Restart in safe mode and run them again,tony.Do as much as you can in safe mode with what you have already downloaded in the past.I have avg and spybot and they seem to do the job if it ever goes dodgy.

molgrips have you used Ubuntu..

did you find that to be really hard to use ? 😯

I’d say its one of the easiest OS to use – have you used synaptic for instance?

Linux-from-scratch or Gentoo are probably the “geeky” ones that come to mind

I have not used Ubuntu, no.

The issue I have with it isn’t ergonomics as such, it’s all the other stuff. Like having to research hardware more carefully to make sure it’s supported, having to use Open Office instead of MS Office which has all sorts of foibles, having to figure out alternatives to the stuff everyone else uses and so on.

The distros I used (I forget which) had lovely UIs but they were all packed with their own geek favourite selection of tools which were all random and just not as well sorted as a mainstream alternative.

If you read my posts you’ll find all the information you need, Cougar.

Would you be so kind as to point out where you told us, say, which version of Norton she was running, the OS in question, or any examples of the infections you found? Information which is critical for giving you an explanation that is more than merely speculation, as I pointed out and you ignored. I obviously must’ve missed this informative post that you’re referencing.

When you go to the doctor, and the doctor asks what’s wrong, do you reply “don’t you know, I thought you were a doctor”?

The media were being honest and subsequent events showed they were in no way scaremongering.

Wow, thread derail much? Are you that short for a point?

The media were making shit up and got lucky. At the time that edit was made, no-one here really knew what was going to happen. I stand by my rant.

I have not used Ubuntu, no.

The issue I have with it isn’t ergonomics as such, it’s all the other stuff. Like having to research hardware more carefully to make sure it’s supported, having to use Open Office instead of MS Office which has all sorts of foibles, having to figure out alternatives to the stuff everyone else uses and so on.

😯

No research required, stick the live CD in or usb pen drive and see for yourself. It will probably find everything you have.

What hardware are you expecting to have an issue with?

MS office only required for business. At home what does OO not do for you?

Does windows ship with everything you need straight off the bat? Probably not. So like any OS you have to choose and install the stuff you need.

You don’t have to like it. But at least try it before saying things like that.

[no offence intended]

At home what does OO not do for you?

Not be annoying and crap.

Ubuntu is just Linux isn’t it? So surely the same issues apply?

I’m currently using:

Tracklogs
Photoshop Elements
Premier Elements
Cubase

And trying out lots of video conversion software and noise editing software like DXO, neatimage etc. Most if not all of this stuff is Windows/Mac only, is it not?

Windows is just windows isn’t it? So surely the same issues apply?

I’m currently using:

an operating system that isn’t plagued by viruses and spyware
a journalled file-system that doesn’t fragment badly
lots of free software void of adverts of licence warnings asking for money
an OS that boots faster than windows on this machine (yes I have both on this machine)
a community that helps improve the software every day
a relatively stable environment and no BSODs!
open office because I don’t need to spend money for an office suite
an msn protocol compatable chat program (and others for that matter) skype,spotify,filezilla,wireshark,chromium,firefox,opera – yes indeed native

sorry couldn’t resist… 🙂

each OS has its advantages, yes I do boot into windows sometimes.. just not very often as the list of windows only things I do is diminishing..

[again no offence intended molgrips, yes I can be awkward]

sorry [to OP] if the thread has veered slightly off course..

@molgrips, you could even skin Ubuntu so it looks/works Windows-like without the actual Windows OS installed.
Try before you make assumptions, please. There’s a new Ubuntu beta available now, seems to be great.

how is ubuntu for wifi these days? i have it on another laptop i have, but havent used it for ages cos it was a PITA getting it to connect to my network via wifi in the first place, then it never remembered the settings. does it still insist on using the windows wifi drivers for your hardware or is that all resolved now? i may go back to it if so…

xherbivorex

it will probably work out straight away (on running the live CD or install) without needing to DL or hunt for any drivers

recently Broadcomm (a huge manufacturer of network chips) came onboard

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/215919/broadcom_joins_the_linux_foundation.html

My laptops are connecting to Wi-Fi no problems, same for the desktop.

Ooh, OS willy-comparing.

I’m currently using:

an operating system that isn’t plagued by viruses and spyware

Check. Can’t remember the last time I had an infection, reasonably sure that I’ve not had one since Windows 98 days.

a journalled file-system that doesn’t fragment badly

Check. NTFS is journalled and doesn’t have any fragmentation problems that have any practical bearing on anything.

lots of free software void of adverts of licence warnings asking for money

Check. Most advert-supported free Windows software these days allows you to opt in or out. I don’t recall ever seeing a licence agreement that asks me for money.

an OS that boots faster than windows on this machine (yes I have both on this machine)

If we say “boots faster than Windows XP” then check, My W7 install boots in a fraction of the time XP would.

a community that helps improve the software every day

No need for a community for the commercial products thanks to professional developers creating enterprise grade software. Independent third-party developers are pretty like-for-like between Windows and Linux.

a relatively stable environment and no BSODs!

