SEEN ON A RANDOM WALL: There are likely three problems here. One is the expiration of her antivirus software; the other two may well be either malware and a net-browser hijack, or a virus and the same hack. The good news is that you can correct all of them yourself with a little work, patience, and diligence. The bad news is that itll likely cost you a little (not a lot) of money to get pro-grade products to prevent this from happening next time. With respect and deference to anyone who might have commented earlier, Ill make a categoric statement: *There is no such thing as a good free security program*. Reasons: Either theyre porous (AVGs free product and Microsofts free security products fall into that category), or theyre so limited (do not provide real-time security; etc.) that they prove useless in real life. (Anecdote: Some time ago, I was part of the sales team which was bidding on Internet security, analysis, penetration-testing, and other things at the State of [X]. We toured an office of Workforce [X] (the unemployment bureau); they had kiosks where people could apply for work; create and upload resumes - that sort of thing. For the hell of it, one of our team sat down at one and went poking around. He could get almost anywhere, and found that the machine was riddled with malware! They were using Microsoft Security Essentials for everything - and the conclusion I reached then and there was that MSE was about as good a a hook and eye to secure a bank vault. We brought it to their immediate attention that this should be corrected with paid software that did the *job*, not free stuff which had been compromised for some years. They promised to look at it along with everything else. The project went nowhere. Earlier this year, Workforce [X] announced it had been the victim of an unprecedented attack on their network, and that *every single name, address, SSN, and other vital data had been compromised.* This is what happens when you trust free software.) In order to solve this, you have to realize that antivirus software is a specialty - it likely wont protect your browser from malware. Antimalware software is a specialty - it likely wont catch viruses, which are a different type of bug. A firewall will catch bad websites and keep you from going places you shouldnt - but likely wont catch the other two. You cant expect any of these products to do double (or triple duty). The prior comments are correct - McAfee Antivirus, as well as Symantec Internet Security and other all in one products have significant impact on your systems performance, as they root to the operating system as a part of the installation process. (Its been argued that Symantec, in particular, *is* a virus by that definition). Other products are simply not comprehensive enough (AVG falls into that category). The three that stand out year after year in every antivirus software analysis are TrendMicro, ESET, and Kaspersky (Im speaking of the antivirus products *alone* here; not any of their suites.) Personally I run ESET, because I have several machines here and they offer a five machine license for their antivirus software for under $100. As to malware, you wont find a better antimalware product than Malwarebytes - for $29.00, you can purchase a lifetime license for one machine thats transferable. (This applies to their regular product, not their commercial product). These folks have been making OEM antimalware software in the commercial space for some years, and have recently created a product for consumers which uses the same database. Its also very efficient at rooting out things which your antivirus software doesnt address. Youve got several choices for a firewall. Its safe to say that the Microsoft free firewall that comes with the computer isnt sufficient. Ive used a lot of them over time, and find that Comodos firewall impacts my system performance the least and does the best job. Now, to the browser. There are several pieces of malware which hijack a browser - they go by names like Conduit, Snap.Do, and others. They usually show up in browser extensions and as additional search tools. In some cases, they can redirect your browser entirely. In some cases, theyre actually logging keystrokes and sending them somewhere else (the writer of these programs is fishing for passwords, hopefully to bank accounts and the like) - this is a common reason for slow browser performance. Im adding some links to additional info below. Good luck!: *malwarebytes.org *eset *comodo *trendmicro *kaspersky *malwaretips/blogs/remove-browser-redirect-virus/ (... and a little later...) I didnt mean to write a book, but theres no easy way to explain this stuff. Something everyone really does need to remember: *Computing was intended as a consumer exercise - computer products were intended for the consumer market.* As theyve become easier to use, more people are using them. Some caveats here, in no particular order: * Everything Ive recommended above is well within the scope of the average person with a triple-digit IQ. That said, it will require some reading and a little understanding of what these products really *do*. * Dont forget your mobile devices (both Malwarebytes and ESET also allow licenses for your mobile devices as a part of the paid package). * Speaking of mobile devices: Never, never, ever use a mobile device for sensitive work like banking. Ever. * Never use free WiFi. * There is no such thing as inevitable. You will not inevitably or no matter what get a virus. Theres only protected and unprotected. * The free version of Malwarebytes works just fine. The problem is that it *does not protect in realtime* - in other words, it doesnt catch things as they try to invade your machine; you can only catch them after you run a scan. * Always download a product from the developers website. Never use a site like CNet. Theyre usually full of malware. * What I recommended above will correct the immediate problem. Ive a suspicion youll still need to do some Windows housekeeping (which will require yet another set of products - while there are some free cleaner programs out there (AMLs Registry Cleaner is one such product), youre *well* advised to purchase a copy of PCTools Registry Mechanic - it will remove the temporary files from Windows (theres a long technical reason for why thats necessary, which I wont go into here); itll also remove broken links from the computers registry (making the system boot and run faster), as well as defragment the registry (making it easier to load.) These are all important tasks which the consumer is usually woefully equipped to handle, and free tools *just are not going to do the job*. * Speaking of free tools, whatever you do, stay away from Microsoft Security Essentials. Its as porous as chicken wire in a hurricane. * Someone suggested rebuilding the system. Usually, thats not necessary - and unless youre well-versed in so-doing, you shouldnt attempt it. * Many times, a slow-running installation of a browser can be corrected, if only partially, by ensuring that its updated. Click on the three-bar icon in the upper right; then on the ? icon at the bottom of the pop-up screen. Click on About Firefox, and if an update is available, itll check for it and begin to download. Once done, youll be prompted to restart your browser. Thats it! * Someone else mentioned backup. There are several products which will do all or some of this for you, and they range from bloated and piss-poor to very good. The first decision you need to make is what you want to back up. If its files-only, then a USB stick and a regular regimen of copy-and-paste will do it. If you want to ensure you can restore an entire disk-image, operating-system and all, then youll need backup software. In the very good category, Id recommend UltraBac Softwares Warp. Youll need at minimum a USB hard drive attached to your machine. It provides bare-metal restoration and CDP (continuous data protection).
Posted on: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 02:50:15 +0000
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