Resolved Questions about new college laptop

My son is starting college this month as a freshman, and I ordered him a new laptop from HP with Windows 8 on it. It came yesterday and he followed directions about starting it up. It came with a 30 day McAfee subscription.

I had told him that we would put software on it to keep it clean, but tonight I found out that he already activated the McAfee and has gone online with the thing to set up his college email address.

Before he leaves for college with it, what else should I put on it? I've gotten wonderful help here in the past with cleaning up computers that were infected, but I'm wondering what the current recommendations are for programs.

Also, I am a teacher and can get Office 2007 from our tech department to put on it. I don't quite understand why, but it's some license they have for teachers in the district for their home computers etc . . . . Will Office 2007 be fine for this computer? Or should I buy a newer one?

Thanks for your help.

Musiclady
Betsy

 

You can delete McCrappy thru the control Panel/Programs and then click on McCrappy and uninstall it.

For Security programs, look at my signature and you can go to www.majorgeeks.com and download all of them. Or go to the website of the program and download them. Some of them will take you to Cnet which for the last year or so has been known to download other junk without your knowledge.

If he uses IE, go to Tools/Internet Options/Privacy/Advanced and Block 3rd party cookies.

Did he make the recovery CD/DVD that it should of asked for? That should be the first thing to do.

Upgrading to 8.1 is also recommended.

 

You should clean the laptop of the preinstalled junk. I use The PC Decrapifier.

You could install Office 2007 but ask your tech department if you can use it on the laptop.

 

I would definitely clean out the McAfee as MrBill suggested. Go to Store and request W8.1 updates and upgrade.
Use Defender as the AV - there is no need to use other AV's.
Yes MS Office Professional 2007 is installed on my W8.1's and works without hitch.
I prefer Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird but you may have to stay with IE for College preference. Web of Trust is a good Addon through Mozilla. It gives you a Green Ring alongside Safe websites and Orange for dodgy and RED for bad ones. Neil.

 

Ummm, I am sure that is NOT what MrBill meant.

Windows 8 comes with the new Windows Defender built in. So don't download that. And WD in W8 is essentially the same as MSE for W7 and older Windows. So don't download MSE either.

I agree that Office 2007 will work fine.

Do note that McAfee is an excellent anti-malware program as far as keeping systems free of malware. But like most commercial "suites" it is expensive and tends to be bloated (hogs resources - disk space, RAM and CPU cycles). With WD and Windows Firewall, you don't need McAfee.

That said, regardless which antimalware solution used, I recommend the use of a second scanner just to verify the primary scanner, or the user (ALWAYS the weakest link in security) didn't let something slip by. I prefer MBAM for that.

 

MBAM = Malwarebytes Anti-Malware

 

Thank you all for your replies. Tomorrow morning my son and I are sitting down with the new laptop to follow your instructions.

Thanks!
Betsy
musicteacher

 

In the last 2 days, we have done the following on the new laptop:

Used the McAfee Removal Tool to take it off
Activated Windows Defender for Anti-Virus (but I read some reviews on how this makes a computer run much slower???)
Installed SpywareBlaster
Installed MBAM
Installed Office 2007

Just a few minutes ago, we were beginning to get WOT, but the laptop started acting strange and this message appeared:

Repairing Disc Errors . . . This may take up to an hour to complete,

but after about 10 minutes, it finished and now the computer looks normal. Why would it have to fix disc errors 4 days out of the box?

Do I need Spybot if I have the others?

Thanks!
Betsy
musicteacher

 

I asked my son if the computer asked him to make a recovery CD or DVD and he said no. Is that something we should do, and if so, what do I do?

Also, he said that it came with Windows 8.1 already on it.

Thanks!
Betsy

 

Stopped using Spybot a long time back. MBAM & SuperAntispyware are much better options.

 

Why did you stop using Spybot? Did you look at my signature? That is all I use. SAS doesn't hurt to have on there though.

 

According to broni, both Spybot and AdAware were "past their sell by dates" a long time ago.

 

And I agree with broni. Back in the day (way back!!!) Spybot and AdAware were the one-two punch users needed to stop spyware. But spyware and anti-malware solutions (which include anti-spyware) have changed significantly in the last 10 years or so. Separate scanners for spyware are no longer needed because anti-malware solutions already scan for spyware. So adding another is redundant and resource hogging with no added security. And TeaTimer was notorious for bogging down systems.

With a modern OS kept updated, and a decent anti-malware solution, you don't need them. But if you are still running XP and connecting to the Internet, STOP! You are a threat to the rest of us. If you refuse , then load up on all those tools out of respect, consideration and for the safety of your fellow netizens.

 

AdAware had been a thing of the past for a long time. The 2. version of Sypbot still updates regular and finds things if there are any to find. Used it along with other stuff not long ago to clean up a PC.

But, to each his own.

 

If you don't experience any bloat or hogging of resources (and not everyone does) then I agree because while these have fallen from many's list of recommended security programs, neither is malicious.

But IMO, with MSE (W7) or WD (W8) you don't need SB S&D, especially since you also use MBAM and SpywareBlaster (which I don't use anymore either) - assuming you otherwise keep Windows fully updated, and you don't participate in illegal filesharing via Torrents or P2P sites.

 

I don't do any P2P or download music or movies. But the ones I work on do. I have told a couple that this was the last time if they continue to use stuff like this. Some have listened and some keep on trucking their way.

 

That seems to be age related because the younger set is, of course, invincible and as any will tell you, it will not happen to them!

 

Well, the ones I am talking about are between 8 and 80.