I need help

hey i got a xp computer and i was wanting to ask sense iam a newbie wat programs would be good for me to dl and use. i have AVG and spybot downloaded. but now i want to protect my pc from other people tring to get in and also tring to see my files and also so they cant **** anything up. i see so many programs on freeshare but its just so many to download and try each 1. so can some people give me some suggestions on setting up security for myself. i dunno about firewalls and stuff to much i know they help but people are good these days with hackin

 

Hi and welcome

I would suggest downloading a firewall to add to your AntiVirus and Spyware. Also heres a couple of links to threads on this site which will probably be of use to you, they were wrote by the co-owner and one of the resident experts. Any more problems just ask. Use the software forum to post about any software problems you may have.

New computer Advice:-
http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=107991

Computer maintainance Advice:-
http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=106650

Security Advice:-
http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=44525
http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=25834

Dont be worried about asking questions if your having problems.

 

Welcome silas.

Here is a great link that clearly states how many of each type of protective software you should install, together with links to the download.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/page.php?id=20

 

thanks for some help also lev ur links it has like alot of questions and then liek 4 things underneath it. Do I download 1 program from each question. And another thing is iam like pc stupid to gettin rid of virus even( due to lack of internet i use for last so many yrs due to real job ) but also do firewalls protect my pc from every1 seeing my shit and so on... i open up my internet explorer and it game to a diff homepage said my pc info and said its my second warning blah blah blah said it was being investigated and so like i got paranoid and now i wanna stop someone from doin something if it is a person if not then maybe its something i click on somewhere that just messed up my page and said that info but i dunno any clues and help with firewalls or something

 

You need to have at least:-
1 antivirus program such as AVG or avast!
1 antispyware programs such as SpywareBlaster or SpywareGuard
1 firewall such as ZoneAlarm or Kerio

You can use other programs I just picked two of each as an example.

Basically a firewall is like a doorman for your computer. It wont let anyone or anything in or out of your computer without your permission. To go on the internet these days without one is basically asking for a virus or to be hacked. I reccomend ZoneAlarm Free, it does a geat job.

Also it is reccomended that you get:-
Something to defragment your HDD with and something that cleans the crap of your computer. CCleaner(crap cleaner) is good, you just run it every so often and it cleans out old junk, cookies, temp files, and crap out of your registry. As for a defragmenter theres some freebies on here also available.

If you read through those links to the Security Advice above, I guarantee your system will be very very secure. I thought mine was a couple of months back. I went through those links and have had no problems at all since. I know they are long but they are really good and worth an hour of anyones time. And all the free software you need is also available on Levs link.

 

thank you for ur response. So i like open my firewall on and keep it on like i would msn messenger icon in bottom right? iam not the smartest on how to have em on and how to set em up.

 

sorry i didnt see an edit button but i logged on today and like my web browser didnt have my normal saved bookmarks or anything it was plain then after while it was back to normal. i just want something so no1 or anything can access. also if i did dl these things i heard people can still get through them . and with these items u said i gotta give em permission(wat happens window pop up and i click okay to it wsaying blah blah blah is tring to get through?

 

That is correct. I assume you have ZoneAlarm. You should have the `z` logo on the bottom right of your screen at all times. When your computer is doing stuff it changes to a red and green icon to indicate `traffic`.

Occasionally Zone Alarm pops up asking you stuff. For example `Internet Explorer is trying to access the internet`. If its a program you recognise select yes. If not select no. if you are unsure post a question here in the software forum, someone will gladly help you.

For the first few days of using the firewall you will probably get a lot of pop-ups. This is normal as it is learning your computer. Tick `always do this` and allow for programs like Internet Explorer, Firefox, Outlook, uTorrent etc.

Also make sure you have a virus program and a spyware program running at all times, these too should be on the bottom right of your screen at all times.

Hope this helps you.

 

i got something that pops up ever so often that aask me if i would rather continue with what iam doing and allow or no and if no it closes internet n shit but thats somethign that came with pc if i am correct i always close it out when i start the pc because my pc is slow and i play an online game . I think the icon was M of some sort

 

watever these are i gotta go work soi didnt open em but i got bigfix, avg, mcafee watever those are i think thats the M i close out of also can someone tell me how to use avg and how to get rid of em and when i use spybot i have shit sometimes in my directory or somethign important and i always **** up my pc some way by deleting shit out of these programs so thats why i never open em up.

 

It sounds as if you have McAfee installed also. Which McAfee?

You need to give me proper details of what software you have on. Your software is probably all conflicting with each other. You should only have 1 anti virus, 1 firewall, and 1 realtime spyware app running at any time.

Can you find out and post ALL the software you are running, or else no-one will be able to give any better advice I dont think.

BTW I dont think you are allowed to swear your head off in the posts!

