please help! Unprotected!

[Kali]

I dumped norton and am trying to load AVG - I am on slow dial up and it took almost 2 hours and right when it was almost finished the line dropped. It acted like it was loaded and asked if to run save or cancel and I clicked run, but it kept giving me an error message that some of the files were corrupted. so I deleted it and tried again, after another 2 hours it finished and was ready to run but the same thing happened. Help! I was even afraid to comeover here...I have no protection.....

[seabeyond]

1. computer hubby. he says try..... dont click run, click save to the

desktop. once it is finished double click the icon on your desktop to install. if it doesnt work wont have to wait two hours for it to download again.

good luck. i dont know squat

[tocqueville]

2. download EZ antivirus only 4Mb

http://www.my-etrust.com/SubscriptCenter/TrialCenter.aspx

works perfectly

viruses are not the main problem today, spyware is. On a dial-up if you have dynamic IP a firewall is less necessary, but still needed. Zonelabs have a free version.

[Kali]

4. are you sure?

It has been recommended to me so many times - I feel so naked. AND I would like to know why it didn't work.

I do have spybot s&d got that done right away, but just now getting around to this partly because it takes so freaking long to download anything and I had the Norton free for 60 days....

[tocqueville]

6. I had EZ for years and never been contaminated

it works perfectly, updates automatically. Most viruses are passed through contaminated emails. If you got one it'll tell you that the mail is contaminated. Otherwise it contains an active protection feature. Try it, it will protect you 30 days. If you like it then you can buy it, it's not very expensive.

Current Version: r7.1.8
Latest product versions

Operating Systems:
Windows 2000/XP - at least 128 MB RAM and 300 MHz processor


Windows NT - at least 64 MB RAM and 166 MHz processor

Windows Me/98SE - at least 32 MB RAM and 150 MHz processor

Free Disk Space: 10MB


I have no answer why the download doesn't work.

[Dogmudgeon]

3. I second Seabeyond's advice

And don't worry too much about just visiting a website like DU. The chances of being hit with a virus by simply visiting DU are very, very remote.

It's the smaller, hacker-ish websites that carry viruses -- and only a few of them, at that. The big risk is in downloading.

AVG works quite well, and it's worth the wait if you have a slow dial-up connection. Relax, and enjoy the break you're getting from the phone calls!

--p!

[Kali]

5. well as long as DU is safe!

spend most of my time here but I guess I better be careful to not click on any links, eh? Will try to save to desktop, but what if it doesn't work again - anybody have any idea why that would happen?

and I have calmed down a little so I need to say THANKS! can't reply to each because it is just taking too long right now but I repeat myself, DU is the best place for computer advice - well it's the best site period in my mind, but you know what I mean. Thanks everybody.

Computer is hooked up all the time - nobady can get through on the land phone and only use the cell for live talking (ewwww)

[ConsAreLiars]

7. Get a download manager that will allow you to resume broken DLs.

If you use Firefox as a browser (if not you should, imo) go here:
http://www.flashgot.net/whats

and also get one of the several Download Managers that work with it. I use http://www.freedownloadmanager.org/ with Firefox, but it also works with IE if that is what you use. There may be others that are better, but this works fine for me. These programs will let you see when the file is complete, and if it is not, resume or restart it at a later time. (Most, but not all, can simply be resumed.) Any of these will save you a lot of trouble with downloading larger files.

[Kali]

8. Haven't done the firefox yet (don't yell, I will)

so there isn't already somethign like that on XP? I seem to remember on my old computer it would stop and restart ok - at least for windows updates - can't remember about other downloads - I don't do many, for obvious reasons. some videos are a must like Colbert at the press dinner, but they just take too long most of the time....

[ConsAreLiars]

9. XP may resume broken DL's with XP updates - I'm not sure - but the

reason there are so many programs (see the Flashgot site) that offer this service for regular downloads is pretty good evidence that it is not a part of the standard OS. Before I got DSL and kicked XP into performing reliably I found it very handy for downloading larger files via dial-up overnight. Even if something went wrong (crash, power outage), I could continue on from where things had stopped. If you use this (Free Download Manager or one of the alternatives) you will become fairly comfortable in trying out some of the "alternative" software that might meet your needs better than commercial packages, and thus give you a lot more freedom in how you use your computer.

