"System Restore" NEVER "Restores"

[ccantare]

You might want to look for an alternative to Norton .

Plenty of decent ones around - free too.

I used to love Zone Alarm Pro on my old 32-bit system, but they don't have a version for 64-bit machines.


What would you recommend over Norton? Although I have to say, overall it's never given me any real problems, unlike years ago with earlier versions on older machines where it was good for trouble.

 

[stoneys-nutz]

I use Kaspersky, but everybody will have their own favorite, it's pretty much an individual choice.

 

[SIW2]

I use Avast Home ( free ),

Download FREE antivirus software - avast! Home Edition

Windows Firewall and a little program called Windows Firewall Control (also free).

Vista Firewall Control : Sphinx Software

A lot of the Team on this Forum use exactly the same - we reckon they work very well.

Avira free is also apparently pretty good.

If you must have another Firewall, Comodo works for 64 bit. ( also free)

Select 64 bit in the drop down on this link:

Free Firewall - Download the Best Firewall Protection and Anti-Virus Scan Software from Comodo

 

[ccantare]

I use Avast Home ( free ),

Download FREE antivirus software - avast! Home Edition

Windows Firewall and a little program called Windows Firewall Control (also free).

Vista Firewall Control : Sphinx Software

A lot of the Team on this Forum use exactly the same - we reckon they work very well.

Avira free is also apparently pretty good.

If you must have another Firewall, Comodo works for 64 bit. ( also free)

Select 64 bit in the drop down on this link:
Free Firewall - Download the Best Firewall Protection and Anti-Virus Scan Software from Comodo

Thanks for the suggestions guys --I think that perhaps I should point something else out here, however.

Since trying to resolve this problem here I'm now noticing an activity in my Security History that is seemingly entirely new. I have skimmed through my entire Security History and am now, within only the last couple of days after all this time, seeing a new message which is an attempt to "communicate" with my System. The Advanced Details gives me the following information:

===============================================
Unused port blocking has blocked communications.
Inbound TCP connection.
Remote address, local service is (173.52.107.102, Port (----)).
===============================================

I've done an IP Address Search and all that comes back is a Verizon Home Office in Virginia.

I find it rather peculiar that after posting about my System Restore problem and referencing my Security app, I am suddenly having this new type of Security Activity that I've never seen before, and it's a constant, unending attempt to get through that port on my machine. It simply doesn't stop.

What is probably going on here? A simple port scan, or something more sinister perhaps?

Thanks.

 

[stoneys-nutz]

Have you cleaned out all your spyware, sounds like a data miner maybe ?.

 

[ccantare]

Have you cleaned out all your spyware, sounds like a data miner maybe ?.

I ran a complete sweep of my system earlier this week, but have done a lot of surfacing on the Internet since then, so I'll do another one and will see what happens and then will report back later on at some point.

 

[ccantare]

Have you cleaned out all your spyware, sounds like a data miner maybe ?.

Okay, I did a complete System sweep and removed what little was there to remove earlier, signed on just now hours later and it's continually happening, a couple of times a minute right now as a matter of fact.

The question is --how the hell do I get rid of it and/or get it to stop? My machine is clear according to the system scans that I ran.

 

[ccantare]

It appears I have been forgotten about.

 

[tasaholic]

It is often wise to use several programs to scan for Malware..as what one misses another picks up. One of the best programs I can recommend for your particular issue is MalwareBytes Anti-Malware. There is a free version available. It does sound as though you have 'caught' a bug. I have 5 systems...(Why,you ask?...'cos I can!..I'm a tech)...with all versions of MSWin. from XP on to 7,and I use a combination on all systems of SpyBot S&D, SpyWare Terminator,Avast!,MalWareBytes,as well as the in-built Defender, (not much good IMHO) and of course the Microsoft Malicious Software Tool.If,after scanning with each of those,nothing is found or the problem still exists, my policy is: far better to lose any unsaved and inaccessible data and do a clean install..or if you have a branded system like yours,a factory restore. Sometimes the problem is not so much a malware problem as a conflicting program which corrupts system files....and Nortons has been often known to do this. My personal view is that any security program that requires one to visit their site to download a "special" cleanup tool to remove all remnants of their software,will never be knowingly installed by me unless by specific client request. I favour Avast!,Free & Pro,and Avira which is free.To the best of my experience I have not heard of issues from either of these,whilst I have about Nortons,McaFee etc. It seems the bigger the firm,the more bloatware goes in and more resources are required to run the program as well as the annoying nag screens and overall control these huge programs want over the system. BTW, you had not been forgotten...you must remember a lot of us live in other time zones and have work we must do. We come on here to give what help we can--when we can!

 

[ccantare]

It is often wise to use several programs to scan for Malware..as what one misses another picks up. One of the best programs I can recommend for your particular issue is MalwareBytes Anti-Malware. There is a free version available. It does sound as though you have 'caught' a bug. I have 5 systems...(Why,you ask?...'cos I can!..I'm a tech)...with all versions of MSWin. from XP on to 7,and I use a combination on all systems of SpyBot S&D, SpyWare Terminator,Avast!,MalWareBytes,as well as the in-built Defender, (not much good IMHO) and of course the Microsoft Malicious Software Tool.If,after scanning with each of those,nothing is found or the problem still exists, my policy is: far better to lose any unsaved and inaccessible data and do a clean install..or if you have a branded system like yours,a factory restore. Sometimes the problem is not so much a malware problem as a conflicting program which corrupts system files....and Nortons has been often known to do this. My personal view is that any security program that requires one to visit their site to download a "special" cleanup tool to remove all remnants of their software,will never be knowingly installed by me unless by specific client request. I favour Avast!,Free & Pro,and Avira which is free.To the best of my experience I have not heard of issues from either of these,whilst I have about Nortons,McaFee etc. It seems the bigger the firm,the more bloatware goes in and more resources are required to run the program as well as the annoying nag screens and overall control these huge programs want over the system. BTW, you had not been forgotten...you must remember a lot of us live in other time zones and have work we must do. We come on here to give what help we can--when we can!

