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Tech help required: work computers and t'interweb

 
 
doozy floop
14:28 / 14.03.05
I've been cheerfully using my work computer for months for all kinds of dubious non-work-related business, including the downloading of lovely mp3s. However, my machine started crashing in an upsetting manner on a daily basis, and I somehow acquired an unsightly popup for some sort of search engine on my desktop that won't go away.

As if that wasn't bad enough, our IT consultant came in and found billions of bits of invasive spyware on my machine, I got a telling off for it being actually the worst he'd ever seen, I'm now paranoid about doing anything on t'internet, and my machine is still crashing.

My challenge for you, barbelith, is thusly:

Dare I return to downloading?
How can I get rid of the buggery popup on my desktop?
How can I get rid of all the buggery popups that stalk me around the web?
What can I do to stop my poor computer having endless breakdowns?

Sincerely,

Marge from Accounts (who also gets confused in the presence of more than one remote control)
 
 
Spatula Clarke
14:37 / 14.03.05
If it's a work computer, are you allowed to install stuff on it yourself, or is that an IT Support-only job? Because there's stuff you could do to stop this in future, but you'll just end up in shit again if your IT people are the only ones with the go-ahead for sticking new pieces of software on machines.
 
 
doozy floop
15:11 / 14.03.05
Nah, installing stuff is fine. We don't have an IT department or anything - too small and disorganised - just a chappy who stops by from time to time when we get in a pickle. I can't really see him caring what I do, as long as it doesn't break things and therefore take him hours to fix...
 
 
Scrambled Password Bogus Email
15:56 / 14.03.05
Get AdAware (Google it) and run it once a week.

Get SP2 if you are running XP (microsoft site...again, Google will help) to help with the popups.

Google "Free online virus scan" and go to the first link you see (Trend micro)...follow the procedures and do this at least once a month...

Should help a lot.

Also, try to find APK registry cleaner (Google APK Tools or APK Reg Cleaner doenload or something similar until you find it) and run it. It takes ages, but my my my it will sort your registry once and for all.

There. Snorted.
 
 
STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK
16:20 / 14.03.05
For future use, install Firefox and use it instead of IE (which I'm assuming you're using). Way more secure. And nicer to use, too.
 
 
Triplets
17:14 / 14.03.05
For music, all you really need is Soulseek. Don't rely on dodgy spyware infested p2p progs.
 
 
tom-karika nukes it from orbit
17:25 / 14.03.05
If you want to dodge spyware and the like, try:

Spybot Search And Destroy This one cleans out your registry of keys for spyware, and blocks keys of known spyware. It has some IE extensions that help keep the stuff out too.

Most spyware comes in through Internet Explorer security holes, so a great way of avoiding it is to stop using IE. I reccomend Firefox. It is small, fast, full-featured and best of all has fewer security holes than IE.

As for dodgy mp3 downloads... Not much you can do about those, Maybe try using iTunes and pay for the stuff.
 
 
doozy floop
08:22 / 15.03.05
Thank you my pumpkins; I have now:

*started using Firefox
*downloaded Spybot
*discovered that I've already got SP2 and Ad-Aware installed
*abandoned all designs on mp3s

Should I do anything with my old IE, or just not use it?
The buggery popup is still on my desktop, but I'm kind of used to it now. It's a part of my working scenery, with its cheeky poppy-up-ness.

Now let's see if I've killed or cured my machine...
 
 
w1rebaby
20:15 / 15.03.05
Use AdAware and the Microsoft spyware killer (no, honestly, as far as I know it's pretty good) as well as Spybot S&D. Leave IE alone, just don't use it, and set your default browser to be Firefox.

There is some malware that nobody knows how to remove at this time, particularly some variants of CoolWebSearch.

Most of this stuff comes from visiting sites that plant malware on you. Don't go to websites to download MP3s - as other people have said, use a client, which is fairly safe. (But don't just double click on anything you get, go to your music player and open it from there instead. If it sounds like garbage, delete it, it's either corrupt, malware or a virus.)

One would hope that your IT department already have virus checkers but if not, use the free version of AVG.
 
 
Lama glama
21:22 / 15.03.05
As a sidenote, you should certainly download and install more than one ad-ware buster. One on its own can often miss certain computer-goblins. Scan with both ad-ware busters at least twice a week and you should be safe.
 
 
w1rebaby
21:27 / 15.03.05
but only one anti-virus at a time

otherwise they fight, like hamsters
 
 
STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK
06:28 / 16.03.05
Yeah, keep IE there, just don't use if it you can help it. Some software, and some sites (though fortunately their number seems to be decreasing) don't support Mozilla, so it's handy to have IE as a back-up; being the industry standard, pretty much everything works on it.

While you're at it, at while I'm in a state of Gates-hatin' Mozilla love, install Thunderbird as your email program, too. Not only is it better (and more secure) than Outlook, every time you fire it up it's nice to imagine Bill Gates crying.
 
 
captain piss
06:47 / 16.03.05
Thing about Spybot is it's very like "nooooo, don't delete this unless you know what you're doing". How're you meant to know what things you can destroy and what you can't? Or can it all be zapped?
ta for any help that can be proferred on that one
 
 
tom-karika nukes it from orbit
06:54 / 16.03.05
Spybot can do (and does do by default) a registry backup. So I usually just zap everything, knowing that if I cock it up, I can use the backup.

So yeah, backup and then zap everything afterwards.
 
  
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