[Granny]

Hi All, I'm a newbie here and have looking over the posts...great forum! I've noticed that HiJackThis is used a lot for problems involving spyware, malware, etc. Now my question is: HiJackThis is used only when there is a problem. Does it do any good to download it when one doesn't have any problems?

Have had a computer for nearly five years now. Learned everything myself, and never have had a problem that I couldn't fix myself. (of course I'm knocking on wood!) The 98se with it's small harddrive is still running fast and smooth, even with dial-up. And the XP of course, is just great! I have SpySweeper for protection along with Norton and a firewall. I go to "HouseCalls" every six moths and run a scan there. Of course no program is good if it's not used...that is the why of my question. Is there any reason to have HiJackThis then and am I doing enough? Granny

[Advertisements]

Hi Granny

Welcome to geekstogo

Granny please read this.

Kc

[Michelle]

This is just my opinion, but it wouldn't hurt to run HiJack This just to check out your system (if you have someone experienced -such as the helpers on this board- to take a look at your log for you) Now, I definitely don't recommend downloading HiJack This and looking at the log yourself. It could be hazardous to your pc's health to delete something that shouldn't have been deleted. Some computer "problems" can be asymptomatic. Not too long ago I had 10 downloader Trojans! and didn't even know it. They were not picked up by Norton. However they were picked up by an excellent free antivirus program. Here is some information about that program:
http://www.grisoft.c...ree_edition.php

Here are some suggestions on programs to keep your pc clean:

Detect and Remove Programs:

• How to use Ad-Aware to remove Spyware <= If you suspect that you have spyware installed on your computer, here are instructions on how to download, install and then use Ad-Aware.
• How to use Spybot to remove Spyware <= If you suspect that you have spyware installed on your computer, here are instructions on how to download, install and then use Spybot. Similar to Ad-Aware, I strongly recommend both to catch most spyware.

Prevention Programs:

• Spywareblaster <= SpywareBlaster will prevent spyware from being installed.
• Spywareguard <= SpywareGuard offers realtime protection from spyware installation attempts.
• IE/Spyad <= IE/Spyad places over 4000 websites and domains in the IE Restricted list which will severely impair attempts to infect your system. It basically prevents any downloads (Cookies etc) from the sites listed, although you will still be able to connect to the sites.
• MVPS Hosts file <= The MVPS Hosts file replaces your current HOSTS file with one containing well know ad sites etc. Basically, this prevents your coputer from connecting to those sites by redirecting them to 127.0.0.1 which is your local computer
• Google Toolbar <= Get the free google toolbar to help stop pop up windows.

Other necessary Programs:

• AntiVirus Program<= An AntiVirus program is a must! Whether it is a free version like AVG or Anti-Vir, or a shareware version like Norton or Kapersky, this is a must have.
• Firewall<= A firewall is definatley a must have. Two good free versions are Sygate and ZoneLabs.
• More Secure Browser<= Internet Explorer is not the most secure and best browser. There are safer and better alternatives available. I recommend Firefox, however Opera and SlimBrowsers are good as well.

[Granny]

Thank you so much for your response. I had AVG anti-virus on both computers, but ran into problems downloading the updates. The small computer has AVAST anti-virus now and I'm thinking of switching to that on the XP, as I'm not a fan of Norton. Also had AdAware and Spybot, but prefer SpySweeper. Altho I agree with you, that one program just isn't enough to be safe. The info you gave is great...thanks again! Granny