whrx

A month or so ago I visited my niece (single mother of 15 yr old boy) and surprised to learn she let him surf the web w/o any restrictions or penalties. He's using WIN 7 with an external HD and at least 2 image backup programs and claims "No problem" when he picks up some malware. Says 99% cured by MS Restore and balance by a Recovery w HP disk then use image backup. I'm considered an old fuddie duddie on both the content he views and the danger to his computer hardware. At that time I was running Vista, so nothing I had to say made any impression..............any advice pls?? PS: (I've served in Asia and thought I had seen every possible pervision, but my nephew's quick tour opened my eyes...never dreamed there was so much redially available for free) WHRX

On cookies, CC in the past has been very unreliable in accurately showing cookies removed...... dennis D and I has a discussion several monthes ago As a remedy, I have quit using CC for cookies and instead DL the free Cookie Wall It showed many cookies, I deleted all, and then it showed zero.................BUT CC still shows a flock so........ I think CC needs work on cookie cleaning and accurate reporting, as I don't believe it at all! PS: If cookie count is way off, is anything else accurate in the cleaning process???

Thanks to all of you who have helped me....especially Hazelnut! I have followed your advice HN, and once again realize I'm in way over my head. In SnD, one explanation that may apply (but I doubt it) is that every time the user clicks on a site, that info is stored "deep inside WIN". Since never in my life have I ever entered any of the supposed casino sites, that cannot explain things. You mentioned that SnD contains a list of potential danger spots. While it seems a very strange way to go, apparently those sites are included in the scan...just as though they were on your own computer! I read their tutorial and rate it the worst I have ever seen; large chunks are covered by example pages that I could not remove. Also, I could not find any way to delete anything but I no longer care a whit. SnD icon is relegated to "seldom useful programs" on my desk top. I may run it once in a while JIC, but will totally ignore those wierd messages as they pass by. THANKS AGAIN TO ALL.......over and out

I think I have misled some of you. In no way has Spy Bot flagged any of the strange messages, they just flash by This adds to the strangness of the whole thing, eg: "casino xxx" has to have come from SOMEWHERE, else how could SB scan it?? Have run MALB and watched as it scanned.....no strange messages. Unless someone sees a flaw, I plan to ignore SB unless it flags something. Since MALB show what it is scanning, while SB just uses numbers......another plus for MALB FWIW I do live in Col.................expecting 2' of snow by AM

I have used Spy Bot many times, but usually set it going, and then leave the room. This time, out of boredom, I watched as the numbers and descriptions flew by showing each (item or ??) that the program was scanning. The numbers kept asending, so I believe this indicated progress toward a number in the 60000 range. Also I could read some of the descriptions and am astounded at many of them. Some samples are: Casino xxx, casino yyy, fake anti virus, ad watch, and so on and so forth. Some of the descriptions seemed logical but several dozen (as above) did not. As a newby, I have no idea of what the numbers refer to, and I especially don't understand where and why I'm getting such short but strange messages; I can't detect any affect on performance, but would prefer to eliminate them. Thanks to all for any help on this PS: I'm running VISTA

To Rridgely.....thanks for the info. Actually I have 2 sets of the disk type you mentioned: one from HP, and one from the Geeks. The latter did a "clever" thing: they made their disks from my computer as it came from the factory THEN wiped out VISTA and replaced it with XP......all w/o any info to me (and I never considered this). I'm sure they did it to add programs and up their tab. I liked my system (which now I know was XP) and was really confused and p.....d off when a full system restore wiped out XP and I had the real original Vista. Since the Geek disks looked at first to be coded (they weren't) and I hoped for some improvement, so I bought HP's3 disks for $16. They are more complex to install (have to switch disks 5 or 6 times) but IMO seem to do a better job than the "free" Geek disks. Others will have to answer the merits of making your own disks as per described or buying a set from HP. End of my thoughts on this topic

