This thread's last reply is from March 11, 2011, 1:46 AM UTC. Software, malware, and removal-tool
advice below may be out of date — treat specific steps and download links with caution.
I will bookmark all those sites!
Three (maybe final) questions for you:
1. Would you consider this machine now safe enough to fully use?
2. Could AVG and Online Armour Firewall have some overlapping features that are slowing the machine down? It takes about 10 minutes to fully boot now. Would it be okay to turn off some non-firewall features -- the ones that AVG appears to have?
3. My subscription to AVG runs out in May. What other anitvirus programs would you recommend? I remember you saying that you're not a fan of AVG. Considering how much you've helped me, I value your opinion.
Thanks again!
Michael
"psychlist78" wrote:1. Would you consider this machine now safe enough to fully use?
NO! I would not use this machine myself for anything sensitive. Such as online banking.
"psychlist78" wrote:Would it be okay to turn off some non-firewall features -- the ones that AVG appears to have?
Yes you should unless after reading this you decide to lose AVG now.
"psychlist78" wrote:2. Could AVG and Online Armour Firewall have some overlapping features that are slowing the machine down? It takes about 10 minutes to fully boot now.
Let me answer this and your next question all in one go.
Short answer is yes. AVG has a firewall (I didn't realize you had their firewall also) and you installed Online Armour that would certainly slow your machine down. AVG is sort of a resource hog to begin with. I would (personally) uninstall AVG today and forego my last 2 months. I would either install
AVIRA
or
AVAST FREE
Just so you know there isn't any 1 anti virus program out there that will catch everything.
If you decide to go this route you can find AVG's uninstaller here. Download it
click to start it
follow the prompts
reboot if it asks you to.
Then install
one of the other Anti Virus programs I suggested.
Thanks for the recommendations. I was looking at AVAST and they offer a Pro Antivirus that is supposed to be good for online banking. Would you consider this good enough, or to use this machine for ALL kinds of transactions, would you still do a reformat and a clean install?
"psychlist78" wrote:Thanks for the recommendations. I was looking at AVAST and they offer a Pro Antivirus that is supposed to be good for online banking. Would you consider this good enough, or to use this machine for ALL kinds of transactions, would you still do a reformat and a clean install?
Yes. Simply put if I were to do any online banking or anything I considered sensitive I would have certainly reformatted the machine completly without hesitation. That is what I recommended you should have done from the start.
Thanks very much, Bob4. I will make a donation to the site. When time allows, I will reformat the machine, following your directions. Thank you so much for giving of yourself in this work.
Michael
As this issue appears to be resolved,
