Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

picked up an infection on 2 laptops over the weekend on facebook, i use virgin wireless and it got through this firewall and past norton 360, have spent all evening trying to get rid of it, i'm a bit of a dinosaur on computers so was on the phone to a friend, and think have got rid of it. it came up as a windows warning of malicious software and to download a fixing tool which actually downloads the malicious software into a loop, i don't know much about computers as i said so i downloaded a free version of stopzilla which seems to have got rid of this malicious software, anyone have any more ideas (in simple terms please)

Hi

Try this, its free and works well in removing spyware etc....

http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php

This is one reason I would NEVER EVER visit a Tipec page on Facebook....they are nowhere near as safe as a Forum....

All the best Brett

Install AVG , its free and has not allowed me to get any kind of infection in many many years of web use.

Facebook is no more dangerous than any other forum or website. If you dont click on and agree to install anything you're not sure of and you have AVG running then you wont get infected. It's totallly understandable for someone whose not very 'WebTec' to get caught out , these people are sneeky scuzzers but if you had AVG running it would not even have let you run that particular program.

Also install Acronis True Image its very cheep ( buy version 9.0 cheep not the latest version for pounds more) and it will completely back up your hard drive to recover from any disasters whatsoever. Not enough people back up there computer , it can have half your life on it then when it goes pop its very distressing.

Sadly I'm more Web Tec than Porsche Tec , tis part of my job

Glad you seem sorted but please dont let these idiots who do this stuff put you off using any part of the web , most of these infections etc arent that clever just like the idiots who write them.

Cheers Mas

Used to use AVG now use AVAST also free which seems to be better, so my geeky mates tell me anyway.
Did use a paid for Norton at one point & got a bad virus that trashed the machine, when we investigated it apparently knew the Norton weaknesses & turned it off then trashed the machine. That lost data so never used Norton since.

At risk of sounding smug use Apple Macs!

Have used Macs exclusively since 1990 and not a single virus, Trojan, worm etc in all that time. In early years the platform was too tiny for hackers to bother. Since 2001 the unix-based OS has been cast-iron secure.

In contrast Windows is like a Swiss cheese. It leaves loads of ports open and is inherently insecure.

The only problem is all the redundant emails I receive warning me of this or that virus!

I don't think any anti-virus software is available for
Mac as there's just not a market.

Will probably get a disastrous virus now!

Hi

I fix viruses every day and Norton Internet Security 2009 is the best by far...to protect you AFTER the infections have been removed.Or BEFORE to stop you getting infected.

I have a favourite saying for people who use the free AV programs like AVG and Avast...

These are people who come in my shop with these programs installed AND viruses !

The saying is " You get exactly the same amount of protection from them that you paid for them ..... "

All the best Brett

It's like everything else, personal experiences can be totally different.

I once bought Norton antivirus, at full price I might add, and whilst installing it it prompted me to visit the website to register. I did and got a virus - and the only way to stop it was to format C the hard drive, so completely clean the computer and start again with a blank hard-drive, everything lost.

Needless to say I have never ever used Norton again, and never will do, and have never ever had any virus / worms / frogs or anything.

Hi John

For the average user, yes its personal preference, but I see 30 or 40 machines a week infected, and fix them, so I am not an average user...lol

EVERY machine that I own has NIS 09 on it.....that should tell you all something....

All the best Brett

Brett we have had this conversation before but you obviously see virused machines, what about the thousands who don't get any!
My experiences of Norton were similar to John Ws, mine had been installed a few months & got hammered, to the point where it was a reformat & start again. I've NEVER had that with AVG or AVAST, lucky, maybe.

As for your last line you sell it Brett so get it free

Hi

I "wish" I got it free lol...but I pay for it like anyone else although I pay less as I buy a lot of them...

The way I look at this, as I have said before, is yes you will find people who use the free AV progs that have never had a virus, but I see a LOT of people who are not that lucky.....

For my own machines (both shop and home) I use NIS 09..... "IF" there was anything better to protect me, I would use it at whatever cost.....

If people think a Pros advice isn't worth listening to then fine......

I give the advice to help Porsche owners.....but you do not have to take it.....

All the best Brett

I've added Threatfire by pc tools to AVG as I don't trust it on its own. It's also free & seems to work well with it. Works in a different way to the others. Been totaly foolproof so far. 18months. http://www.freeantivirushelp.com/antivirus_section_free/antivirus_software_review/threatfire_drive_sentry.html

it just seems strange that we picked up the same infection on facebook on 2 laptops within 24 hours, and it managed to get through norton in both cases

Hi

Norton Internet Security 2009 or 2008 or Norton 360 version 2 or 3 ?

All the best Brett

Dont bother with Norton
AVG FULL Internet Security is by far better
you can get a free version of avg but its only 25% of the protection of the full version
and yes I am biased as I have been a reseller for both

See Yer
Barry

Stopped using Norton years ago ... it slowed my machines down to a snails pace and still got loads of adware. Might be better now, but once bitten.