Question about Windows Vista
 

Hi all!!

Hope everybody is doing good.

I have a question. My landlord has a computer with Windows Vista.

Now I don't have Vista, I have XP, so I don't know how to check her hard drive to see how many gigs her hard drive has and how much Ram.

Can you please just give me a simple way (I'll write it down), so we can find out exactly what she has.

They bought this computer about 2 years ago. It's nice, and does nicely, but when I asked "how much is your hard drive, and how much Ram do you have?" she did not know.

Also, tonight I went there and on her computer there was this pop up thingee saying "

This is Windows Security, blah blah..
"
YOUR COMPUTER IS INFECTED, and it listed all kinds of trojans, and viruses (it was very real looking). Now I know that they have NORTON on their computer. I told them "do not click on continue because nothing on this screen says NORTON has found this stuff". So we x'd out of it, and I ran a NORTON scan.

It found NOTHING.

So I gather this was a scam or something?

It prompted a download of Super Professional Anti Spyware (which I have on MY computer, and which was given to me as a tool by the people at Radial Point, who do my Internet Security Suite". So I've been using it ever since, and it finds EVERYTHING. and quarantines it and removes it.

So how come Windows Security popped up on her computer, telling her she had trojans, and viruses, and wanted her to download Super Professional Spyware?

And her NORTON found NOTHING??

Very confusing.

Thanks for any help.

melody

I have Vista on my laptop and I don't know if the format this information is in is because of the laptop or because of Vista, but try this :

Go to "Computer". or "My Computer". When that opens click on "System Properties".

That's where all that info is for me. If it's not what you need then sorry, hopefully some-one else will know more.

You know, I'm such a DINGBAT, I should have known to go to My computer. I went to Control Panel.

How silly I am.

And I do thank you.

Hope others agree with what you indicated.

Melody

I don't know why that pop up showed up.
but to be safe i would have them run one of these reputable sites online scans.

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Jo:

How can they download any of those free anti-virus things? I thought you can't have two anti-virus things on the computer. I heard this some time ago. You can have a spyware and a anti-virus but you can't have two anti-virus thingees.

I installed their Norton anti-virus recently. Earlier this evening, I showed them how to start a scan. It found NOTHING.

That's as far as I'll go. God Forbid that I tell them to go to one of these sites, and they download something and they don't know what they are doing, (or if I do it, and I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M DOING??).

Not gonna happen.

I like my landlord. I want them to keep liking me. lol

Very nice people.

Mel

There is a difference between that online scan type and the installed regular anti virus programs.
The Norton {installed type} runs in the background to catch anything suspicious before it can do damage.
Or it should be doing that if the settings are set that way.

And there are levels of programs also - basic - AV only, AV & Anti spyware, AV/ anti spy & firewall, and then the internet suites or extreme type programs that cover just about everything.

so depending on what Norton type they have...they could be covered well or not so well.


But back to the having 2 or more AV etc at once -

you can have them installed but only have 1 running actively at a time.
then use the others as one time scans to double check for baddies.
So the main thing is not to have 2 or more actively running full time at the same time.
Hope that explains it for you.

I have Zone Alarm extreme running as main full time protection.
but I also have malwarebytes, super anti spyware and some others to run as stand alone scans, but they aren't active until I run the scan myself.


for now I would just have them wait and see if the notice pops up again or not...

Thank you Jo, you explained this BEAUTIFULLY!!

So I shall wait.

I love to go there, because when something comes up, and I learn how to fix it, well...I learn something NEW!!

I like to learn something new every day. It's how I stay current. I will probably NEVER be so up to date that I know all the new stuff that comes around.

But boy, if I was in my 20's, I would have been a computer geek. I remember when my company sent me to IBM computer school over 30 years ago. My fellow employees were livid that I was chosen.

But when everybody got a computer, well, who do you think they called?

MELODYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!! It used to drive my boss nuts. She finally said "Stop picking up the phone, let them learn the way you did"

lol

Maybe someday I'll get an IPAD. I'm not holding my breath.

