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Post by Clinton Cool on Feb 22, 2021 18:59:13 GMT
A wise man once said that the best form of anti-virus is to run an operating system other than Microsoft Windows. The wise man also said that the second best form of anti virus is the one installed on the opposite side of the keyboard to the screen - someone who thinks before clicking or pressing the enter key, does not automatically make assumptions about an email from a friend and checks that a website is secure etc. Assuming you will be running Windows 10, the built-in Defender anti-virus software is preferable for a number of reasons. This has not always been the case but Defender has improved tremendously over the years. I would advise against running a second antivirus program at the same time 'just to make sure'. However, running alternative scanning software such as malwarebytes once a month is a good idea. I am in two minds about CCleaner (was called Crap Cleaner years ago!) for the novice. Very very good at cleaning up the registry (remember to use the facility to back up the registry before running it!) but care needs to be taken when installing and running. The above is based on many years helping to run a residents group for older, non technical users. It largely reinforces what has already been said. I have never, ever, engaged with the tedious 'backup' features, nor ever had any problems. CCleaner is great at eliminating cookies and a few other things but the registry cleaner part of the program is total bollocks. Honestly, Wise Registry cleaner is far better. Anyway, standard stuff from Ricco - ask for help and reject all advice for what he knows is better and never a word of thanks. Great. Are you sure? The consensus was to rely on the Defender that's apparently installed, that's what I'm doing.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2021 19:20:38 GMT
And one other thing - those who choose to use CCleaner would be well-advised to investigate the 'tools' section where a host of useful features will enable the user to prevent loads of crap that gums up the works from running at all (although the 'startup' section is for the most part less important than it used to be).
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2021 19:36:41 GMT
I have never, ever, engaged with the tedious 'backup' features, nor ever had any problems. CCleaner is great at eliminating cookies and a few other things but the registry cleaner part of the program is total bollocks. Honestly, Wise Registry cleaner is far better. Anyway, standard stuff from Ricco - ask for help and reject all advice for what he knows is better and never a word of thanks. Great. Are you sure? The consensus was to rely on the Defender that's apparently installed, that's what I'm doing. And even the free version of Avast includes a 'boot sector' scan option. Hmm, now why would that be useful?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2021 19:39:19 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2021 19:51:38 GMT
I just use a phone. No computer, no tablet just a phone. And it's a pretty crap one Xiaomi "we are watching you" Redmi 7A. Bulletproof. And never any trouble apart from burglars but that is not a software problem. Although like any other computer, it is still vulnerable to attack.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2021 20:00:18 GMT
It's a work phone so it's alright. I don't know what software Evangeline put on it but never had any problems with it.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2021 20:04:14 GMT
It's a work phone so it's alright. I don't know what software Evangeline put on it but never had any problems with it. With respect to Evangeline's personal services, how would you know?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2021 20:05:55 GMT
Like I said. I don't know.
I am not privy to this sort of information I'm just there to defend the integrity of the UK as and when needed.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2021 20:18:18 GMT
It's a work phone so it's alright. I don't know what software Evangeline put on it but never had any problems with it. I thought you all used burner phones, you must be very low in the ranks.