Thanks --I use Spybot in addition to Norton, but I'll look into the other programs you mentioned.
As for seemingly having been forgotten --I chalked that up to my message moving beyond the first Screen and moving on to Pages 2 and 3, so it wasn't something I viewed as intentional or in any way malicious. I simply figured people were focusing on the more immediate problems that were posted after my thread.

Thanks again.

I'll post my results at some point.

 

[ccantare]

Update:
Unused port blocking - Other Norton Products - Norton Community
4 posts - 4 authors - Last post: Sep 8, 2008
9/8/08 7:13:57am Unused Port Blocking has blocked communications. Inbound TCP connection. Remote address,local service is 218.10.111.106, ...
community.norton.com/norton/board/message?board.id... - Cached - Similar

Unused port blocking - Other Norton Products - Norton Community

 

[ccantare]

It is often wise to use several programs to scan for Malware..as what one misses another picks up. One of the best programs I can recommend for your particular issue is MalwareBytes Anti-Malware. There is a free version available. It does sound as though you have 'caught' a bug. I have 5 systems...(Why,you ask?...'cos I can!..I'm a tech)...with all versions of MSWin. from XP on to 7,and I use a combination on all systems of SpyBot S&D, SpyWare Terminator,Avast!,MalWareBytes,as well as the in-built Defender, (not much good IMHO) and of course the Microsoft Malicious Software Tool.If,after scanning with each of those,nothing is found or the problem still exists, my policy is: far better to lose any unsaved and inaccessible data and do a clean install..or if you have a branded system like yours,a factory restore. Sometimes the problem is not so much a malware problem as a conflicting program which corrupts system files....and Nortons has been often known to do this. My personal view is that any security program that requires one to visit their site to download a "special" cleanup tool to remove all remnants of their software,will never be knowingly installed by me unless by specific client request. I favour Avast!,Free & Pro,and Avira which is free.To the best of my experience I have not heard of issues from either of these,whilst I have about Nortons,McaFee etc. It seems the bigger the firm,the more bloatware goes in and more resources are required to run the program as well as the annoying nag screens and overall control these huge programs want over the system.

I can most certainly appreciate what you're saying about popular Security App Firewalls such as Norton and Macafee being system resource Hogs, and it's always been one of my biggest peeves about such Apps to tell you the truth, but I always viewed them as a necessary evil. I simply wasn't aware that there were other products out there such as the ones you just mentioned that weren't memory/system resource Hogs that worked just as well as the Commercial products that are designed to do the very same thing(s). Previously I used Zone Alarm on my old XP machine, and it worked great, but I was operating with limited memory on that machine, and if Zone started running an independent system update or scan on its own, it was over --my system would get bogged down to the point of being unusable, and a reboot was an absolute necessity in order to get anywhere if there was work (or simple Internet surfing) that needed to be done. I loved Zone Alarm otherwise though to be perfectly honest with you, and had relatively few problems with it otherwise generally speaking. And if there ever was an issue that absolutely needed to be resolved wherein it became corrupt for some reason, a simple Uninstall and reinstallation pretty much always did the trick.

I have less than two months left with Norton, and if I don't go with one of the products you just suggested, I may switch to Zone Alarm, because I see that they now (finally!) have a version that works on 64-bit machines, which previously they had openly given up on producing, as though they had just thrown their hands up in complete and utter disgust. I had no idea that you Windows Tech guys relied on other --Free no less!-- products in order to achieve the same result with less strain on your computers. I'll have to contemplate this further before deciding whether or not to go the same route myself.

Oh, and I think there's one thing I should point out: I installed Spyware Terminator on this machine, and had a couple of peculiar things happen. First off, while it was installing, a message popped up that said that SpywareInstaller.exe would not function on 64-bit machines even as it continued its installation. After being installed, I ran a Scan and it ran just fine, and informed me of 12 concerns that Spybot hadn't picked up, one of them being a Toolbar that I was informed before downloading it did not contain Adware or Spyware, and I scanned it with Norton just to be sure before installing it. SpywareTerminator however picked up the files for this particular application as a moderate threat, and I removed it for the time being since it's not imperative to my system needs at the moment. I did a System Restore later on after that (hours later in fact when I booted back up), ran it in Safe Mode because of the problems with Norton that I was having previously, but I shut Norton down before initiating the System Restore. In Safe Mode, with Norton shut down (and my Network Connection temporarily disconnected), System Restore did its thing successfully, although Norton, upon restart, also informed me that I needed to download that Fix it Tool again once I reopened it. So I know that Norton is the cause of my headaches with System Restore for certain. If I need to run it again while I have Norton on this machine that's how I'll do it.

Thanks for your help guys --all of you.

 

[tasaholic]

SpywareTerminator does have a x64 version..I run it on mine. As far as a firwall goes,I use a modem/router,which has it's own firewall,so I use the Windows one and no others...just slows things down more. With the malware/spyware stuff, I can recommend SpyWareTerminator and MalwareBytes Anti-Malware as very good on Vista x64,SpyBot to a lesser degree,(it's getting a tad bloated now too).I would not run more than two 3rd party Anti-spyware Progs. on a system as it will slow things a bit plus create a possible conflict scenario down the track. Some programs work well with each other whereas some want to control everything and create issues. Thanks for the thanks..lol...we are only too happy to have helped you.