Where Do I Go From Here?

Good Evening!

I’m not sure as to which Forum would be the correct one to submit my question to so I guess I should then just try the General All Purpose One. I’ve been Registered with Major Geeks for over 18 months [ although I had to Re~Register again in April 2010 because of some glitch] and the few occasions I have come to seek out the Expertise of Y’All I have never been disappointed... I hope I will continue to “Bat .1000”.

About 6 weeks ago I was attacked in the worst situation I had ever been in and as I have AVG 9.0 fully paid for when I went after them for help I found myself shunted over to Support.com and had to pay $139 to have myself bailed out! Now of course I had a bit of “Sticker Shock” and momentarily balked at the cost of paying for the Service I thought was Already paid for between my Registered fully functional Versions of both AVG as my A/V Protection and then ‘Reg.Cure’ from Paretologic I thought since they although loaded and running in the background upon Start Up I would have been covered and/or protected as per... but I found that not to be the case.

Because I was “Bit” so badly and the proof of whatever had invaded me literally took the Tech over 10 hours straight to dig me out of the mess created ~~ and he used as the primary Resource “Malwarebytes” ©® ~~ and whatever else it took to clean up and restore. So I guess it's just a case now of Whatever is IS.

My first question is just what should I expect as far as performance of either AVG and or Reg Cure? I don’t know exactly how to say this correctly but I just think or believed I would have been better protected from the invasion that took place... It was some other A/V program which took over my entire system with the sole stated purpose of selling me their A/V program ~~ and I was invaded with well over a dozen Trojan’s even going as far as my Root Kit as well as disabling ANY accessing of AVG or Reg Cure!! 9 Months ago I had a similar experience while running Symantec’s Norton A/V and because Norton was also made that I couldn’t access it I had to go out and purchase AVG in order to rid myself of the 1st infestation. Up until that event I had been totally satisfied with the Performance of Norton which was my A/V program utilized since 1989 and ONLY had to disengage and opted for AVG because the invading program totally disable like I said, any access to Norton at all.

So just what should I be reasonably expected to be protected by either or both programs?? I feel like I was invaded because I had NO Protection... That’s exactly how it felt. As to the cost of the Bail Out... well on one hand I resented having to pay for the protection I thought was a done deal by having the registered Paid for programs ~~ But yet when I was a first hand observer of all the Work the Tech had to put in visa vie Support.com .. well He/They earned their Fee.. but what should I have expected as my first hand experience of what did I pay for and what was the responsibility by either Company: AVG & Reg Cure??

I am especially concerned now as my “Subscription” to Reg Cure has expired two weeks ago... If I need a Spy/Malware program then what else should I be looking to if the paid for version didn’t protect me at all?? Perhaps what I am presenting to you seems simplistic but to me it is now a major issue and I don’t know what I should replace Reg Cure with. I mean the bottom line is just what expectations for Protection Should I have and are reasonable?? To me this is a Very Big Deal and even though I have been working on PC’s since 1989 and that I am far from a Neophyte I now with this quandary feel like a total Newbie and I don’t know where to go from here. I am afraid that no matter what I do I have NO real protection from well written programs as those that 'Bit' me on the two occasions I just reported. I mean like just WHAT am I paying for?? I know how that sounds but I don't know how or what to expect when I bought and paid for all 3 programs: Norton A/V ~ AVG A/V and Reg Cure... ....sigh.

Thanks for your input and advice.

As Always Warmest Regards,

MidRange

 

Hello, Mid Range :wave If I were you, I'd start in Software. First off, you have "3" AV's??? That is a big no-no, as they can conflict each other to no end. :eek , and cause more problems than you need. :cry Decide on one, and remove the other two. Personally, I use AVG 9 the Free version, and haven't had anything hit me. But, now, that is only my opinion.

On the Reg Cure , I'd forget it. You don't need to mess with the registry.

IF you think you still have malware, then post in the Malware thread, but I think you will do fine in the Software one. http://forums.majorgeeks.com/forumdisplay.php?f=21

If they need it moved, they will move it

Hope this helps, at least you will have a start. :wave

 

Hey Tee Cee! Nice to see you once again... I think I perhaps was a little ambiguous in What I Had vs what I have currently, first of all...

I used to have Norton A/V but when I got 'bit' last year and it was disabled due to no access I went and got AVG and after it was up and running I used the Norton Deinstall and removed it totally from my system. Now the Only A/V I have loaded is AVG 9. Last May I tried out Paretologic's suite that included Reg Key touted as a Spyware Defense ... The subscription just ran out and since it didn't protect me from this last major assault I couldn't see the reason for re~upping another year.

