enforcer

I haven't been communicating in the past few days because my computer got attacked by the "Antivirus XP2008" virus, and is on its last legs. It got me after I was half way through replying to this forum, went away to make a cuppa and when I came back a message came up saying it was downloading it onto my hard drive.

To cut a long story short my computer has slowed to a snails pace, and I've lost a **** load of work. I saved whatever else I could and have perfomred "system restore" which erases the hard drive twice now, (1 hour at a time), and this ******* thing is still stuck to my hard drive!

The only way I can read the internet is via cached pages, and despite all the instructions how to get rid of it it won't go. Its a bloody nightmare and my advice to everyone is to BE ALERT. If I ever found out who puts this **** onto the net in the first place I'd....

My computers over 4 years old so I've decided to bite the bullet and buy a new one anyhow...I'm over it. I'm just about sold on the HP Pavillion Elite RC m9270a with 320 GB Hard drive, Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E4700 2048 mb, Blue Ray media, etc.....$1,499 + a 24" HP w2448 HP wide screen monitor reduced from $899 to $799. With 4 years warranty I get the lot for = $2667.00.

Times running out and I'm ready to purchase...yours thoughts would be greatly appreciated.....

expo1

Buy a Mac I have to maintain Windows based PC's at work and hate having to do the same with the 4 computers I have at home. Since I switched to Mac's at home zero issues.

enforcer

I think Macs are the trendiest looking computers around, but what about software compatability when 99% of my work is Windows based?

DrewMan

thats because nobody is bothered to make viruses for macs

expo1

Thats what I used to think before I started using them. Not having to spend time dealing with Spyware, virus, driver incompatibility leaves more time to figure out how to do the same work with Apple programs. If by chance you do need to use a windows program you can run Windows within the Mac using Vm Fusion. Apple also provides a nice dual boot utility called Boot Camp that lets you fully install windows. The only negative is if your the type that likes to open up your PC and make changes.

expo1

That might be be true, but the end result is a fast reliable computer. I work in the Adult end of the net. I have to frequently visit questionable sites and need a PC that will not blow up if I visit a Russian **** site.

mdr

Save yourself a little cash.

http://www.graysonline.com.au/lot.asp?LOT_ID=2943360
http://www.graysonline.com.au/lot.asp?LOT_ID=2943364

enforcer

Theres no doubt there's some astonishingly beautiful women in Russia. One of my guys just got back from Amsterdam and said Prague is in fact the centre of the East European **** industry. Models go there from all over Eastern Europe, including Russia and the Ukraine.

Back on subject....I won't be visting any **** sites, the prospect of my wife taking to me with a rolling pin won't cut it!

I hear you on the Macs, but for convenience I'll have to stick with a Windows based computer. I do love the new 24 inch digital wide screen which has a built in webcam, bright view technology, 3ms and a tilt and swivel function.

If you are going past a computer shop check it out...they are bloody awesome. The real problem is really which tower....

enforcer

Thanks Monte - very competivite. I'm looking for some extended warranty and unfortunately my auction experiences have a 50/50 strike rate, when it comes to breakdowns.

The good thing is its a starting point for me to negotiate down with a similar model...

takahashi

Bad luck Trev. Not many PC last more than 5 years nowadays. I am sure my Plantium 4 desktop will go any minute.

Rotary Rasp

iTrader: (2)

I remove viruses all day long. smitfraudfix will remove the particular virus you have.

http://siri.geekstogo.com/SmitfraudFix.php

No one ever has just one virus so I can't account for the others, but smitfraudfix will remove the one you mentioned.

thisllub

Forget system restore, it won't do anything about viruses.

I would get hold of a Linux CD distribution like this
http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download
You can boot from it and get hold of all your important files.

Don't worry if you have never used it before you will figure it out quickly enough.

mdr

Trev
I own 12 computers here at my office and a few hundred at my data center and I can tell you that an extended warranty on a computer is about the worst thing you can spend your money on.

I have bought about 10 computers from that site over the last couple of years and never had a problem with them and they come with a 12 month warranty.
I just bought 4 systems from there 2 months ago.

