Warning! Be very careful with requests for help with Junk!

[TLS Guy]

It seems it is true that no good deed can go unpunished.

Last night I tried to help a respondent with an absolute POS and got into a pile of hurt.

Just take a look at this thread and be warned!

 

[XEagleDriver]

Thanks for the warning, that is good to know.
- Oh ooh, in replying to a thread on help with Junk am I now at risk??

Cheers,
XEagleDriver

 

[KEW]

Thanks for the warning, that is good to know.
- Oh ooh, in replying to a thread on help with Junk am I now at risk??

Cheers,
XEagleDriver

For best and most comprehending answers for your concern, to register please at highriskjunk.com for free information you search!

 

[Hi Ho]

Similar thing just happened to my uncle on his old Windows based laptop. He thought he was downloading a known program but ended up completely trashing the computer to the point where I am just going to wipe it and start over.

It's just another reason I totally switched to Mac several years ago. Is OS X impervious to viruses? No. But it is far more robust and resilient than any Windows machine and for the average user it makes life far easier. My uncle also has two Macs which have never had any issues.

 

[KEW]

Similar thing just happened to my uncle on his old Windows based laptop. He thought he was downloading a known program but ended up completely trashing the computer to the point where I am just going to wipe it and start over.

It's just another reason I totally switched to Mac several years ago. Is OS X impervious to viruses? No. But it is far more robust and resilient than any Windows machine and for the average user it makes life far easier. My uncle also has two Macs which have never had any issues.

Is it truly more robust? Or is it that Windows is a better target because a hacker has more potential victims?

 

[tyhjaarpa]

Is it truly more robust? Or is it that Windows is a better target because a hacker has more potential victims?

Mac has quite a lot back doors and what. But windows has so muh more users and companies use it mainly as well and that is why it is more desired target. If you want robust OS you go Linux and set your firewall well and you are quite safe, unless you do something really silly yourself.

 

[Hi Ho]

Windows being a far bigger target is a big reason, yes, but OS X is based on Unix and is fundamentally more secure than Windows ever was.

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/it-security/unix-vs-microsoft-windows-how-system-designs-reflect-security-philosophy/

There are vulnerabilities in every system. Actually the most common vulnerabilities that are leveraged are in widespread plugins like Java and Flash. Both of those are disabled by default on a Mac unless you specifically move to enable them and that alone removes a large chunk of possible exploits.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Win/Linux/Osx - none of them are truly secure once you install several apps and enable few features.
Inherent Linux/BSD superior security is a myth.
I recommend reading this article:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/business/2015/11/05/net-of-insecurity-the-kernel-of-the-argument/

Also Android - heavy based on Linux has currently more than a few HUGE security issues.

Security is not determined solely by OS you're using. It's been proven time and time again = no magical bullets in security.

I agree on target size, but OS X gaining quickly in popularity last decade or so, there is already big rise on OS X targeted malware. I also agree Flash, Java and PDF are yet even easier targets

 

[Hi Ho]

The user is really the problem in most cases. I have never run anti-virus on any Windows machine but then I also am very careful about how I use them. I have a Windows desktop that is used only to play games and edit audio. Using that PC has reminded me why I switched in the first place. The sheer number of Windows updates and minutes wasted waiting for them to install is enough to drive me away! The thing I love about the Mac is the fact that I don't have to reinstall the OS every year to keep it running well and the occasional update installs quickly. I used to be all about tweaking and messing with stuff but now I just want something that works every time. I carefully chose the hardware for that PC and installed only the necessary software and there are still all sorts of annoying little bugs and things that don't work quite right that I just never experience on my MacBook.

 

[slipperybidness]

The user is really the problem in most cases. I have never run anti-virus on any Windows machine but then I also am very careful about how I use them. I have a Windows desktop that is used only to play games and edit audio. Using that PC has reminded me why I switched in the first place. The sheer number of Windows updates and minutes wasted waiting for them to install is enough to drive me away! The thing I love about the Mac is the fact that I don't have to reinstall the OS every year to keep it running well and the occasional update installs quickly. I used to be all about tweaking and messing with stuff but now I just want something that works every time. I carefully chose the hardware for that PC and installed only the necessary software and there are still all sorts of annoying little bugs and things that don't work quite right that I just never experience on my MacBook.

