Worried about Viruses?

[Jeffery]

Ok, more than a few people have had viruses kill their computers as of late. So let's compile some of out favorite Virus and other scanner software. Any more you have you may post, and I'll add them into the lists.

Free:
AVG Virus for Home Use (http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2/)
Lavasoft Ad-Aware (http://www.download.com/3000-2144-10045910.html?part=69274&subj=dlpage&tag=button)
Zone Alarm (http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/trial_zaFamily/trial_zaFamily.jsp?lid=home_freedownloads)
SPy Bot Search and Destroy (http://www.computer-software-download.info/Security-Privacy/25-Spybot-Search-Destroy.html)
HijackThis! (http://www.merijn.org/downloads.html) NOTE: Do not use http://hijackthis.nl as a download portal

Paid:
LaveSoft Advanced Ad-Aware (http://www.lavasoftusa.com/)

Virus Specific Information:
http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/tools.list.html
http://vil.nai.com/vil/averttools.asp (scroll down to stand alone tools)
http://us.mcafee.com/virusInfo/default.asp?id=vrt

[_Thunder_]

So your going to protect us from you, and your sig virus :p

[Cube Insomniac]

Thank you jeffery with Lavwsoft ad-aware which i just downloaded makes me feel very protected.:)

[Hellblazer]

I've got one to add to the list:
Any Mac computer. :rolleyes:

[Jeffery]

Hellblazer, shut up and go kill yourself. Your idiocy in every thread you can find is old and tiresome.

BTW, Macs can and have had Viruses, but since only 2% of the population uses the Mac's, no one bothers to Virus them much.

[_Thunder_]

Hellblazer, shut up and go kill yourself. Your idiocy in every thread you can find is old and tiresome.

BTW, Macs can and have had Viruses, but since only 2% of the population uses the Mac's, no one bothers to Virus them much.
And thats a set.. and kill.

[Hellblazer]

Hellblazer, shut up and go kill yourself. Your idiocy in every thread you can find is old and tiresome.

BTW, Macs can and have had Viruses, but since only 2% of the population uses the Mac's, no one bothers to Virus them much.
I've died before, so it doesn't matter. :p

Anyway, Macs are actually proven to get less viruses than PCs.

[_Thunder_]

Macs are actually proven to get less viruses than PCs.
Yah i think jeff pointed that out

[Hellblazer]

Yah i think jeff pointed that out
But it's not because there are less users. It's because PCs are mass produced and therefore junkier.

[Hydrant]

Hellblazer, shut up and go kill yourself.

That just made my night

too funny

[actgfin1234]

But it's not because there are less users. It's because PCs are mass produced and therefore junkier.

I'd love to use a MAC, if you paid for it. :rolleyes:

[Spit_101]

But it's not because there are less users. It's because PCs are mass produced and therefore junkier.Isn't that basically the same thing Jeff said? You say PC are mass, he says Macs aren't. Therfore you didn't really make a good reason.

[Jeffery]

How about we get back to Scanners you use with your computers people.

Hellblazer makes himself an idiot in every thread, so go trash him elsewhere.

[Hellblazer]

No. He said that not as many people own Macs. I basically elaborated on that by saying that the reason behind this is because PCs are mass-produced and therefore cheaper. Therefore they're more prone to viruses because they're lower quality.
But, yeah, I basically didn't provide a good argument. :dry:

Edit: Ok, let's do what Jeff says. I'm leaving. ;)

[xerent]

Some other good software to run:

Zone Alarm: A free, somewhat decent software based firewall that is easy to configure, and lets you know exactly what programs are accessing the internet.

Spybot Search and Destroy: Another free program used to scan for malicious software that isn't technically spyware, nor a virus, so Lavasoft or AV software dosen't usually detect it. Also warns you of any potentially unauthorized registry changes.

HijackThis: This program scans your PC and informs you of many processes and browser objects. Although this program does not remove any unwanted software, it does provide an accurate list, which you can often post on dedicated forums that provide specific instructions on cleaning your machine.

[lostandconfused]

No. He said that not as many people own Macs. I basically elaborated on that by saying that the reason behind this is because PCs are mass-produced and therefore cheaper. Therefore they're more prone to viruses because they're lower quality.
But, yeah, I basically didn't provide a good argument. :dry:

Edit: Ok, let's do what Jeff says. I'm leaving. ;)
Forgive me Jeffery for prolonging this, but I just need to further extend the obvious point.

The only reason that's PC's are more prone to viruses are because a ton more people have them than MAC's. We are talking millions.
Now let's say you are a handy-dandy virus man. You want to wreak as much havoc and chaos as you can with a nifty virus you thought up.
Do you make this virus effect a PC, or do you make this virus effect a MAC?
If I wanted to terrorize, the choice is pretty damn obvious.

Once again, sorry...Just dumbing it up a bit for him.

[arendt]

Ummm, I got a fever and the only cure is more cowbell. (http://www.milkandcookies.com/links/12491/)

Edited to add on-topic material:
You might want to check out virus specific tools if you're having a new problem. Most major company's provide them, along with descriptions and instructions.

http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/tools.list.html
http://vil.nai.com/vil/averttools.asp (scroll down to stand alone tools)
http://us.mcafee.com/virusInfo/default.asp?id=vrt

[I cant win]

I use Spybot search & destroy, Lavasoft Ad-aware 6 and norton Anti-virus, this computer is very clean.

