my son said hackers are on my computer...
 

Well, I am not an expert but that is what he says...lol...

any advice?

Re: my son said hackers are on my computer...
 

AVG Antivirus or you might have to go with something like Norton or Mcaffe

Re: my son said hackers are on my computer...
 

How does he know? I have my wireless router at home set up so no one can get in plus my windows firewall on top of that

Re: my son said hackers are on my computer...
 

Do you have anti virus protection and is it up to date? If you buy anti virus protection it only lasts a year or so. Same with spyware.

I recommend going the free route though. If you do have a virus scanner running but it is not updated, download the following, uninstall the current virus scanner then install these

http://download.cnet.com/Malwarebyte...=dl&tag=button

Download that, install it, do an update, disconnect from the internet and run it. Let it go all the way, use the fast scan, not full scan. when it finishes allow it to remove the malware it finds

http://free.avg.com/download?prd=afe

Download this, click download now, not the premiums one you have to pay for. Install it. Update it.

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html

Download this, install it, run through the wizard which will save your registry, update itself. Make sure the browser is closed too. It will ask to immunize. When you do that it will count how many are protected and how many are not. Then at the top click "immunize" and it will immunize your browser.

Once it is done updating and immunizing, do a scan. You do this by clicking "Search and Destroy" and then "Check for problems" at the top. It will scan for spyware and hopefully remove them all. If you run into something it can't remove it will ask if you want to run it on reboot, say yes.

when you first run it, the options to the far left is the normal menu, but in the right hand side you will see "check for problems", "Recovery" and "Update"...on any normal day when you run this first run update. You want to update it a couple times a week. You have to do this manually.

The AVG will or should update itself if you allow it to on install.

Oh yes, with spybot S&D on the install part do NOT let it install TeaTimer.

You can then run AVG after this if you want.

If after all this your system is clean, then just make sure you keep AVG and Spybot updated.

Also if you ever receive an email from a bank or some other business you use and they ask you to click this link and fill out forms, don't do it! Call them first yourself and ask if they were really wanting this information. People send emails like that to fraudulent websites and you fill out teh form and just send that person your personal information and next thing you know your back account is wiped out.

Re: my son said hackers are on my computer...
 

If you are concerned about security you should change the wireless router key codes every now and then. They can be cracked. If you download malware it can circumvent your firewall or disable it.

Re: my son said hackers are on my computer...
 

Please wireless router users....please heed these Prax's words.

Wireless convenience should only be enjoyed when accompanied by a diligent system administrator is in the mix.....not the case at most of our homes where the airwaves connect our desktops and laptops (with four years of Turbo Tax filings just waiting for an exploit)to the evils that roam the WAN, seeking whom they may destroy.

Re: my son said hackers are on my computer...
 

Wpa-psk

Re: my son said hackers are on my computer...
 

Prax...when are you coming to Brazil to help us get set up right???? We need your help...
Hope you are feeling better.

Re: my son said hackers are on my computer...
 

Well, I do not know...however my documents open up...appear on the screen...computer logs off by itself...and other strange things...I have no eartly idea...that is what my son said...

Re: my son said hackers are on my computer...
 

somebody needs to make a missionary visit to Brazil to help this old lady that is computer dumb!