Calling all computer geeks

[Foschi Exotic Serpents]

Spybot search & destroy is great but it doesnt find malware or keyloggers!!

For this, the best free tool is Malwarebytes and the safest site to get it from is cnet.com

They do not have viruses or extra stuff that will download with it into your computer.

When you're ready to pay for good protection I believe the best out there is Kaspersky online protection. Thats what I use. Great firewall and constant scans for anything bad.

[Samuel]

I used combofix last night to fix a computer. Used it on a recomendation from another IT guy. I am mostly business IT so I rarely have this problem and when I do I re-image the computers. Give it a try. http://www.combofix.org/

Holy geez ...

DO NOT use ComboFix UNTIL you have tried all the others. ComboFix is serious business. It can and WILL eff up your computer entirely. It has worked for me before, but it is not something I use lightly.

[Egapal]

Holy geez ...

DO NOT use ComboFix UNTIL you have tried all the others. ComboFix is serious business. It can and WILL eff up your computer entirely. It has worked for me before, but it is not something I use lightly.

You know what. My bad. You are 100% correct Samuel. I saw the request and flippantly posted ComboFix. I am an IT professional and have found ComboFix extremely useful for some of the tougher cases I have seen. I just found out Big Guns is not going to be talking in the third person when giving serious advice. Thats too bad because based on my experiences reading Big Guns posts I have decided to start talking in the third person, but only when giving serious advice.

ComboFix is no Joke, its going to get the bad stuff out of your computer and doesn't much care if some good stuff gets taken out with it. The way Egapal sees it, you already messed your computer up. If you take Egapal's advice and always have your important data backed up you have nothing to lose and everything to gain from ComboFix. Now Egapal knows that not everyone backs up their data and has copies of all their software for a reinstall so Egapal should have given the ComboFix advice with a word of cautions. Egapal agrees with Samuel 100% ComboFix is serious business. Egapal uses Combofix at his own risk and so should you.

[Samuel]

You know what. My bad. You are 100% correct Samuel. I saw the request and flippantly posted ComboFix. I am an IT professional and have found ComboFix extremely useful for some of the tougher cases I have seen. I just found out Big Guns is not going to be talking in the third person when giving serious advice. Thats too bad because based on my experiences reading Big Guns posts I have decided to start talking in the third person, but only when giving serious advice.

ComboFix is no Joke, its going to get the bad stuff out of your computer and doesn't much care if some good stuff gets taken out with it. The way Egapal sees it, you already messed your computer up. If you take Egapal's advice and always have your important data backed up you have nothing to lose and everything to gain from ComboFix. Now Egapal knows that not everyone backs up their data and has copies of all their software for a reinstall so Egapal should have given the ComboFix advice with a word of cautions. Egapal agrees with Samuel 100% ComboFix is serious business. Egapal uses Combofix at his own risk and so should you.

I didn't mean for my post to sound like a scold, but I read it as is with no words of caution and went "... oh boy" Just the other day we sent tools out of this office to change Windows boot ini settings, and we got a call 20 minutes later letting us know that he made it worse ... and we should have known better.

Just had to say something before I see the "I used Combofix and now Windows won't load right .. and I keep getting these blue screens now" post.

[Egapal]

I didn't mean for my post to sound like a scold, but I read it as is with no words of caution and went "... oh boy" Just the other day we sent tools out of this office to change Windows boot ini settings, and we got a call 20 minutes later letting us know that he made it worse ... and we should have known better.

Just had to say something before I see the "I used Combofix and now Windows won't load right .. and I keep getting these blue screens now" post.

No worries. It wasn't super responsible of me to post it without a word of caution. I am not going to beat myself up or anything but you were right to bring up the possible negatives. I have had very very good luck with Combofix. That being said I am a pro. If I ruin a load of windows its not a big deal. Its really nothing for me to reload and restore. But not everyone has 4.5 TB's of redundant storage at their house to keep a before and after image of every computer they work on. Its a good tool but like any tool it can cause damage. Thanks again for adding the warning I should have.

[olstyn]

Yeah, I've had so many people complain to me about their computers running super slow and just uninstalling norton and putting a better replacement on instead it sped right up. Norton has got to be one of the biggest resource hogs out there. Even some of the highest end gaming machines I've worked on were bogged down by it. That, plus the fact that it kinda sucks at actually completely cleaning out any infections keeps me from ever considering using it.

This is 100% true of the RETAIL version of Norton. Now, on the other hand, if you can get your hands on the CORPORATE version, it's much more lightweight - I've been using it for years (got it free from the university I was attending at the time) with no noticeable performance impact. As far as viruses go, I generally don't run into them anyway, so I can't speak to how effective it is, but its performance has been fine for me.

[Big Gunns]

Holy geez ...

DO NOT use ComboFix UNTIL you have tried all the others. ComboFix is serious business. It can and WILL eff up your computer entirely. It has worked for me before, but it is not something I use lightly.

This is exactly why Big Gunns hasn't taken anyone's advice yet(except sisco), BG wanted to make sure the advice given was good advice first. He needed the OK from the rest of his fans. Anyone that truly knows BG, knows he over analyzes everything. He never makes a hasty decision....this is why he rarely(if ever) makes a BIG MISTAKE.


Big Gunns is genius enough to realize that some of his fans that don't love him yet might want to shut The Man, The Myth, The Legend in his own mind up. Nice try Egapal, BG will be keeping his eye on you. Watch your back.

[Clear]

I second norton as being horrible, nothing but troubles. If you really want to stop all the problems try this http://www.ubuntu.com/