albroswift
Moderator
Registered: 06/02/08
Posts: 581
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| | 10/25/09 at 09:30 PM | Reply with quote | #5 |
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Kind of along the lines of the post on Safes (Thank you, Marksman) Chris's recent problem got me thinking along the line of "Don't let this happen to you"
Back up often. USB storage devices that hold 500 Gb and even 1 Tb are inexpensive.
Do a complete system backup, and then a daily "incremental". This gives you the ability to restore your computer to the day BEFORE the problem started, or ANY day in between your first backup and last. Uses the least amount of memory, only tracks what has been changed. Drawback is it takes a little longer to restore, if you need to.
Keep track of available storage on the backup drive, and do a new system and start the new incremental BEFORE disk reaches 40+%. This allows you to start fresh without having to remove your old backup. When, in another few months, you are getting close to full, delete the oldest archive and repeat.
McAffee, Norton 360 are as bad as the viruses they block, (IMAO) and are near impossible to remove. Get an old version of Norton Corporate edition off ebay or ?, you will only install a small part of the program for a single computer, It will automatically download all the latest (read the same) definition files as the new programs (Viruses!) but you won't have all the worthless junk the new programs come with, and you don't pay a subscription. The catch? You may be charged a fee if you need intense support, I have needed the pay service twice in 10 years, $95.00 a pop, guaranteed results, even if it takes them all day.
When browsing, if an official looking pop up warns you your computer is at risk, and offers to scan, do not click anywhere on the notice, even the X. This may be what got Chris. Not technically a virus, so your virus software is under the impression you invited it aboard. What I do is "CTRL_ALT_DELETE" and terminate any and all open browsing windows with the task manager. If you are unfamiliar with this process, turn your computer off by holding the off button for 5+ seconds or, as drastic as it sounds, unplug it. These "Helpful" programs have possibly already started doing their dirty work, and quickly dumping the memory is the best solution, again, this is only my opinion, but it works for me, and I do a lot of virus & pop-up free browsing.
I will be happy to help with a good backup routine, but most helpful if you get Acronis True Image. This program gets "Al's 2 thumbs up". Don't get me wrong, There are plenty of good backup/ restore programs out there, and a lot of crappy ones, I just can't be of much help with any of these others as I am not so familiar. IMAO Acronis is the best 50 bucks I ever spent on computer software. It will repair things you screw up as well as malicious attacks, and believe it or not, most of the time, IT IS something you screwed up, not a virus (I know, hard to believe, isn't it!?!!).
One of Acronis's more advanced features will also allow you to clone your disk, so when you are ready to upgrade that old slow worn out drive to a new, faster, larger one you can do it with one hand tied behind your back.
I think of it this way, Norton Corporate protects me from other people, and Acronis protects me from myself.
Any way, just my veinte pesos, we can return to our reguarly scheduled programing.
Any one needs some help, let me know.
Al
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