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Post by Allan on Feb 22, 2021 20:58:06 GMT
I have never, ever, engaged with the tedious 'backup' features, nor ever had any problems. CCleaner is great at eliminating cookies and a few other things but the registry cleaner part of the program is total bollocks. Honestly, Wise Registry cleaner is far better. Anyway, standard stuff from Ricco - ask for help and reject all advice for what he knows is better and never a word of thanks. Great. Are you sure? The consensus was to rely on the Defender that's apparently installed, that's what I'm doing. The consensus is good advice. The integrated anti virus on Windows has had several name changes but is now called 'Microsoft Defender Antivirus'. The default settings are reasonable. Whilst Martin says he does not bother to backup registry before cleaning and has no problems, this is his personal experience and possibly only relates to his own PC. My experience, extends to dozens of computers (both home use and commercial) and a range of Windows operating systems. For what it is worth, I have found Wise Registry occasionally corrupts the registry. Unless it has been backed up you are then stuffed. Although, I have found the same happens with Crap Cleaner, this is very rare. My advice regarding registry cleaners is that the novice would do better to not use them as the hyped benefits of increased performance and reduced disk space are far far outweighed by the possibility of a corrupt and unusable system which can not be recovered unless the registry has been backed up.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2021 21:16:51 GMT
It's a work phone so it's alright. I don't know what software Evangeline put on it but never had any problems with it. I thought you all used burner phones, you must be very low in the ranks. The misinformation campaign is obviously working then.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2021 21:25:16 GMT
I ran a network for a while but it was just for the sake of amusement. I have had problems in the past, but only from screwing around with things just to see what would happen. I wasn't bothered about data loss - there was nothing that was so important.
But, there are some things - like photos and documents - that it would be annoying to lose, so I keep backups of those things on a flash drive or two, and knowing that flash drives can go bad I have a backup of a backup on an old HDD.
In the final analysis, its best not to be too worried about the OS and instead keep the install discs handy. Its surprising how much space is taken up by junk, even after running all the cleaner progs in the world. Formatting the drive every so often is not a bad thing but I imagine a lot of users would be terrified of the prospect.
In my experience, a so-called 'broken' PC usually gains a new lease from such a treatment.
ETA Browser bookmarks are a problem. I never use them anymore and instead always create my own (right-click/new/shortcut). I back these up as well. Similarly, I find email clients a total PITA and now keep that crap web-based.
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Post by Allan on Feb 22, 2021 22:47:44 GMT
I ran a network for a while but it was just for the sake of amusement. I have had problems in the past, but only from screwing around with things just to see what would happen. I wasn't bothered about data loss - there was nothing that was so important. But, there are some things - like photos and documents - that it would be annoying to lose, so I keep backups of those things on a flash drive or two, and knowing that flash drives can go bad I have a backup of a backup on an old HDD. In the final analysis, its best not to be too worried about the OS and instead keep the install discs handy. Its surprising how much space is taken up by junk, even after running all the cleaner progs in the world. Formatting the drive every so often is not a bad thing but I imagine a lot of users would be terrified of the prospect. In my experience, a so-called 'broken' PC usually gains a new lease from such a treatment. ETA Browser bookmarks are a problem. I never use them anymore and instead always create my own (right-click/new/shortcut). I back these up as well. Similarly, I find email clients a total PITA and now keep that crap web-based. Performance of Windows based systems does tend to degrade over time and and reinstalling the operating system and recovery of user files from backup will always provide greater performance benefits than attempting to sort out the problems in situ. However, it can also lead to problems with reinstalling software and configuration of the operating system etc. Sometimes performance problems can be sorted out by upgrading the hardware. In particular, replacing HDD by SSD and upgrading store can have a dramatic effect. A third way is moving to a less resource hungry operating system - Chrome OS or one of the *NIX family - that is better able to use the hardware. To some extent a combination of the above can be used. All this is of little use to the O/P who has a new Windows laptop on order and might want some advice regarding moving files onto his new machine ...
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Post by Clinton Cool on Feb 23, 2021 0:54:20 GMT
Are you sure? The consensus was to rely on the Defender that's apparently installed, that's what I'm doing. And even the free version of Avast includes a 'boot sector' scan option. Hmm, now why would that be useful? I've no idea. I have a pair of walking boots though, they serve me very well.
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Post by Allan on Feb 23, 2021 9:03:44 GMT
And even the free version of Avast includes a 'boot sector' scan option. Hmm, now why would that be useful? I've no idea. I have a pair of walking boots though, they serve me very well. Avast section of boot sector viruses infect socks and are a known cause of athletes foot. Washing socks is more effective than scanning them. I get the feeling that Martin wants Ricco to ask him what a boot sector virus scan is and Ricco is not biting.
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