It’s a big problem, when some Hacker/ne’erdowell can find a way of getting into your PC and run it.
They can do this with various tricks, including ransomware & other hacks.
Once they’re in your PC they can change your settings, if he has “Administrator Status”, so that you can’t, easily, take back control, and then he’ll get busy ordering stuff, in your name, etc.
This is a little reminder on how to stop this from happening, and which helps to get you back in charge.
Always have a second log in account for your Windows PC.
that simply means adding a second account in settings.
Now, out of your two log in accounts set up so that the one you’re going to use all the time is NOT an Administrator account.
The other account, which you are not going to use all the time, and which doesn’t normally get logged into, should be set as the Administrator account.
How does this help?
Well, the idea is that the baddie, who nicks your login details might still log in, but he’ll not be able to change anything, or access all of it.
You, however, can log into the proper administrator account and put everything right, even though he’s messed with our setting, etc.
You don’t have to install everything (Apps, etc) on this spare account, it’s just there to enable you to win back control.
To that I will add to make sure Windows Defender is enabled; many AV systems will disable WD and that will immediately put your PC at risk, also make sure all windoze updates are current and if not sure run MRT at least every 14days which can be downloaded free from all major download sites if it’s not already in your PC👍
It has just occurred to me that some PC owners might not know how to launch the MRT scanner, so here goes.
Go to your start menu and then select Windows System. Scroll down in there until you find run. Select run and you will notice a pop-up box. Type mrt in the space provided and then click ok. Follow the set up sequence and the scan will take place as per your instructions.
This is completely a personal choice. I have WD enabled which runs alongside AVG free version and between them and MalwareBytes Free, all of my windoze laptops remain bug and incursion free MalwareBytes is excellent at blocking dodgy things stuck to otherwise safe sites and it will display a warning message that you can over ride if you wish
Always be ultra careful when downloading any free software as the site is so designed that without care you will be sold a free trial of the paid for version. Read everything carefully and select the free version without all the bells & whistles.
In the various reviews it comes a cross as “not the best” “Not the worst”.
But the message is that it works Ok.
It is labelled as Free, as the cost is built in to the lease charge when you lease your Windows package
Depending on how much you use your PC & where you go, on the net, you might want to add some additional packages like “malwarebytes”, etc., each of which can be obtained, easily, for free, although, it should be noted that free versions, of antivirus progs, usually only run when you click them to run, whilst the paid for versions run “all the time”. That can make a difference as you might not know you’ve been hit for a month if you only run them occasionally.
If you do go with Microsoft Defender, please make sure that all the features are switched on, when you install it, as I’ve heard that, for some reason, they don’t always set it that way!
There are plenty of reviews, on line, if you want to see how the packages compare.
I lost faith in Avast when I was hacked about ten years ago. Looking recently at the different companies they seem to chop and change in terms of efficacy. Of the paid services, Kapersky appears to still have a good rep, but it’s not easy to decide which to choose as there are so many pluses/minuses.
Thanks Ted I will check that it’s all switched on. I have a paid package but I now have too many devices without paying more. I take precautions such as not linking my email to the laptop deliberately as I know that can make it easy to hack everything. Once hackers have access to your email account they can impersonate you and cause mayhem.
The Anti Virus program writers make good money from it, as well!
When you think about it, why would they want the viruses to go away?
They start with a free version and, when they have a lot of free version users, they can use the feedback to find what "hits " are going on, and then write code to fix those hits, download the fixes, and go back to watching again.
It’s not exactly Rocket Science - it is a nice big earner.
And a never ending circle!
A cynic might say that the scans might find “problems”" that are not really problems (i.e. “pups” - potentially unwanted programs)
MalwareBytes is excellent at blocking dodgy things stuck to otherwise safe sites and it will display a warning message that you can over ride if you wish