the open a specific page or set of pages. Now click set pages at the end of that and click the use current pages button.
Now you can close out chrome and then restart the program. See if it goes to your desired home page and you should be all set. I would advise to go to each of the browsers one at a time and go to various websites. This is done for two reasons, one to make sure there is no redirecting to other websites and there are no pop ups. I also look at the web page such as this old house to make sure you don`t any ad that should not be there.
I hope this information helps, thank you for reading. Leave any comments you would like I am always happy to hear from anyone.
Clean up the junk from the viruses
I would recommend to clean up and junk programs that came in with the viruses. The best program to use is a free uninstaller called revo. You can download this free off the internet. Just use google as the search tool and type in download revo uninstaller. Download it and save it to a folder you create. Then go and run the program. You will have a number of programs show up in the window. Click on the desired program and click uninstall from the toolbar at the top of the screen. There are choices as to the repressiveness of the uninstall. I generally use the advanced choice, but can choose moderate. It will locate the files in the system and you can select them. The next step is to uninstall them, this may take a few minutes. It may find more and you can choose to uninstall them as well.
The only drawback to the program is that it does not create a restore point. As a safety precaution I will use google and search for information on the selected item. Another idea is to go to programs uninstall in the control panel and find the program in the list. Look to see what date is on it. If it is an older date then it probably did not come in with the viruses. Once satisfied it came in with the viruses then you can uninstall it.
There are occasions when you may have to uninstall the program from the start up program list. I have also had to go to the programs folder and there may be an uninstall choice there. If none of these work then use google and search on how to uninstall whatever the program is. Sometimes there are special uninstallers for a particular program to clean all the junk out from files and from the registry. If you have to go through the registry always export it to a file first in case you have to restore the registry. If you are not sure what to do with any of the above information seek out a good computer shop to take the computer to for a professional cleaning. I would also suggest to check out any reviews on the computer shop before taking it to them. It`s better to be safe then sorry.
The only drawback to the program is that it does not create a restore point. As a safety precaution I will use google and search for information on the selected item. Another idea is to go to programs uninstall in the control panel and find the program in the list. Look to see what date is on it. If it is an older date then it probably did not come in with the viruses. Once satisfied it came in with the viruses then you can uninstall it.
There are occasions when you may have to uninstall the program from the start up program list. I have also had to go to the programs folder and there may be an uninstall choice there. If none of these work then use google and search on how to uninstall whatever the program is. Sometimes there are special uninstallers for a particular program to clean all the junk out from files and from the registry. If you have to go through the registry always export it to a file first in case you have to restore the registry. If you are not sure what to do with any of the above information seek out a good computer shop to take the computer to for a professional cleaning. I would also suggest to check out any reviews on the computer shop before taking it to them. It`s better to be safe then sorry.
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
New virus called Cryptolocker Ransom Virus
Be aware of this infection called the cryptolocker ransom virus. It usually attacks network computers and will encrypt the files on your hard drive making it useless. As of late there is not any fix for it. Some people are paying the $300 dollar ransom fee, which does not always work. I find it ridiculous that we have to give the money to the crooks using our credit card. Why not just give them all our information.
It usually comes in through email from some place such as ups , fedex or another type of shipping. Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CryptoLocker for information about the infection. Always keep your virus software up to date and backup your data, but only have it on when backing up and shut it off when done.
It usually comes in through email from some place such as ups , fedex or another type of shipping. Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CryptoLocker for information about the infection. Always keep your virus software up to date and backup your data, but only have it on when backing up and shut it off when done.
CryptoLocker Ransomware
There is a new virus in town. It`s called the Cryptolocker Ransomware virus. It will encrypt the files on your hard drive making them inaccessible. As of late there is not any fix for it. This is generally a virus that infects network computers. There are some precautions you can take to try and prevent it. It usually comes in through email posing as something from ups, fedex etc....
I am providing a link to bleeping computers, because they have good information. It will be at the end of the post. The one thing I have heard is paying the $300 ransom to these crooks to try and remove the encryption. This sounds ridiculous to me. You are giving your credit card number to the crooks with your private information. I will keep my eyes open for any fixes for this that come along.
I am providing a link to bleeping computers, because they have good information. It will be at the end of the post. The one thing I have heard is paying the $300 ransom to these crooks to try and remove the encryption. This sounds ridiculous to me. You are giving your credit card number to the crooks with your private information. I will keep my eyes open for any fixes for this that come along.
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/cryptolocker-ransomware-information
Thanks for reading and be careful.
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