Great, glad you got it sorted out so quickly.
Here is my full prevention speech. I unfortunately don't have much experience with Online Armor personal firewall. It does appear that the free version is missing many of the features included in the full, but that may just be their marketing spin to get you to buy it. Worth a try. You could also check out the ones I advise. Remember to run only
1 Antivirus and
1 Firewall.
Use an AntiVirus Software - It is very important that your computer has an anti-virus software running on your machine. This alone can save you a lot of trouble with malware in the future. Here is a list of some free and evaluation versions to try:
AVG AntiVirus
Avast Antivirus Home Version–Free
Antivir Personal - Free
Use a Firewall - I can not stress how important it is that you use a Firewall on your computer. Without a firewall your computer is succeptible to being hacked and taken over. Simply using a Firewall in its default configuration can lower your risk greatly. Here are some free and evalutation versions that provide
better security than the Windows Firewall.
Comodo
Outpost Firewall
For a tutorial on Firewalls and a listing of some other available ones see the link below:
Understanding and Using Firewalls
Visit Microsoft's Windows Update Site Frequently - It is important that you visit http://www.windowsupdate.com regularly or set your computer to receive automatic updates. This will ensure your computer has always the latest security updates available installed on your computer. If there are new updates to install, install them immediately, reboot your computer, and revisit the site until there are no more critical updates.
Install SpywareBlaster - SpywareBlaster will added a large list of programs and sites into your Internet Explorer settings that will protect you from running and downloading known malicious programs.
A tutorial on installing & using this product can be found here:
Using SpywareBlaster to protect your computer from Spyware and Malware
Install Winpatrol -
Use
Winpatrol to take control of your PC and provide another layer of security.
Help file and tutorial can be found
Here
Block unwanted parasites with a custom hosts file -
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm
Update all of your Anti-Malware programs regularly - Make sure you update all the programs I have listed and the ones you are currently running regularly. Without regular updates you
Will Not be protected when new malicious programs are released.
I'll leave the thread open a few days in case you have questions or issues.
Regards,
Dave