But up to you if you really want to spend the coin.

enforcer

Thanks Taka - the salesperson at Harvey Norman told me new programs we all need run off Vista and they need tons of power, and that computers really only have a 4 - 5 years life span. To give a comparison, my HP has 1/4 the power and capacity of the one I'm looking at. The other reality is that any new computer will be out of date in 6 months time. The timing couldn't be any worse.....

quazmosis

iTrader: (2)

Hijackthis, was a big help to me when fixing my GF's computer. Worth a shot.

enforcer

Cripes 12 computers, no wonder you swear by them. I don't really want to spend the coin Monte, but I'm also under the pump from a time perspective. My wife needs to get her school planning done next week, and she dosen't want to have to deal with a dinosaur which has swallowed some sort of Trogan bug and is going to give us grief.

We're also a bit old fashioned when it comes to buying technology - if something does go wrong, (and it has with our motherboards) we'll have peace of mind. For that reason I pay the extra bucks and go the 4 years warranty option... the components and labour costs arn't cheap!

mdr

Trev I just sent you a PM important that you read it.

I understand if you feel more comfortable.

rled

Turn off system restore. Boot into safe mode by holding down f8 while booting. Safe Mode only loads essential drivers and programs. Run your antivirus program from Safe Mode. If you don't have antivirus installed on your pc, go to http://free.avg.com/ and get it. Its a free antivirus program that works great. I haven't had a virus in 5 years. If that doesn't work you have a couple of more options. run your anti spyware programs from safe mode. Don't buy one, a free one is here. http://lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_free.php. Some good info here, but they are trying to sell you their antispyware program. Get a hold of a disk for Ubuntu linux 8.04. like thisllub said. I have been running Ubuntu for 2 years now.And the best part is that it is free along with a bunch of software. Good Luck

takahashi

Agree with rled. System restore is waste of time. I just becareful what I do with my new laptop and can be more adventurous with my old desktop. The old desktop is used to bittorrent files and downlaod topgear and 5th gear. Then I just transferred it to network drive to watch it on my laptop anytime, anywhere.

enforcer

Does that include checking out Expos Russian **** sites?

auzoom

Ahh yes, the every infalible OSX! lol

http://www.sophos.com/pressoffice/ne...acosxleap.html
http://antivirus.about.com/od/macint...acosxflaws.htm
http://antivirus.about.com/od/macint..._Resources.htm

The only thing keeping Apple OSX "Virus Free" (as most people like to say), is lack of penetration. Lack of penetration means lack of return for effort. At varying times over the years since OSX the number of readily exploitable vulnerabilities virus/spyware/trojan developers could have exploited has fluctuated with all 3 major OS's holding the top spot at some point. Go and check CERT http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/index.html. M$ have been active recently, apple were bad in '07. The more the number of vulnerabilities the more potentials for virus/spyware/trojan developers.

So when it comes down to it, the more you promote it, the worse its going to get :p

Personally I say education is the better approach. I have 2 kids who operate a PC for 8-10 hours a week each for school and they have been through the ringers with it all, however I have explained to them the reasons behind each issue, the common sense behind it and we have been virus and spyware free for over 12 months now with only 1 anti-virus (Avast) and the built in M$ anti spyware.

Back to the question at hand. Unfortunately Vista is a horrible operating system but there is no getting around that without moving to OSX or Linux. If you can make the move I would say that OSX is a great consumer system.

The deal you have sounds pretty good. The suggestion I would make is, look at getting a laptop instead of a desktop if you can afford it. There is nothing like being able to take yourself down to the local cafe for a coffee and being able to continue on working.

Cheers

Andrew

enforcer

I did it. HP it is and I'm in geek heaven with tons of power, and a HUGE 24 inch state of the art widescreen monitor. Jumping from thread to thread is as smooth as silk.

Its very user friendly with a 90 degree twist and turn portrait mode capacity, and it produces fantastic sound with DVI-D (with the DVI-D cord!).

I considered about 10 ways to destroy my old computer but remembered mother nature, and the prospect of some ***** stealing my identity off the hard drive. I could always keep bits as spare parts.

I do appreciate everyone thoughts, ideas and suggestions to kill this rotten thing. At least we have the links if it shows up again.

takahashi

Can you put 2 together and make a really giant screen. Can a desktop do secondary screen?

auzoom

Yes, you need 2 video cards.

enforcer

I tried out the portrait mode and pasted up an A4 page - cripes its like being inside the document itself! Its crystal clear, high definition magic....if you had 2 side x side screens and a video card, I think it would be case of overkill (for me anyhow).