A
female
age
30-35,
anonymous
writes: I'm really nervous for my best friend, she told me she downloaded about 20 songs the other day off a pretty dodgy website. And ever since she has her computer has been running really slow, crashing and all sorts.I said she should tell her dad, but she like most teens, are scared of what the reaction will be. Especially since he said if she gets caught he looses his job and might go to jail, that and they would have to pay so much she might not be able to continue uni because the debt they'd be in from the fine. It's stupid she did it, in fact i sat with her and told her not to, so she does have herself to blame!But reality is, she's my best friend and the stress and how much it's upsetting her worries me, i mean do you think she'll go to jail and everything her dad said will happen to them?I know the chances of getting caught are minimal, but sometimes you could be that 1/100 people that get caught and she seems to think that she has and is scared every time the phone rings, or gets a letter through her door. I mean if her computer is anything to judge by... it's not looking good for her! Any advice please! Then I can show this to her after and she can read for herself....
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Fancy yourself as an agony aunt? Add your answer to this question! A
female
reader, mooh +, writes (16 August 2012):
There are plenty of free antivirus softwares (like on download.com) so if you can install one then it can the detect viruses on the computer and get rid of those. Another is to re-install the whole operating system (but then you have to save all files and re-install certain softwares that were already on the computer).
Maybe your friend's father was trying to scare her from doing dodgy things with the computer by mentioning jail time and fines, as this is his computer from work.
A
male
reader, I love TDG +, writes (16 August 2012):
Malaware Bytes Anti-Malaware. Will solve all her problems, it's a free anti-virus software and catches almost EVERYTHING. For example, I've scanned my computer with McAfee and nothing shows up, then Malawarebytes will find a virus.
It's great, and I definatly reccomend using it.
As for getting caught, don't worry about it.
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A
female
reader, maverick494 +, writes (15 August 2012):
No worries, she just picked up a trojan virus. I once got one claiming it was the police and that I had to pay a $1000 fine right away for them to unlock my computer again. Truth is, there is no such thing. I cleaned my computer up and it was gone. I have downloaded tons of stuff, literally a harddrive full. I never got caught. I did get the odd virus here and there, but I can always get rid of those.
These days you don't need to hire tech guys to fix your computer. You can easily do it yourself. Go here: http://www.techsupportforum.com/forums/f50/new-instructions-read-this-before-posting-for-malware-removal-help-305963.html
As the title suggests it's a support forum. Read the above link first, then register there and follow their suggestions. They're going to ask you install and run specific software, which will produce logfiles at the end of its run. You need to post that logfile in your thread so they can analyse it and see what else needs to be done. They will continue to help you until the computer is completely clean again and it's for free.
Don't worry, all will be fine. Just next time, make sure she has a fire wall like Online Armor for example. As for downloading music, you can easily download specific tracks from beemp3.com. When you do this, do it through a proxy server so they can't locate you. (A good example of a proxy server is hidemyass.com)
Good luck OP and if you have any questions I'll be happy to answer
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A
female
reader, Honeypie +, writes (15 August 2012):
There are plenty free DL websites with programs that can help her.
Like adAware, Spybot, Spyblaster and it could be she just needs to do a restore (set the date to a few dates before the songs were downloaded).
She still ought to tell her dad. If she tells maybe they together can fix it or take it to someone who can.
She CAN get fined, I don't think jail time. But... only if she gets caught. So.. your friend needs to not do it again and talk to her dad.
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