He didn't listen to mom, HELP

My son bought a brand new computer this past summer. I think he had norton loaded on it for a trial time. I wanted to put antispyware and antivirus protection on it, he said that it would fill up his task manager. Now he has Winfixer on his computer. It keep putting up popups on his screen. He said that on google the only way you can get rid of it is with something you need to buy. I'm afraid that he might get something worse.

I'm here again asking for help if it is possible.

Thanks
MRSCT

 

I feel your pain Mum, I had to remove over 2000 assorted items from my stepdaughters laptop.

Now while you're waiting for someone with practical experience of this problem I can offer these links.

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=102021&highlight=winfixer

If for any reason there is nothing at this link that helps, then try the bleepingcomputer link below.

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic18610.html

 

As for the antivirus and antispyware using lots of processes ("filling up the task manager"), Norton and McAfee are pretty bad about that, but they aren't the only ones out there. NOD32, KAV, and BitDefender only use a couple processes, not taking as much memory as Norton or McAfee. Doing some hardening can do wonders, even if you just run Secure-It. There are many good firewalls that don't take much memory, and there are plenty of other good options out there. Personally I think a good combo would be NOD32, Ewido, and Secure-It, with a firewall of your choice and a couple of antispyware scanners (just on-demand). This would keep things lean while providing pretty solid protection. Then just have him use Firefox or Opera instead of IE, Thunderbird or Opera for email (Eudora works too, my favorite is PocoMail, but not free), and run in a limited user account if possible. Another good option would be Online Armor. There are lots of possible alternatives, it sounds like you may just have to lay down the law and make him choose before going online.

 

I don't know about laying down the law, it's his computer. We never use each other's computers. He did the spy sweeper. He hasn't told me if it is working. If I push him, he'll really turn off. Strong silent type!

MRSCT

 

Experience is often the best teacher. Life has a way of saying "I told you so" without you having to get involved.

When his computer becomes inoperable, and you refuse to let him use yours, the solution will present itself without causing any hard feelings.

After the inevitable reformat you can direct him to Wilders Security Forums. Who knows, he might even become addicted to computer security issues and grow up to be a prosperous IT consultant. Then he will buy you a Mercedes and a condo at the beach

Doug

 

Sounds like he's already getting there

Maybe you could work out a deal to go in half on some good software, up to a certain amount, or something. There's plenty of good stuff in the links in my sig

 

Of course, it wouldn't be any other way!

In addition to the products mentioned, there's always the periodic online scanner route augmented by one of the free AV solutions. I tend to recommend Avast Home Edition for a free AV and the Kaspersky on-line scanner for periodic second opinions.

Blue

 

Let him do his own thing his own way. After his first reformat, he'll come to realise "Mom was right".

 

That isn't true. I've read threads on Winfixer before, and the solution didn't involve buying a remover. There's a free solution to address the issue, I'm sure.

Don't believe everything Google tells you.

 

At the link it will explain how to remove Winfixer without spending a penny remove winfixer

 

Maybe after the format you could install the FREE Microsoft Shared Computer Toolkit.

If he doesn't want any rights taken away, just leave it default and unless he choses to keep changes made, all changes will be gone on reboot. This is like other programs, First Defence, Shadowuser, Deepfreeze, Drive Vaccine, except you have alot more control over user rights and what they can do, Even ADMIN rights if you so chose to do so.

I guess I would recommend a nice all-in-one suite for a home user. I currently run KIS 2006 with proactive and spam disabled along with PG on my test computer. Thsi computer has the MS shared toolkit installed as well.

My laptop runs VMware along with some security stuff. My other desktop runs ROO honeynet, with few security apps.

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