Mac/PC Windows/Viruses etc.......

Hi everyone.
I've always used PC's and never tried a mac.
I'm not a computer expert by any means, so please bear with me.....
My desktop stays on almost 24/7. I get laxed in my virus and spyware scans and usually after 2 years the computer slows to a crawl. I go back and do a reformat (not a whole reformat) through the HP guide, but it's never as fast as new again. Then I either give a PC guy $100 to go over everything or just scrap it and buy a new one.
Are virsues and things becoming more common now with macs?
If I run windows on a mac, do I need to have the same AV software as I do now?
It looks like everything I do now could be done on a mac without any issues with the exception of MS Frontpage.
I use that to do some basic business web sites for myself and I suppose I could still use it on a mac in bootcamp or something?
Was anyone else in my shoes here?
- Dave

 

Well windows on a Mac is still windows, you will need a anti virus.

 

There are things you can do to make your PC clean itself automatically... get AVG Free, get it to do a daily scan at a time you don't use the computer, and get CCLeaner to clean your computer at startups.

 

Mac's/OSx have built in self-cleaning which helps them from not succumbing to the slow-down that PCs have. Although this is more related to the problems with having a registry system in windows, and the corruption that occurs over time of the registry.
As for virus's. There has just this week been the first case (I can remember) of one released into the wild... notably its only in illegal software (iwork and PS4) downloaded from torrent sites. If you do this on a pc then your also likely to get a virus too... even more so as there is alot more software infected with alot of different virus's.
But in general, with smart usage, you can currently run a Mac (OSx) safely without anti-virus or spyware software.
a

 

You can't fix bad software with good hardware

That wasn't a virus but a trojan. A virus is a program who's purpose is to disrupt a software system. A trojan is a program that provides access privileges to a computer system that can be exploited by another user/program. A trojan does nothing by itself. Also, a user of a system must give permission for the trojan to run.

 

and a trojan sits in the list of malwares

 

1. Cleaning the Registry is very easy (CCleaner will do it for you, free of charge).
2. The infamous 'slowdown' is more reminiscient of Windows 95 than it is of Vista. Vista is self-optimizing.
3. The "iWork '09 case" is definitely not the first.

Yes, Mac OS has very little malware out there. And yes, making a Windows system very safe is easy.

Predictions have it that as the Apple market share grows, the slime people call 'hackers' will turn to attacking Mac OS. I hope Snow Leopard will have added innate protection.

It's so often quoted but so often true: "Common_Sense.exe" is the best anti-malware there is.

 

vista is a lot more approved when it comes to slow downs, viruses, crashes then in xp. but if you work safely on a mac you probably won't have a problem

 

Yes ccleaner is great, but its one more thing to run, which was not what I think the OP wanted... so I was trying to point out that Mac runs these "cleaning" scripts by itself.
I switched to mac at the time of vista... I found vista too unstable and a pain when it was first released, so I never got to experience its long term stability. But with XP (and 2000, 98) I pretty much routinely did a clean install every 6 months or so.
Also as I only switched a few years back, my Mac virus memory is quite short, so for me this iwork and now PS4 virus is the first !

a

 

I switched my home environment this past weekend. In the past it was Windows-centrick with a 24 inch monitor and 17 inch monitor off a Dell desktop. I bout an external drive, copied Mac OS X to it from my MacBook Pro and moved the 24 inch monitor to work with the MacBook Pro. So the little 17 inch monitor sits in a corner while I am now Mac OS X centric at home. I already use Mac OS X 99% of the time at work.

Viruses and malware continue to come out for Windows so your malware detection and prevention software must be able to detect an ever-growing number of problems. That takes more and more resources over time and I expect that to continue into the future. I've heard that a high-powered quad-core system has the horsepower so that your antivirus/antispyware/firewall software consumes only a small percentage of CPU horsepower but my desktop is a few years old and has been slowing down linearly since I bought it.

If you download a bad executable on Mac OSX and run it, you can hose your system. I haven't had any security issues with Mac OSX. I've had a few with Windows. I can usually clean them up but it usually consumes a non-trivial amount of time and then ties up the system while I run multiple scans on it.

The new downadup worm is scary.

You should do best practices on Macs too. Use a tough password to crack as I think that we're going to get a generation of brute-force password crackers in the future.

 

Any OS is susceptible to attack by malware. Protecting your system require due diligence from software makers, IT staff, and the end user.

 

Registry cleaners are bad news. Steer clear of them unless you are a computer expert that knows what you are doing. Leaving the system registry up to a program to manage is a very bad idea. I have used them in the past and my system only became worse. Don't use registry cleaners.

And what I would recommend you do is buy an external hard drive so when in windows if you are experiencing slowdown you can transfer all your important files that you want to keep the the external hard drive, reformat your computer so it is as good as new, then transfer all your data back to your computer from your external hard drive.

 

Its a common misconception that "Macs can't get viruses", when the better statement is "Macs don't get viruses", in the sense that so far it hasn't had any major virus attacks, but its not invincible to it; no human-made creation is perfect, and OSes are obviously a part of that. It just happens that Mac OS X has not been a target yet; when it is, you'll surely hear about it!

