Taking new computer back again! Need help!

[marlakay]

A few months back I asked for advice on buying a cheap computer for my husband. We ended up online with Costco and buying a ZT. The hard drive crashed within weeks and we took it back.

He decided to spend a few hundred more a get a HP and we saw a sale at Best Buy (huge mistake, I knew we should stay with costco!) but after almost purchasing the HP a sales guy who my husband thought was geeky talked him into getting the new Gateway by saying the insides were better.

This is only thing we did to computer before using it. We called Gateway to help us take off the preinstalled norton, installed the free version of AVG and installed latest version of Mozilla Firefox.

Then within a day of doing this computer started freezing up, turning off for no reason and coming up with a box that said it had infections.

My husband called Best Buy and of course the best he can get out of them is store credit no refund to go elsewhere.

We are thinking of getting the HP this time, but I am wondering was it the security? windows 7? mozilla? (the couple of porn sites he looked at)?

So any advice? He is leaving for Seattle tomorrow to take it back and get something else. We live in the mountains 3 hrs from big stores. We don't want to buy online again since we did that with first computer. This is fast becoming a freakin nightmare!

Also what security should we use? I am now wondering if the AVG free one was the best choice.

Thanks for any help.

[EvolveOrConvolve]

1. How can I say this delicately?

But have you checked your husband's browsing habits? A brand new computer doesn't start popping up boxes with "you're infected" (which is the sign that you've got bad spyware, trojan, and/or virus problems) unless something malicious has been introduced into the system through user interaction. Nearly all of the malicious stuff comes from questionable websites.

It's definitely a security issue: use Avast AV (it's free for home use) to protect against viruses and Malwarebytes to protect against spyware and other forms of malware. I also use a hardware firewall (built into my wireless router) that helps keep me safe.

(And I'm not accusing your husband of anything nefarious - it's just usually the guys who visit, *ahem*, questionable websites)

[david13]

5. Evo, I definitely think you should be more delicate. Sure there are

zillions of virus and other malware available from adult video sites.
But he could have got this virus off a dirty toilet seat.
dc

[EvolveOrConvolve]

8. I'm not sure how I could have been more delicate

Unlike herpes or crabs, computers don't spontaneously develop virus infections from a "toilet seat".

A bad hard drive/slow computer/infected browser are just a symptoms of the real problem...

[david13]

13. Uh, Evo, I think you are still definitely missing something here. dc

[hobbit709]

2. Those popups are probably malware

AVG and any other antivirus program work well on viruses but malware is not technically a virus.
For security I install AVG, Malwarebytes Antimalware and Spybot Search & Destroy.
Is this the only computer you have or is another available? If you have another download the Malwarebytes on it and transfer it to a flash drive. Boot up the infected computer in Safe Mode with Networking and install the Malwarebytes from the flash drive and run a scan

[marlakay]

3. I do have another computer but he is set on taking

it back, so only thing I can do is make sure the new one he gets tomorrow is set up correctly.

And to reply to the first person I have checked what he looks at a few times. I know those type of sites cause problems, and I have said this. I think he thinks I just don't want him to go into them. He told me the sites he went into were same ones as with other computer (one he also had to get rid of for problems!!)

Basically he doesn't want to believe its his precious porn...(we used to fight over it and I guess you can say I gave up and just try to ignore it now)

Because of our past fights however he won't listen to me about that being what it is.

Anyone have a good geek link that talks about how many virus threats go through those sites??

(now I have some of you thinking I am a prude and others thinking my husband is ???) we have nude art work throughout our house. I love the nude body, just have a problem with the way porn is especially how young the girls are.

[Why Syzygy]

6. It's the porn.

I'm a woman so I don't need to be delicate. I used to regularly reinstall a friend's printer. It was obvious to me that her husband was uninstalling it while trying to erase his tracks. I never said anything. I think she knew. What adults do is their own business. It's so much of the right wing morality that makes people "guilty".


Show him this article. No matter what a malicious code is pulling from and sending to your computer, it is being done backdoor, performing unauthorized file transfers. One has to weigh the costs of their choices.
(This was just a random google of 'porn virus'.)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33778733
Framed for child porn — by a PC virus
updated 7:10 p.m. CT, Sun., Nov . 8, 2009


Spain: Internet-related child porn on the rise
Google providing better view of personal data
Red Tape: ‘Fakeosphere’ ads target consumers

[CK_John]

4. What you guys need is, his and her hard drives, not a new laptop. I don't

know if you can get the current one cleaned up but if you get a new one you need a) a cheap 60GB hard drive about 30$ on eBay. b) info on how to swap the HD in and out easily and quickly. c) a set of recovery disk (most new laptops have you do this first thing, if... it comes with a dvd rw)

Now he uses his hard drive and you use your hard drive. Do not let him do any banking or use a credit card online that is the real goal of these sites is to get info and drain your accounts.

[marlakay]

7. Thanks for the idea but we are both retired

53 & 60 and spend sometimes hours a day online at the same time, that is why we have our own. I do our finances and i wanted a mac for years so I just recently purchased one. I haven't set it up yet as I am spending some time with my external hard drive taking everything off of this one instead of moving it over. I want to start with clean slate.

Because of the stuff mike goes into I don't trust my computer with finances on it with him. I use quicken and was waiting for the new quicken for mac to be done before I bought one. the new one is out next month.

This computer and our other one were top of the line sony's in 2002 but now of course are old and slow and full even though we have tried to update. We are donating them to the poor in a near by town that has a program for it.

[CK_John]

10. Retired too, I'll be 70 in a month. I normally advise you reformat at minimum before passing a

computer along. I have even drilled holes in business HD before disposal.

You could also load Ubunto (free Linux OS) so that they have something to use and work with.

I would contact the program center to see if they have a tech solution they prefer regarding HD.

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

11. You bight be on the right track, CK...

Almost all Ubuntu's do LIVE systems (Put the CD in the drive and turn the PC on).

I've booted up to a live Ubuntu session before and use Firefox like this because I don't want to chance messing up my Windows system(No I don't go to p0rn sites all the time)

marlakay, mabey when you get a new PC, you could tell you husband about doing it this way, because the CD's are read-only, nothing (cookies, URLS) are deleted every time the system is rebooted.

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

12. arrrrg!!! bight? Might! Might

[pokerfan]

9. I have had nothing but good luck with Gateways

I went with them years ago because my company was using them. I am typing this on a Gateway Quad Core. Of course, it's also running Linux but that's another subject.

AVG is a decent antivirus suite, but you are most likely infected with malware. Try http://www.malwarebytes.org/">malwarebytes or consider changing operating systems.