Maximum PC

My mom can't seem to avoid malware. I don't understand because she doesn't download much and she pretty much uses her computer for casual games (the mindless clicking ones that are designed for bored mothers who are too computarded to play a real game) and facebook. I do way more with my computer yet somehow she ends up with malware all the time and i never do. And i mean evil malware! We're talking things that blow up GPU's, create their own partitions to survive a clean install of windows 7, 257 threats detected on last malwarebytes scan (I mean wtf i only had like 5), google chrome extensions that hijack searches, viruses that tell you to buy an anti virus software (she actually bought it! I was like omfg you serious?? After she actually bought it our computer was MESSED UP!) her email accounts turn into spam senders for a viagra company, her facebook was hacked. I mean the list goes on. I am trying my hardest to get her to update software because that is her biggest problem. You should've seen how out of date her java was... She used to use IE but i got her to switch to chrome. But she switched back to IE once her searches were hijacked by an extension. I fixed that problem though don't worry she's off IE and back on chrome. Most problems have been fixed so far so i am not asking for help on how to undo what has been done. I just want to know what can i do to set up a virus proof system for my mom? I was thinking about forcing her to use linux haha! But idk if that would work for her because she loves her MSN games. I think they are windows only. So yeah i need a plan of action here before something really bad happens again. (The worst one was the one that blew up the GPU and then created a partition for itself so when i did a clean install it wasn't dead. I only found it because i realized her HDD was smaller than when we bought the computer!) Basically i don't want to go through buying another gpu haha. Should i just set up linux and be done with it? Buy her a mac? Is there something i can do to make windows 7 safe for her? And remember guys we are dealing with the computarded here so active AV only takes you so far... It doesn't matter what protection you have if you won't update software and you won't listen to your son about never clicking on links or opening emails that look sketch...

There's only one way to make a computer malware-proof: disconnect it from any network, period. And don't use writable media that came from other computers.

Otherwise if the games are online, you can use Linux. But don't use this as a substitute for poor online habits.

But if you really need to use Windows 7 for some reason or another, ditch Chrome for Firefox with NoScript and Web of Trust. Then get the pro version of Malwarebytes as it'll block known bad IP addresses and a good AV software. And most importantly, she should be running a standard user account. Never run as an Admin as your primary account. Ever.

Just a thought...you might do a dual boot setup for mom. Win 7 on one partition and Kubuntu on another....why Kubuntu....because it looks and feels a lot like windows. Install Firefox browser and she can play any browser games. Install Thunderbird for e-mail and she is good to go.

If windows gets screwed up she can reboot and go into Kubuntu and continue on untill you get some time to fix or reload windows.

If she is anything like my friends father, tell her to stay away from the porn sites...

Nasty

Thanks for the advice! Btw i forgot she actually has vista not 7. It probably doesn't make too much of a difference but i thought i should correct myself.
Anyway yeah i think i will get her to use firefox with NoScript and Web of Trust. Btw is that something you would recommend to everyone? Should i be using firefox as well with those extensions? And excellent point about making sure she is not an admin.
Yeah i think having the option to boot to linux could be good. The thing is the games she plays are not all browser based. A lot of them she downloads from MSN. I tried to convince her to run linux but she said she needs her games haha. I might also get the pro version of malwarebytes depending on how much it costs.

is definitely the way to go to help keep the crap out of the system.

http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefo ... /noscript/

Malwarebytes is 25 bucks and it turns on realtime protection, might be good for her.

https://store.malwarebytes.org/342/purl ... index_page

What are you using for anti-virus? I have been using Microsoft Essentials and it seems to run fine and is self updating at no cost to her.

Make sure Vista is fully updated!!

Nasty

This pretty much sums it up and does it. Supporting my elderly father's PC (AOhell), I feel your pain.

My only other thoughts are using OpenDNS' servers, and Sandboxie.

LatiosXT is correct, the only way to whatever "proof" your system is to never connect to a network / internet...

Since that's not an option for 99.9999% of computer users, check out ESET Smart Security 5, yes it's expensive, but it works, and it can be found for a lot cheaper than the standard pricing from time time: http://www.eset.com/us/home/products/smart-security/ It's the only thing I've put on my mom's computer, and haven't had any issues since.



Sure it took her a while to get used to it, but now there's no complaints, and it's a lot easier (for a casual user who doesn't know how to keep malware away) to have one program handling all these functions vs. having half a dozen different free/low cost programs competing with each other for system resources & user attention.

That slipped my mind

Run everything either through Sandboxie or a virtual machine. Sandboxie would trap anything that got in. A virtual machine would simply require you to back up the virtual drive once everything is setup and replace the working copy with the backup when things hit the fan.

