.....115 warnings. Is that bad? What do I do now? tia D.
Check out what the warnings are, they might just be tracking cookies (does AVG list these?). If AVG had identified the threats and can remove them then all is well. If the warnings are virus related personally I'd be wondering where they were coming from i.e. emails or iffy websites. If you're picking up crap from browsing or downloading then modify your surfing habits.
you'd be surprised some of the worst culprits are on websites that rely on you entering a url wrong. It looks like another search site with a couple of ads, but its just dropped a payload of malicious cookies. Yum.
If it's just cookies, David, then no worries. They can't be malicious, as such, they're just text files. Let avg zap 'em, when it's finished - reboot and then immediately do another scan, before you surf anywhere. If all is well then happy days. If avg kicks off again then it'll be time to dig a little deeper.
and then install this and scan again: http://www.filehippo.com/download_superantispyware/download/1c81776aa7840ad3695952c8a5b72984/
I second getting Ubuntu. If you got 115 warnings you need it, and you will probably find it easier to use.
Hi David, Anti-Virus attempts to protect your computer against the installation and running of malicious code. Anti-Spyware attempts to protect your computer against the installation and running of malicious code. Calling them different things creates a market for 'value-added' software. The security industry has an interest in differentiating between various types of nasty, for the rest of us it doesn't matter that much. There's no such thing as perfect computer security and no such thing as perfect security software. Provided you're not in the habit of opening dodgy e-mails and/or surfing the dark-side, AVG will do the job just fine. Run a full scan once a week, that's it. I actually 'upgraded' my software recently to Kaspersky Labs software - only because NTL Netguard (which is free for NTL customers) would insist on every cookie being spyware and my links to e-bay and amazon as being malicious code! AVG is not as 'slick' as some of the paid-for stuff, but provided you're happy with it, it will do a decent enough job of keeping you safe.
Spyware is generally machine specific, the software installed enables the snooper to typically log information like keyboard input to steal details like passwords. Viruses are generally designed to infect one machine after another, frequent activity might include crashing your system wiping your hard drive or even spreading itself to everyone in your address book. Viruses are generally communicated by emails and often direct you to a bogus link or starkers pic of Angelina Jolie where the little imp gets downloaded, or its a self executing file that might look like a word document. They frequently exploit loopholes in an operating system, and might even flash up a window with something like HA HA HA, you're going down with Vanessa Feltz, or whatever the virus is called. Generally designed by bored nerds, or people with grudges. The Anti stuff, just knows where to look, thats why frequent updates to these Anti-programs that you can generally just update online are very important.
I've not heard of stopzilla, but yes no harm in using them in combination. I use nod32 antivirus plus microsoft windows defender running constantly. ontop of this i do occasional manual scans with superantispyware. together they keep all the nasties at bay.
i do seem to be turning up a lot of stuff (cookies) I thnk when i run the scan + I've had some strange things going on with drivers. (eg the photgraphic "capturewizard" now isn't working (??)) .....whether this a related thing I don't know)
