windows 7help please

[garstonite]

Good morning
this is for my wifes new laptop ...she has had it about 4 weeks and she has a programme that has appeared and it is a nuisance ...it is called REG CURE PRO ...I right clicked and deleted , and although it came off her desk top ...it is still popping up all the time ...her pop up blocker is on ...so how it got on her laptop god only knows .
on my top I would click on windows - all programmes - find the programme - and right click and delete it
unfortunately on her laptop which is windows 7 - I can`t even find how to get on ALL PROGRAMMES...can someone please advise me ....thanks
allan

[Stella]

I have Windows 7 and I just click on the start symbol, bottom left of screen and 'All Programmes' appears at the bottom of the list.

[TrevorFranklin]

Click on the windows start button at the far left of your screen
Type in the search box uninstall
Then from the control panel list, select uninstall a program
You will see all the installed applications, where you can then select the program you want to uninstall

The program you are talking about does not install itself, without the user actually clicking on the install button, so I suspect your wife clicked on one of the pop-up ads on a website advertising it and clicked the install button in error

[garstonite]

Click on the windows start button at the far left of your screen
Type in the search box uninstall
Then from the control panel list, select uninstall a program
You will see all the installed applications, where you can then select the program you want to uninstall

The program you are talking about does not install itself, without the user actually clicking on the install button, so I suspect your wife clicked on one of the pop-up ads on a website advertising it and clicked the install button in error

I am lost here ...not sure if this is windows 8 on my wifes laptop...on my laptop i have bottom left hand corner a windows in red/orange/blue / green ..my wifes doesn`t have this - she has a windows sign with no colours whatsoever - just all white

[garstonite]

OK...Thank you ...all done ...cheers
allan

[PeteW1959]

I know you have now removed it, but I am putting this up as a warning to others.

Regcure Pro (and all other so called registry 'cleaning' programs) SHOULD BE AVOIDED; THEY WILL HARM YOUR COMPUTER, AND MAY EVEN POSE A SECURITY THREAT.

See this from Microsoft forum:-

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-system/how-safe-is-regcure-pro/77693962-496f-40cd-aabc-ba5aae583700

You probably got it bundled with some other quite legitimate free software, and you will almost certainly have agreed to installing it even if you didn't realise it.

It is important to read EVERY screen CAREFULLY when installing software, as a lot of this rubbish gets installed because of the tricky way they word the questions asking if you want to install it.

It would be great if every screen said 'Do you want this?' with a straight Yes or No answer, but they are more deviouis than that.

Questions are often worded to 'tick the box' if you DON'T want it, and many simply have an Accept or Decline to the terms and conditions, which on first glance can look like the T&Cs for the program you are trying to install. Many make it look like installing the rogue software is required to use the real program, but it very rarely is.

If in doubt ask, or at least Google it!

[garstonite]

Thanks Peter ...can I ask - whenshe bought this laptop 4-5 weeks ago it had Norton Security - is it a coincidence that Norton havd messaged saying her Norton Security has run out - or did that Regcure Pro affect Norton ??

[Oscar]

To follow on from Pete's post..............

I was caught a while ago with an update from Java which included changing my search facility to 'Ask.com'. Took me ages to un-install but lesson learned - read everything before ticking 'I agree'. Some sites are soooo sneaky..............

Gwyn

[PeteW1959]

Even if Norton subscriptions have expired, the program will still work and be protecting you (not that I trust Norton; have had some very bad experiences with it). When your subscription expires you only loose access to updates.

Not sure why you got a message about expiration, unless you only got 1 month free updates with the laptop which is quite common.

I think it is just pure coincidence.

[garstonite]

Even if Norton subscriptions have expired, the program will still work and be protecting you (not that I trust Norton; have had some very bad experiences with it). When your subscription expires you only loose access to updates.

Not sure why you got a message about expiration, unless you only got 1 month free updates with the laptop which is quite common.

I think it is just pure coincidence.

Thanks Pete
allan

[grumpy]

When youi buy a new computer Norton comes preloaded and generally lasts a month unless you buy a full subscription. I used it for that time on a new computer recently then downloaded the norton removal tool

and got rid of the whole norton affair. Then downloaded Windows Security Essentials which does exactly the same thing and is for free. Updates for WSE are downloaded automatically.

[Linda from Murton]

Just a word of warning about a site called CNET. At one time this was a trusted site to download free software but advice from a very good Personal Computer Advice web site is to avoid CNET at all costs because a lot of the freebies now come with malware attached. If you need to download security software like Malwarebytes or SpywareBlaster or SUPERAnti Spyware and other free software have a look at the File Hippo web site.

[TrevorFranklin]

The most important thing about anti-virus/antimalware protection is that it protects you from what is known as '0 day attacks'.
This is where a new threat has entered the Internet, but has not yet been delivered as a 'fix' to your anti-virus software.
Good quality software, uses heuristic scanning, which looks for 'virus like' activities or has 'real-time' updates, which means as soon as a new threat is known about, your antivirus is updated.
You are at a higher risk of getting an infection from NEW malware or viruses from WSE than you think.
It only detects malware that is in its database of known threats. Therefore NO heuristic scanning!
This is only updated on a maximum of a daily basis, where as most of the paid for anti-virus applications update as soon when a new known threat is detected on the Internet.
I use Mcafee, and had seen times when I am using my PC that it has updated 2 or three times in a few hours.
That means with WSE, you would NOT have been protected against the new threats that my anti-virus had been informed of.

In tests of anti-virus protection, WSE FAILED to find 67% of virus like activities that it was presented with
And FAILED to detect 10% of KNOWN viruses that had been on the Internet for at least 6 months!

There is no such thing as a free lunch.
The free anti-virus applications do not give the same service as those that you pay for, that includes those that, are free, but for a few pounds more (registering them) you DO get the type of protection that you need.

MalewareBytes is one of the best applications that offers adware, malware and 0 day protection ON TOP of your normal antivirus.
It only costs £20 to register it to be 'real-time' and not a scan on demand application.
Why do people consider it so important not to pay for GOOD protection, a few pounds means a lot of heart ache and (for me, as I do it as a service), the cost of removing and repairing the virus/malware damage?

When youi buy a new computer Norton comes preloaded and generally lasts a month unless you buy a full subscription. I used it for that time on a new computer recently then downloaded the norton removal tool

and got rid of the whole norton affair. Then downloaded Windows Security Essentials which does exactly the same thing and is for free. Updates for WSE are downloaded automatically.

[Linda from Murton]

I use the paid for version of Malwarebytes and can recommend it.

[margaretmarch]

I use AVG free version and so far have never had an infection, although I do check everything before clicking and am alert to possible threats.

I do take the point that you get what you pay for but so far have had no worries with AVG Free.

Margaret

[Nightryder]

Just recently i was looking for printable colouring in pages for my 6 year old grandaughter,I found a few sites but they all wanted me to download a file converter, having tried quite a few sites that still required the file converter download I thought id have a look at what it was all about & clicked on it,reading the fine print if I allowed the download not only would it change my home page & search engine it would also stop anything changing it back again, I didnt want this & declined the download,but it started to download anyway & I couldnt stop it,couldnt x it out,couldnt do anything, even AVG which has a permanently shred files option couldnt stop it,the only thing that worked was to turn off the laptop & restart then I managed to delete the downloading file before it had continued its download again, what a nightmare for a download I declined in the first place,just goes to show you how easy it is to get things installed in your pc even if you dont want them.
Jenn