new dumb question - firewalls and antivir

duh ! are you supposed to disable the firewall and /or antivirus each time you down load a program? if so how do thay stop the viruses etc.? aloha laurie

 

no, you leave them running when you download programs. Disabling them will not allow for real time scanning. This applies more to the AV than to the firewall but you should leave them both up.

 

thanx kodo. someone told me i had to switch them off, but it didnt make sense. aloha to you

 

Hell no. I have ZA, Spybot and Avast running all the time I am on the net. No problems with downloads. The occasional spyware/adware sneaks through, that is why you check your system out regularly with the other stuff recommended by MG. Baz

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so any thing that says that should be 'save to' as opposed to 'open' ? and then 'scan for virus' before download? (no need reply unless i got that wrong lol)

 

any time you download anything, it's saved to your hard-drive (HDD) wether you do "save to" or "open",it is downloaded to your HDD.

 

Most decent AV's will scan the file upon download, most of the time transparently, regardless of what you click when you download them. What i'd be most leary of, is files received from P2P or File Sharing networks. Personally I never run an application from the internet, always saving it to my hard drive first then executing it. You never know what you're gonna get anymore

 

what ICE is talking about there is what is called RT or Real-Time scanning.

 

I knew there was a technical term for it...

 

the last thing i tried to download was '10,000 smiley faces' (what the hell would anyone want with 10,ooo of them i really dont know! can there even be 10,000 smiley faces?)from 'smiley central' (hippy chick daughter !) as it happens it wouldnt do it. i dont know why. it said it was about to but just got stuck. we tried it several times. i looked to see if it had downlaoded 'invisably' somewhere but i think not. i got all nervous and scanned for viruses etc. i dont trust the ones that dont work! i dont know what P2P is.... i dont think i've bumped into one. but i'll keep an eye out lol. aloha

 

Thought I read somewhere that "10,000 smiley faces" was adware or spyware. Might be wrong, apologies to them if I am. Do you have pestPatrol on your PC? Good one for picking up nasties. AdAware, is another. Both on MG I think.

AdAware v6.0 http://www.majorgeeks.com/download506.html

Can't find PestPatrol in my records

Found it on MG Search. Pest Patrol (6mb in size if you are on dialup) http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=1187

bazza

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no i have antivir personal ed, spybot, spyblaster, and zone alarm. when i last spoke to MS they said adaware was better than spy bot but i havnt changed it yet. what do you think? i just tried to download smiley toolbar and that didnt work either. sez it downloaded but not! no smileys for me!!

 

laurieB. I have Spybot S & D, AdAware, PestPatrol and others. Run most of them daily after I log off to detect/remove nasties. ZA and Avast are running when I am on the net. Pest Patrol is free but you need to pay to delete what it finds. I use regedit to delete them manually.

They are part of my "Essentials" suité of housekeeping/safekeeping programs that I use often. Recommend them to you. Bazza

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dont adaware and spybot do the same thing? ditto with ZA and avast? why do you need both?http://smilies.sofrayt.com/1/u/ylflower.gif (just testing )

 

adaware and spybot do similar things but they are not identical and what one misses the other catches and vice-versa. Both can be enhanced by using SpywareBlaster, SpywareGuard and a hosts file.

ZA is a Firewall.

Avast is an anti-virus.

 

what the hell is a host file. how do you know when you have enough protection? how do you know what programs protect against what? and whether your simply duplicating ? maybe MG should write a list of essential protection programs and explanations thereof. (if there is already one, i haven't found it)http://smilies.sofrayt.com/1/950/lamer.gifhttp://smilies.sofrayt.com/1/950/upset.gif

 

See here: http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?p=404676#post404676

 

I need help! While downloading Kazaa, I picked up a host of viruses, which directed me to download NoAdware to remove the viruses (something.gator?).
I deleted all viruses with NoAdware program, ran Norton Anti-Virus to make sure the rest of the system was good, now I can't reach the symantec web page for my virus updates. I have read the forums and see that it's a common problem, can someone please help???
I have downloaded the setup for AntiVir, but as I was running it, it said I should uninstall any other Anti-Virus program (Norton)???
Should I disconnect from my DSL line to uninstall Norton and install AV, so I don't get attacked by all kinds of bad stuff while I'm unprotected??
I am NOT very proficient with the computer. Bare with my lack of knowlege...

