Been scammed :(

[Shayne]

Yes Crispin i use both facilities depending on what problems i have , because he is asking i imagine Chas has found system restore in his start menu which is likely the rewind option as the factory reset is normally a little more difficult to access .

 

[Crispin]

Ah yes - good point. Windows also has the restore point stuff. I had not thought about this. You're right - that will just wind back certain things to a point in time but will probably leave your pics etc intact.

 

[Chas]

All my pictures and important stuff I save to an external hard drive, but there are programs I have downloaded that are on the PC drive that I wouldn't necessarily want to lose, so what's the best thing to do Cris?

 

[wobbly]

I ran the anti-malware software suggested, its picked out 3 trojans and 6 other things, so I've removed them.

I already run Norton, but I know that there isnt a system that does everything, so I will use the two in tandem from now on.

This is an old laptop, if it dies then no real loss - I backed it all up to an external drive last week, as it happens.

My valuable laptop (the one with all my training plans, powerpoints etc) doesnt get used for surfing the net, but I will create a recovery disc for it - Ive done them for the wifes and daughters and new office one, just mine to do.

Ive sent the spoof site redirects to TL for them to pick the bones out of, if nothing else I've pulled my socks up a bit regarding checking security, pcs and personal data.

 

[Crispin]

All my pictures and important stuff I save to an external hard drive, but there are programs I have downloaded that are on the PC drive that I wouldn't necessarily want to lose, so what's the best thing to do Cris?

Best option Chas is to make a note of them and either download them again beforehand (that way if you struggle to get them you're not left without it) or download them again after and install.
Depending on application - sometimes it's possible to backup the settings and information so that you start where you left. Not often the case though.

 

[Crispin]

Good to hear it removed something Will pass on those details to a friend who is also struggling.

 

[Towpack]

Prior to April last year I was still running XP and using Avast free AV and Zonealarm free firewall which worked very well and didn't seem to slow the PC down to any degree. I did have some major issues a couple of times though with some virus or malware getting in (probably my fault) and the system restore was useless due to some registry corruption. The PC came with a ghost image on a bootable 'rebuild' CD which was easy and quick (15mins) and put the PC back to day 1 but wiped anything on the primary C drive. Luckily the hard drive was partitioned so all my photos etc. were saved. In April last year I changed to an IMac after much deliberation and haven't had a problem since, fingers crossed!. JMO

 

[Trevor]

I'm waiting for the "Get a Mac" brigade to show up Oops it's started

 

[Crispin]

...bootable 'rebuild' CD which was easy and quick (15mins) and put the PC back to day 1...

That's my take on it - life is too short to muck about with this stuff for days. Recover, start from scratch and you know you're good.

 

[TonyP]

As a rule I don't store any files on my pc, all on a external nas drive. If I loose the pc who cares, just rebuild it, inconvenient sure, but no lost data. Now if a thief stole my nas, then I'm screwed

 

[Towpack]

I'm waiting for the "Get a Mac" brigade to show up Oops it's started

I chewed on this for well over a year. Would I recommend one to anyone happy with a PC that's working fine without any issues? Probably not. As most will know they are a completely different platform and I 'lost' some old programs I was still using that were not compatible but, in my case, the PC was 10 years old, relatively low spec by current standards, the graphics card was slow and wouldn't handle HD footage from a video camera among other issues. I've used Widows 7 on a laptop but I wasn't happy with the later Windows offerings so decided to jump ship. Whichever way you look at it though, iMacs are comparatively PRICEY, in my case £2300, although I did up-spec it when ordering. That's second hand car money for many people, me included but I've got over the initial wallet trauma and wouldn't go back. JMO

 

[clivehorridge]

I chewed on this for well over a year. Would I recommend one to anyone happy with a PC that's working fine without any issues? Probably not. As most will know they are a completely different platform and I 'lost' some old programs I was still using that were not compatible but, in my case, the PC was 10 years old, relatively low spec by current standards, the graphics card was slow and wouldn't handle HD footage from a video camera among other issues. I've used Widows 7 on a laptop but I wasn't happy with the later Windows offerings so decided to jump ship. Whichever way you look at it though, iMacs are comparatively PRICEY, in my case £2300, although I did up-spec it when ordering. That's second hand car money for many people, me included but I've got over the initial wallet trauma and wouldn't go back. JMO

I don't have a Mac but a colleague does, it's beautifully made and easy to operate with touchscreen and mouse combination, very user friendly. I do have an iPad and iPhone 5, so it would make sense to get compatible equipment.