Apart from certain nudity :D

[Glamdring]

No. He said that not as many people own Macs. I basically elaborated on that by saying that the reason behind this is because PCs are mass-produced and therefore cheaper. Therefore they're more prone to viruses because they're lower quality.
But, yeah, I basically didn't provide a good argument. :dry:
HB, it's not your argument that's at fault here.

Macs are mass-produced too. They are also actually lower quality than a lot of PC Manufacturers. PC's are more prone to viruses because viruses are created for PC's, not for Macs. Apple hardware fails more often, Apple software fails more often, the Apple OS is less stable...

If Macs suddenly represented 95% of all personal computers, they would have a lot more issues than Windows.

Macs aren't crap per se, but they're just plain not as good as x86 architecture PCs. If you know how to protect your computer, Windows is better. In my mind the only people who need to use macs are digital artists and people who are too dumb to use Windows or Linux.

[xerent]

Although I don't deny that if Apples held the majority of all PC's, they would have more issues, I honestly don't believe that the OS is less stable than Windows. At least, not when comparing OSX with XP.

I honestly don't know enough about apple hardware to make a judgement here.

[Hellblazer]

I can see a point through some of that, Glam. I must disagree that Macs are lower quality, though. That's obviouly favoritism, but w/e. I guess I'll move on to what this thread was for.
But...I don't use anti-virus software...'cuz I have a Mac...
*leaves this thread*

[Glamdring]

I can see a point through some of that, Glam. I must disagree that Macs are lower quality, though. That's obviouly favoritism, but w/e. I guess I'll move on to what this thread was for.
But...I don't use anti-virus software...'cuz I have a Mac...
*leaves this thread*
It's not favoritism, I use both equally, and work with both almost equally. I've researched the subject thoroughly, and the simple fact is that macs fail more.

The reason I say XP is more stable is because XP can recover itself immediately. When OSX crashes, it really crashes.

[xerent]

I agree, I have had to fix some nasty OSX crashes, whereas once XP is up and running, it rarely crashes to the same degree, unless third party software is at fault.

However, in my experience, OSX crashes are few and far between. Windows is not so. A simple reboot or re-launch of a program often fixes the issue, which is no big deal, except if you're dealing in misison-critical situations, where applications need to be up and running for a long period of time.

If that's the case, then I go with BSD. ^_^.

[Hellblazer]

That could be why XPs re-boot so quickly. They get more crashes, as you said xerent. I guess OSX crashes are worse because the programmers know that OSX crashes are less common.

[Knight717]

HellBlazer, I have to agree with you. If they made all the games that I play for Mac and I could play with my friends that had PC's, I would definately get a G5 with that monster 27" flat-screen monitor. My friend has a G4 with that monitor and that Mac runs soo much better than my "beefy" PC it's not even a comparison.

BTW, I do not use a pre-built peice of crap with Intel. I built my box from the ground up. I have an AMD Athlon 2000+, 1 GB of low-latency 3200 RAM, nVidia 5600 256MB Graphix, and Asus Motherboard. Nothing but the best in hardware manufacturers. No Pentium crap in my machine, nor ATI either!

I've been building computers for going on 15 years and I work in the industry. I am very picky about what goes into my box. That is the only other reason I won't get a Mac, besides my games won't play, you can't upgrade $hit in it.

1 more lil peice of advice, don't use WIN XtraProblems. Use Win2000Pro corporate. It runs more efficiently and more securely. No resource-wasting bells and whistles like transparency and useless animations.

[arendt]

I agree, I have had to fix some nasty OSX crashes, whereas once XP is up and running, it rarely crashes to the same degree, unless third party software is at fault.

However, in my experience, OSX crashes are few and far between. Windows is not so. A simple reboot or re-launch of a program often fixes the issue, which is no big deal, except if you're dealing in misison-critical situations, where applications need to be up and running for a long period of time.

If that's the case, then I go with BSD. ^_^.

OSX = Mach 3.0 microkernel (UNIX)+ FreeBSD services (http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/unix/).
I've rarely had to reboot anything running 0SX, but what I have done an awful lot of is cursing when I forget that no, no matter the machine, the combination of fancy looking icons and Adobe's scandalous use of resources prevents you from enjoying what's supposed to be the whole point of the modern OS - multitasking. But damn, those icons are translucent!

Of course, this is true of all OS' and software. They conspire to ruin any positive effect better hardware should be having with layers and layers of bloat.

[T3km4n]

But it's not because there are less users. It's because PCs are mass produced and therefore junkier.
Wrong. Because no one cares about virusing a mac computer. Having one at all is a virus in itself. And just because something is mass produced doesn't make it junkier. That would mean any retard could make a computer and be better than a mass produced one, and that is completely false. Also, you can make custom PCs which completely proves your point false. Also, Teen Titans sucks, and is for three year olds.Kill yourself.

EDIT: Also, not downloading stupid stuff like CounterStrike hacks is a good way to keep your computer virus-free.

[roamingstorm]

yes i may have mono and pink eye, crap she told me she was clean

[Jeffery]

When i made this thread, i was running a virus scan and ad-aware scan, the first one I have run in 8 months.
0 viruses and 16 ad-aware files (15 of them Alexa files for IE).

Viruses are only as effective as the person who allows them onto their computer.

[Knight717]

They conspire to ruin any positive effect better hardware should be having with layers and layers of bloat.

That is one of the best quotes I have seen in a long time. +REP+