[RoyGBiv]

10. Run vs. Save As ...

This has been mentioned, but I want to emphasize it.

Never, ever, under and circumstances, should you click the "RUN" button after a download when it is completed. (IMO, the decision to make that an option in a web browser should result in the person who suggested it being taken out and shot.) Always, always, always save it to your disc and then run it. The most practical reason is that you won't have to download it again if the install fails for some reason other than a corrupted download. However, there are security issues to be considered as well, but I won't dwell on the technical aspects of that.

From where I think you are now, you're basically going to have to download it again, and when you do so, save it to your desktop or some folder on your hard drive where you want to keep it. Then run the installer. As far as the security issue, this probably isn't a worry with a trusted site, but it's essential to get into the habit of saving and then running to avoid the potential security problems that could arise.

On the issue of being unprotected itself, in the FWIW category, it's entirely possible to form a set of behaviors that keep you mostly secure from virus infection without any sort of virus scanner. I *never* ran one all the time until about three years ago, and I have never had a virus infect my systems. (Been computing for 22 years. I've downloaded them, had them on my computer ready to hit me, but I've never executed one except on purpose on my "virus" box to test what it does and how to get rid of it.) I kept a scanner installed and would scan downloads and discs, but that's it. I mention this for one reason only, and that is simply to suggest you not worry too awful much while you're getting your virus scanner installed. I do not recommend anyone today go without a virus scanner of some sort if they do anything on the Internet but visit the same text-only website once a day, but at the same time, as implied above, it's a good idea to develop a set of behaviors that minimizes the risk in the first place. (Not running IE is one of those behaviors, btw. :-)) The virus scanner should be a backup in case something gets through those behaviors, such as a website being cracked and the crackers putting malicious code in it or an otherwise trusted file server getting infected with corrupted files.

[Kali]

11. It worked on the third try!

Thanks so much,everybody. I have learned a LOT tonight. I will have more replies/questions tomorrow, probably, but for now I am going to bed! That was exhausting!

[Berserker]

12. Good going Kali

stick with AVG it will not let you down.

[OneGrassRoot]

13. Piggybacking here to ask my HELP question.....lol

I'd like to download AVG, too, but currently have the trial version of Panda installed. When doing uninstall through ADD/REMOVE, it said there are system/program (don't remember now) files in quarantine which could be affected if the program is deleted. I looked in the quarantine folder and all the files there end in .tmp.

Any advice as to how to completely and safely remove Panda so that I may install AVG or another free program?

Many thanks!

[unhappycamper]

14. Just did a quick google search

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=remove+panda&btnG=Google+Search

There might be something there you can use.

You might want to try Crap Cleaner - I cannot say for sure if this will cure your problem.

[OneGrassRoot]

15. Thank you very much.....

I searched, too, but to no avail. You're a better Googler than I....lol

I'll check it out. crap cleaner....that's funny.....thanks again!

[Kali]

16. Obviously from some of my questions I am pretty clueless

but at least with Lavasoft's adaware program you could delete things that were in quarentine - is that what you are asking? How long have they been there - if a while then they probably are not anything you need so I would dump them and go on with your removal.

But PLEASE take any advice from me with a huge chunk of salt!

[OneGrassRoot]

17. lol.....I'm definitely more clueless than you......

lol

I use Lavasoft, too, and can delete the quarantined files. I honestly don't know how Panda works, as I don't "run" anything. I just know that that message popped up as I went to remove it and it scared me.

I checked out the link above and, according to Panda's recent advice, they say to go to Programs, click Panda, and simply click the "uninstall" option. Now I'm wondering the pluses/minuses of using Add/Remove versus uninstall.

Geesh.....I'm so grateful when everything works well.....being so ignorant, when issues come up, I get so nervous. Plus, I use my computer for work, so I get extra nervous (self-employed).

Hope you got everything situated on your end. Thanks for the advice.... :)