Work provides me with a good old faithful DELL Latitude with some upgrades, and although it's like a brick to carry, it boasts a 17" screen and it's never missed a beat in the 2 years I've had it. No lost files, nothing!

My tip is to keep all used software on a remote drive, along with periodical updates of personal files. Photos, for example, I keep replica folders in at least three different places, on the laptop and on two separate remote drives.

Then, when (if) you feel the need to reformat the laptop drive, you can easily reinstall the platform and the software you're familiar with.

 

[Chris]

Sorry, no time to join the Mac PC debate as I am far too busy enjoying my trouble free Mac.

People have to make their own choices but Macs are very user friendly. My M.I.L needed upgrading (in her 70's) and was looking at PCs. She said 'if I need help you'll be on hand right' Nope not a chance, I can't sort out issues with PCs. I just don't know them and don't really want to. I have a work PC laptop and it's horrid. I got her a Mac in the end and even she hasn't been able to cock it up.

One of the strengths of the Mac WAS that no one was really interested in trying to create virus / malware stuff for them. But they have grown massively in popularity and I guess it's only a matter of time before hackers start to target them more strongly. So we may all end up in the same boat. I don't really understand computers that well but it strikes me that there are a great many PC products out there that are made very cheaply and are not that reliable. Nor do they generally come bundled with all the OE software. Whereas a Mac does. Yes a Mac is expensive but then so is a high end PC. The simple difference that no one makes cheap Macs. If all computers were as expensive as a Mac, would the choice be different?

My last one lasted 10 years, I gave it to my daughter and it still kept going until she unplugged it one day whislt still switched on and blew the power supply. Most people only want the web, mail, a picture app and maybe Word and the like. They also want it to work for years with no issues. Buying a Mac to do those few basic bits does seem like a dear do. But you are pretty much guaranteed trouble free service. I just find that the built in features of a Mac are the ones I want. Taking screenshots for example is so easy. I can take a shot of just the bit I want and drop it directly into a mail in less than 10 seconds. Unless I have missed something, it's not so easy on a PC. Not so quick anyway. There's just some brilliant short cuts that make life so easy and they have been there for years.

I don't hate PCs, I just love Mac. Bit like Landrover and Landcruisers really. Mac used to be a bit whacky. When they ran OS9, I hated them. They just made life hard. Then OSX came out and wow what a difference. Just like a PC without the issues.

BTW I appreciate that Macs are PCs but Mac and PC are just easier to type.

 

[Chas]

Chris after hearing your obvious preference for Macs I may well try one when my PC finally goes to PC heaven, you do make them sound attractive.

 

[clivehorridge]

Sorry, no time to join the Mac PC debate as I am far too busy enjoying my trouble free Mac. Taking screenshots for example is so easy. I can take a shot of just the bit I want and drop it directly into a mail in less than 10 seconds. Unless I have missed something, it's not so easy on a PC. Not so quick anyway. There's just some brilliant short cuts that make life so easy and they have been there for years.

Just on this one topic of screenshots on a PC, you may already know, but I use "snipping tool" a lot, where you can select an area of the screen with the cursor and produce a picture file of that area. It's a longer process than on a Mac, but effective. You can save it as with a photo, and copy/paste/import it the same into other docs, excel or word etc., or email it as an attachment or embedded.

When building documents that refers to parts of other documents, usually for reference, inserting an extract is very useful, saves hours of "re-typing" and potential errors in transcribing them.

 

[Shayne]

Chas i get the feeling you don't have pc problems as such but your com is clogged up with junk ? do you do a disk cleanup now and then - go to add and remove programs to get rid of all the stuff you never use then defragment . I also find it helps to turn off all windows features (i don't know what most of them are but i can't tell any difference afterwards except the com is a bit quicker - it will warn you if your about to turn off something essential .

 

[Chas]

Chas i get the feeling you don't have pc problems as such but your com is clogged up with junk ? do you do a disk cleanup now and then - go to add and remove programs to get rid of all the stuff you never use then defragment . I also find it helps to turn off all windows features (i don't know what most of them are but i can't tell any difference afterwards except the com is a bit quicker - it will warn you if your about to turn off something essential .

I've got my PC set for an automatic defrag every Wednesday at 1am, and I often look through installed programs to see if any can be uninstalled, I think the PC may be clogged with things like cookies that sneak in from sites visited.

 

[Shayne]

Son brought his laptop up the other day because it wouldn't work , a disk cleanup found about 4GB of thumbnails etc and with that deleted it worked fine . I have disck cleanup pinned at the top of my start menu and use it daily so it takes seconds rather than minutes .