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[unknut]

Thank you very very much for your patience and help through out this. Out of the listed virus protection and firewalls you listed which would be the best and I noticed you didn't say to only use one of the 2 virus protections you listed, should I be using both? AVG was not listed with the other 2 virus protection, is it not a very good freeware virus protection, or is it just that the other 2 are better? I will be changing my graphics card and upgrading to 4 GB of memory so what would you do in my shoes? I very much appreciate your time and effort, and as you said I followed what you advised, well if I don't know what I'm doing and you do, why would I not follow great advice? Again thank you very very much for all your help, I hope this incident will teach me a lesson to be more careful.

[Dakeyras]

Hi

You are very welcome!

A very valid point you have raised concerning security applications, thank you. To be exact how many to have installed and actively protecting a system. Myself providing assistance for individuals such as your good self and receiving feedback about my advice is always most appreciated as this in turn is educational for myself and keeps my own excuse for grey matter working!

OK levity aside, rule of thumb in my humble opinion it never wise to have more than one of either a Anti-Virus or a Anti-Malware/Spyware application installed and active in the system memory, as otherwise basically a system conflict will undoubtedly occur and contrary to popular belief this will actually lesson online protection vastly. Plus in some instances a potential back-door for malware to gain a foot hold.

The same as above is exactly applicable concerning a third party software firewall, just one application is needed not multiple. However if used in-conjunction with a hardware firewall such as the most commonly found NAT(network Address Translation) feature of a router, this is absolutely fine and no conflicts should occur and actually increase overall online security.

Now concerning Grisoft AVG Anti-Virus. This is a fine application and having any such application installed is far safer were online safety is concerned rather than having none installed. However I have some personal misgivings about the vendors actual practices concerning BHO's(Browser Help' Objects) which in my humble opinion is totally unnecessary and or required. Further reading about this subject matter can be read here, written by a well respected colleague of mine.

Any further questions feel free to ask OK. If not stay safe!

[unknut]

You have been most helpful, and I thank you very much. I will most likely install avast then as my anti virus but you said to only use one of the following right: Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware, WinPatrol, SpywareBlaster? And you also said to use only one firewall? Which do you personally think is the best to use as far as being user friendly, being a good blocker/firewall, and being good as freeware vs good as paid. I'm not sure if buying the paid version is that much better then the free version, so if you could let me know which one is best to use and if the freeware is good enough that would be most appreciated. I will most likely be scrubbing my drive in the next day or 2 I have been locating all my old disks and what not. Also is it possible that the malware could have jumped onto my flash drive that i moved all the programs and installs I wanted to keep?

[Dakeyras]

Hi

You have been most helpful, and I thank you very much.

You're welcome!

I will most likely install avast then as my anti virus but you said to only use one of the following right: Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware, WinPatrol, SpywareBlaster?

Correct.

And you also said to use only one firewall? Which do you personally think is the best to use as far as being user friendly, being a good blocker/firewall, and being good as freeware vs good as paid. I'm not sure if buying the paid version is that much better then the free version, so if you could let me know which one is best to use and if the freeware is good enough that would be most appreciated.

Any of the three I provided a download link for are fine, however after thirty days if I recall the Sunbelt Kerio Firewall will revert to a more basic version of itself. All of them provide adequate protection as outlined here under Firewalls.

As to which to use that is entirely up to good self as which firewall solution works best on your computer as every system has what is known as a footprint. Which is basically regulated by the various different applications installed and amount of system resources available.

Saying that either the Agnitum Outpost or Jetico Personal Firewall would be a good choice from a quick recap of your current system specifications.

Also is it possible that the malware could have jumped onto my flash drive that i moved all the programs and installs I wanted to keep?

Anything is possible were malware is a factor. Personally I would only have moved documents/pictures etc. Better safe than sorry follow the advice below to create a new safe set of backups:

Anything you wish to move to the Flash Drive, we can employ a specific methodology as follows to lesson the chance of anything infection wise being crossed over.

Create a folder on the root of your computer's Hard-Drive, for example call it MyBackup, transfer all the documents and pictures etc you wish to keep to this new folder.

Check for any updates with your presently installed Anti-Virus application AVG and Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware, install them etc.

Now right click on the backup folder created and select scan with AVG, then when completed the same with Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware.

Flash Disinfector:

• Please download Flash_Disinfector and save it to your desktop.
• Double click to run it.
• You will be prompted to plug in your flash drive. Plug it in.
• Flash_Disinfector will start disinfecting your flash drive. This takes a few seconds. Your desktop will disappear in the meantime.
• When done, a message box will appear. Click OK. Your desktop should now appear. If it doesn't, press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
• Click on File > New Task (Run...). Type in explorer.exe and press Enter. Your desktop should now appear.

Next:

Transfer your backup folder to the Flash Drive. Then safely disconnect it from your computer.

Any further questions? If not stay safe!

[NonSuch]

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