We ALL use computers, right!? Well how many time have you been stung from a website or a particular program? Last night I was looking for a registry cleaner when I ran across an add to "SPEED UP WINXP." Ok, so I bit cause it was a FREE d/l... ARGH! I should know better!
Anyways, I d/led this FREE version of "FASTERXP", thinking that I would be able to evauate the program before purchasing it. Well, it SAID that I could do that, but after installing the program it wouldn't run UNLESS I gave them my credit card number! 😳
Ok, so to heck with it... they lied, so I'm no longer interested in trying their amazing program. 😛
BUT!!! When I booted up today I received SEVERAL messages from:
* my anti-virus program informing me that malicious code had been found on my computer!
* my anti-spyware program informing me that there were THREE registry entrys and TWO files in my documents folder that were of malicious code... AND
* I was informed that my HOME Internet address had been hi-jacked! Yeah, and it was by the SAME people!
So... my contribution here is to advise everyone not to have anything to do with the website that is promoting "FASTERXP", and for that matter, I wouldn't advise getting the program from anywhere!
Ok, I started this out. Can someone else contribute? 🙂
Originally posted by arrakisI'm not sure if this is in line with your thoughts, but here's my advice:
We ALL use computers, right!? Well how many time have you been stung from a website or a particular program? Last night I was looking for a registry cleaner when I ran across an add to "SPEED UP WINXP." Ok, so I bit cause it was a FREE d/l... ARGH! I should know better!
Anyways, I d/led this FREE version of "FASTERXP", thinking that I would be able ...[text shortened]... e getting the program from anywhere!
Ok, I started this out. Can someone else contribute? 🙂
If it looks like a duck, and walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it probably is a duck. Don't f*k a duck.
Trust me, it's not worth the heartache.
😕
Oh, computer tales! Oops. Forget my last post.
I try not to download anything unless some other poor sap has experimented with it first. That being said, the best place to find said saps is at www.download.com. These particular saps often post comments about the programs they've tried, which is great because I want warnings about spyware/malicious programs. They're a b*tch to get rid of.
Kind of like what you might get from, say, a duck.
I have my contribution:
Do not forward on Chain letters, virus warnings, or other emails warning you of things, because I can almost guarantee that its a hoax.. Before forwarding anything you should investigate yourself to see if its true or not.
Never respond to an email asking to transfer money to your account from some middle east, or European country
Never forward an email that says its tracking for some sick person
Never forward emails that say that something will pop up after 10 sent
Never respond to emails from Ebay saying that your account has been comprimised
Never respond to emails that say your online bank account has been comprimised
Never launch an attachment that you were not expecting, even if its from someone you know.
Before using a bank machine, pay attention that its not a new top, or new case that seems loose
when downloading from sites and they ask you to download a plugin before you can download the file... don't do it. ever.
It once happened to me-it told me I needed a javascript plugin, so I clicked the link and downloaded the thing since it said microsoft somewhere on there (yeah I know, I shoulda known better). Next thing I knew, I had two programs constantly asking for internet access: one was called ebatesmoneymaker.exe or something and the other... can't remember. Anyway, I had Zone Alarm, and I denied access... and my computer crashed. So, I rebooted, and after 5 minutes... same thing again. That's when I closed my internet connection and ran antivir's full scan... and presto, a worm!
Yep, best you don't download anything!
Originally posted by Ravelloyea, i have that as well, it works great, found stuff that kapersky, sysweeper and other programs couldn't find.
For what is worth,I tried Spyware Doctor from download.com and it works great.
It found infected files that Spybot and other programs couldn't find,give it a try.
fred
In life:-
Don't eat Yellow Snow.
Computer & Money wise I would add:-
If someone promises you something for free, it won't be. Where I grew up this was shortened to 'You don't get owt for nowt'
Along the same lines, if something sounds too good to be true, then that is probably the case.
If you are at a cash point and someone tells you you dropped money on the floor, don't reach down for it. Put your foot on it and finish your transaction. Make sure you get your card back. This is a common scam by (usually) gangs of 3 to get hold of your card and PIN, whilst making you think you were the lucky one for finding some cash you hadn't realised you'd dropped.
If youget an email about some amazing story, before you forward on to your 500 closest email buddies in the world check it out at snopes.com - 99.999% of them are urban legends, hoaxes, etc., and those of us who have been online for 15-20 years have heard/seen them all at least 3 or 4 times before....
Ok, you should know that Windows uses a database on your computer. It's called the "registry". If this database gets corrupted then your system will probably CRASH! 😳 Even if your system doesn't crash, your registry will contain many programs that you have deleted and will SLOW your computer way down. 🙁
So, I bought the program called "Windows Registry Repair Pro and Windows Clean-Up Pro", and after running it I was notified by two anti-spyware programs that IT HAD INSTALLED SPYWARE on my computer! <GASP!> 😲
I emailed the company at 3dsoftware complaining about the problem. After 3 different emails they continued to ignore me!
Fine! I removed their piece of junk (probably shoulda cancelled payment, but didn't) and installed a registry cleaner from 2cows.com
This program, called Registry Mechanic was far superior to the former one and DID NOT install spyware on my computer. I am very happy with this registry cleaner because IT WORKS!
So my advice: Don't buy ANYTHING from 3dsoftware! 😠
Anyone else have any tips?
You will find in a lot of cases that you don't need to spend vast amounts of money on utilities. There is a lot of free stuff out there on the web: -
Hijack this
Spybot S+D
Lavasoft Adaware
AVG Anti virus
Zone Alarm Firewall
All this is free and it is good quality stuff. Anything that advertises itself through popups and Claims to find 1,690,898 problems with your PC and will fix them all for a small fee is probably gonna be a rip off.