Why is it that...

[Walking-Decoy]

whenever I format my PC I feel like I just lost 15lbs of fat? Like, I seriously love having a freshly formatted pc. Does anyone feel the same? I feel it in my inner nerd.

I actually enjoy the process of DLing everything again and getting all the latest drivers... Though one thing I'm going to do this time is get everything setup and then create and image or restore point to make it easier next time. You would think being a backup and recovery guy for work I'd do this naturally, but in the past I just said fuck it, lol.

[Walking-Decoy]

Oh and does anyone here play around with using any sort of Virtual Machines on their boxes for uhh...let's say..uhh... less...honorable...website..browsing? This from what I hear has the added benefit of "Oh damn got a virus... oh well, let's delete this VM and bring up a new one" without having to ever worry about the virus attacking your actual real Windows install.

Not like THAT is the reason I am formatting or anything. COUGH COUGH COUGH.


Oh and in the world of Anti-Virus, how is Norton Security Suite? I get it free by having a Comcast Cable subscription so I figured why not? I hear both good and bad about it, but wanted to ask some other geeks I know personally.. and you fuckers are the first the popped into my head.

[SylenT]

I know people that use VMs for the "less honorable website browsing" lol and yea you can just take a screenshot of the VM in a clean state and if you happen to get a virus.. just restore the snapshot.

As for antivirus... check out Microsoft Security Essentials.. its free, fast and pretty good. Many of the IT pros in my office including myself are big fans and use it at home. Norton is a fucking joke please do not even think about it.

Edit: My basis on Norton is that it usually costs money.. in your case it doesn't and I've had it completely fuck up clients PCs and had to remove the program. You have to download a special Norton uninstall tool just to get it off your PC. Its ridiculous. One time it blocked all Internet traffic and the only way I could get it back was to uninstall Norton. It was like having a damn virus. I'm not 100% sure on this but it most likely hogs more resources than MSE also. You can try it out if ya want but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

[Walking-Decoy]

^Sounds good, but do you have any reasoning why Norton is bad? Again, not saying I don't believe you because I'm learning that way, it's just I just only hear opinions on if it's good\bad but never really a "Why".

[SylenT]

Sorry i realized you might want some reasons after I posted and edited the post.

[TimmBozels]

Norton is really bloated, IMO, as are many other anti-virus suites such as McAfee. Back when I used anti-virus I stuck with either AVG or Comodo. Both are relatively light-weight, free to use, and easy to use/customize. To be completely honest, I usually tell people that anti-virus isn't exactly necessary if you have a solid router and smart internet browsing habits, but it's really up to the individual user.

[SylenT]

Yea I ran without any anti-virus for about 2 years. Finally found Security Essentials and it was so light weight that I don't even know its there. Its more of a peace of mind kind of thing now. I used AVG a lot back in the day. Its just not as good as it used to be. Seems to slow down systems more too. Can't speak on Comodo I have never used it.

[Christine]

i also use Microsoft Security Essentials, never had an issue with my pc...altho im not lookin at dirty gay porn (man v man) like decoy is ...just the norm good ole porn of 2 hot girls goin at it : )

[Mr K1tty]

I use Symantec corp edition since I have a free copy of it. It does pretty well. I'm also OCD about my browser accepting cookies... I never accept 3rd party cookies, and I never accept a cookie for a website if I don't have to log into in. I also run a VPN in addition to having a router. I've never had trouble with spyware as a result no matter how many less than reputable sites I may happen to be browsing ... (note I include things like facebook in that category). I do a lot of downloading through Usenet and have yet to be hit with a virus, though several have tried.

I like to format my computers at least once a year to keep things smooth. I run a derangement daily (defraggler, much more efficient than windows). I run system cleaners and registry checkers about once every other month too along with checking msconfig for any processes I don't recognize. But I'm a little OCD about how my computer runs.

I worked in the public computer repair sector for 10 years and 98% of my job was cleaning spyware/viruses off peoples computers because the lure of "click for free money" was just too much for people to resist.

