I suck at Windows.

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Ugh.

Got my Mac Mini. Installed Windows. Let my girlfriend do her homework.

Got a virus.

I've never owned a Windows computer in my life, let alone set one up to be virus-free. Any pointers, free programs, the like?

Thanks.
 
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download google packe its got 6 month free norton antivirus.
 
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dtravis7


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Another vote for AntiVir. Never had a Virus get by it.
 
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for a windows anti virus use - avast (free)

for a windows firewall - use zone alarm (free home eidtion)

for windows spyware - use spybot search and destoy. (free)
 
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christm said:
for a windows anti virus use - avast (free)

for a windows firewall - use zone alarm (free home eidtion)

for windows spyware - use spybot search and destoy. (free)

I second this. When I had windows my PC lived and died by these programs.
 
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For PC's I have tried many things. Some are free, some are not. The best, but most intrusive, seems to be the ubiquitous Norton products. I have used Norton Systemworks for years now on my Windows PCs. It can be incredibly annoying, because it's default configuration is truly paranoid (probably a good thing in the Windows world) but I have NEVER had a virus or been compromised in any way. Despite my distaste for its breadth and scope, if I were still running PCs day to day, that is where I would go.
 
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I have zone alarm, norton firewall, spybot , and norton anti-virus. All running on my windows system. Yet to get a virus on this system.
 
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surfwax95
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Screw it, I don't know *** I'm doing.

I can't even figure out how to install a program.

Can anyone recommend a good Windows forum, or tutorial or something?
 
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sursuciofla

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Make your girlfriend do her homwork on OS X. That's what mine does just because I give her no choice. What program is she using that she needs it?
 
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surfwax95
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Well she uses some online thing that is, most likely, only compatible with Internet Explorer. I don't know, though. I could get her to test it on OS X and see if it works.

I honestly don't understand how Windows is the popular choice, I don't understand anything...I feel like some of the newbies on this board: "I CAN'T MAXIMIZE THIS WINDOW"
 
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lol, its not that bad, check out neowin.net, a community I use to belong to many years ago, I think they are mainly windows, but I have not been there in so long, they should be able to help you out.
 
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I like Windows Defender a lot, and it was rated one of the best spyware programs. I'm certainly more of a Windows guy than a Mac guy, so if you have any questions, just ask... as long as they're not too terribly technical :p
 
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surfwax95, don't get too down about this. If your machine has a virus (or several) it may not be behaving normally. Hence your trouble getting anything to go the way you think it should.

Re installing programs, in the windows world, programs pretty much always have huge hulking installers, which (as my daughter is fond of saying) spend all their time and energy welding their host program to your hard drive. Unlike Mac software, the typical windows program installer scatters support files ALL over the place. It is literally impossible to remove all the vestiges of a program if you decide you don't want it later. There are .dll files EVERYWHERE!

So, look for an installer (frequently just install.exe). If all else fails, there is usually a README.txt file that tells you what the installer is called. Run it and then (and this is important!) ALWAYS restart the machine right afterwards. Do this each time you install a program. Don't install two or three and then restart. Restart after each one. Painful, but well worth it. No matter how many times I have read that this isn't generally needed, I have yet to meet very many windows programs where it wasn't.

I agree, windows is a pig. It is the popular choice only by virtue of its present market share. Between Mac OS X and Linux though, it is under well deserved attack at this point.
 
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Norton is terrible. Go with AVG, and windows firewall.
 
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PumpkinLand said:
Norton is terrible.
Agreed. On the other hand, McAfee has worked wonderfully for me.
 
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Ughhhh! McAfee literally trashed my machine a few years ago, and I will never use it again. Shortly after installing it, it popped up a dialog one day telling me that several files had been compromised, and offered to fix them. I clicked OK, and a huge list of files scrolled by, being "fixed" one by one. The list was too large to take down and I quickly lost track of which files were being operated on.

Long story short - my PC wouldn't boot after McAfee's "fixes". Like a physician, their first duty should be to do no harm. Instead, they trashed the machine. Thank goodness for backups, because ultimately I had to reload Windows to get my machine back.

McAfee has no place on any computer of mine, ever again. If you decide to use it, be forewarned.
 
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Firstly you need to run an antivirus such as AVG FREE

Then, you need to run Hijackthis

As you are not used to windows, please post the hijackthis log here and I will tell you which items to get rid of, because getting rid of the wrong items can cause more damage.

Once we have gone through the log file, then you need to go to HOUSECALL and do an intensive online scan.

I would strongly advise against Norton, since it can cause many complications/conflicts and the difference between AVG and Norton in tests is negligible.
 
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Just looking at the above posts, aren't you glad you are on a Mac? It is amazing the hoops you have to jump through just to keep a PC going!
 

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