Kudos to VoG II

[kgkev]

Does it matter if the PC gets infected with spyware if it is not your responsibility?

I'm pretty sure that any cybercafe would have better protection against these sort of threats that an average home user anyway - they would be protecting there business & revenue not just there data.

If you are connected to the internet for more than 2 hours, there is a very high possibility that your computer would get infected with a few Spywares

Does that mean that surfing the internet for more than 2 hours causes a sudden influx of spyware?

My pc is connected to the internet around 8 -12 hours a day everyday. I have Windows Vista, Windows Firewall & AVG 8.0 (free) I have disabled windows Defender and have no real time spyware protection (other than AVG) My PC has been running for almost a year now and never had any occurance of spyware.

Its all about not visiting dubious websites, clicking unknown links & installing apps that haven't got some degree of credibility.

I have however removed numerous occurances of virus's / spyware from friends & collegues PC and have always turned to www.techsupportforum.com - Also a hijack this support website as mention previously.

 

[xyzabc198]

I would like to give my advice on protective software that's free!

Avast - VERY effective and robust...I thought I was going to have to throw my PC out, only flaw is it's a 1 month trial then you have to pay

AVG - Also another good one, no free trial, it's completely free forever!!!

Both these are available at www.download.com

 

[xyzabc198]

Does that mean that surfing the internet for more than 2 hours causes a sudden influx of spyware?

My pc is connected to the internet around 8 -12 hours a day everyday. I have Windows Vista, Windows Firewall & AVG 8.0 (free) I have disabled windows Defender and have no real time spyware protection (other than AVG) My PC has been running for almost a year now and never had any occurance of spyware.

Its all about not visiting dubious websites, clicking unknown links & installing apps that haven't got some degree of credibility.

Being on the internet for more than 100 hours can't give you spyware, it depends what you have, if you have a p2p on your PC (e.g. limewire, shareeza) then you have a high chance of getting viruses, trojans, spyware, hackers...the whole lot, just play it safe and smart and you'll be fine

 

[RoryA]

As a matter of interest, how do you know you've never been hit by spyware if you don't have an anti-spyware app?
Also, it's not just dubious sites - MySpace famously had its banner ads infected and they infected over a million PCs through a Windows vulnerability.

 

[xyzabc198]

As a matter of interest, how do you know you've never been hit by spyware if you don't have an anti-spyware app?
Also, it's not just dubious sites - MySpace famously had its banner ads infected and they infected over a million PCs through a Windows vulnerability.

If you have a good tech mind you might beable to spot spywares yourself, although granted you cant do a 100% thorough check on your own.
And yes all site's can contain malicious files and suchlike, but keep it smart and dont click links to a website unless you know the site it's linking to, and, well, yeah it is best to download AVG or something

 

[RoryA]

If you have a good tech mind you might beable to spot spywares yourself

I suppose so, if you spent your entire time going through your registry and running processes (including hidden ones)!
My main point was that you should have at least one dedicated anti-spyware app of some sort - anti-virus programs aren't up to the task (even dedicated anti-spyware apps won't catch 100%). Even legitimate sites can be hacked, so it's not sufficient to simply know what the site is.

 

[xyzabc198]

I agree...in theory all safe sites are not safe.
But site's like microsoft.com or msn will have VERy good virus blockers, and if they haven't stopped them getting into the site, what chances does a free anti-spyware or antivirus or firewall system have of spotting it? not much I'd say

 

[kgkev]

Exactly regular checks of processes & services running avoids the need for a scan and are a lot quicker.

If I do find anything odd I use http://www.liutilities.com/products/wintaskspro/processlibrary/

Also getting to know the services & processes help speed up the system. Non essential processes and services can be stopped which will improve the performance of the system.


occasional scans with adaware & SBS&D when I'm not busy (gaming) just to pick up anything I've missed.

 

[kgkev]

just play it safe and smart and you'll be fine

Missed this post before -but thats exactly my philosophy!

 

[xyzabc198]

Exactly regular checks of processes & services running avoids the need for a scan and are a lot quicker.

If I do find anything odd I use http://www.liutilities.com/products/wintaskspro/processlibrary/

Also getting to know the services & processes help speed up the system. Non essential processes and services can be stopped which will improve the performance of the system.


occasional scans with adaware & SBS&D when I'm not busy (gaming) just to pick up anything I've missed.

But remember, you're not a virus dictionary, you don't know them all, and a brand new trojan could cause more virus' to slip in un noticed, I used to do the same to keep my PC safe, check it myself, I ended up with over 5000 viruses...yeah, it's worth scanning it at least once a month, I check mine every week now while I sleep