Is this not 2011? We live in a world of varied experts. Could you remove my appendix? Make these banana seeds immune to Roundup? Replace my fuel pump? Turn these trees into shelter? Smelt ore? Prepare foie gras? Compose the theme for the movie version of this thread? Just how polymathic an expert are you anyway?
We have to accept the presence of people who do not share our expertise yet nevertheless are not idiots. To act otherwise would just be silly. I pay yoga instructors to guide me to fitness because they are experts. I pay podiatrists to resolve my podiatric issues for the same reason. I pay software companies for software that works. I paid good money for these products, and it turns out the software is sup-par. And that’s bullshit, pal.
Nah, actually he’s pretty spot-on. The problem with your example is that very few people preform appendectomies, genetically engineer fruit seeds, mechanically engineer, log, smelt, force-feed geese, or compose every day.
Lots and lots of people use computers every day. In fact, most people use several of them several times a day. Most of the best practices for avoiding malware/virus infection have remained the same for years, and should be common sense to even halfway competent computer users.
If you’re getting infected with serious viruses (in particular, if you are getting infected repeatedly) then the problem is probably you being a dumbass.
I run MSE and AVG Free. Contrary to a couple of the comments above, they work fine together and do not hinder one another at all.
I was actually quite surprised that we had managed to get through 20+ posts without some lobotomized Apple douchebag saying “Get a Mac,” but then i had to go and click on the Spoiler button a few posts up.
Yes but the purpose of Windows 7 is not to protect you from malware/viruses/etc. The purpose of the OS is to run code. Viruses are code. It’s not a bug, it’s a feature.
Yeah, i’m really going to click on a link provided by someone who uses “bro” as a form of address. Whatever it is you’re masturbating over, i’ll leave you to it.
It’s not a Zen paradox, it’s a simple fact. Your computer doesn’t care. For some reason you expect it to. But it can’t and it won’t, notwithstanding Skynet of course (which would solve your problems in an entirely different manner). But your machine and your software can only do as it is told (by code, not by you) and can only react to things that have already happened.
Microsoft tried building anticipation of malware into Vista. Every time your computer tried to do anything a prompt came up say “Are you sure? Are you REALLY SURE?!?! Could be a virus!!!” and after users saw a couple thousand of these a day they quickly figured out how to shut this feature off. The only way to truly secure a machine is to prevent any user interaction with it, from inside or out. But since that makes your computer about as useful as a rock, MS decided to err on the side of usability which has the side effect of letting bad code in. But trust me, it’s a thousand times better now than it was in the days of Pre-SP2 Windows XP and “Violet gives willingly” IE6.
Besides, you might be disappointed in your anti-virus but just imagine how all those scientists in Iran feel! Now there is a closed system surrounded by fanatics with guns and missiles and shit and they still get a virus that ruins all their work, wrecks their actual hardware (by causing centrifuges to spin too fast and/or too slowly) and adapts to their attempts to remove it. And you’re upset about losing your bookmarks?!?!
(PS, assuming you can get your system going again, you can export your bookmarks from IE by using File/Import and Export and it will spit out a small .html file that can be easily backed up online.)
On preview: SB’s link is a Youtube video of Ali G getting a grammar lesson from Andy Rooney. Just for those who also don’t wish to click.
it’s been mentioned, but I think it got lost once the Apple Advocacy Force showed up.
Windows Defender sucks as an anti-virus because it’s not an anti-virus program. it’s there to try to block/remove low-level stuff like rootkits which most if not all anti-virus programs can’t do anything about.
I’m sure your next question is why Microsoft doesn’t include an anti-virus program with Windows. and I think the answer to that is they don’t want to spend a bunch of money fighting off lawsuits from McAfee, Symantec, and the rest of the bunch.
Fine. I’ll be first in line pointing and laughing at your appendix care skills when it swells up and is ready to pop. I suppose Gabby Giffords is an idiot too for getting shot?
Sheesh, is it so wrong to be irked off when things go wrong and waste a bunch of my time
Right right, lesson learned. I targeted Defender during my second re-install when the OS asked if I wanted Defender enabled, ‘which protects your computer from malware’ or some such. MSE, got it. But… I’ve still got Avast on here, so will Those two interfere with each other?
