antivirus

A security firm says that laptops from five major PC manufacturers have inherent security flaws which make the systems open to attack the very first time they are used. The problem deals with the automatic update tools installed by the manufacturer. ... Duo Labs explored the pre-installed manufacturer software on laptops from Acer, Asus, Dell, HP and Lenovo. In total, they found 12 vulnerabilities which they described as being ridiculously simple to exploit. (Source: duo.com ) The software is what's officially known as Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) software, but commonly referred to ... (view more)

A newly-identified piece of malware has achieved arguably the ultimate goal of cybercriminals. "Nemesis" is able to infect a Windows computer before the operating system is loaded. The malware is a particularly nasty form of a rootkit . That's ... software which is able to inappropriately access some of the core components of a computer (both hardware and software), often disguising its actions. A rootkit is a serious problem because it's often completely undetectable, which means that it can easily override antivirus software to carry out malicious tasks. In this case, the Nemesis ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Jan G. writes: " Dear Dennis, Thank you so much for your article on How to Fix: Windows Update Using an In-Place Upgrade . I have the dreaded 80070490 windows update error and can't seem to get past it. That said, I tried to do an ... in-place Windows Repair (as per your guide) but am having another problem. As Windows is getting ready to reinstall, the Windows Compatibility Report is blank, and won't let me proceed with the repair. I have tried doing a repair install on another machine and it works fine. Any ideas as to why the Compatibility Report window is blank and how I ... (view more)

How Does Windows Defender Stack Up in Windows 10? Infopackets Reader Lisa K. writes: " Dear Dennis, I read with interest your article entitled: ' How to Fix: Windows 10 Antivirus Missing, Not Compatible '. After upgrading to Windows 10, my antivirus ... also went missing. So my question is: how does Windows Defender stack up against popular antivirus or antimalware programs? Should I continue to use Windows Defender or should I reinstall my antivirus program? " My response: This is often simply a question of choice, but your computer hardware may also dictate what is most suitable. In my opinion ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Paula H. writes: " Dear Dennis, I recently installed Windows 10 and looked in my tray bar and found that my antivirus has gone missing. Previous to the Windows 10 upgrade, I was using Windows 7 with Avast! antivirus (free). When I ... go to the Start Menu and type in 'avast', it doesn't come up with anything. I also don't see it in my Start menu when I click through my programs, either. Is my system unprotected? How can I get my antivirus working with Windows 10? " My response: You are not the only person to ask this question, and the problem is not limited to Avast! antivirus ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Paul S. writes: " Dear Dennis, I tried to install Windows 10, but it failed with error code C1900208 (I did it through the 'get windows 10' app). I tried again a few times, and it still gives me error C1900208, 'Installation ... Status: failed'. I checked my Windows Update history for error C1900208, and see that it failed 3 times in a row. I have no idea why this is happening but I'd really like to upgrade to Windows 10. I have Norton 360 and I read that antivirus may be conflicting with the Windows 10 install. Any ideas? " My response: From what I've read online, the Windows ... (view more)

A new security firm says it has come up with a way to stop malicious software before it reaches a user's computer. The "Isolation Platform" will initially be offered to business users, but remains to be seen how practical the solution is. According ... to makers Menlo, the main problem with most security tools are that they are based around the idea of examining programming code on a user's computer, and trying to determine if the code is malicious. Only if everything appears to be OK is a program allowed to run on the computer. Menlo says that's flawed because malware ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Tina M. writes: " Dear Dennis, Regarding CryptoLocker , can you tell me if the software program CryptoPrevent can actually remove CryptoLocker and other ransomware infections? In other words, does CryptoPrevent actually work? Or ... is there a better way to prevent and remove CryptoLocker if I get infected? " My response: Similar to antivirus, CryptoPrevent is software that helps to prevent CryptoLocker and similar ransomware infections. It does not remove the infection if you become infected. If you do become infected, the only 100% fail safe way to undo the damage ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Craig D. writes: " Dear Dennis, In the past I've used the msconfig utility many times to clear items from the Windows Startup. However, recently I tried to run msconfig and Windows reports that msconfig has stopped responding and ... my PC freezes. This is very frustrating! Any ideas why my msconfig stopped working? " My response: This is a very common problem, though you didn't say which Windows operating system you're using. As such, I'll provide solutions for Window XP and onward because most likely other users are having the same problem. Here are ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Frank P. writes: " Dear Dennis, A friend of mine has a malware (or a virus) on his computer and can't get rid of it. He has tried to download various malware removal utilities online (such as malwarebytes antimalware, etc), but ... his web browser appears to have been hijacked and subsequently, malwarebytes won't download. What can he do to remove the malware? " My Response: Some malware will purposely block websites (such as malwarebytes) to prevent you from downloading and removing the infection. The easiest way to get rid of pervasive malware is to boot ... (view more)