How To Protect Your Computer From Malware/Viruses/Adware
By: Greenman1

Have you ever heard that a Mac (and a PC running Linux) can't get a virus? There are some viruses for Mac but most viruses are for Windows. Why? Because majority of computer users have Windows installed and a lot of people who are new to computers start with Windows. This is why you want to protect your Windows PC from viruses. This guide will help you protect your PC from bad software.

Protecting Chrome
Do you still use Internet Explorer? Don't use it! It is a very outdated browser and you want to use a modern browser. I recommend Chrome or Firefox over Microsoft Edge because of the extensions. This is going to be showing you how to protect Chrome.

When you open a new tab is the search engine a trusted search engine (this includes Google,Bing,Yahoo,DuckDuckGo etc.)? Even if the page looks like a trusted search engine check the URL! Look up the real link for the search engine and see if it matches. If it doesn't you need to remove it! To remove a fake or bad search engine:

1. Click the ... in the top right corner to open the Chrome menu
2. Choose Settings (if a virus redirects you type in the address bar chrome://settings)
3. Search for Search Engine and click Manage Search Engines
4. Delete any fake search engines from the default
5. Go back and search for On startup
6. If the Open a specific page or set of pages is on delete all the bad pages
7. Go back and search for Protect
8. Find the Protect you and your device from dangerous sites and Send a "Do Not Track" request with your browsing traffic switches and make sure they're on

Now try restarting Chrome and it should be fixed (if not it's a virus on your PC). Another thing you want is an AdBlocker. This will block ads but some blockers also prevent adware on hacked sites.
I recommend any of these Chrome extenstions:

• uBlock Origin (by Raymond Hill)
• Adguard AdBlocker (by adguard.com)
• Poper Blocker (by poperblocker.com)

I also recommend HTTPS Anywhere (by eff.org). This extenstion will use the https:// (secure) version of a site automatically if it supports it.

Uninstall Programs
Some "viruses" are just programs that come pre-installed when you get your PC. This is called bloatware. Some viruses can act like bloatware and be easily removed. If you used an installer to get the program then here's how to remove unwanted programs.

1. Press Windows Key+R and in the Run box type Control Panel
2. Click on Uninstall a program under Programs in Control Panel
3. Click on a piece of software to select it and click Uninstall to uninstall it

Free Anti-Malware/Anti-Virus
A good final step is to install an anti-virus and anti-malware program. The difference between the two is that anti-virus protects you against past viruses while anti-malware protects you against current viruses. Some good free anti-virus software is:

• Avast
• Bitdefender (Free Edition)
• Avira

Windows Defender is an okay anti-virus but I would recommend one on the list. Malwarebytes (Free Edition) is also good and it's not on this list because it's anti-malware software. Malwarebytes won't protect you in real time but if you think you have malware already on your pc, run a scan, and it detects malware, it will do a good job of cleaning out the malware. If you get the Premium edition of Malwarebytes you will get web and real time protection.

False Positives
A false positive is when a program that isn't malware or a virus is detected as one. This usually happens to hacking/cheating tools like Cheat Engine. Luckily you can add exclusions in your anti-virus and anti-malware software so you can run these programs while still being protected.

Conclusion
Even with all of this protection one of the best things you can do is use common sense! If you see an ad like that says "Play Cuphead for free!" you know that Cuphead isn't a free game so you shouldn't click it. If you are unsure about a download I would put the download link through VirusTotal.

 

[TotalInsanity4]

On a second note, I would like to share a tip that I use sometimes.
Hope OP adds this:

Sometimes removing software will leave garbage on your system.
Sometimes, fake sites will leave a remaining in your system, so even if you remove the site it will still appear on your browser. This means that you can't get rid of it. Or can you? YES YOU CAN!

To successfully uninstall bloatware or unwanted software, you MUST delete manually all Registered Keys on your system.
To find out where are your registration keys, you have to press Windows Key + R. Then type "regedit" without the quotes. Press enter.

You'll see lots of folders there. I can't remember exactly the path to finding the current installed software but it is something like this:
HKEY_LOCALMACHINE -> WINDOWS -> SOFTWARE
And you'll see even more folders with the names of actual software.
For instance, you could have folders of old software you uninstalled long time ago, or you could find registration keys of your Web Browser.

Deleting each folder manually is the key to completely remove bloatware.
Even worms or viruses gets located in those folders, so it might be worth checking out those if everything else fails.
PRO TIP: Artemis, the virus, gets in one of those folders. So if you have this virus, you know where to find it.
PRO TIP 2: Most antiviruses tells you the exact location of viruses. This locations can sometimes be only found by Regedit.

Bouncing off of this, Revo Uninstaller Portable is a WONDERFUL program for completely obliterating unwanted programs

 

[VinsCool]

Common sense works very well too.

 

[ScarletDreamz]

Bouncing off of this, Revo Uninstaller Portable is a WONDERFUL program for completely obliterating unwanted programs

CCleaner also does the job.

Common sense works very well too.

As well as Cleaner and Control Panel.

 

[Gizametalman]

That is very good security list.

Everyone are not protect by different kind of ransoms. I suggest everyone to install anti-ransom program on your computer. If what you download any files everywhere on internet and open it. If what happen if you open file like .exe, .bat, .pdf, etc if program had ransom inside to lurk everyone don't know and hit their computers and destroy or lock all files on hard drives.

I strong recommend everyone to install Kaspersky Anti-Ransomware Tool for Business on all computers to get full protect against many kinds of ransoms.

Official homepage and download

https://go.kaspersky.com/Anti-ransomware-tool.html

My screenshot here to show you.

