ScottFromWyoming wrote:
I've had that happen to a couple of my PCs - where the hard drive is so clogged that it's not worth working on, but I still have two older machines that are "clean" but are just obsolete because of their old processors or operating systems and for the cost of replacing the motherboards and RAM and/or buying a new O/S, one can buy a new machine. I have what seems to be a very effective anti-virus program on my new Windows 7 laptop, and I also clear out everything from the browsers when I close them. Firefox has a "Better Privacy" app which clears out LSO cookies left by Flash apps.


I still have an operational Gateway laptop with Windows 98 on it.

miamizsun wrote:
I've been using Free Sophos Anti Virus for Mac for at least a year and its actually caught a couple things along the way...

Alexandra wrote:
Well the sentence you bolded was meant to be tied to the next sentence: Many Windows machines are essentially "disposable" at $200 or $300... it's the price point that does it, not the machine itself. And I'm trying not to actually get into a tech discussion but yes, I've heard of some people whose Windows machines are so cobbed up with malware that they cannot use it, can't justify the cost to repair it so the machine is left for dead.

Mac Malware Catalog

Alexandra wrote:

The American way; pull everything else down to the Lowest Common Denominator!

ScottFromWyoming wrote:
My tech said this used to be true but no longer...because Mac has started using the same kind of framework to build their machines as PCs...(he had a name for the framework/structure)...and now Mac users are starting to complain that the life of their machines is shorter than it used to be. (He's not a PC supremacist, either)

Pearhead wrote:
I was just getting at the fact that "market share" = "units sold" but units sold isn't necessarily a direct reflection of the number of machines in use. My hunch is that more Windows machines meet an early death than do Macs. You can buy $200 laptops with Windows, hand them to your kids and not cry too much when they spill their sippy cups on them. Throw 'em away, buy another.

And then there's some sandboxing and password-before-install business that might help too.

jcf wrote:
an excellent example of voluntary collaboration

ScottFromWyoming wrote:
According to Gartner Research, Apple's PC share i s about should be 14-15% (US market, last Qtr 2011 numbers)

Worldwide I think is close to your number, but the trend is upward

And Avira has recently come out with an Apple anti-virus (free for personal use)

I run both OSs and I can't speak to Avira's Mac Security (cause it is brand spanking new)

I can speak to their PC security which is (IMHO) very good

Both are free for personal use

condolences on the pink kitty

ScottFromWyoming wrote:
As a systems grease monkey, I struggle upright with ease and stand wobbly still by your said simplistic "theory" ya furry-assed bassard. Comb me inquisitive but you've left me curious as to "the more" beyond the numbers .

FWIW I'm a cretinous atheistic O/S bisexual.

miamizsun wrote: This really IS a handy site !! THANX !

Alexandra wrote:
Mm. The same simplistic theory put forth by PC mechanics for decades.

I'm not one to tout Apple's "immunity" but there's more to it than just sheer numbers. Which are probably about 7 or 8%.

Alexandra wrote:
Mac is still only what, 4% of the market?

ScottFromWyoming wrote:
It's not that they're immune or anything, it's just that there are SO many more PC users that they're more practical targets for which to write virus code. It's not worth their time to write more sophisticated code for more sophisticated systems (like Macs), so they usually don't.

Alexandra wrote:
Spill!

Laptop is all cleaned up, tuned up, and armed & dangerous for the future.

Got a REALLY good local computer guru watchin' my back now.



But man......who would've thought just watching a YouTube video could be so dangerous. I didn't even download anything or open any attachments. It was a poster's virus-ridden ad!



I also found out the REAL reason Macs don't get many viruses. Ha!

I still think the worst malware out there is what comes from Microsoft under the guise of an Operating System.

Beaker wrote:


Alexandra said she was having problems, we've all been there (except those insufferable, rich, mac apologists) I didn't turn it into a religion, I just said what I had been having success with.

Beaker wrote:

ScottFromWyoming wrote:
Hmmmm... like failure to delete errant .TMP files on one's PC, along with all abandoned docs starting with a tilde (~) leftover from prior aborted sessions.

EDIT:

Start > Run , CMD , ENTER

...a "DOS" window appears. Type the following in that window:

CD ENTER Add a backslash after the CD
DEL /S *.TMP ~*.* ENTER

When all is said and done, simply close the CMD window.

Beaker wrote:
It came out of the gates that way.

If you think you have a clean system that's set up exactly how you like it, CLONE that HD to a second drive, and save your documents, music, etc to a 3rd drive.

And by the way, I still wonder how many everyday crashes/corrupt files/bugs are attributed to viruses.