MSE was disabled by a virus attack

[yodap]

It wil be interesting to see my expereinces once I swap over to Win7. Might then change my views, we'll wait and see.

With each OS and SP release, MS attempts to improve security. It may be that your experiences will be different in W7 if you choose to run 2 real time scanners. I can't recall MS ever recommending this and know a lot of smart people that won't recommend it.

I look forward to your experiment.

 

[catilley1092]

As I understand it, and if I'm wrong, feel free to correct me, but as I understood, AVG (the free version) is not a "realtime" AV. Meaning that you have to scan for viruses after they're embedded into your OS. I've never had, nor do I want, the paid version. The one install that I did have (the free one) was preinstalled on a notebook that I purchased on eBay last year. I promptly removed it and replaced it with Avast (the free one), it does offer "realtime" protection. And prior to MSE being released, it was my default AV for all of my Windows OS's.

As long as it is a standalone scanner, you can use whatever you wish with MSE. I do, I use Malwarebytes & SAS.

With XP, I could understand running two, I did (but again, I don't advise it), but Windows 7 is quite different from XP. The security is much better, and MSE will meet your needs without creating a burden on the system. I do recommend a backup standalone scanner, such as Malwarebytes, all you need to do is update it, then do a short or long scan. The same with SAS, update it & scan. It finds a lot of adware & tracking cookies, and I run it on a monthly basis.

I hope that you do find Windows 7 a easy OS to keep secure. As long as you install MSE, set it to auto update & do a short scan daily, you should be fine. A full scan weekly is good, too. If you want to add the free version of AVG to do manual scans with, I suppose it would be OK, if you don't have problems with it.

Cat

 

[TorrentG]

AVG free is in operation all the time, when it's installed.

This is what gives it the ability to be so terrible.

If it was only a manual scan software, there would likely be much less issues with it.

 

[catilley1092]

Thanks for correcting my misunderstanding of AVG. I do remember that recently, about a couple of months ago, my mother in law called me and asked me to check out her desktop (a Dell Dimension running XP Pro). She told me that it was becoming unresponsive and lethargic.

My suggestion was to uninstall AVG through Revo Uninstaller, run CCleaner (I have this on a USB drive) install MSE & Malwarebytes, and do complete scans with both. She agreed with me, and I proceeded. After the uninstall and running CCleaner, I checked Windows Update for missing security updates, she had a ton of missing updates, including SP3. I set the updating to auto. After installing everything, including MSE & Malwarebytes, I started a scan with MSE, it went to cleaning right then. It took two runs to disinfect the computer. Then I ran Malwarebytes, it found a dozen or so of Trojans that MSE didn't detect.

Afterwards, she told me that her desktop ran like new again, and baked me a homemade pound cake, my favorite. Since then, I've been doing her computer maintenance, including backups. She wasn't aware that you had to backup your computer. I installed the Seagate Disc Wizard on it, since my backup drive is of that brand.

Anyway, AVG had ran her desktop almost useless, and she knows now never to use it again. And once again happy using her desktop. That's what counts the most.

Cat

 

[Mychael]

You can actually pay a purchase and upgrade to AVG 9.0 internet security.

 

[TorrentG]

The security suite of theirs is what will cause the most problems of all of their available software..or be most likely to cause a problem of all.

 

[Mychael]

Yeah, I've never tried the paid version. Was not planning to do that with the new build either given the odds seem to be much higher of me encountering problems with it.

 

[Mychael]

Just to stir the pot a bit more (no harm intended guys) from microsofts own site.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/compatibility/windows-7/en-us/Search.aspx?type=Software&s=avg

 

[anna62]

And how did you find a system restore point suitable? I was just horrified to look for one (for the first time in Windows 7) and find that the only one was for an hour or so beforehand. In XP I could see a month or so of restore points. Luckily it was a minor glitch, but I would like to know what to do if I had a real problem.

 

[catilley1092]

You can type "create a restore point" into the Start Menu. There, you'll be able to configure how much (in percentage) of your drive that you want to use for restore points. While you're there, you can create a restore point now, if your computer is working fine. Make sure that you click "Apply, then "OK" before closing the box. Make sure that you select the "C" drive, if you only have one OS installed, and that the top option "Restore system settings and previous versions of files" is checked.

It's not necessary to create a restore point for the recovery partition.

Hope that this helps.

Cat

 

[anna62]

Thanks, what I would like to know is how I can look at all the previous restore points to chose which date I restore to, anyone know?

 

[TrainableMan]

Sure anna, type "restore point" into the search of the windows start menu and select ... restore system files from a restore point, then click next, on thaat screen will be a list and also a check box at the bottom to show more restore points.

I'll be honest I don't believe Win7 takes restore points as often as XP did so you probably won't have many.

 

[anna62]

Yes there are 3 on the screen, one from 10.55, one at 13.20 when a critical update was done and one I did manually. What worries me is that there are none from yesterday, what if i wanted to restore to a few days ago?

 

[TrainableMan]

Restore points are supposedly controlled based on space allocated with older ones getting deleted. This won't bring back any old ones but may help you keep more going forward... go to Control Panel / System ... choose System Protection on the left ... then under the system protection tab select configure and increase the amount of hard drive you are willing to sacrifice to keep more checkpoints.

You did check the box to show more check points?

 

[TrainableMan]

If there aren't any more available the system might not offer this box (I don't know).

 

[anna62]

Thank you so much, if I leave 3gb will that be enough? I really am clueless! I have been ticking the box, show more restore points, but next time I go to it it's unchecked. Theres nothing to say apply or OK and I'm afraid to click on next incase I start a system restore I now don't need, because, THANKS TO YOU GUYS my system is working properly and I'm trying to understand system restore before I have a disaster.

 

[TrainableMan]

What was it set to already, maybe double or triple that? I have mine set to 30GB but I have a 1TB harddrive.

 

[catilley1092]

I have mine set to 20%, which is 25GB of my 125GB OEM partition, and 30GB of my 150GB evaluation partition (Ultimate 64 bit). To some, this may seem like a lot, but my drives are less than half full, so I'm OK. Even if I did reach the point where restore points are deleted, I still have plenty of other restore points.

Plus when I installed and updated everything, I made a full system backup with Acronis True Image. I can always start over.

Cat

 

[anna62]

No, it was set to 300mg 3%. Obviously that wasn't enough so I'm glad I found out. I've now set it at 9gb which is the max I can as I have plenty of space AND yesterdays restore points are still there.