View attachment 110852

Kaspersky Anti-Ransomware Tool provides 100% protection from ransomware



Kaspersky Anti-Ransomware vs.10 Savage Ransomware | Prevention Test




Malwarebytes Anti-Ransomware vs. 10 Dangerous Ransomware




Check it out. Other many anti-ransom programs don't protect you from all kind of ransoms and they are failure.

You will know. :-)

Yesterday I was reading a list about Computer Viruses. I've noticed that in the past decade Ransom has become more common and common as time goes by.
Is Kapersky's protection free?
Or is it like: "Buy a licence for realtime protection"

 

[ScarletDreamz]

Yesterday I was reading a list about Computer Viruses. I've noticed that in the past decade Ransom has become more common and common as time goes by.
Is Kapersky's protection free?
Or is it like: "Buy a licence for realtime protection"

Kaspersky its not even close to free.

 

[D34DL1N3R]

Kaspersky its not even close to free.

There is a free version of Kaspersky.
https://usa.kaspersky.com/free-antivirus

 

[ScarletDreamz]

There is a free version of Kaspersky.
https://usa.kaspersky.com/free-antivirus

True, my bad.

 

[kuwanger]

Common sense works very well too.

If I had common sense, I wouldn't use Windows. If I had more common sense, I wouldn't use a computer. Computer programs are terrible complex and even the most anal retentive computer programmer makes mistakes.

Signed, a computer programmer

PS - And we have to contend with the hardware engineers making mistakes. So, yea, in many ways it's a lost cause.

 

[leon315]

On my win10, I only have widow's defender, is that enough for me?

 

[Gizametalman]

On my win10, I only have widow's defender, is that enough for me?

Thought it was, but when installing Malwarebytes (the free 30 day trial) it notified me of 8 viruses I had. Whilst Windows Defender did not detect them.

This could mean either one of these:
1.- Windows Defender Sucks
2.- Malwarebytes lied to me.

PS: I dont watch porn (I use my phone for that) and I don't play games nor download software on my computer. Aside of official sources.

 

[leon315]

Thought it was, but when installing Malwarebytes (the free 30 day trial) it notified me of 8 viruses I had. Whilst Windows Defender did not detect them.

This could mean either one of these:
1.- Windows Defender Sucks
2.- Malwarebytes lied to me.

PS: I dont watch porn (I use my phone for that) and I don't play games nor download software on my computer. Aside of official sources.

okey, thx for point out that maybe i need another antivirus for my pc.
p.s. why tell me u dont watch porn?

 

[Lacius]

A few thoughts after reading this thread:

• Windows Defender (called Microsoft Security Essentials on Windows 7) is as good an antivirus program as any other, blocking 100% of malware in the latest real-time protection test by AV Comparatives. It's very low on disk usage, and it's also in my own opinion the most out-of-the-way antivirus.
• Kaspersky likely spies on users' computers, according to recent data. I would never use it.
• Other third-party antivirus programs have had security issues in the past, leaving a computer less secure with it than without it.
• For highly technical users, using deep freeze is probably the second-most secure thing to do (the first being to do everything from a virtual machine). However, the amount of time and effort both of these solutions require on a regular basis doesn't seem to be worth the mildly increased security. For a lot of people, they're more for fun than anything else.
• As long as you have an updating antivirus, an updating browser, an adblocker, and an OS that still receives security updates, the odds of an infection are very low as long as you're not being totally stupid.

 

[Deleted member 333767]

ESET Smart Security + running RKill, ADWCleaner and JunkwareRemovalTool once per month is all you need if you run windows.

I haven't had my computer compromised or any malware for over 10 years and i use my PC for nefarious purposes (installing pirated software, visiting sites with expired certificates, downloading cracks/keygens ect.)

 

[Luckkill4u]

For Internet protection, I would recommend using Comodo DNS 8.26.56.26, 8.20.247.20. I use Panda Security for Anti-Virus protection that is a near ad free and lightweight protection. I use Malwarebytes as well for piece of mind.

 

[driverdis]

For Chrome Users, I recommend Switching to Nano Adblocker (it is a fork of Ublock Origin) and using it's companion Nano Defender. Those two addons combined are what replaced Anti-Adblock Killer (AAK).

Other addons I recommend are Tampermonkey (Good for scripts such as Adobe Foistware Killer) and Native HLS Playback (allows native playback of m3u8 HLS Steams)
I install Tampermonkey along with Adobe Foistware Killer on computers that I fix for clients as it makes sure they do not keep on downloading that garbage adobe bundles with Flash)

 

[ScarletWavez]

Adblock + MalwareBytes + CCleaner do the job for me.

Can vouch for MalwareBytes Free being a great on-demand scanner. Did you tried the paid/full version and what is it like?

 

[ScarletDreamz]

Can vouch for MalwareBytes Free being a great on-demand scanner. Did you tried the paid/full version and what is it like?

Got the premium version, does the job, ccleaner active monitoring gets rides of the extra junk, and Adblock does the rest, whatever that AdBlock does not block, MalwareBytes block it automatically as a fullscreen pop up.

 

[Gizametalman]

Can vouch for MalwareBytes Free being a great on-demand scanner. Did you tried the paid/full version and what is it like?

Wow, how did this user got banned?
Just curious.

 

[driverdis]

Wow, how did this user got banned?
Just curious.

I guess some people do not like MalwareBytes i guess. I see no history from this user to even warrant a warning, yet alone a full on ban. But of course this is GBATemp, since when was a valid reason required to ban someone.

 

[Gizametalman]

I guess some people do not like MalwareBytes i guess. I see no history from this user to even warrant a warning, yet alone a full on ban. But of course this is GBATemp, since when was a valid reason required to ban someone.

I've tried to get banned once or twice, kidding you not. Just to see what happens with all the stupidity I post.
But we're off topic now.
To any admin here: Please do not ban me, I have some questions to post in the next few weeks.