IT Queries: Computer problems answered

Hi, My pc has the following:

Norton Internet Security 2008
Spyware Doctor 6.0.0.386
ThreatFire 4.0.0.8
SpywareBlaster 4.1
MalwareBytes’ Anti-Malware

My question is: is KIS 2009 compatible with ThreatFire 4.0.0.8 as I want to continue with ThreatFire as it is a very good program?

I intend to keep Spyware Doctor.

It sounds like you are very much on the ball when it comes to protecting your system against malware and certainly your choices of sofware make sense.

However I’m concerned your system’s going to struggle with both Kaspersky and Threatfire on your system. Generally it’s not a good idea to be running two scanners at the same time.

While I’m not familiar with Threatfire, it’s likely it will cause problems with Kasperski or any other anti virus simply because Threatfire will identify the anti virus program as acting suspiciously.

It’s good practice not to have more than one malware scanner running at once and I think it would be best to leave one or the other’s automatic protection off and manually run a scan every few days or weeks.

Malwarebytes and Spyware Blaster are good programs as well and it won’t hurt to reguarly run a manual scan using those programs as well.

If you are really concerned about malware then it may be better to be a Limited User for your day-to-day computing. This will stop most nasties getting on to your machine.

When I open my incoming emails from Outlook Express, any photo or image has been removed from it’s box and I’m left with a cross which doesn”t open when I click on it. Also if a link or web address is included in an email, I can’t click on this to open. Hope you can help this computer novice.

The problem is Outlook Express’ security settings. You can fix this by opening Outlook Express, click the Tools menu then Options.

In the Outlook Express settings box, click the Security tab and take the tick off the setting that reads Block Images and other external content in HTML email.

Be warned though that older versions of Windows are prone to viruses with this setting to turned off so it’s essential you keep your computer up to date with security updates.

I have Windows XP and I use google as my default search engine.
I recently downloaded a new version of Bear share and ever since then several times a day a window appears that says;-
DEFAULT SEARCH ENGINE PROTECTION
An unknown application is trying to change your default search engine.
Changing these settings controls the way Internet Explorer treats search queries.
What would you like to do
1. Keep my current search engine (Recommended)
2. Replace my default search engine with the one from the unknown application.

The first option is checked so I leave it that way and I just close the window. How can I stop this window appearing all the time. I have removed Bear Share.

A program is trying to change your browser’s search engine. This is known as “browser hijacking” and it’s common trick by software distributors to make a few more dollars.

The software might have been bundled with Bear Share or it’s come through the same website. Often these programs claim to be download accelerators.

You’ll need to uninstall the program trying to hijack your computer. The best thing to do would be to follow our “removing a Trojan” instructions which should pick up and remove the hijacking program.

I currently have a PC with CA Virus checker, Sygate Personal Firewall, Adaware and Spybot.
I am thinking of changing to an IMac at the end of the year.  Do I need all of this security/checking stuff for an IMac?

The short answer is no. Spyware is unique to Windows and, while Macs can theoretically be affected by viruses and worms, their superior security model means it is far harder for that to happen.

So you don’t really need to worry about these things, although you should still install the regular Apple updates as there are security holes in all operating systems.

When i try to open my mail on yahoo internet explorer, it says that the security certificate authority is not valid or has expired.

So,it asked me to proceed and i click yes but still it won’t open.

I tried with several attempts. I also checked and viewed the certificate and it says the same.

Now, the internet yahoo explorer wont open anymore as well as my yahoo messenger. Everytime i open Yahoo mail, it says that the page cannot be displayed. What’s wrong with it?

The first thing you need to check is the date and time of your computer. If these are wrong, you may get this message.

To check the time, double-click the time in the bottom right hand corner and it will come up.

In Internet Explorer you can clear the SSL settings by clicking Start, Control Panel and selecting Internet Options.

In the Internet Options click the Content tab then the Clear SSL state then OK.

Should the problem still continue, then there may be a problem with the website. This is something outside of your control and you’ll have to contact the site owner.

The last 2 days I keep getting a message from Microsoft telling me I am not protected from Viruses. I have Norton 360 anti virus software and when I click on that icon it raeds “you are being protected”.

Microsoft’s message does say it can’t detect all anti virus software but you would think Norton would be one they could. Have there been any similar problems with this software and microsoft you know of ?

If not then I have probably done something I shouldn’t have and will clearly need your help. Thanks, Alexis

Hi Alexis,

It sounds like the problem is an update either from Norton or Microsoft.  The best thing to do is open Norton 360 and run the Live Update function. To do this, open Norton 360 by clicking on the yellow circle with an arrow in it.Once in Norton 360 click Tasks & Settings and then check for updates.

We’d recommend running this a number of times until it says there are no more updates available as Symantec software tends not to update itself properly unless you manually run these functions.

If the problem persists, call your local computer tech.

I’ve just read about bank records being found on second hand computers. How do I clean up my computer before giving it away?

The risk of giving away important information is real, on your computer is all your passwords, login details, important documents and web browsing history. Whoever gets your computer has the potential to cause some real mischief.

Cleaning up computers can be a fiddly task, if for no other reason that simply deleting information doesn’t necessarily mean the data has gone from the hard drive.

We’ve covered this problem previously and we’d strongly urge you to do this with any computer you are disposing of.

If you are having problems doing this, our associated company PC Rescue offers this service and your local computer tech will probably do so as well.

I have an Acer Aspire Laptop with Home Vista Basic and a Trial Version of Symantec Anti Virus 2008. I uninstalled the Symantec Antivirus from the Laptop and installed Avast Free. Whenever I boot the Laptop, Windows Firewall is Off. I turn it on and it stays on. Reboot it’s off. I uninstalled Avast. Still the same problem…… HELP!

First, make sure there are no other firewall programs running. It is possible there is something else in there interfering with the Windows Firewall.

Make sure Norton is fully uninstalled by running the Norton Removal Tool. This will make sure remnants of Norton aren’t interfering.

Next, click the Start button, click find and type services.msc click enter to open the Services window. Scroll down the list of service to the Windows Firewall Service and set it to Automatic.

Restart the computer and it should now be running

I am wondering about a program that keeps wanting to download to my computer. It is called wksvcsc.exe.

That’s a baddie and it indicates you have a Trojan horse on your computer that’s trying to get a backdoor program onto you computer. Once it’s installed there’s a risk your computer can be taken over by others.

It’s essential you follow our instructions for removing a Trojan.

Thank you for your quick response to our hotmail question. Can you please tell me how it is possible for someone to hijack an email address? We have changed the password, and checked for viruses(none). Thanks again.

Unfortunately there’s no one answer to this. The most common answer is they have simply guessed, many people’s passwords simply aren’t very secure.

Other ways are users not logging out of public computers at places like Internet cafes, airport lounges and business centres properly, which gives others the opportunity to log in.

In other cases it might be that family members or former work colleagues have known you passwords and accidentally given them away.

The worse case scenarios are that someone has hacked your computer or Internet connection and was able to extract your passwords.

Finally, it could be simply poor security at the email providers end. Some systems have bugs that let bad guys crack the passwords, although we haven’t had any reports of recent problems at Hotmail.

Overall though it pays to be a touch paranoid with your passwords. They are too valuable to lose.