I haven't gotten a laptop yet!!!

lol lol lol


Mel

I know this is an older thread but I just thought I would add something. The virus warning that you saw on their screen could very easily have just been a pop up add. I have seen many pop up adds that look very professional and official, and are designed to make people think they are getting a message from their own system.

Many of them look as though they are performing a scan of your system. If the person is fooled and then clicks into the add, they can be redirected to all kinds of things from an add or trial for antivirus software, to downloading a virus onto their system.

If you get a virus warning that you don’t recognize, just get off the internet and then scan your system with your own antivirus software.

Having said that, there are many threats that common antivirus software will not detect. So it is also possible that you can be infected, and then your own antivirus scan comes up clean. In a situation like that, where you think something may have happened but you can’t detect it, using a more robust online one-time scan from a reputable company is a good idea (As Jo*mar already said and also already provided links to a few).

I hope this helped a little, although I see Jo*mar is already the resident tech here. God Bless You.

Bernclay- :holysheep:

The more input from others is all the better,:)
lots of times I google for the info - just to be sure LOL

I like to learn things and try to solve problems , but sometimes I'm not up for typing long replies due to my RSIs, so all help is appreciated.

Mel, in case no one has told you this, yes it's an infection. Get Malwarebytes here: http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail...e/1186760019/1 It should be the latest version. Perform a full scan. You may have to scan more than once to get it all. Use Ccleaner to get rid of all the leftover entries in the registry. Took me a couple of days to find anything that would remove it without me having to manually go into the registry and look for it. I hate having to do that. *shudder* This program took care of it. If it doesn't let me know...there are other things that can as well. Feel free to PM me if you need to. I do this for a living. :p

It's not my computer, it's my landlord's computer and if you think I'm going to go there and do this in Italian, well, I'll get a headache. I spoke Italian for 3 hours straight and I had to get my brain back on.

But all is fine now. I've been there many times since to show them my youtube videos, and all is well. Their computer is fine and working good.

But do me a favor. Go and see my thread about I can't play my dvd of Avatar, read the posts, and give me some advice.

I'm at the end of a journey trying to find out why I can't play my dvd of avatar and any other dvd for that matter. The whole thing is explained in my post.

thanks much

I'm going to check out your link to the net book.

I want to get one. Only I know I have to install a router to my Westell 6100 modem, and set up the laptop (or netbook), and I'm a little nervous about doing this.

I watch youtube videos and learn lots of stuff. But before I get a router and a netbook, I want to learn about it first.

First question.

Can I buy a MAC instead of a regular netbook, and will that pick up a wifi signal from a router?

I heard that apple's macs don't have viruses. I've never owned a MAC, only a pc.

thanks for your input.

Much appreciated.

Melody

Mac prices are a couple hundred higher than a Windows product.

you can go to the Apple site and check out the prices..

They all have internet /wifi connect just the same - probably the same type of wifi card internally.

They can get viruses too, but have been less targeted by the hackers - and maybe because there are so many fewer in use compared to Microsoft products....

So am I correct to ascertain (aren't I fancy?), lol, that when one has a PC in one room, and a router attached to the modem, then one can buy a MAC and use it to pick up Wi Fi from the router?

An Apple laptop is compatible with a PC? Just curious.

Thanks
mel

Yup , as far as wifi it makes no difference.
It's the same wireless frequency so PC or Mac both will connect.

Like how cell phones only know to connect to cell phone signals.
TV's only picks up TV signals
home wireless phones only connect to each other

I think the main difference with a PC vs A Mac is how the main operating systems are written & programmed.

They still both go online and make documents, share files - if you enable that option..
you can't use a Windows disk - program/game etc on a Mac and vice versa - that is because the programming is written differently.

My son had a Mac here a couple yrs ago & I used it for awhile, just a few things are set up a little different - but they mostly do the same old stuff.

See, I LEARNED SOMETHING NEW TODAY!!

Thanks so much

Melody

I sure wish I had a mac !!!

:D