My bro in law works in IT. He NEVER uses any AV software. He says "it just slows down your computer and the risk is very low unless you are downloading things that you shouldn't".

 

[herbu]

Similar thing just happened to my uncle on his old Windows based laptop.

We recently got my Mom a new computer w/ Win10. My sister read on some website about all the junk software that came on a new computer. I advised against it, but when we set up Mom's new computer, the first thing my sister did was go to a website she read about and downloaded some package that was supposed to get rid of all the junk. Four hours later we were still trying to fix all the error messages and make the new computer work.

Being the good and sensitive brother that I am, of course I was very gracious.

The lesson we learned? Unless you are a real power user, and know exactly what you're doing, avoid all the "helpful" software touted to improve your computer's performance. I've no doubt a new computer has some junk, but seriously doubt it's enough to bother somebody who only uses it to check email every few days.

 

[slipperybidness]

We recently got my Mom a new computer w/ Win10. My sister read on some website about all the junk software that came on a new computer. I advised against it, but when we set up Mom's new computer, the first thing my sister did was go to a website she read about and downloaded some package that was supposed to get rid of all the junk. Four hours later we were still trying to fix all the error messages and make the new computer work.

Being the good and sensitive brother that I am, of course I was very gracious.

The lesson we learned? Unless you are a real power user, and know exactly what you're doing, avoid all the "helpful" software touted to improve your computer's performance. I've no doubt a new computer has some junk, but seriously doubt it's enough to bother somebody who only uses it to check email every few days.

The first approach is to do some research before purchase and choose a computer that comes with minimal bloatware.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

The first approach is to do some research before purchase and choose a computer that comes with minimal bloatware.

Minor correction - You CAN buy a computer without ANY bloatware, well, unless you count Windows 10 itself as bloatware .
All you need to do is to buy it straight from microsoft store (not limited to MS branded products btw)
http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/cat/Signature-Edition-Computers/categoryID.69916600

 

[slipperybidness]

Minor correction - You CAN buy a computer without ANY bloatware, well, unless you count Windows 10 itself as bloatware .
All you need to do is to buy it straight from microsoft store (not limited to MS branded products btw)
http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/cat/categoryID.69404700

That is good to know! Thanks for the info.

I can tell you that I recently made a couple of laptop purchases. They both did have some bloatware and most of it was easily removed. But, this information absolutely played a part in my purchase decision. Being an informed shopper is ideal.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

That is good to know! Thanks for the info.

I can tell you that I recently made a couple of laptop purchases. They both did have some bloatware and most of it was easily removed. But, this information absolutely played a part in my purchase decision. Being an informed shopper is ideal.

Few years ago I bought my (not very computer educated) mom an HP Chromebook 14.

Best decision ever !

No viruses, no bloatware = ZERO IT SUPPORT - it just works for basic things like chrome, gmail and hangouts (chat, sms and video chat)

 

[tyhjaarpa]

Well, like already was pointed out the real problem is the user. This is the case in 9/10 of problems that occur. There is no OS that can handle user errors, not yet at least. Every system is as secure as the weakest link is and the weakest link is the user itself most of time. Smart user can go secure with pretty much any OS, but most of time the users don't know what they are really doing and don't understand the risks of some actions they do.

 

[markw]

We recently got my Mom a new computer w/ Win10. My sister read on some website about all the junk software that came on a new computer. I advised against it, but when we set up Mom's new computer, the first thing my sister did was go to a website she read about and downloaded some package that was supposed to get rid of all the junk. Four hours later we were still trying to fix all the error messages and make the new computer work.

Being the good and sensitive brother that I am, of course I was very gracious.

The lesson we learned? Unless you are a real power user, and know exactly what you're doing, avoid all the "helpful" software touted to improve your computer's performance. I've no doubt a new computer has some junk, but seriously doubt it's enough to bother somebody who only uses it to check email every few days.

I recently bought a Lenovo and it came with scads of bloatware. I created a folder named as such and simply dragged all of it there. I don't download anything unless I'm damned sure what it is and where it's coming from, and know there's no such thing as a free lunch.