Protecting my laptop

[Oz]

OK, so for some time now, our wireless network has been unprotected. Not sure what went wrong, but for some reason, our personal wireless network went away. Figured no big deal, we have McAfee protection, we're fine.

So last night, some program called Spy Defender Pro popped up on the laptop not long after I fired the computer up. I knew for a fact I didn't download anything like that -- I try not to download anything I don't need, period. I did a Google search and found it's some sort of spyware/Trojan virus. I deleted that program from the computer ASAP, then ran a McAfee scan that found and quarantined 25 items. That same Spy Defender Pro ad come up when I rebooted the computer, though. Gave up, went to sleep.

Today, I decided to ditch the wireless, we're going high-speed Internet with the cable connection to make the computer more secure (at least I think it would be). All seems well in my wife's setup, and no items came up when I did another McAfee search this afternoon. I'm going to test it again after the Super Bowl party we're going to when I log in to my account/individual settings.

Does it sound like I'm making the right moves here? Is there anything more I can do? And what can I do if that Spy Defender Pro reappears -- is there any programs that won't hurt my computer that I could run to rid the laptap of it?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Diabeetus]

Download Lavasoft's Ad Aware for free (you can get it from download.com). It works better than McAfee or Norton ever does. Run it, and you should be good.

Also, what Internet browser are you using?

 

[mike311gd]

I don't know, sir. I enjoy having both the wireless and high-speed, so I'd never give up either of them. If you feel your system's safer, it's better for the mind -- and that might be worth the switch.

 

[Oz]

Also, what Internet browser are you using?

We're using Internet Explorer, but I heard Firefox helps protect better. I downloaded it once, didn't like it and figured McAfee ought to protect against attacks well enough. Now I'm considering Firefox again.

 

[mike311gd]

Firefox is much better at everything; it's easier to manage, protect and in more compatible. Once you get used to it, you'll never want to go back to Internet Explorer.

 

[Flash]

I use the Grisoft free series (Anti-virus, Spyware and Rootkit) and I've never had an issue.

www.free.grisoft.com

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

Also, what Internet browser are you using?

We're using Internet Explorer, but I heard Firefox helps protect better. I downloaded it once, didn't like it and figured McAfee ought to protect against attacks well enough. Now I'm considering Firefox again.

McAfee sucks at nearly everything. Spybot and AdAware are better choices. From the Mozilla groups: Firefox is very good, K-Meleon (also from Mozilla) is decent and the application formerly known as Netscape Communicator soldiers on as the open-source Mozilla SeaMonkey (browser, e-mail/USENET, IRC chat, HTML editor) and supports Firefox plugins. Netscape Navigator is still available, but support ends March 1.

If you really wanted to stop spyware, you'd have to switch to some variant of Unix (Linux, FreeBSD, &c.).

 

[Kid Bro Sweets]

Isn't it weird that McAfee software sucks so badly?

I mean, ****, this is their little niche. Or ... was their little niche.

 

[slappy4428]

Have mcafee on the new desktop because it came with the puter.
But the laptop has Zonealarm Internet Security and it works great

 

[zebracoy]

That damn Spy Defender Pro **** is the bane of my Internet existence. It seems like every computer I've used has been infected with the thing at least once.

I realized that it came from visiting music lyrics sites. Have you done that recently? Those things are like a gateway to hell. One visit is all you need for the crap to come funneling through.

And I've never heard of spyware/viruses transferring from one computer to another via a wireless network - but that doesn't mean it can't happen, I guess. Just don't be so willing to point to that as the reason why it happened.

 

[Rosie]

Oz, what OS do you have?

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

That damn Spy Defender Pro **** is the bane of my Internet existence. It seems like every computer I've used has been infected with the thing at least once.

I realized that it came from visiting music lyrics sites. Have you done that recently? Those things are like a gateway to hell. One visit is all you need for the crap to come funneling through.

I have done that recently, with no problems. What version of Windows are you using, and which browser?

 

[Oz]

Oz, what OS do you have?

