New Computer Oops

A friend got a new computer last year.  They got a very nice 64-bit, 17 inch HP Notebook.  It had a large hard drive, 6 GB of RAM and lots of free or trial software. One of which was a quite nice and usually expensive antivirus program.

The free software is standard in the market today.  Each manufacturer tries to include Microsoft Office products or some other popular, desirable program that could be costly.  That way you may buy their brand over a competitor’s.  All new computers offer one of the well-known brand names of antivirus software.

New systems also include programs installed that many people never use or need.  These applications are called "Bloatware" or more lovingly "Crapware."  Both words tell you what the computer communities think of them.  More on that next week.

I see a problem with many of the important programs "given" to you with a new computer.  Specifically, those offering you free antivirus protection.  They are not lying.  They give you a full version of one of the big boys’ antivirus software for free (read trial).  However, that being said they also expire after a definite time. 

I do not appreciate this sneaky way companies try to get you to buy their products.  The antivirus software works great for the 30-90 days (or in rare cases six months) then it quits.  This would be like you taking a plane trip to Europe and half way across the Atlantic your free baggage storage expires.  So your bags are jettisoned from the plane. 

Before your trial version totally quits it gives you pop up warnings.  Most people ignore popups since they are usually ads for something to separate you from your money.  Many users do not know what to do anyway.  They may think that they bought their computer with "free" antivirus so the pop up must be from something else.  Some people fall for the ads and purchase the usually overpriced application. 

Now back to my friend’s story. Apparently their pop ups started telling them to purchase the license for the antivirus.  They, as many, many others, did not do so.

They brought their computer to me to see if I could check it out and see why it was doing strange things.  As soon as I tried the first webpage I knew they at least had Malware running rampant.  Pop up ads going crazy is the signal.  Then I checked the antivirus software…it had expired months ago.

After running repair apps for several nights I found that the computer had almost 3,800 malware items running on it along with a couple of hundred viruses.  If you have no antivirus software running this will happen to you too – guaranteed! 

Next week we will look at other things you can do to "fix" your new computer.