Re: Antivirus / anti spyware / Firewall, and computer health thread
 

I just click 'switch account' in the software.

Before that though you create a new account at Bitdefender central with the email you did for the trial. :)

Re: Antivirus / anti spyware / Firewall, and computer health thread
 

Have had to reformat the whole system when using a recommended `free` antivirus caused major problems . So rather go for overkill :D

Re: Antivirus / anti spyware / Firewall, and computer health thread
 

As someone who considers himself an enthusiastic expert the only time I have had catastrophic issues caused by an AV itself was the paid for version of Kaspersky.

As an addition to this thread as it is about computer health I cannot recommend Backupper or similar programs that will take a system image that can be recovered in minutes enough

Say for example you had a working system backup from say a week before the AV stuffed things up you recover to that and the system is back up and all set up without the hassles of a reinstall and having to set everything back up again :)

Windows 10 still I believe has the old windows 7 system backup options hidden away somewhere too

Re: Antivirus / anti spyware / Firewall, and computer health thread
 

Should that be Can recommend? :D

Re: Antivirus / anti spyware / Firewall, and computer health thread
 

No but I missed the word enough ;)

Re: Antivirus / anti spyware / Firewall, and computer health thread
 

The problem was nothng would work . Not lost data, repairer that is well respected in the area spend ages tryi to sort it out .no l dear what happened . Any how putting a ssd in and reinstalling windows 10 etc . Working ever since. Will definitely not use Kaspersky . As said before blocks cf .and even blocked it's self last week. Tec support fixed it but did not say what went wrong . :shocked:

Re: Antivirus / anti spyware / Firewall, and computer health thread
 

Data loss was not my point with Backupper, time loss was. If you restore a fully installed working image it all gets done in about the same time as installing windows ( volume and disk speed dependant) then with a reinstall you would have to go about installing and setting up all your programs from scratch. With a restored image it is all done no messing

I keep a clean install will all apps set up on my onedrive so even if I lost my saves hard drive I can recover my backup if needed

Re: Antivirus / anti spyware / Firewall, and computer health thread
 

Sorry as l understand the problem was with the hard drive itself. What that was went way over my head. Needed to replace it., As as soon as it was formatted it it started all over again. It was replaced with ssd and has worked well for the last: two years
:D

Re: Antivirus / anti spyware / Firewall, and computer health thread
 

Bitdefender Total Security 2022 6 month trial is still working if anyone is interested, the sites in Germany but it doesn't matter, just enter your email and after 6 months rinse and repeat.

https://www.bitdefender.de/media/htm...d=aff%7Cc%7CIR

Is ccleaner a con?
 

Having had weird message about trackers when I put c cleaner back on laptop ,so tried this using Mozilla , duck duck go , and bit defender with a VPN run c cleaner and then left it on , not running or loading anything at all next day c cleaner said it needed to remove over 500 trackers , bit defender showed it had stop 17 , so it "missed" over 450 trackers am I wasting my money ?:confused:

Is there any tracker check sites that are HTTP?

Reason is I would love to see if any sites are even able to track me seeing


1) Im on IE6 (MyIE2)
2) I always have scripts disabled (99% of time)
3) I block 3rd party cookies...

Is there a tracker demo site??

Re: Antivirus / anti spyware / Firewall, and computer health thread
 

I've received an unexpected Quick Share link on fb messenger from someone I would not have thought would use this.

How can I check it's safe to open? I've messaged them back and they've confirmed that they sent it, but of course they could have been hacked.

Thanks.

Re: Antivirus / anti spyware / Firewall, and computer health thread
 

Do it the old fashioned way and speak to them, or better still ignore anything from Facebook.

When I'm looking for a company and find they only have a Facebook page I just move on, maybe my loss but if they can't be bothered to be more inclusive then I won't bother including them.

Re: Antivirus / anti spyware / Firewall, and computer health thread
 

Many of you will notice that this is a thread I started way back in 2007 so here area few updates...



Although computer viruses and spyware infections still happen, the thing that is more and more common is phishing and stealing credit card details, and ransomware.


You can protect yourself and your computer by:



- Do not use the same password for everything.



- If you receive an email from someone you don't know or if you think it looks odd, hover over the senders name or click at the top of the email to see the senders email address. If it is something like pc-support@micro-softsupport.com you know it is is not genuine.
Most genuine emails will have only one domain at the end of the email address, for example, support@ebay.com or contact@argos.co.uk


- To avoid the possibility of your computer being vunerable to attacks, make sure it has the latest security updates on a regular basis. Most computers should do this automatically but do make sure you are up to date.


- If connecting to wireless hotspots, make sure it is password protected and is the official wifi network at that location.

Eg. You stay in a Premier Inn hotel. The Wifi network you see as Premier-Inns Wifi is not the same as PremierInn Wifi. Check the details with the venue.


- If using any public computers eg. in a library, always remember to sign out and tick the box to "not remember your password".


- If you ever get pop messages on your computer or actual phone calls claiming that your system is infected / they are calling from Microsoft and need to update your system, or any other similar story, ignore it and don not give out any information or follow any advice.
Often you will be directed to download remote desktop software so that the person can take over your computer and either access personal information, or install tools to grab your credit card information.


- We all rely on our computers so much. Many of us have precious photos, work documents, have important files, etc. Make sure you BACKUP YOUR DATA.
A USB external hard drive costs little these days and you should regularly backup your data. The amount of times I've seen people lose everything is very common!
Then make sure you keep the backup in a safe place!

There are also many online backup facilities available now too so you can backup directly to the cloud.
If you don't fancy that then as I have mentioned a USB external drive is a wise investment.
If you want to be absolutely mega safe, then have a backup that you store off-site too.
In many cases, if your system does become infected by a virus or fails for some reason, it is often easier to restore from a clean backup than to spend hours trying to clean your system of virus and threats.


- If you buy any new devices such as routers or smart gadgets, make sure you 1) change the default password and 2) update the devices software so it is up to date.
Smart devices (especially some cheap ones from abroad) may not have the latest security patches and should be used with caution as criminals can use these devices as ways to get in to your home network.
It is well worth reading up on ways to secure your home routers. Many routers now offer the possibility to isolate devices with a guest or seperate network.

Re: Antivirus / anti spyware / Firewall, and computer health thread
 

6 Month Bitdefender Total Security 2023 trial, German VPN needed to visit the sign-up page otherwise you get a 404 error.

https://www.bitdefender.de/media/htm...opt/index.html