Check.

open office because I don’t need to spend money for an office suite

Check (however, I choose not to as I was given a full Office licence).

an msn protocol compatable chat program (and others for that matter)

I use Trillian, which connects to MSN as well as AOL, ICQ, Twitter, Facebook Chat, Jabber-a-likes such as LiveJournal, Gmail, corporate SIP servers, and pretty much anything else you’d care to mention thanks to an extensible plugin framework.

skype,spotify,filezilla,wireshark,chromium,firefox,opera – yes indeed native

Check, check, etc but we knew this.

Conclusion – Linux is almost as good as Windows! Who knew (-:

To be fair, I do like Linux, and Lucid Lynx is about as close to being a mature product as we’ve ever seen in the Linux arena. Though I can’t help but think that we’ll know when it’s truly arrived when people stop feeling the need to justify their OS choices every time any computer question ever gets asked.

I have just developed a new respect for the techies at my school. 😀

@molgrips, you could even skin Ubuntu so it looks/works Windows-like without the actual Windows OS installed.

It’s not what it looks like that’s the issue. It’s software quality and availability.

Free stuff is good value for money, but it’s often not a patch on the paid for stuff. It’s made by geeks who stick in whatever feature they fancy, and tends not to have teams of people doing usability labs on noobs and office workers to see what works.

Can I get tracklogs, DXO, a Photoshop equivalent (that’s not Gimp), a good movie editing suite, Sky Player, iPlayer desktop, Windows Media centre equivalent (with all the plugins like Tuner Free MCE), utilities like Hulu downloader etc etc etc on Ubuntu?

Or are there all equivalents that are just that little bit less good (as I’ve usually found to be the case)?

I switched back to Windows because I got sick of hunting around for bits of utilities here and there written by some guy with a day job to try and mimic what I could do on windows with no bother at all.

Admittedly that was a while ago, and we all have different requirements.

and we all have different requirements.

Well said this is the fundamental point.

I think both have strengths and weaknesses.

Can I get tracklogs, DXO, a Photoshop equivalent (that’s not Gimp), a good movie editing suite, Sky Player, iPlayer desktop, Windows Media centre equivalent (with all the plugins like Tuner Free MCE), utilities like Hulu downloader etc etc etc on Ubuntu?

Some of these are available in Linux in some form. But photo editing isn’t a strength. Nor is gaming.

I don’t play games so that doesn’t bother me. But it would be nice if there something free to compete with the Adobe photo products for instance.

For web surfing, internet, development, network stuff, music its pretty awesome and its free.

Er, Jedi, how’s the computer now?…

i just got in since camping yesterday. doing the anti spy ware thing from usb at the mo

But it would be nice if there something free to compete with the Adobe photo products for instance

I think it’s very rare that the free stuff can compete with the paid for stuff.

To be honest I’d rather see much more PAID for software for Linux. This would increase the value of the platform no end, imo. I’d even pay for a window manager if it was available. Hell, if there was more quality software I’d pay windows-like licenses for a good quality distro that comes with the kind of usability and supporting software that Apple/MS have.

I wonder if this would be good or bad for the free linux world. I do think linux is a vital part of the IT world – if I wanted to set up a firewall, VPN endpoint, web server etc etc it’d be linux no question, so I don’t want to see it fail.

People have tried, TBH. If you want to pay for Linux you can – for example https://www.redhat.com/apps/store/server/

Far as I can see, this gives you a controlled distro and enterprise support. Think I’d be using an x.04 Ubuntu release myself, but one of the nice things about Linux is that there’s plenty of choice. Arguably, this is also one of its failings, from a certain point of view. (-:

Yeah like I say it’s excellent for servers, if I were planning something I don’t think I’d use anything else. I’m aware of redhat, looks pretty decent.

But the range of desktop app softwre is huge.

If we all used Java for our apps this would not be an issue 🙂

If we all used Java for our apps this would not be an issue

If we all used Java for our apps the Linux advocates would quickly have to stop bleating about how fast Linux is. (-:

Java is plenty fast enough for big desktop apps.

Just don’t ask me about memory consumption 🙂

Most of us just want a machine that we can switch on like an amplifier though, then plug in anything we buy; phone, camera, printer, sound system, mp3, etc.. And all (not some) can be plugged into a computer with Windows and work, usually without even installing a driver. Dealing with what could go wrong but probably won’t is easier that running Linux and then finding it doesn’t work with the “tableau numérique” at work.

Running Windows means being constantly under attack so you need an anti-virus, spyware and malware that work. IME Norton doesn’t. Having used Spybot and AVG to get my wife’s machine working again I thought it might be worth running the Superantispyware and malware suggested by the first contributors to this thread. Because some people are clearly being helpful rather than just bragging and ranting.

