Computer Viruses (Adware, Trojan Horses, Hacking), Anti-Virus Protection, etc

Has your PC ever had a virus that screwed up one of your programs or a Trojan horse that allowed someone else to hack into it? I have some adware on my PC now but but I'm not a techie, so I don't know how serious they are. What kind of anti-virus protection do you have and does it work. I ask because sometimes when I run McCafe, the results will say that there are no viruses on it but when I run the other one I have (forget the name) it says there are viruses detected. I go to delete or quarantine them and it says they're removed but the next time I run it, the same viruses are detected.

sometimes when I run McCafe, the results will say that there are no viruses on it but when I run the other one I have (forget the name) it says there are viruses detected.

I know so VERY little about computers, but I have read several times online that having two anti virus programs could be bad because they cancel each other out or something like that. Hopefully somebody else here knows more about it and can help you out better.

I have had a bunch of adware programs installed (it usually comes from surfing a lot of porn sites or music downloading). I don't know a whole lot about viruses, but I do know that there are some that are resistant to spyware/malware protection and the only way to remove them is to take your PC in to be serviced.

AtownPeep wrote:Has your PC ever had a virus that screwed up one of your programs or a Trojan horse that allowed someone else to hack into it?

No it wears condoms.

I sure have. On my last computer, I used to download music from Kaazaa, which was NOTORIOUS for installing adware/spyware/malware. My Internet browsers homepage was totally missing and was replaced w/ some sort of add homepage and nuisance pop ups were happening all the time. But that wasn't the worst of it. It got so bad that an automatic dialer was installed that would randomly pop up and shut my system down in 60 seconds. I bought this spyware program called "Spy Sweeper" and when I ran it, it said that I had over 100 traces of spyware on it and when it asked if I wanted to remove them, of course I clicked YES and it wound up removing a vital system file. From there my computer wouldn't load to the welcome screen. I had to take it to this computer shop and have them reboot it. Everything - and I mean EVERYTHING - that I had stored on it before was erased, but it worked like new and had a new anti-virus protection added to it.

Nothing serious. I don't do much downloading on my PC anymore, and my Norton AntiVirus is scheduled to run every month. It usually catches any spyware.

Just to expound a bit on what Cat said about Kazaa: virtually all illegal file sharing applications come with malware and adware. Soon as you install it, it attacks your system like cancer. If you are into (illegally) downloading, the better–though still somewhat risky–thing to do is to find a file sharing website or blog site, where people advertise having certain mp3's or videos. But installing a file sharing app. is playing Russian Roulette.

RedBedroom wrote:

I know so VERY little about computers, but I have read several times online that having two anti virus programs could be bad because they cancel each other out or something like that. Hopefully somebody else here knows more about it and can help you out better.

Hmmm. That I hadn't heard. Maybe that's why I get two contradicting results from each.
Thanks Red.