I just had a thread about root-kit viruses and the answers given there was if, you have a root-kit virus the only sure way to clean it is to reinstall your o/s
See thread
MSE is going to be just as good as AVG or Avast or others. The thing is if you don’t update your virus definitions at least once per day, you may find yourself in trouble. Malwarebytes is also the same. The nice thing about MSE is the free version updates automatically. AVG and Malwarebytes you must update manually for the free version.
It’s easy if you get in the habit of just updating whatever you use the first thing when you log on.
Whatever else, Nephew needs to be only allowed to work on the computer in the kitchen or den, with Mom in the same room. He doesn’t get access to the computer otherwise. If this means that your sister needs to physically lock up the computer in some sort of cabinet or safe, then that’s what happens. And your nephew needs to be on a strict budget of gaming/leisure time on the computer. He can earn more time by doing chores and getting good grades, and he can lose time by getting bad grades or going to porn sites.
Oh, he’ll find a way to get to porn sites, but there’s no reason to make it easy for him.
I like MSE but there is one gaping flaw IMHO, it uses the windows update path to pull its updates.
Meaning:
Many viruses disrupt windows updating but leave ftp/http based downloads still working.
Some people shut off updates, therefore, no AV updates.
You really ought to have a heart-to-heart talk about this. Right now it may seem like an innocent diversion or simple youthful experimentation, but it can devolve into obsessive behavior that will make it hard to form relationships with other people, especially women. You might want to tell him to take it easy on the porn too.
I don’t know it for a fact, because I haven’t run a scan. But it is well known that malware can slow a computer, and that malware is prevalent on sites such as the ones listed in History.
As of Friday evening, he’s grounded and not using the computer at all. If he was, I’d suspect some sort of protestation from the email I sent him.
He seems to have communications issues. He lives on the Southern border, and I live hard-against the Northern one. so we’re about 1,400 miles apart. I do know that he’s been to a speech therapist, and I believe he is struggling in school. I don’t know if I can even get him on the phone. I have communications issues too. I like to try to lay things out as fully as possible, and in as logical a manner as possible. If he has ADHD, I suspect I might sound like an adult in a Charlie Brown film. I’ve tried to help my sister from afar, but the whole household is dysfunctional. I’m not even sure who-all is living there. Sis won’t do things that are too much trouble, and she likes to avoid conflict. I don’t think there’s anything I can do on that front.
Anyway this thread is about his computer, and what I can tell them to do to fix it. I’m watching the replies and will collate them and send them to my sister when and if she sends me an email. (Trying to explain over the phone how to type a url is a bit of a chore.)
Oh, here’s a tidbit. She bought the computer at Frye’s. I told her not to, and I told her why. But she did anyway. She says the only disc they received with it was for McAffee. No OS discs. Aiyiyiyiyi…
