Computer Advise Needed!!!!

What is the distinction between Zone Alarm and Grisoft? I have both loaded and running on my computer (free not registered version). However this past week I've noticed some unusual problems. Each morning I have a message screen waiting on my computer that Grisoft (AVG) is seeking access to the internet to update. I typically have clicked yes. But, instead of just updating, it's as if each time a new edition of AVG is being downloaded and installed and I now have 3 AVG icons on the bottom of my display screen. Concurrently with this, Explorer has become very klugey and shutting down on me without warning. Additionally, sometimes when I have explorer opened, the text is distorted within the window and when I go to Yahoo mail, it's all distorted. Lastly, I now have a yahoo toolbar on my explorer window which I know I did not choose to install.

Appreciate any advise!!!

 

Zonealarm is a personal firewall and AVG is a virus scanner.

I would get Ad-Aware (http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-SE-Personal-Edition/3000-8022_4-10319876.html?tag=lst-0-2) and Spybot (http://www.download.com/Spybot-Search-Destroy/3000-8022_4-10289035.html?tag=lst-0-2) to scan your computer and remove all the uglies. Remove the yahoo toolbar and install the google one, which has a privacy option.... or better yet, install Firefox (http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/).

You should set zonealarm to trust the AVG updater so it will just automatically get the updates. You could always uninstall AVG and then install it to see if it behaves better. My AVG only has one "AVG Free" icon on the desktop..

 

Boomer,

Thanks for the advise. In fact, I do have ZA, AVG, Spybot and AdAware all installed.

On explorer I do have the google toolbar but immediately under it is the yahoo toolbar that I did not install. How do I uninstall it? Remove programs option under windows?

I believe I have ZA set as you recommended to automatically get the updates. How do I confirm this?

Look forward to your response.

...Carol

 

Following up on my previous message, I have removed the yahoo toolbar using the uninstall option under add/remove programs.

 

more problems...my computer froze up while i was in yahoo so I elected signout..when that did not work, I closed Explorer. But when I went to reopen explorer I received a message not enough memory; close open windows....but I had no windows opened. Additionally, when I had logged in to Yahoo it was to find all of the text in big bold letters whereas I always have smaller print. AVG is telling me there are no viruses but I'm stumped on what/why my computer is acting so weirdly.

 

okay..my ongoing saga. I removed and then reinstalled AVG by Grisoft. I noticed that all updates are via www.grisoft.cz which is a web site in the Czech republic. Can anyone confirm that this is correct?

 

Yeah they are based in .cz .... but my AVG gets it's updates from "guru.grisoft.com" -- I have version 7.0.300

 

Under component properties it says 7.1.298 but in the bottom right hand of the main program screen it says 7.0.300.

It appears that I have all settings as recommended but still getting the nasty message occasionally -- usually after closing and then reattempting to reopen Explorer -- not enough memory! If I try to open any other program after that, I get the same error message. What would be causing this to happen?

 

humm... sometimes it's good to just reinstall the whole OS if you can... but without looking at the box, it's hard to tell what the problem is. I would go into add/remove programs and start removing stuff you don't use or will never use. also, if you have a ton of stuff running in the system tray in the bottom right, it might be a good idea to go through those and see if you really need them running.

Also, if you go to the task manager and then processes... do view:select columns and add Vm Size and Peak mem usage.... then you can show whats running and sort by those things to see what's eating up the most of your memory.

What kind of machine do you have? CPU/Memory, etc.

 

Oh geez...I'm not all that computer literate...just know enough to be dangerous to myself and my computer!

I've got a Dell; bought it Spring 2002 with all standard stuff...

Anyone willing to come by and take a look see and show me what to do?!

 

If it's a fairly new dell it probably came with a rescue cd. Just save all of your important files and use the rescue CD to restore your system to a fress install. Before you do that, though, make sure you unplug your ethernet and have CD with XP Service Pack 2, Zone Alarm, and AVG on it so that after you reinstall you can put these on before you connect back to the internet. This will minimize your chances of being infected/compromised before you have a chance to install protection. A recent test showed that a fresh, unprotected computer is infected by a security hole exploit within four minutes of connection to the internet.