First for rridgely: I have an Hp computer running VISTA, and have tried to follow your advice, but cannot seem to find any HP utility file that has anything apparently useful in making image recovery disks. Could you please be a bit more specific, because if my system can do it, it's the ideal answer......no 3rd party hassles. Secondly, I have spent the better part of two days reading various reviews of 3rd party image makers. Following are my impressions. 1. Making an image of the OS is not to be taken lightly, some serious troubles have been reported with each program. 2. GHOST was a runaway leader until their buy out by Systematic....now no one recommends it. 3. The two remaining contenders are ACRONIS and MAXIUM. Both have their advocates and both caused serious problems for others. Some of the verbiage is far beyond my competance to judge. 4. Overall, if I had to pick a winner it would be ACRONIS by a nose. Bear in mind that all reviews were based on the 2009 version, not the just released 2010 version. Confession: My own bias is strongly against Maxium, because I have tried the free version, which worked excellently on the making, but blew my system apart on the recovery. It even caused two errors I remember as BIOD-8, which HP and others said that it meant a failing or failed hard drive. In my one and only sucess with offshore customer "service" centers, a chap I believed to be in India suggested two tests that would determine if it was indeed the HD or a software error. Fortunately for me, it was a software error that was corrected by rebooting and a system recovery. (Note, the problem may have been due to one of VISTA's many quirks, not MAXIUM). FWIW, some stores here in CO are now advertising a bundle of WIN 7 and ACRONIS (09 or 10 ver is unsaid). Does this imply any stamp of approval by MS??......used to be any bundling was with SYSTEMATIC. PS: EBAY has scads of 09 Acronis for sale at $20........a lower bid might even win one. All for now, any other views welcome

I have read several "Best Lists" for various programs, and it is obvious that things are changing so rapidly that a "Fair " program today may become Best Available next week. Ever mindful of that, I'm interested in which program(s) that VISTA owners have actually used to create an image of their C and D drives. Part of my reason is that HP claims my HD is failing, so a prerequisite is that the Image(s) be stored on Diskettes, not on the HD itself, nor on an external HD....don't have one. I have tried several, but find them very confusing, and in one case it froze my computer back to boot disk. TIA Willard

Thanks to all who replied........I think MS "improvrments" have changed things a bit and for navigating that I thank you

I've had extensive computer problems this past summer,a large portion of them being that theGEEKS removed VISTA from my machine and replaced it with XP!! (Actually a much better program IMO) but the recovery disketts still contained VISTA At any rate, at least once this summer I found the "Hidden Tunnel" that MS put in JIC anybody was foolish enough to want to avoid Yahoo, Bing etc. and wanted to change back to IMO the best search engine GOOGLE But as a super senior my mind doesn't remember how I did it, nor of course did I write it down.. (surely I'd remember......wrong) Appreciate any help on how to find that entrance! whrx

Very very pertinent info for me, had I known how to this (let alone FREE) it would have saved me at least $160 paid to a local expert to free me from SAVEKEEP, which as most of you know cripples the System Restore function Can't wait to try it!! Thanks again

Thanks four your advice, and I started to follow it........but first ran cc w/o any changes in box checks and IE reported 8 cookies and they were deleted. Then I checked all boxes, ran again and to my great surprise, ALL cookies were gone! Apparently IE had, as you sugested been silently deleting cookies..............Thanks again! PS: I have reinstalled CC since I found a virus called DOWNLOAD RUIN,and wil try again to get a DL of Comedian to replaced my first try since would it would not run on my VISTA........wish me luck

NOT MY POST So that everyone is aware, the first post of WHRX in the topic started by Pickabu is FALSE I'm not too concerned about damage to me, the reply after mine had a bit of sarcasm aimed at me but IMO was fully justified by the contents of the false post My real concern is that what happened to me can also happen to anyone else. I sure hope someone in power investigates this not only the HOW but also the WHY! Meanwhile, I'm planning to uninstall cc for a week......one AVAS uncovered Trojans labeled Download Ruin so Im giving my VISTA and CC a rest......be assured that CC is one of the very best programs I've had and I look forward to my return

I also have had great trouble posting replies and new topics : all went well at first, but last 6 tries have failed