OK you PC Guru's. I need help!!

[Ned]

I removed the potentially dangerous URL from your original message.  I hope Sophos did fix it and not just steal all your important information in that 2 hours   I would never let anyone I didn't know personally have remote access to a computer of mine, or of a friend's computer.  The risk is just too great.

 

[Rene T]

I removed the potentially dangerous URL from your original message.  I hope Sophos did fix it and not just steal all your important information in that 2 hours   I would never let anyone I didn't know personally have remote access to a computer of mine, or of a friend's computer.  The risk is just too great.

Thanks Ned for removing the URL.  Most people are not computer literate so they have to rely on total strangers as in my case. I can only keep my fingers crossed. I don't keep anything on my PC that anyone would need. 

 

[Ned]

You don't need to rely on strangers, just a small program called TeamViewer, an internet conneciton and a trusted friend that's computer knowledgeable.

As for what's on your PC, if you've let your browser save logon credentials for various sites, or your email program has stored your email credentials, then you have valuable information that a hacker would really like to get at.

 

[Rene T]

The only thing I can say was that I did watch what he was doing pretty much the entire time so I feel I'm OK.  It's not like I just dropped it off at some computer repair shop and left. 

 

[Ned]

It's not like I just dropped it off at some computer repair shop and left. 

It's exactly like that.  There could be many things going on that you couldn't see.

 

[Larry N.]

It's exactly like that.  There could be many things going on that you couldn't see.

Amen! I'm no more trusting than Ned, and for the same reasons -- there's just too many ways for someone to do bad things to your machine without you knowing it.

 

[Mopar1973Man]

One of the main reason I got out of the Windows world and went to Linux no more issues with virus, malware, etc. I'm currently running Ubuntu 14.04 LTS Linux and can do everything all you can do without the worries. There is only a handful of software I have to run in VirtualBox (Win 7) but that's my Garmin updater, my fire radio programmer, etc. Only 4 programs in total.

Now as for support. I've converted several machines over to Linux and the neat part is I've been supporting these people from home. I've got a friend in Walla Walla, WA that all I need is his IP address and I can login and update, configure, install, fix, etc. and never have to physically have the computer nor do I need him to give up the keyboard and mouse. Silently do the repair and send him a email telling him it's fixed. 

Great part is since Android is Linux based both my tablet and Linux PC work hand in hand perfect. No issues at all. Then being I'm also a web site owner as well and that server is CentOS Linux so all my networking and such is seemless.

 

[Ned]

I've got a friend in Walla Walla, WA that all I need is his IP address and I can login and update, configure, install, fix, etc. and never have to physically have the computer nor do I need him to give up the keyboard and mouse. Silently do the repair and send him a email telling him it's fixed. 

I've been doing that for years with TeamViewer.  Works on Windows, OS X, Linux, and Android.

Don't be over confident, Linux is just as vulnerable to malware as any other operating system.  You need to take the same precautions as everyone else, regardless of OS.

 

[Alfa38User]

Windows now has that "Remote Desktop" built right in. The problem lies in that most users do NOT know how to disable it or are unaware of it's existence. Those nice technicians from India, who keep phoning you to help you with the Windows problem you did not know you had, are just counting on that!!!

I did a bit of remote support using VNC or UVNC and one or two others in the past along with a dynamic dns service. Years ago we did this with dial-up accesses.

 

[Ned]

Remote Desktop has been a part of Windows for many years and should be turned off unless really needed.  It isn't as secure or flexible as most 3rd party solutions, like TeamViewer, and is more difficult to set up.  It works best in an enterprise environment and I use it to maintain several Windows servers as well as other computers at our local library.