I also run 2 computers ... 1 strictly for gaming, no web browsing, no media, nothing but gaming. Then a server for all my media, file storage, downloading, and daily computer usages.

[areyouholdin]

I run Norton Internet Security and have had no issues. I've also had very good experiences with Kaspersky in the past, but this year's Norton had better reviews online.

And yes, formatting a computer is a feeling only a nerd can understand.

[Gohda]

When you're installing fresh...

"Oh man, I installed the wrong driver!"

*zeroes drive and restarts*

Nerd OCD.

[Puss in Boots]

I just reformatted everything on Sunday myself. I had been running the same install of Windows 7 for over 3 years. True story. Only at about the 3 year mark did it start malfunctioning a little bit. Very pleased with Windows 7 and have no intent on moving to Social Media Network 8.

[Mr K1tty]

Windows 8 = windows ME? My logic with windows is wait till sp1 and then decide if i'll use or skip.

[Gln]

I do it every 3-6 months or so.

Even when you uninstall software registry entries are left behind that after time clog up your machine.

[Dragoon]

[quote name='SylenT' timestamp='1354562710' post='4744']
I know people that use VMs for the "less honorable website browsing" lol and yea you can just take a screenshot of the VM in a clean state and if you happen to get a virus.. just restore the snapshot.

As for antivirus... check out Microsoft Security Essentials.. its free, fast and pretty good. Many of the IT pros in my office including myself are big fans and use it at home. Norton is a fucking joke please do not even think about it.

Edit: My basis on Norton is that it usually costs money.. in your case it doesn't and I've had it completely fuck up clients PCs and had to remove the program. You have to download a special Norton uninstall tool just to get it off your PC. Its ridiculous. One time it blocked all Internet traffic and the only way I could get it back was to uninstall Norton. It was like having a damn virus. I'm not 100% sure on this but it most likely hogs more resources than MSE also. You can try it out if ya want but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
[/quote]
From working with a VAR for 3 years I have seen about every flavor of Norton that exist and will have to say that I agree with this statement, I have seen it cause problems, rather from just being a resource hog in general, to actually BSODing machines.

[quote name='Gallitin' timestamp='1354594214' post='4772']
I do it every 3-6 months or so.

Even when you uninstall software registry entries are left behind that after time clog up your machine.
[/quote]
Running a program such a Ccleaner that looks for orphaned registry files can alleviate this issue some but I think the eventually and occasional reformat is definately necesssary.

[SylenT]

Windows 8 is not ME. And its really not that bad. You dont need to use the start menu.. I never use it. It has a slight learning curve with the new features but I like it so far.

[Zolyrica]

I'll save you some trouble, ignore anything Norton, he may have started working for Microsoft but I think he held a grudge and just worked to kill our OS. McAfee does more harm than good. Go wtih Nod32 Business Edition(or any edition really) or Kaspersky I hear is good, but never really got into it. I just make sure I know what I'm dl'ing and where from so I don't usually have to worry about viruses. SWIM knows most of the most popular pirated content providers and knows who to trust in the high seas of online piracy. xD Of course if you're a law abiding citizen then the free ones are everywhere that are really nice to have, spybot search and destroy, and everyone always raves about avg which I did like for a while but then it got too mainstream and my inner hipster chimed in and I couldn't do it anymore. lmao Oh oh oh so back to the point I meant to address, I love having a fresh computer, but since most of the things I have on my HDD tend to have more than 20Gb worth of updates to each, so that's the part I hate, waiting like an hour for those things to update. >.> #firstworldproblems #hashtagsaregay

[Walking-Decoy]

Meh... I think I'll stick with Norton for now... After loading up VMWare and creating a "surfing" VM, I'm sure I'll be safe.

Any unknown sites that I havent been on for years without issue will be done on the VM.

[MGSgt.Reaper]

Yeah that is one way of going about it or you can just have free copies of Windows 7 and have so many spare parts you can always have a junk machine. As one of my professors once told me " I don't get a virus I collect them", why I have multiple systems and a laptop. It does get annoying for updating drivers and such because I feel like I am at work and not doing something because I want to. What VMWare are you using?