<p>Weren’t terabytes the first kind of dinosaur?</p>
<p>We use AVG for free virus protection, and I run some other spyware program that I thought was ont his computer but apparently is not, and I am blanking on the name of it. I’ll find it and report back.</p>
<p>BTW, both my boys made a small fortune doing computer clean-up, repair, maintenance, etc for friends, neighbors and even some companies during their HS years. Much cheaper than Geek squad, who didnt exist back then anyway.</p>
<p>*** Found it – its called ad-aware, by lavasoft. Download the free version. The others mentioned above are good too.</p>
<p>I’m the local geek squad. I just redid my friends start up by ‘unchecking’ a bunch of useless crap. Computer boots up much faster now</p>
<p>Installed Adobe (not sure how she lost it) and reassociated .pdf to adobe (was trying to open with word).</p>
<p>hope your computer is feeling better soon. And yes, you can get a TB drive for $100. I STRONGLY recommend an external backup that is kept in a firesafe box.</p>
<p>Maybe you can help me with this problem…I’ve been a contented user of the AVG free antiviral program for years. They recently upgraded to a new version which required a new installation. I can’t get it to install --when I try I get a message saying that an anti-spyware program is blocking the installation. I uninstalled my spyware program so I could install the AVG but I still get the same message.</p>
<p>Any ideas before I go in to the Geek Squad?</p>
<p>I also have a problem…
I was recently infected by the “AV Anti-Spyware” virus (it pretends to be an antivirus program). Supposedly Malwarebytes can get rid of it, but I’ve run it and it’s still there. Help?</p>
<p>I think that’s the one I had. Unbelievably aggravating. Had to have the whole thing scrubbed clean as described above.</p>
<p>Keshira:</p>
<p>You might want to check this out for your virus - </p>
<p>[AV</a> AntiSpyware - how to remove](<a href=“http://www.2-viruses.com/remove-av-antispyware]AV”>http://www.2-viruses.com/remove-av-antispyware)</p>
<p>The new Ad-Aware provides resident protection. This means that it protects you in real-time. Their previous product would scan your system for problems if you were already infected. The new program prevents you from getting infected.</p>
<p>Make sure that you run updates on MalwareBytes. It doesn’t auto-update - you have to manually get the updates. If MalwareBytes doesn’t fix the problem, then you may have to try something else.</p>
<p>Regarding that site from ucsd<em>ucla</em>dad: if you’re not familiar with making registry modifications, I’d recommend finding someone that is comfortable with it and knows how to back it up. Damaging the registry can result in an unusable system.</p>
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</p>
<p>As my quick-to-click-the-wrong-button H found out. This is why I paid to have mine scoured. :)</p>
<p>
I agree. It’s not really difficult and a careful person should be able to follow explicit directions with no problems but issues can result for those ‘too quick to click’.</p>
<p>And the thing is, u-dad, is my H is good with computers. He just gets too impatient and makes decisions sometimes without reading carefully. In this case, he’d meant to check to delete one line, but accidentally checked “all”. Computer asked “sure???” and he said, “yup”, immediately then seeing all the checks as his finger pressed the button…</p>
<p>^^ Yes - the ‘too quick to click’ syndrome.</p>
<p>Still sans computer. :(</p>
<p>Very unsettling.</p>
<p>Went to the library today so I could check my e-mail, this site, a few other things. (DH’s computer is from about 1975. Very unfriendly.) (So is DH.)</p>
<p>I keep hoping to get the e-mail from the Geek Squad that my computer is all better, but so far – nope.</p>
<p>(Does anyone else find it ironic that, when my computer is sick and being fixed, they send me an email to tell me when it’s ready for pick-up? I mean, really – !!)</p>
<p>Always have a backup (we have 13 or 14 computers in three locations) for four people.</p>
<p>MAc users - FYI:</p>
<p>[Experts:</a> Malicious program targets Macs - CNN.com](<a href=“http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/04/22/first.mac.botnet/index.html]Experts:”>Experts: Malicious program targets Macs - CNN.com)</p>
<p>Nothing surprised me about Geek Squad and more. Good luck</p>
<p>The Apple Botnet problem was caused by a bootleg software on Bittorrent. Users downloaded bootleg copies of two Mac software titles (that they should have bought from the software vendors or Apple) and installed the illegal software and got a botnet program installed on their systems.</p>
<p>Having an extra around makes sense to me. Later this year, I’m gonna pick up one of those cool netbooks (real cheap - and they are projected to continue to go down in price). I’ll hook it up to my monitor and keyboard - and use my old Dell clunker latptop as a backup. And I’ll have a really cool portable laptop to bring with me when I go places.</p>
<p>^^^ toneranger-- how much $$$ for a netbook? (And what is a netbook?)</p>
<p>toneranger, make sure that you either keep up with the Windows/anivirus updates on your old clunker or never connect it to the internet. We had to manually clean up the registry on one of our clunkers when it got infected with a piece of malware (the machine was unintentionally turned on and left connected to the web). H used the new laptop to get the clean up instructions, and I was searching the registry and deleting the garbage out of it. The clunker now has our extra copy of Norton360 2009 and the latest Windows updates installed.</p>