Good point about sandboxie and virtual machines. I definitely need to get her to have safer habits online too. I honestly don't know how these things are happening. I suspect facebook is where some of these things came from. She doesn't do much browsing really. Just MSN, facebook, youtube mostly. I should give her a talk about how to practice safe browsing haha!

Access her HOSTS file once you have decrapped the rest of the of stuff, to make sure nothing changes it back.

Here is a link to a good one that gives an full explaination, as well as install instructions. It is my first step to any computer problems. If you find any bad sites leaking through, just add there URL's to the HOSTS file, and they will be blocked. Its not just for blocking viruses, it also helps with removing ads.

http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm

No offence, but there shouldn't be anyway for your mother to mess it up, Its hidden deep in the Windows files, were no computer dumbie should ever go. It would be wise to also hide vital folders and disable the option to show hidden folders. I also am a firm believer in MSE. I also believe if you decide to switch to a different OS, some routers have support for blocking websites, much like a HOSTS file.

You can also speed up her regular browsing by getting the IP address of the websites she visits and adding them to the HOSTS file.

Check this link for info on doing that: http://smallvoid.com/article/windows-hosts-file.html

While there is no real way to make a computer "malware-proof" (after all, the key to computer security and the first line of defense rests with the end user him- or herself), there are a couple of programs that I like to install on other people's computers that help to protect them from security vulnerablities and malware. The first is Secunia PSI 3.0 (http://secunia.com/products/consumer/psi/), which inspects the personal software that is installed on the computer, and automatically lets you know what percentage of the software needs to be updated. Secunial PSI 3.0 automatically updates certain non-Microsoft programs and browsers (such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Java, Adobe Reader, etc.) and lets you know if any of the programs need to me manually updated by the user, to patch any security vulnerablities inherent in such software. Online Armor 5.5 Firewall (http://download.cnet.com/Online-Armor-F ... 26782.html) is a free firewall that does an excellent job of helping keep your computer safe from "drive-by" malware attacks. During the installation, it gives you the option to examine all the programs on your computer (which I highly recommend), or to simply trust all the programs on your computer (not recommended unless you know for sure that the programs you have installed on your computer are trusted by you). If you let it examine all of the software on your system (which is somewhat of a pain in the ass), it will check that software with its "cloud" database and will make recommendations as to whether to allow or block the software from communicating with the Internet. Also, this firewall updates itself automatically to improve its ability to protect your computer. Just my two cents' worth.

Nice to see a HOSTS file guru on the forum. I always check the HOSTS file soonest if I am trying to ID malware or a malicious web site (usually I already know what it is) and always near the end when I am cleaning up a malware repair.

He can do some things that are transparent (generally to the user (his Mom) that will help. But she is clearly doing some things that her AV stuff is not blocking. Could be web sites she visits, more likely emails she receives from infected friends...or she really, really wants to watch those "pink dancing bunnies!!!!"

Other things he can do require his Mom to do things and I am not too optimistic about that. I'd check to make sure her AV app has a plugin installed for scanning her email.

Depending upon how far he lives from her he might want to set up a remote log in ability to support her PC. It occurs to me it would be useful if the AV app would email a report on its automatic scan like a network manager, UPS or wifi router will email network usage, power outages or access attempts reports. I have never seen such in an AV app but I could see some company including the ability to report in an email.

I wouldn't call myself a guru, I just understand the importance of having a damn near bullet proof line of defence. If the OP wants to save time in the future, perhaps you could setup a virtual machine of Linux, of whatever distro you wish your mother to have. Teach her to use it as much as possible, and try to transition here away from Windows, that way if she ever is ready, just remove Windows and install the same distro from the Virtual Machine to the real boot drive.

Here is the webpage on HOSTS files to end all HOSTS files. Its includes a lot of info, such as were the HOSTS file is located on UNIX systems, Mac OSX, and Windows.

http://lifehacker.com/5817447/how-to-bl ... hosts-file

ya know most of what these guys above me suggest works

but to be perfectly honest, its probably over kill.

grab a download of Malwarebytes, INSTALL IT
make sure its actively protecting the system
get a decent a/v that you trust. me personally I use Avast
some like AVG some don't
use your judgement,
truly the only way to make a safe machine is not to remove it from the networks
but to educate the users of the machine
I take care of a few networks and honestly no matter what software you install
you will always have ONE user that "knows" about the internet and will ultimately screw you over.
Sorry mom, but you burned me before, I know you think you know, but ya don't.
active protections will help.
but nothing that will not stand behind the user with a ruler an
smack their little hands when they click OK with the mouse button to what ever
pop up just appeared on their screen, nothing will stop 100% of anything

when you deploy a idiot proof system, they deploy a stronger idiot, it never fails
consider it job security and a life time of free Christmas presents when you fix your
family and friends borked pc's because they KNEW more than you did, until they didn't.