COMMON INTERNET and VIRUS ISSUES
COMMON INTERNET and VIRUS ISSUES
1. When you open the browser, does the computer crash?
2. Are you no longer able to access sites which you used to be able to access? (such as secure government sites?)
3. What’s the difference between a home and business antivirus solution?
Ever came across these questions?
Read below to become an Internet and browser guru!
BROWSER CRASHING?
You open up your Google Chrome, and the computer shuts down. Why?
Lately we have seen numerous issues where the computer suddenly crashes when the Internet browser is opened.
They tend to suddenly shut down, get the “blue screen of death” or something else that tends to mean the PC is dying.
The solution?
Look to see what Internet filters and anti-virus solutions you have installed and running on your computer.
9 out of 10 times, the answer will be the K9 filter and Avast anti-virus.
And therefore?
Both the filter, and the anti-virus software are looking to protect you.
The filter, from sites/ categories which you want to be blocked.
The anti-virus, from virus/malware and other malicious attempts at your computer.
Therefore, since in essence, both solutions are standing at the entrance to your computer and looking to protect you, they are fighting with each other, hence the crashing.
How to fix it?
Since you probably want to keep the free filter and antivirus solution, we recommend uninstalling Avast and installing AVG.
PLEASE NOTE: If you need assistance, please call our office 10-6 Monday – Thursday and 10-1 on Fridays. There are malicious sites which look like AVG.
NO LONGER ABLE TO ACCESS WEBSITES?
Many of our clients which deal with government sites, such as ACRIS are having issues accessing parts of the website. Why? What can you do to fix this?
There are many browser available.
All Windows PC’s come with Internet Explorer pre-installed, and all MAC’s come with Safari pre-installed.
Many users tend to install Mozilla Firefox and/or Google Chrome as well.
What does a browser actually do?
A browser converts the web search to an IP address, finds the address, and loads it on your screen.
Since the website would like to do “cool” or have interactive functionality, it requires additional software to run.
This additional software is called plugins.
Google Chrome is in the process of phasing out plugins.
Therefore, certain websites which relied on the plugins to function, no longer function properly.
What to do about it?
For starters, try a different browser.
See the FAQ page on the particular website to see what they recommend.
Revert to an older version of your browser, so that the plugins can work for the time being.
HOME VS. BUSINESS ANTI-VIRUS SOLUTION
There are many anti-virus solutions on the market. Not all are created equally, and some are even viruses themselves! For this discussion, we will discuss the difference between a home and business solution.
A home PC may be adequately protected with a free anti-virus solution.
However, there are certain features which come with a paid solution.
Today we will discuss Norton home product vs Symantec Endpoint Protection.
Both solutions are a paid product.
Recently, Norton has been on sale for $60 for 10 PC’s for the first year.
Symantec Endpoint Protection, costs approximately $30/user/year.
So what’s the difference?
Both products offer the same anti-virus/malware and Sonar protection.
The difference between them is the management option which comes with the business solution (SEP/ Symantec Endpoint Protection).
With Norton security, each computer is “it’s own world”. This means that any changes to the settings and alerts have to be done on the individual PC.
With Symantec Endpoint Protection, all the computers are centrally managed. This can be done either from a management software installed on a computer or via a cloud management console.
Within the console, one can…
– Adjust the frequency of the computer full scans
– See any alerts or intrusion attempts on the dashboard
– Adjust firewall settings
– Adjust which computers can “talk” to other computers within the network
– Allow/block USB sticks from being connected to any of the networked computers
What are your thoughts?
Please let us know!
Email us at newsletters@avenuemcomputers.com
Please note:
If you are not comfortable following these instructions, please contact us for assistance.
We take no responsibility for attempting any of the above mentioned steps or instructions.