 

Hi Harry, and welcome to MajorGeeks

I would consider using a different AV, as your's can't connect at the moment for updates. Uninstalling Norton's would probably be a good idea, if it can't connect then it's probably been compromised. I'd read this thread: http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=35407 particularly about Scanning and Cleaning in the beginning. That should give you a good idea where to start.

Disconnecting your DSL line after you're updated probably isn't a bad idea, but I don't think it's necessary. Just make sure that your browser and email programs are closed when you run the AV.

 

Get rid of NoAdware. It is a bad program. Read this. http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=33977
Gator isn't a virus, it is some form of spyware. Read this for more info and get the progs it recommends. http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=25834
Get rid of Kazaa! If you want P2P, try WinMX, eMule (here: http://majorgeeks.com/downloads17.html ) or Shareaza (Google it). They are spyware-free.

 

laurieB. Your post, as you realisa, has been hijacked by a newbie, HarryKitty, who tacked a completely different problem onto your post, thus causing confusion. In answer to yout HOSTS question check out http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=38571 for the latest question on the HOSTS file.

Older posts you may like to check out are
http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=31926

Also 31928, 30659, 32722, 37393, 30950, 33110, 18513 (re-activated), 30679.

Just substitute each number in turn for the above link showing 31926.

All these links are taken from my Excel spreadsheet of interesting posts. Some may, or may not, have been deleted by the MG bosses in order to conserve space. That is why I have listed them all. Some should still be there.

In answer to your query on why use more than 1 program to do the same job, it reminds me of and Irish joke. Why does an Irishman wear 2 condoms instead of 1. Answer "to be sure, to be sure". Normally it is not advisable to run 2 programs at the same time while you are on the net. AVG and Avast would be 1 example. There is nothing stopping you from running more than 1 after you LOGOFF. I routinely run CCleaner, Cleanup! and EmpTemp all together. After they have run, I run Spybot, Adaware and PestPatrol together as part of my daily cleanup/housekeeping/nasties checking after each session on the net.

Hope this clears it up a bit. Bazza

 

thanx bazza, i dont mind being highjacked. i think as it was a query avout protection he probably thought it 'fitted'. i will go through all those. this morning my ZA has 'pest scan' which found a dozan 'pests'. of course it doesnt delete them untill you pay. when i run AntiVir, and spybot, (and occasionally house call) they all come up clean. so....what is the possibility that we're all being conned? if not how do i know what to get rid of and how to do it? i dont know how to post the page up to show you what it sez. alohahttp://smilies.sofrayt.com/1/x/coffeecup.gif[Automated by GetSmile]

 

laurieB. I will rely on ZA experts to comment on what ZA 'found". Could be false positives? If Spybot and housecall don't find them, then I dunno. Hope the joke got the point across (no pun intended). Bazza

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Sorry I hijacked her post...
This is my first time on ANY message board and don't know HOW to start a new post...
Sorry, sorry.... And I'm a SHE, not a he.

 

jitty go to the main software message board. at the top right there is a box that sez 'new thread'. that should do it. ps welcome and aloha

 

Thanks for the info and the welcome, Laurie B!
And sorry again for infiltrating your post!~Harry Kitty

 

Another hint. Don't use coloured fonts. Almost impossible to read them. Bazza

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@HarryKitty

@HarryKitty Welcome - we always need another SHE
I couldn't find a post by you in Software of in Spyware. I tried to send you a Private Message but you don't have that enabled so I thought I'd try here in case you get back online and check here first.

This is a great site. Don't let big-old-Baz scare you off! People can help you with what your problem is (even BAZ!). Come on back and give us the details and follow the steps given and you should be good to go.

 

Thanks Pegg.
I figured it out thru the messages from IceMan and Just Playin.
Thank you very much.
I have another question re: hardware, but I'll ask in the proper manner.
Thanks all for the help.