Not sure if this is the right answer, but we've got Microsoft, whatever a recent version of it is. This Intel Centrino laptop is less than two years old.

And zebracoy, I feel better knowing someone else is having this problem, though I feel bad for having it. And yes, I have gone to music lyrics sites recently. But I think the problem might have been around for some time before finally popping up now.

 

[Rosie]

XP? Vista?

You are going to need to do some major cleanup on your machine. And when you refer to 'wireless' are you referring to DSL or broadband with a wireless router or are you in an area which offers a wireless signal? Just by connecting your laptop to the internet via a wireless connection is not the problem, you need to have your machine protected no matter how you go online.

 

[Oz]

XP, I think. And by wireless, I meant with a router that we had that used to be secured, but for some reason, the protected status went away and it became unsecured. Even though it's our router, our own wireless network fails to appear, so it shows and some random one.

And I've downloaded AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition, recommended by download.com. Running a scan now. Hopefully this works -- McAfee couldn't stop what I'm trying to rid the laptop of now.

 

[Rosie]

K, here's what you need to do.

Uninstall McAfee. Both McAfee and Norton have outlived their usefulness (especially Norton.)

AVG is the first step. Make sure you have it updated, it usually installs with a time already set up for daily automatic updates.

Download Spyware Blaster and update it. This runs in the background. The free version needs to be manually updated, do this once a week.

Spybot Search and Destroy and Adaware are both good free programs. So is AVG's antispyware program. I have all three on my XP machines. Download all three, install them, then run them one at a time.

Now, as far as your wireless router goes. Consult your owner's manual and find out how to access your settings. With my Belkin router, I input an address right in my web browser to bring up the settings for my router. Once you are in, you should be able to reset your router.

Chances are you will also need to go into add/remove programs in the Control Panel and remove that offending program that keeps popping up on you. Do that first before running any of your scans.

Oh, just so ya know. The actual cable connected to your machine is more secure in that someone can't sit in your driveway and hack into your system with a wireless connection. But it's no more secure than a wireless connection as far as internet surfing goes -- it's the same connection.

I hope this makes sense, I'm only on my first cup of coffee this morning.

 

[OTD]

Uninstall McAfee. Both McAfee and Norton have outlived their usefulness (especially Norton.)

McAfee is just annoying and useless. Norton is a cast-iron pain in the ass. I've advised people whose computers I work on to dump it. It causes way more problems than it solves.

I suspect it's because it burrows really deep into the registry as a hangover from when Norton Utilities was like that. In any event, it sucks.

 

[Oz]

Uninstall McAfee. Both McAfee and Norton have outlived their usefulness (especially Norton.)

AVG is the first step. Make sure you have it updated, it usually installs with a time already set up for daily automatic updates.

Download Spyware Blaster and update it. This runs in the background. The free version needs to be manually updated, do this once a week.

Spybot Search and Destroy and Adaware are both good free programs. So is AVG's antispyware program. I have all three on my XP machines. Download all three, install them, then run them one at a time.

McAfee's gone, AVG in its place. Problem was AVG didn't catch anything more, so I looked elsewhere. On some Web site (cnet.com or download.com, I forget which), they recommended a program called Super Anti-Spyware, which seemed to do the trick. It caught Spy Defender Pro and a couple other programs that were there and zapped them.

That was at about 5 a.m. today. And so far today, no Spy Defender Pro, no other little quirks that had come up during the last month or so (knock on wood). Next up will be securing our wireless system.

Rosie (and everyone else), thanks for some great advice. My computer is feeling better because of it.

 

[Rosie]

AVG isn't going to catch spyware as it is an antivirus program. Two different problems, both extremely evil.

Good luck securing your system.

 

[Oz]

AVG isn't going to catch spyware as it is an antivirus program. Two different problems, both extremely evil.

Good luck securing your system.

Which is why I'm going to keep both to run on the laptop.

Again, thanks for the advice. Laptop is normal again.

(knock on wood)