 

May i suggest getting rid of AV as it is the most useless pile of cow dung i have ever come across may i suggest you try a program like zone labs zone alarm as the virus and spy recognition are far better and give less false negatives

 

okay thanks for response and i really never have these programs open nor on . i close them out because i got a peice of crap pc. Also the big thing is iam using wireless internet which iam gettin a sgnal off my adaptar in my other room downstairs of my house. so iam tring to protect myself which a password isnt enuff. and sorry for saying bad words just a habit. But the programs i have is that McAfee i dont know wat u mean by wat i got it came with pc but it has diff thigns of mafee spamkiller mcafee virus scanner , personal firewall plus, and security (even tho i close it out i think thats the thing that keeps opening to say do u wish to steal do this on the window and so on if no then it closes out so i a lways click yes. Also i downloaded avg. but i forgot how to use it and i have used it in the past and wasnt happy even tho i heard its best. but avg and that mcfee is only things on my pc. also this morning i woke up and open explorer and my bookmarks werent there then i close and open 5 6 times and nothin so like 5 minutes later it was back to normal:/ no idea. but iam tring to get something to protect people gettin in my pc reading info and seeing wat i type and blah blah blah also virus and spyware.

 

Right, It sounds as if you are running too much stuff which is not agreeing with each other.

I will try to go through step by step everything you need to do to sort out your system. If you do this all, You should be able to get your system running a lot more smoothly than it is at the moment. I know its a bit of a ballache but its worthwhile!

Just take your time doing this, and my advice is to jot down some notes or copy this to a text file for reference, or you can do it whilst this page is still open, but I wouldnt advise it as Im going to tell you to remove your current protection.

Im far from expert by the way, but from what you are telling me, your McAfee antivirus will be conflicting with AVG. Im assuming your using the McAffee Internet Security Suite, but if it was shipped with your system, it will probably only be getting updates for a short time.

First of all download the following programs, do not install any of them yet, just get them and leave them so they are ready:-
Zone Alarm Free (firewall) - http://www.majorgeeks.com/ZoneAlarm_Free_d388.html
AVG Free (antivirus) - http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=886
Spyware Guard - http://www.majorgeeks.com/SpywareGuard_d3045.html
CCleaner -http://www.majorgeeks.com/CCleaner_Slim_No_Yahoo_Toolbar_English_d4191.html
McAfee Removal Tool - http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=5420

Right now here goes! I am going to be telling you to remove all your current protection, So its probaly now best to go off line, Personally I would stay online but thats bad advice. Its up to you what you do...

 

Install CCleaner. Open it, Click on run cleaner. Then close it again, this has just cleaned up all the crap you will have on your system.

Now close McAfee, Im not sure but usually if you right click on the M logo on your taskbar it will say close/quit/disable.

Now click on the Start button > open Control Panel > open Add or Remove Programs

Goto where it says McAfee security centre (or similar) and click on remove, also remove any other things you can see on the list which are McAfee.

Now install the McAfee removal tool you downloaded, and run that, that will remove all the crap McAfee leaves behind. Now close this program.

Now go back to Add or Remove Programs as you did above, and you can remove the McAfee removal tool, as you no longer will need it.

Now, im unsure if you have AVG up and running, it wont harm to do this anyways I dont think, maybee it will even be a newer build!

So Install AVG, use all the default settings in setup, when it asks you do you want to check for updates, click yes, when it asks do you want to scan now, click no.

Now install SpywareGuard (ive never used this before but heard its ok). During the installation use all the default settings. Again if it asks you do you want to update click yes. If it asks you to scan now, click no.

Finall install is ZoneAlarm. Install this now again using all the default setup settings. If it asks you do you want to try the Security Suite click no. And if it asks you are you interested in any other junk, no. Let it update if it wants to.

Now you should have 3 little icons in your bar at the bottom, AVGs `4 squares`, ZoneAlarms `Z`, and whatever SpywareGuard has.

 

Now, run CCleaner again to clean up any crap left behind.

These next steps will take a few hours but are definately important.

Goto Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Defragment
This will make your system run faster by re-ordering everything on your HDD. It can take 30mins to a few hours. Just leave it to finish, Dont cheat it!

Now open AVG, Goto the scan computer page, i cant remember whether it says full/thorough/complete scan. But choose that one and let it run through. Again this can take a long time but is important. Dont cheat it!

Now open SpywareGuard, Goto wherever it says scan, im unsure because ive never used it. And do the most full scan it lets you do. Dont cheat it either!

Now reset your PC and your ready to go. if youve done all this honestly and fully, your pc should be a little bit faster, if not a hell of a lot safer.

Any problems with viruses post in Malware, Any problems with any of the software you have used, post in software, any problems with your router post in hardware and someone probably will help you (just try to be more detailed).

I hope this helps you as its just took me ages to write!

If anything incorrect could someone please correct me. thanks.

 

that sounds good and all but can i just get someone that is like the owner saying thumbs up to do what wayne said. and all this should protect my pc totally from any1 with my wireless and so on?

 

It wont do nothing for your Wi-Fi with that i cant help, but it will definately protect your pc better than it is now. By all means wait for one of the owners to answer. You can probably PM them. Major Attitude above is a co-owner.

To ask about wireless security you are best to make a new thread in software.