So essentially I have just AVG 9.0 as my front line "protection" ~~ except it didn't protect me from squat.. I am even suspicious that the Attack Might have been a marketing ploy because when I contacted AVG for support I was ONLY shunted over to Support.com for cash payment to get Bailed out... Hummmm?? Something doesn't smell right!! That the only support from AVG to a paid registered user is to direct me to a Pay Only site leaves me wondering.

And there is the crux of my original query ~~ What should I expect for my money?? To only have to spend more money when AVG fails to protect me?

So that being said Tee Cee, do you see any purpose for me reposting my question on one of the other Direct Forum's such as you suggested: Software or Malware?? Like it's more of an ethereal question than one with an active problem needing hands on action. I mean I don't want to place my querie along side those needing active resolution in the Now... I was just hoping to find out what I should expect for my Money already paid ~~ as well as Do I need an Anti Spyware Program to run in tandem with my One A/V and if so what does the consensus recommend??

Thanks Much!

Mid Range

 

I would post in software for anti virus software suggestions. I use the free version of Avast, and have no virus issues. I am fairly careful where in go on the interweb. Welcome to MajorGeeks by the way!

Oh, and if you do get bit again, go to the malware forum here. Run the 'Read me First', post the requested logs, and you will get expert help... for FREE. :-D

 

Welcome aboard, here's a good malware protection guide written by MG's expert.

 

In addition to that excellent guide from Augie, because you had Norton on that machine, you will also have to run the Norton Removal tool, simply uninstalling it doesn't do it all:

http://www.majorgeeks.com/Norton_Removal_Tool_SymNRT_d4749.html

Run, reboot, run again.

 

Hey like Thanks to you all for welcoming me here and providing your input and perspective... The more I think about my question the more I am starting to feel it's more of a Rhetorical one, actually ~~ What happened happened and who can I look towards to be held accountable?? I may be left feeling a little disillusioned by the experience and I'm just not sure what I should be expecting to hear other than "Wow that's too bad!"

Again I'm surprised by what happened and I feel let down when I went directly to AVG looking for support but the only one offered at all was where I could pay more money to extricate me from what I thought I had been paying for to begin with. I realize that I should have come to Major Geeks from the get go... except I was so overwhelmed by the plethora of Pop Up Screens that kept coming so fast and furious I just felt as if I had totally lost control entirely of my PC and I doubt I would have been able to even log on to this site for very long... or at least long enough to start a dialogue. The Authors of whatever attacked me did their job well, no doubt.

I still wonder though if there might have been something even more sinister afoot in some sort of collusion with AVG itself?? Naaa that's sounding pretty Paranoid now isn't it? Or is it??

Well like the Subject line said: "Well where do I go from here...?"

Any additional perspective offered will be appreciated.

Thankx Again!

Mid Range

 

As to your Advice BrandyPeppy... that is exactly what I did... using Norton's Uninstall and not just deleting it manually... But Thanks so much for reminding me in case I hadn't. I do realize that to have 2 A/V programs loaded at the same time is just Very Bad JuJu!

Thanks Again Mate!

Mid Range

 

Hello again, Mid Range :wave Yes, I understand a bit more now. Follow Augie's link, here:

Also, the infamous removal tool, brought to you by Brandy here:

Very important, when running that tool, is to run, reboot, and run it again. Just in case anything is left behind.

No, I don't think you got what you paid for, for sure. If it was me, I would see about getting my $$$ back from AVG, as they didn't perform the service that you paid for, and install the free version of Avast,, as Fred_G has suggested.. That is a very popular AV, and I haven't heard anything bad about it. Might want to give it a whirl, for sure.

Yup, Software is a great place to start. As far as this question of yours goes,

I would hold AVG accountable, and ask for a refund, and install the Avast. Avast is free, and darn it, you will get really great protection, probably better than you had.

Also, as Fred_G has also said, and it has been repeated by many, IF you do get zapped, ( no-one is immune), this is the best place to come, as we have the best crack Malware team around. Plus, it won't cost you anything but some time. I have nothing but the best to say about them. Yes, you could have come here with your original malware problem, and still, it would be totally free.

I hope you find what you are looking for.

 

Also, note, that these awesome malware fighters are doing it for free. They don't get paid. They are doing all this awesome stuff on their OWN time. Which is very nice of them.:-D