INTERNET EXPLORER 8 AND INTERNET SPEED

[rapport25]

Teamster, can you help? My norton is due to expire also I want a decent spyware and adware.

What are the best free internet security /spyware and adware programs to run on your pc?

Thanks Rappy

[teamster1975]

AVG 8.5 Free edition or Avast for antivirus, and Superantispyware; I would actually buy the superantispyware; it was £12 for a lifetime license and it enables on-access protection against spyware; it's a bloody good piece of software, I highly recommend it!

[highlander]

Avast! Antivirus is very good; I use it on all my home PCs - http://www.avast.com - it's also free, is a real-time tool (it will scan any file you or the OS tries to open before releasing access to the file to the OS, meaning you shouldn't be able to infect your PC by running an infected .EXE) and automatically updates itself from the web using secure servers. There are payware versions of it, but home users typically won't need these features.

For antispyware/adware , your best bet is to use a combination of SpyBot Search & Destroy - http://www.safer-networking.org (which is also free), and Trend Micro HiJackThis http://www.trendsecure.com/portal/en-US ... hijackthis (again, free).

SpyBot is good, as long as you run it once a fortnight and keep it up to date - it is also very easy to use.

HiJackThis is great for detecting browser-related maladies, and helping you remove them - but it is geared for users with a little more tech savvy than a beginner PC user would have; use with care and if you don't understand it, don't try it.

Edit: Teamy, you beat me to it! Never heard of Superantispyware; might check it out!

[rapport25]

Thanks guys I have norton on at present which I have heard slows things down. Also super anti spyware and spyware doctor. Have to say teamster that c cleaner seems to wipe everything When I use my spyware programs they never find anything now.

Did a full scan on norton last night and found 1 grey door back door and 6 trojan black horses I think . Should I be worried?

How can I remove? will they affect system performance?

Thanks Rappy

[teamster1975]

You'll find the majority of detected spyware items are tracking cookies, harmless really.
I'd start your machine up in safe mode & rerun superantispyware Rappy; some of the nasty ones require you to boot off a recovery CD (Lifesaving cd to carry if you're a pc tech!)

[rapport25]

Teamster, Im having a blonde moment here

Just to be clear start in safe mode and run super antispyware. What will this find that it does not normally?

Also the recovery cd please explain?

Thanks Rappy

[highlander]

Running in Safe Mode means that Windows will only start up the bare essentials to get the system going. Therefore, any spyware which would run when Windows boots normally, isn't running. Some spyware also fools these scans into thinking it isn't really there, so if the spyware isn't running, it can't fool the anti-spyware program.

Additionally, if you do detect spyware in normal mode, if the spyware is running, the files it uses may be marked as "locked" by the operating system - so the anti-spyware program cannot remove the files. Running in Safe Mode should prevent this and make it easier for the anti-spyware tool to clear the spyware out.

A Recovery CD is an operating system on a CD, usually a customized version of Linux (i.e. Knoppix) - or more recently a heavily cut-down edition of Windows - that you just pop in your CD drive and boot from. When you boot from a Recovery CD, the OS on your hard drive isn't loaded, so none of the spyware is loaded. But you still have access to your hard drives, so you can run an antispyware tool on your hard drive from the Recovery CD and clean your own OS up without much of a problem.

I was told today that I have a tendency to over-explain simple things, and make them sound very complicated Sorry if this is the case here, I really don't mean to do it.

Cheers
Graeme

[rapport25]

Have just run in safe mode but nothing has been found

I kinda understand So if i go to that link I can download the info to make a recovery cd and go from there? Is that right?

[Welly]

Not highjacking this but I would like to ask about bandwidth use - What sort of internet activity would use a high amount of bandwidth (the stuff the ISP's bang on about being 'fair' with)?

Would watching YouTube type clips use much or is it just biggies like downloading a whole movie and such?

What's file sharing and peer-to-peer mean? (in very simple terms) as these use a lot of bandwidth don't they? are these things to do with playing X-box live etc? is that file sharing?

Welly

[highlander]

Most ISPs will tell you your monthly download limits, measured in gigabytes. Some ISPs will not restrict your monthly download limits (I know Demon Internet doesn't).

Fair Use policy is generally only invoked when someone consistently downloads a lot more than their monthly limitation allows (i.e. those downloading movies, full applications, etc).

Sky Broadband's MAX package not only says it has "unlimited downloads", but actually says "No Fair Use Policy", which is their invitation to download as much as you like. I'm on that package - I don't do all the film downloading and file sharing, but I am constantly downloading things - either game demos on the PS3 (which weigh in at more than 1 GB each, and are released on PSN on a weekly basis) or mods for various games on the PC. And that's just me; Mrs Highlander has an addiction to FaceBook/Bebo/Friendster (etc) and occasionally plays online games, and our 15-year-old is always on YouTube, playing Guild Wars, or talking to his mates on Skype (sometimes a combination of all activities, bloomin' teens eh)

[swiss]

What's file sharing and peer-to-peer mean? (in very simple terms) as these use a lot of bandwidth don't they? are these things to do with playing X-box live etc? is that file sharing?

Nothing to do with games. P2P file sharing is applications like Limewire or the various Torrent clients. It means you're sharing files like movies, music etc. with other end-users like yourself - in otherwords your 'peers'.

Top tip - while ISPs often monitor and throttle P2P usage, as they blame it for slowing their network (you paid for the bandwith but they'll be damned if they're gonna let you use it how you want) if you set the port your P2P app uses to something nice and high (say 60000) or scramble it, if your app has that option, they may not pick it up. Win!

[mjb]

Top tip - while ISPs often monitor and throttle P2P usage, as they blame it for slowing their network (you paid for the bandwith but they'll be damned if they're gonna let you use it how you want) if you set the port your P2P app uses to something nice and high (say 60000) or scramble it, if your app has that option, they may not pick it up. Win!

Maybe 5+ years ago, but nowadays ISPs use deep packet inspection which works regardless of port

Still, download 2.93GB on cable between 5pm and 9pm, and you're on the sh*t list and throttled for the next 5 hours That's just bloody 20 mins downloading - half a linux distribution (not that I'd be caught dead downloading something like that...) or a small part of a high def movie viewed over xbox live

[Welly]

Bloody hell I feel like a right numpty now but here goes......I've just had a peep at Limewire but don't know why you'd need it, what's it do? when would you 'share' data with others? sorry but I'm really not into all this stuff (yet)

[teamster1975]

It's for sharing music or movies Welly; it acts as a network client which links you to other users of Limewire, allowing you to download from them and they to upload from you. You basically specify a folder to be shared over Limewire and other users will be able to see & download the contents.

Hey Graeme, good explanations mate

[Welly]

It's for sharing music or movies Welly; it acts as a network client which links you to other users of Limewire, allowing you to download from them and they to upload from you. You basically specify a folder to be shared over Limewire and other users will be able to see & download the contents.

mmm, I don't suppose this gets abused at all - dare I mention the 'C' word