Free Internet Security or Virus removal programs

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Justin24

Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
Joined
Oct 14, 2005
Messages
6,716
Location
San Mateo
I have a friend in Guatemala who has a virus on her computer and I want to find her a free internet security or virus removal program.
 
For free programs I'd use AVG. Install it, then reboot the computer in Safe Mode and run the scan.
 
Cool tip Lies. Many people don't know why you need to be in safe mode to do that scan to its fullest capability. :up:

Justin she should also run HijackThis and check out the entries with someone who can decipher them for her. Kapersky is good too.
 
TBH, I have AVG, and It never finds anything. I dont know if thats just because my laptop has no viruses, or it removes them on contact. :scratch:

although having said that I dont scan in safe mode. :der:
 
Question. If you already have McAfee installed, is it ok to install AVG or Avast on top of that?
 
NO!!!! bad bad bad idea!! Remove it all. Sorry, I've just seen baaaaad stuff happen when people are trying to run more than one of those apps at once. The best thing is to use ONE antivirus program and ONE firewall (my picks would be Nod32 and just the Windows Security firewall the comp comes with).
 
I havent installed them yet but my parents have mcafee installed but something weird is going on with their computer. All of a sudden after windows boots my dad says he cant type anything. Like if he goes to type an email, the letters dont come up unless he holds down the button, then like after 2 seconds the letter comes up. However, when he puts his password into windows on a reboot it types fine. So I'm thinking they have a virus or something. McAfee according to him is not showing anything (I had him do a scan). I also had him run adaware. I'm going over there tomorrow to see if there are any weird programs installed and I will uninstall them (my mom has a terrible habit of installing crap. ) Any thoughts? :slant:
 
Is the computer really slow? Could be a virus or something stealing all the memory.

If you install a second program on top of the first, it will only make it worst. They are basically fighting for memory and if they are scanning or using the same file at the same time, it can get corrupted. In my experience, running two programs at the same time is worst than the effects of a mean virus. Most programs use a real-time scan so they are always watching the computer. You get more than one going at a time and it's like a tug of war.

Best bet is always to run one scan at a time in Safe Mode. If you roll the system back to before the problem started, look at the log and see which files were changed/removed, it might indicate if a virus or adware was messing it up.
 
Liesje said:
If you roll the system back to before the problem started, look at the log and see which files were changed/removed, it might indicate if a virus or adware was messing it up.

Um yeah I have no idea how to do that. :lol: I just was looking at other virus programs since he said he ran mcafee and it didnt catch anything. I will run it myself today when I go over there because my parents arent very computer savvy, maybe they missed something.

I dont think the comp is running slow, he just cant really type anything (and its not the keyboard).
 
Unbelievable... gotta love my parents lack of computer knowledge.

I sat here and did virus scans, spyware scans, was going to actually try a system restore and then I noticed a weird little icon in the task bar called 'filter keys'. Opened it up and there was an option to 'filter the keys' that was checkmarked. WTF! LOL so anyway all is fixed and I still have no idea what that little program was because now I cant find it anywhere on the comp.
 
I found it on google. It's a dumb xp program that pops up if you hold the right shift key down for 8 seconds.


:coocoo:
 
Liesje said:
For free programs I'd use AVG. Install it, then reboot the computer in Safe Mode and run the scan.

really dumb question : I have the free AVG , how do you do safe mode ? :huh:
 
Yes, the scans should be run in Safe Mode. Most viruses and malware acre actually running or taking over other running files when the computer boots normally, thus any scan that detects them can't actually do anything b/c you cannot delete or quarantine a file that is already running/in use.

Safe Mode loads only a limited number of system files and drivers. Anything else will only run if YOU run it.
 
Back
Top Bottom