The Student Room Group

computer virus anxiety

not sure if this is the right place as I never post in this subforum :beard:

right so basically I recently had a really bad experience with fake antivirus malware on my old computer (:cry2:) and I really don't want anything like that to get on my netbook. I have Norton 360v6 and the free version of malwarebytes, and I use google chrome with adblocker plus, and check to make sure everything is updated everytime i go online, including checking for windows 7 updates, and empty the cache everytime i come offline. I also disabled the thing that hides double extensions on files being downloaded, and I use my guest account for casual browsing. Is there anything else I can do? I read online as well about closing ports? Is this worth doing, and can someone explain this to me (how to do it, what exactly it means)?

ps please don't tell me to get a mac or switch to linux
(edited 11 years ago)

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Reply 1
Unless you're looking at some nasty porn this is a little over the top.
Reply 2
Original post by medbh4805
not sure if this is the right place as I never post in this subforum :beard:

right so basically I recently had a really bad experience with fake antivirus malware on my old computer (:cry2:) and I really don't want anything like that to get on my netbook. I have Norton 360v6 and the free version of malwarebytes, and I use google chrome with adblocker plus, and check to make sure everything is updated everytime i go online, including checking for windows 7 updates, and empty the cache everytime i come offline. I also disabled the thing that hides double extensions on files being downloaded, and I use my guest account for casual browsing. Is there anything else I can do? I read online as well about closing ports? Is this worth doing, and can someone explain this to me (how to do it, what exactly it means)?

ps please don't tell me to get a mac or switch to linux


Yeah you should be fine. I wouldn't bother renewing your 360.
Reply 3
Get a real antivirus and just browse smart. You do not need to defend your computer in an e-bomb shelter to not get a virus.

http://www.eset.co.uk/Home/NOD32-Antivirus
Reply 4
You could create a restore point on your laptop. That way, if anything happens, you'll be able to restore it to what it's like now. :smile:
Reply 5
Original post by lizz-ie
You could create a restore point on your laptop. That way, if anything happens, you'll be able to restore it to what it's like now. :smile:


Yeah I was planning to do that as soon as I get the money to buy a memory stick (so hopefully next week when my ema comes in :beard:)
Reply 6
I know I probably sound ridiculous but i have anxiety problems so please just humour me.

Had one of those fake antivirus popups on my netbook, but closed it with task manager, restarted and ran scans with Norton and MBAM, and it seems to be okay :beard:
Reply 7
Could be worse, I had a trojan that actually deleted all my restore points so I couldn't stop it looping, in the end I had to rebuild the PC
Reply 8
Original post by amy2311
Could be worse, I had a trojan that actually deleted all my restore points so I couldn't stop it looping, in the end I had to rebuild the PC


:zomg:
Reply 9
Original post by b_white
Use https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere/ which uses SSL on websites automatically when available. Also disable autoplay for all devices (e.g. so inserting a cd or usb key won't cause malicious code to run).

Check all plugins are up-to-date as these are really good attack vectors e.g. adobe flash, java -> I know in firefox they want to do it automatically in the future but for now you have to keep checking https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/plugincheck/


thanks for this :smile:
Reply 10
Original post by medbh4805
not sure if this is the right place as I never post in this subforum :beard:

right so basically I recently had a really bad experience with fake antivirus malware on my old computer (:cry2:) and I really don't want anything like that to get on my netbook. I have Norton 360v6 and the free version of malwarebytes, and I use google chrome with adblocker plus, and check to make sure everything is updated everytime i go online, including checking for windows 7 updates, and empty the cache everytime i come offline. I also disabled the thing that hides double extensions on files being downloaded, and I use my guest account for casual browsing. Is there anything else I can do? I read online as well about closing ports? Is this worth doing, and can someone explain this to me (how to do it, what exactly it means)?

ps please don't tell me to get a mac or switch to linux


You'll be fine, you can tell which things online are fake, just make sure you go on the right sites and your virus system always blocks on-line downloads or set it up for it to ask for your permission.
Reply 11
Original post by b_white
Use https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere/ which uses SSL on websites automatically when available. Also disable autoplay for all devices (e.g. so inserting a cd or usb key won't cause malicious code to run).

Check all plugins are up-to-date as these are really good attack vectors e.g. adobe flash, java -> I know in firefox they want to do it automatically in the future but for now you have to keep checking https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/plugincheck/


Hey, having a bit of trouble turning off autoplay, I tried running gpedit.msc but it didn't work. Seems it's unavailable to Home Premium users :frown: do you know any other ways of doing it, or it is just not possible at all?
(edited 11 years ago)
At some point I'd replace Norton with avast home/free version. It's almost as good as the professional version (when I downgraded I noticed no difference) and it's rarely let me down. I also use it in combination with malwarebytes and that's absolutely fine. But note that norton is renowned for being terrible. I'm not sure how true that is now, it may have improved a little but I doubt it's at the level of Avast, even though you're paying for it.
Reply 13
Original post by Bulbasaur
At some point I'd replace Norton with avast home/free version. It's almost as good as the professional version (when I downgraded I noticed no difference) and it's rarely let me down. I also use it in combination with malwarebytes and that's absolutely fine. But note that norton is renowned for being terrible. I'm not sure how true that is now, it may have improved a little but I doubt it's at the level of Avast, even though you're paying for it.


Yeah, but my mum bought norton for me (she got me the netbook for my birthday) so I felt obliged to use it. I will probably switch to a different AV when my sub runs out. That said, a lot of people say Norton is bloated and slows down your machine but I haven't really noticed that so :dontknow:
Original post by medbh4805
Yeah, but my mum bought norton for me (she got me the netbook for my birthday) so I felt obliged to use it. I will probably switch to a different AV when my sub runs out. That said, a lot of people say Norton is bloated and slows down your machine but I haven't really noticed that so :dontknow:


Ah damn XD Yeah that's why I always feel bad telling people they've essentially wasted their money, because Norton basically make their money out of people not knowing what else is out there. Well my advice would be just use it until it runs out, if you do notice your pc becoming slow and bloated or if there's a virus you can't fix (which really shouldn't be the case if you have malwarebytes), then I'd replace it with something better.
Reply 15
Original post by medbh4805
Yeah I was planning to do that as soon as I get the money to buy a memory stick (so hopefully next week when my ema comes in :beard:)


I didn't mean back it up. You can create a restore point on the hard drive of your laptop.

Click on start, right click on computer and click properties, click on system protection at the side, then click on create next to where it says about restore points, name it, and click create. :smile:
Reply 16
Original post by lizz-ie
You could create a restore point on your laptop. That way, if anything happens, you'll be able to restore it to what it's like now. :smile:


Restore points aren't worth it. They get hosed by most competent samples of malware. Some of the scareware I've played with at work is scarily sophisticated considering its diminutive size.

If you're looking to create a "backup" of your computer, a proper offline ghost image would be a better option.
Reply 17
Original post by Mad Vlad
Restore points aren't worth it. They get hosed by most competent samples of malware. Some of the scareware I've played with at work is scarily sophisticated considering its diminutive size.

If you're looking to create a "backup" of your computer, a proper offline ghost image would be a better option.


My friend told me to create one because my laptop did the blue screen of death thing :s-smilie: However, I have an external hard drive that I'm going to back it all up on. :smile:
Reply 18
Lol get Microsoft Security Essentials and Malware Bytes and nothing else.
Reply 19
To keep your PC up to date, download the Secunia Personal Software Inspector: http://secunia.com/products/consumer/psi/

It will make sure that you programs are updated and it will make you less vulnerable to exploits.

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