Will someone tell me what to put on my laptop to keep unwanted stuff off of it ? I bought it used and whoever had it before me went to a lot of dating sites and stuff and I keep getting all kinds of popups and belasearch and crush calculator and a google box right in the middle of the top of my screen that's driving me crazy ! Plus,I would like to have some kind of protection from viruses and other unwanted stuff. Please,any recommendations would really make my day.
2007-11-30 08:52:09 · 8 answers · asked by Sunshine 2 in Computers & Internet ➔ Security
All of these are free for home use and will work with XP and Vista.
Free pop up blocker
http://toolbar.yahoo.com
AVG Free is the most popular free solution available at no cost to home users and provides the high level of detection capability that millions of users around the world trust to protect their computers.
Easy to use, low system resources
Automatic update functionality
Real-time protection as files are opened and programs are run.
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/2/us/frt/0
Avast-
avast! 4 Home Edition works for 60 days after the installation in demo mode. You will obtain your FREE license key by E-mail after the registration. The license key is valid for 1 year. After one year you will need to just re-register.
http://avast.com/eng/home-registration.p...
Avira-(recomended)
free-av.com – Protection and security against viruses, worms, Trojans, dialers & more.
http://www.free-av.com/
PC tools-(recomended)
PC Tools AntiVirus Free Edition feature highlights
Protects your PC as you are working, surfing and playing
Detects, quarantines, disinfects and destroys Viruses, Trojans and Worms
OnGuard™ protects your computer against threats in real-time.
http://www.pctools.com/free-antivirus/
Trend Micro's FREE online virus scanner.(recommended)
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/
Free spyware remover.....
SUPERAntiSpyware(recomended)
SUPERAntiSpyware will remove ALL the Spyware, NOT just the easy ones!
Easily remove over 100,000 pests such as SmitFraud, Vundo, WinFixer, SpyAxe, SpyFalcon, WinAntiVirus, AntiVermins and thousands more!
http://www.superantispyware.com
Spybot - Search & Destroy detects and removes spyware.
http://www.spybot.info/
Adaware
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/products/ad_a...
ewido.(recommended)
Go to the left of the page where it says,"Scan your computer now online
and clean it for free!"
http://www.ewido.net/en/
AVG anti-spyware-
AVG Anti-Spyware Free Edition is a popular free antispyware solution available at no cost to home users and provides a high level of detection capability.
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/20/us/frt/0
*Never install more than one anti virus, as they may conflict with each other.On the other hand, is always good to use more than one anti spyware.
*You will probably recieve several answers to your question. Whoever helped you the most,please come back and give that person Best Answer.
2007-11-30 08:55:52 · answer #1 · answered by G 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Your machine is infected. Pop-ups are mostly caused by adware, spyware, and other malicious and unwanted software and using pop-up blocker won't help an infected PC. No single program can detect and eradicate all spyware and I recommend using Ad-aware and Spybot (they are free). Other great free anti-spyware programs would be Super anti-spyware and AVG anti-spyware (formally Ewido).
Running these programs in Safe Mode (tap F8 as the computer boots up and choose to boot to safe mode) can be more effective.
If you do not have an updated anti-virus program always running, you need to get one. Install only one, but you can get AVG, Avast! or AntiVir for free.
I strongly recommend using FireFox, it's far better and safer than Internet Explorer.
