Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Dear good computer-geek ppkers,

I was wondering if we could have a thread for asking the opinions/help of computer geeks on various computery things?

I sure hope so, because I am starting one. I always have questions and some of you are so knowledgeable.

I am currently wondering about the best ways to protect my computer from nefarious infections? I had Norton on my computer and it expired. I somehow ended up with AVG bullying its way in and making itself be "protected search" whatevering, etc. I don't know if I like the way AVG goes about it. I never gave it the go-ahead, but it IS a hand-me-down computer from my dad.

So, how do I clean up this thing in the protection department and what programs should I use? I suppose I usually go for free, but I'd probably pay a little bit for a program if its worth it. Are there any good programs that can clean up background noise that slow me down that are just HERE, from when the computer started out, or were bundled with something, etc?

Thanks!

Since it is a hand me down, do you happen to have a copy of windows? CD and product key? Windows systems tend to get slower, no matter what, over time and the best solution I've found is a full reinstall.

I'd probably recommend doing a full reinstall if possible, then either using Avast or AVG.

If you can't reinstall, then I'd most likely go into the Control Panel->Programs and Features (or something else that will say Programs) and see if you can uninstall whatever your dad may have installed on it. Especially look for things that may say 'toolbar' or what not like "yahoo toolbar". If it is something you aren't sure about, you can google it or leave it alone. Then I'd go to Start->Accessories->System Tools->Disk Cleanup and run that. Then go to Start->Accessories->System Tools->Disk Defragmenter and run that. Then I'd go into your AVG and see if it mentions being up to date. If not, I'd look for a button that says 'update' or similar and run that. Once it is updated, I'd run a full scan.

If you are able to reinstall, I'd reinstall from scratch, then go download AVG or Avast, update them then run them.

I'm not really a Windows person but that is the best I got for now.

Probably a good idea to start over with a reinstall. If you're having problems, might even want to consider Dbanning your drive (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darik%27s_Boot_and_Nuke).

Have you ever considered using Linux?

We have a laptop we use just for internet access and it has Windows OS plus Norton, BUT, for the past year, we've been using Linux. The Linux OS is on a thumb drive and we boot to it whenever we want to go online.

The nice thing about running the Linux off a thumb is that you never have to use your computer's hard drive (where all those cookies, virus and malware require access to), so when you shut down your computer, nothing is left behind to attack you. Any screen shots or cut&paste docs I want to keep from a surf session I dl onto another thumb and transfer to one of our other computers. I store nothing of value on the internet computer's HD, so nothing is ever at risk.

If you don't have desire for 2d computer dedicated to internet, then if you have a laptop, you can accomplish the same thing by getting a spare hard drive (and caddy). Then, slide in one HD when you want to go online, and slide in the other when you want to store information that is personal and you don't want exposed to hacking.