I ran them first on my own PC that has always had AVG and Spybot; zilch apart from a few hramless tracking cookies most of which I recognise are from sites I visit regularly (yup hteres one from STW°. Then the wife’s PC that was using Norton till the Windows simimulator thing got it last week. In addition to the stuff AVG and Spybot elliminated that brought the machine to life, the SUPERantispyware has just removed.

Adware Zango 31
Tracking cookies 605
Adware shopper report (low risk) 2
Disabled security centre 3
Adawre Zwangi
Gen Pinball 6
Trojan 1

Now I know that most of those are harmless but they slow the machine down, and it strikes me at least 4 are not harmless. So, Cougar, a laptop with reguarly updated Windows and Norton had been infiltrated and infected with over a 1000 unwanted files and enough “nasties” to bring the thing to a grinding halt. I think you are wrong to encourage STWers to have faith in Norton.

Oh dear will the Linux vs Windows argument ever cease here on STW?

Both are great OS’s, and contributed quite a bit to the development of the personal computer over the years.

It gets tiring when each time someone asks about viruses/malware on Windows, the usual people pop up with the “switch to Linux and all your problems will be solved” tune.

Seriously, change the record.

@ Molgrips – if you like Redhat, have a look at CentOS (Community ENterprise Operating System) – 100% redhat compatible OS, built from the official Redhat source code.

Most places I have worked run Redhat on their production servers (politically they needed official OS/server support – even though we never used it), and CentOS on their development systems.

I might if I ever spec a work-only machine or a server 🙂

Edukator > Three things,

1) Of that list you cite there, none are viruses other than the last entry which is an unidentified trojan. This could easily be an innocuous trace from something that has already been removed (or might’ve been found by SUPER in a Quarantine folder). The rest is crap that she’s installed.

An anti-virus program, as the name implies, prevents viruses. It doesn’t, and never claims to, stop things that aren’t viruses. It won’t stop users from installing advertising programs, or protect against any other layer 8 issues.

2) At no point did I “encourage STWers to have faith in Norton,” I simply believe that Norton AV is treated excessively harshly by a lot of people. It particularly seems to get a lot of flack from the same people who think that names like “Internet Exploder” and “Micro$oft” are original and clever.

3) I’m trying to help people here partly because I see it as a goodwill investment for when I need MTB advice and partly because I’m just nice like that; but, ultimately, I don’t care whether you agree with me or not.

I’m the first to admit when I don’t know something, but I’d like to think that this is a subject that I’ve got a reasonable handle on. I’ve first-hand experience of Norton AV and Symantec AV Corporate going back to DOS days. I’ve supported home and enterprise installs of pretty much every AV solution on the market, for everyone from a mate’s grandad to Blue Chip installations with tens of thousands of connected clients.

If you want to believe that ‘Norton is crap’ (which IMHO is an astonishingly sweeping concept given that the Norton AV moniker has been in use for 15-20 years to describe a large number of wildly different products) then you do that, I’m not going to argue any further with you.

FWIW I’ve found Prevex Edge to be the most effective at getting rid of viruses. It managed to destroy a rootkit virus that AVG & Spybot couldn’t do anything about.

rollox, i keep getting pop ups 🙁

Jedi, go for the boot in safe with networking, then run whatever antivirus/anti malware you have and see what happens. Should clear it.

so what do the pop ups say? it might help track it down
(and thank you Cougar for ‘layer 8 issues’)

i tried that. keep getting internet explorer pop up even though i use firefox.
get windows security is off message then pop ups too.

then what do the pop ups say? might give a clue as to what the infection is

i tried that. keep getting internet explorer pop up even though i use firefox.
get windows security is off message then pop ups too.

🙂 – oh well, well, well…

Pull the hdd, replace with new, install, get data off old one then full format/data erase. If you need a hand i’m about 30 miles up the a1 from you.

so, are these the sorts of messages you are getting?

Hard Drive Failure
The system has detected a problem with one or more installed IDE / SATA hard disks. It is recommended that you restart the system.

Or

Critical Error
RAM memory usage is critically high. RAM memory failure.

or
Windows Diagnostic Diagnostics
Windows detected a hard disk error.
A problem with the hard drive sectors has been detected. It is recommended to

(and thank you Cougar for ‘layer 8 issues’)

*whistles innocently*

leffeboy

yep seen them

Jedi,

It appears that my computer-telepathy interface is down at the moment. So you need to do one of two things,

1) Follow the instructions on xerbivorex’s link on the first page of this post, or if they don’t appear to be what you’re dealing with then,

2) Tell us what you’re dealing with. “It’s a pop-up” narrows it down to about 30,000 likely infections; as leffeboy is suggesting a little more subtly, we’re going to need more than that. What do the popups call themselves, what do they say?

If you’ve seen those, does it look like this?

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/remove-windowsfixdisk