2007-11-30 08:55:56 · answer #2 · answered by Samuel Adams 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
1. Download and run firefox to protect your from future spyware attacks and pop ups which are coming in through internet explorer (Trojan downloaders, win32 ) .Then update your windows through firefox
http://securitynewsfromthenet.blogspot.com/2007/05/spyware-fighter-essentials.html
2. Run the vundo and combo fix
http://securitynewsfromthenet.blogspot.com/2007/05/vundofix-and-combo-fix.html
3. Run the anti spyware remove programs spybot
http://securitynewsfromthenet.blogspot.com/2007/03/spybot-search-and-destroy-spyware-and.html
and superantispyware
http://securitynewsfromthenet.blogspot.com/2007/04/superantispyware-home-edition-free.html
to get rid of the nasties
4. Run a free online virus scan to be sure you computer is virus and spyware free.
http://securitynewsfromthenet.blogspot.com/2007/03/online-virus-scan.html
download and run McAfee Avert Stinger
Stinger is a stand-alone utility used to detect and remove specific viruses
http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger/stinger.htm
5. Get the clean up tools to clean up the spyware from your temp folder (the place they are stored when downloaded by internet explorer)
http://securitynewsfromthenet.blogspot.com/2007/03/clean-up-tools-to-prevent-people-from.html
Also install internet explorer 7 which is now free for everyone oct2007
http://securitynewsfromthenet.blogspot.com/2007/10/internet-explorer-7-available-now-to.html
This should stop 50% of the spyware and popups attacking your computer
browser-security-links and the Internet Explorer 7 Desktop Security Guide
http://securitynewsfromthenet.blogspot.com/2007/11/browser-security-links.html
WHAT DO YOU DO IF EVERYTHING FAILS TO REMOVE THE SPYWARE or You are not sure your computer is spyware and virus free?
If everything fails to get the nasty spyware removed let the experts take a look at whats happening on your computer.Visit the HijackThis Logs and Analysis forum.
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/forum22.html
Wiping your computer clean is NOT the solution.
Asking /paying someone else to fix the problem is NOT the solution .
TAKE A STAND NOW!
IT's YOUR COMPUTER !!
2007-11-30 13:10:23 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The best computer security resides between the spacebar and the chair!
If you keep your Windows fully updated with all critical patches AND you delete all e-mail from unknown sources with out opening AND you never open any e-mail attachments AND you never click-on any links in an instant messenger AND you do NOT use Limewire or any other P2P file-sharing program, AND you always read the End Licence Users Agreement (EULA) before blindly clicking "Yes" when installing software then you will have very little spyware or virus problems
2007-11-30 08:58:09 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
You will need to run some scans to clean it up first. Then you can start to protect it. Download and update the scans below. Then run them in Safe Mode. You will have to boot into Safe Mode with Networking to run the anti-virus scan.
Update and run your Anti-Virus program. Don't have one? You can run a free online scan from CA.
http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virus...
Run Spybot and SuperAntiSpyware weekly.
Download, update and run Spybot---http://www.safer-networking.org/...... . Don't forget to use the Immunize feature.
Download, update and run SuperAntiSpyware---http://www.snapfiles.com/get/SuperAntiSp...
Now to prevent spyware from being installed in the first place....
Download SpywareBlaster---http://majorgeeks.com/download2859.html....
SpywareBlaster doesn't scan and clean for spyware - it prevents it from ever being installed.
It's main features include:
- Prevent the installation of ActiveX-based spyware, adware, browser hijackers, dialers, and other potentially unwanted pests.
- Block spyware/tracking cookies in Internet Explorer and Mozilla/Firefox.
- Restrict the actions of potentially dangerous sites in Internet Explorer.
Now lets clean up your registry.
Ccleaner is a registry cleaner that will make your system run faster. It also cleans traces of your online activities.
Download, update and run--http://www.ccleaner.com
Download CleanUp---http://www.stevengould.org/software/clea...
Free disk space, make your computer run better/faster and protect your privacy - all in one easy solution. All for free!
2007-11-30 09:02:26 · answer #5 · answered by rlh242424 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Run a spyware program and download firefox for your browser...internet explorer sucks.
2007-11-30 11:08:13 · answer #6 · answered by Kristin N 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
google toolbar it has a popup blocker
2007-11-30 09:00:45 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
avg free. grisoft.com and as it says, its free
2007-11-30 08:54:49 · answer #8 · answered by koalatcomics 7 · 0⤊ 3⤋