@DreekLass, I googled ransomware, and it does seem threatening. I guess that's another reason why we shouldn't click suspicious links and email attachments, we might get them. The sites that I go to are pretty harmless anyway, so I think I'm not that at risk, although an AV is indeed needed to ensure our PC's safety.
Well the kicker is that sometimes ransomware doesn't even have to be clicked. You can go to sites that are trustworthy, and a pop-up will or may come up that contains ransomware. It will take over your whole computer and you have to pay to get all of your files back. Sometimes even if you pay, the scammers have already moved on, but they will receive the money and you will receive no key to unlock your computer.
@DreekLass, I see, that's pretty scary.. For some reason I still feel "safe" though, lol. Maybe when my PC finally gets infected badly that's the only time I will get alarmed, lol. I know most AV's now have found a way to get around to fighting that ransomware.
Let's hope your PC doesn't get infected at all. Do you have a smartphone that you can use instead? They don't seem to get viruses as often as computers do, though they still can. You can back your computer up just in case your computer gets infected.
@DreekLass, Well right now I'm just relying on memory cards and flash drives to back up my data. I find external drives expensive, but I do intend to save up to buy one in the future. My smartphone also does not have an AV, but I only go to "safe sites" so I feel secure as well with my phone.
I do the free scan online but I used to buy Norton for my computer. It works find, I honestly can't tell the difference between the two but every little bit counts. I think you should buy the best antivirus program if you work with sensitive information or you know you visit bad sites. Otherwise, I free scan usually works just fine.
I have an external hard drive. My sister purchased it for me as a gift two Christmas' ago or so. It still works, was fairly cheap, and has only ever crashed and wiped everything from it once. I use it to back up my system should anything with it go wrong. It's great for reformatting and saving data too.
@DreekLass, Good for you that you have one. They can save terrabytes of data, so naturally they are expensive. I think they go for around $75 up, so until I can afford one I would make do with those flash drives, a 16 GB one costs only around $10 to $12 nowadays.
Yes, but they have been shown to be quite unstable, often just crashing and wiping millions of files from existence, and then on top of paying for the actual hard drive - which you said yourself, they aren't cheap - you have to then go to a store to pay even more to have your files sent off and retrieved. Never happened to me though.
@DreekLass, You can use a free software recovery tool anyway, that's what I always do if my files get hidden from my USB. I also am not inclined to pay a lot of money just to have my data recovered.
Yes, I have used those in the past. But the free ones always seem to return a lot of your lost data in a jumbled or corrupt state, which sucks. Even the paid ones, which can be pretty expensive from my experience. do not always recover your data well. It's hit and miss.
@DreekLass, I noticed that videos and large files don't really stand a chance to be recovered when they get accidentally deleted. However, you have a good chance of recovering your lost photos and mp3 files, since the file isn't so large. EASEUS does a good job of recovering lost data, the old versions, since the latest ones make you pay nowadays before you get to recover your data.
I found the most trouble with recovery to be with the JPEG picture files. They'd come up corrupt when you would click them, and some would not even open at all, which is a shame as pictures are often worth a lot of sentimental value. EASEUS is one that I think I have used before, and I came up with the same hit and miss results. The mp3 files were jumbled too.
@DreekLass, I guess that depends if the file was overwritten or not. I used that when the files in my memory card became hidden because I inserted it in an internet cafe, and I got to recover most of my files except for the videos and some mp3's. It depends on how corrupt the files became.
You're lucky that that has been your experience. Every time it's happened to me, the files that I don't care all that much for are always perfectly fine, and my most coveted ones are the ones with the blemishes that cannot be removed. Even if I pay money, they will still be corrupt.
I use a free library borrow netbook. I found Microsoft Security Essential and gave the info to the library and now it's on the netbook, so I'm happy about it, plus it works so good. I'm planning to get my own computer in Nov. and keeping my fingers crossed for good sales when I buy my own computer and will be putting Microsoft Security Essential on it too. I'll also start Microsoft Defender too on my own computer too. Love free protection always!
@DreekLass, Well, I guess that it just depends on the part of the flash drive where the file got overwritten. Unfortunately, once a file has become corrupt, it can't be repaired anymore, even if some software companies claim otherwise.
i am using free Antivirus Microsoft Security Essentials download from Microsoft official website... and i have not any ideas about paid Antivirus software that's way i could not say some thing about it....
Yes I've been using MalwareBytes as well and I can say that it really protects my PC from harmful malware and Trojans. I began using it after I've tried using several free antivirus like Avast, Avira and AVG, and they doesn't seem to work well perhaps I purchase the full version. I've been using MalwareBytes for quite some time now and I can say that it's quite impressive in light of the fact that you can actually use it without paying anything, but of course, there are more benefits in the paid version and I might as well purchase it soon.
Currently, I am using paid antivirus. However, I have used free antivirus in the past. When I was using free antivirus, I did not encounter any problems, thus, I believe free antivirus work as well as paid version. I began using paid version because it got it free from my friend. He bought antivirus that could be used in three computer and after installing on his laptop, he gave to me. If I had not got it free, I would have continued to use free antivirus.
