Ever wonder why your computer isn't as fast as when it was new?

[½ ¡Ñ§ÅñË ®]

I made the mistake of searching the net for a program crack yesterday. I haven't done it in a while, so I've forgotten how bad "the dark side" of the Internet can be. I really don't surf often, aside from a few select message boards. Seems I managed to open an activeX installer just by clicking on a google search result. No confirmation dialog or anything. Next thing you know I have 1 virus, 2 trojans, and 56 spyware programs on my computer. I didn't download anything, I just clicked on a google result.

Some of these programs don't even hide from us. The average Windows user has no idea that some of these programs are malicious. The talking gorilla on your desktop or the little icon in your taskbar that gives you weather updates are really there to report all kinds of statistics about your surfing habits to some kind of advertiser or agency.

So you say, "I've got Norton Antivirus protecting me."

Norton/Symantec/McAfee antivirus programs work... sometimes. But do I want to use up to 50% of my processing power and a huge chunk of my hard disk and pay subscription fees for a product that only works sometimes? Of course not!

Grisoft AVG virusscan is free and in my humble (but informed) opinion works better than any of the subscription services. Uses very little system resources. It even has a plug in for Outlook Express.

Get it FREE here (5 MB):

http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php

As for adware/spyware, Lavasoft AdAware is the #1 choice and I agree wholeheartedly. I have installed AdAware on a few (internet enabled) computers and have never, ever found one without some kind of malicious statistics reporting software installed. I'd say the average user who installs AdAware will find over 50 spyware objects on their computer.

Get it FREE here (1.7 MB):

http://lavasoft.element5.com/support/download/

Make sure you get the most recent definition files for both AdAware and AVG.

These downloads are relatively small even for 56K users.

Now lets talk about the information you type here and on other sites. How about those chat rooms like Yahoo Messenger. It’s all being saved for reasons I don’t know. Have you ever done a google search on your personal name? How about the name you use here and on other message boards? Try it. You may be surprised at the results.

Here’s the google link.
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?hl=en

Now the reason I posted this. Someone from this board I keep in contact with via e-mail thinks my investigative nature may have stalking intentions. I’m not a fricking stalker but if I were it would be very easy to get your address and telephone number with searching tools readily available on the Internet. The skip trace service I use is controlled. I can loose my license if I abuse it and if I chose to use it to stalk I get in big trouble. If I were a stalker why the hell would I be telling you what I do for a living.

I like all of the members here and if I choose not to like what you post, there is an ignore feature. It’s my choice to use it so I don’t want to hear any crap about it. Please folks give me a break. There are plenty of pretty ladies right here in my area. I don’t need to stalk someone living many miles away. I did do a google searcch on this member that e-mailed me but it was out of curiosity and they’re name sounded familiar. There was no harm intended and it is public information. They know I did it because I told them I did it. Simple as that and no harm intended.

I’ll end this by also making it known Marty and Lisas domain information is public too if you know where to search on the internet. I have they’re name address and telephone number and have never stalked them. Never called them or John Kinney with The NicksFix. If they want this information private they have the choice to do so through they’re domain service. Damnit people I’m not a fricking stalker but they are out there.

Try that google search and keep safe.

I need to get back to stalking so I’ll catch up to you beauties I’m stalking later.

Peace and wash your hands.

[BTFLCHLD]

you may want to deposit your most recent medicinal script in the porcelain bowl

[chiffon head]

OMG!Another Carne impersonater. Wierd.

Renee

[BTFLCHLD]

Originally Posted by chiffon head

OMG!Another Carne impersonater. Wierd.

Renee

IMO That's kind of harsh for a newbie?

[chiffon head]

What's a newbie?

Renee

[WildInTheWind]

Grisoft AVG virusscan is free and in my humble (but informed) opinion works better than any of the subscription services. Uses very little system resources. It even has a plug in for Outlook Express.

Get it FREE here (5 MB):

http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php

So is this just a scan, or does it get rid of the viruses too? I have been looking around for a free one, but can't seem to find anything. They scan, tell me I have 90 million viruses and then try to get me to buy it.
~*~becky~*~

[GateandGarden]

Originally Posted by chiffon head

What's a newbie?

Renee

[Mari]

Lavasoft AdAware might be free, but it misses a lot of junk in it's scan. I used another program for a month that filtered out a LOT more crap.. but it was only a test-version.
Tried using another browser? Mozilla's Firefox, have it for a couple of weeks now and just love it. Doesn't look that much different from IExplorer, so it doesn't take much to get used to it. But they say it keeps out a lot of crap that IExplorer let's through.

A google-link?! I think they ought to know about that, a searchmachine shouldn't direct you to virusses.

[chiffon head]

Originally Posted by BTFLCHLD

IMO That's kind of harsh for a newbie?

I'm just joking. Sorry if I offended.

Renee

[SuzeQuze]

I've got Active X stuff blocked because of this but I can't remember how I did it. I got this spyware on my work computer and it was really hard to get rid of it. I had to boot into safe mode edit the registry and stuff. At home I had to reinstall my whole operating system at one time because of viruses. Just make sure to back up, back up, back up. At some point you will have to wipe out your machine and you want to have all your data backed up.

Some people use Mozilla instead of IE because it is supposed to be less prone to this stuff, I haven't tried it yet.

[sodascouts]

Originally Posted by Mari

Lavasoft AdAware might be free, but it misses a lot of junk in it's scan. I used another program for a month that filtered out a LOT more crap.. but it was only a test-version.
Tried using another browser? Mozilla's Firefox, have it for a couple of weeks now and just love it. Doesn't look that much different from IExplorer, so it doesn't take much to get used to it. But they say it keeps out a lot of crap that IExplorer let's through.

A google-link?! I think they ought to know about that, a searchmachine shouldn't direct you to virusses.

I tried Firefox and it is nice, but I've noticed problems with Flash sites. If you have this browser, everyone, make sure you go to the Macromedia website and download the latest version of Flash, or you'll have problems, too.

[hayley]

I love Firefox. I've been using it at home for a few weeks, and actually just downloaded it to use at work. I love the way it loads image-intensive pages, it's been a lifesaver on dialup at home. And the pop-up blocker is really intuitive. I likes it.

[½ ¡Ñ§ÅñË ®]

Yes Mozilla Forefox is great. I use it on my office PC but the PC I use to surf most of the time is still I.E. I keep it backed up and operate with 2 HD’s. One for this and another for that. I put up the AVG and AdAware info because a lot of people are afraid to switch browsers.

I’ve had very little get past AVG and AdAware. If it does I turn off system restore and boot to safe mode. It’s usually easy to find and fix if the programs fail to recognize it. If not I reformat which is no big deal for me. I keep everything important saved anyway.

When I said “I need to get back to stalking so I’ll catch up to you beauties I’m stalking later.” I meant it as a joke. I really need to start using the j/k joke thing more often. I guess I’m still a learning baby when it comes to the way I post on this message board. Waaa can I get a bottle of warm milk? Something with a nipple would be nice. Waaa. Oh my, I pooped myself. j/k