Running Windows on a Mac is the same thing as running Windows on any other machine; you need antivirus and everything else that you need on a Dell or HP. If Windows gets infected though, by a Windows virus, it won't affect the Mac OS X side!

 

One safer way to run windows is using VM appliances. Need to run Firefox on Windows? Fire up a VM, run Firefox, when you're done, delete the VM and make another one.

 

1)no
2)there is a simple fix for that-don't ise pirated soft

 

Simply not using pirated software will not stop you from getting malware on a Mac. No, just no.

 

If you really want security, run VMS with Klingon language mode.

 

Viruses and Trojans are just programs, so if you can make programs for a OS you can make viruses/Trojans.

 

what do you want to say with this?to get a virus on a mac,you have to give it root access by entering password btw

 

Yes, and? Saying that you only can give root access to something that is pirated software is misleading. It could be something like the silly "baracknews.exe" crap that appeared recently. That's not pirated software.

 

I mean that you can't "virus" your mac by just plugging a flash in usb or kust downloading the infected file...you have to run it and give it your password,so if you know what you are doing it is pretty difficult to infect your mac!

 

A reminder... OSX is a slightly modified version of FreeBSD with a pretty GUI.

FreeBSD has had plenty of hacks and viruses and thus OSX is not immune either. Due dilligence is advised on ANY computer system. The more popular Mac becomes, the more likely it will be a target. Being smug on how safe you are is quite frankly asking for trouble.

Firewall, Antivirus, and recommended maintenance (or checking the automatic scripts) is indeed a wise idea regardless of what OS you use.

Technically, if you are running Vista properly this is required for Vista as well... it does not make Vista immune either. There are many ways to socially engineer a virus to fool a non-discerning eye.
Also, no offense intended, but someone who thinks hey are bullet-proof is easier to fool.

 

^yes,but I got my Vista system infected EVEN w/ UAC and Symantec endpoint protection 11...what i did was just plugging my friends USB.... had to use my mac to format my external HDD lost tons of info... And I also agree with your last sentence

P.S. UAC is the most annoying thing ever!

 

I must say that the dude who wrote that virus is a genius and must be given an award. I never had that happen my 16 years teching computers. Good job virus dude.

 

Vista (and thus UAC) has only been out for two years.

 

I was thinking about just hooking up a drive to Windows with a AV software and getting a virus from it. Anyhow I always applaud virus writers who can infect a lot of machines cause it take real genius to do so. Dont get to cocky Mac guys, Mac viruses are coming your way too. We must look at the whole picture too. Who the heck want to spend time to infect 7 percent of the world computers of Macs when you can go for 85 percent of the computer market for windows. Windows will give you more bragging rights for the fact that you can infect more machines. If Mac had 85 percent of the world computer market, I would assure you that the tables would be turned and Mac would be hit with majority of viruses.

 

2. is it why Vista takes 5 minutes to start and another 5 to shut down. Self-optimizing?

 

I've never run into any viruses for my PowerMac G5. Then again it isn't exactly like there's a lot of software for it these days.

How about a VAXStation? Or an old MIPs 3100? It might be a little challenging to find web browsers for those platforms.

 

I've had a mac for 9 years and have never run into a virus.

 

If it's taking that long you're doing something wrong. Maybe you've disabled ReadyBoost, to which ReadyBoot is tied?

A new Vista install takes a little more to boot - that's because it's still learning and optimizing. It becomes faster with each boot, up to a point, of course.

Jsdtoddard, sounds like common sense has been protecting you well!

 

Mine (Vista 64) takes 30 seconds or so...

According to Firing Squad, Vista and Windows 7 actually barely boots faster than XP at 20-24 seconds.

source:
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/windows_7_gaming_performance/page14.asp


Apparently macs take from 25-40 seconds depending on configuration.

Honestly who really cares as the few seconds of faster boot times Vista enjoys over mac are comparable really and not worth mentioning.

If you are taking 5 minutes to boot Vista, I think its time you paired down your startup programs or stopped making this stuff up.

lucky you!
I would suggest not leaving it to luck however.

 

Well said. Mine Vista 64 only takes around 30 seconds give or take 3 seconds. I do know what you mean, I see people make stuff up all the time and cant back it up. They are both great OS's. Just pick yours and be happy.

 

My Vista 64 system takes quite a while to boot up but it has a ton of hardware options and perhaps it takes some time to start them all up. I also have antivirus, Windows Defender, SpyBot Search and Destroy and one or two other malware programs and perhaps they take up some time to start up. Avast antivirus appears to download virus definitions with every startup and the system is very unresponsive until it has finished.

One thing that is very noticeable is shutdown time. It's 4 or 5 seconds on the MacBook Pro and 30 to 40 seconds on my Dell XPS M1330.

 

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh my.

The biggest source of malware by far is your Web Browser. Sites will say you need to install this or update that or get this program to run said video files. Adobe Flash and Acrobat are self updating by default. Any other video file that you run into, you can use VLC to play.

But if you aren't that confident in your computer skills, any Anti Virus will do. Pretty much all the major brands are offering Buy one for $0 after mail in rebate.