How in danger of malware etc am I?

I'm a minor user of computers. As a musician I have a lot of mp3's like to post on
twitter check my email and go to ahem adult sites sometimes. Its really a hobby
computer.
I was a victim a couple of weeks ago of secure guard scareware that locked up my computer wanted 100$ and wouldn't let me go anywhere telling me the computer is infected.
this was not detected on my computer.
My twitter was highjacked and I changed the passwords on everything. after sending infected links to everyone.
So I took it to my computer guy as I'm not tech enough to deal with it to get it off.
So here's my question
I bought Macafee have it constantly scanning. I have this thing that green lights amber lights and warns of bad sites.
I'm low income. I'll upgrade sometime to another used computer.
I like Xp But am I safe enough? Its a pain to take the music and everything migrated off
computer.
I don't understand why if over 20% of the market -someone isn't going to support it for
us on a subscription basis for whatever patches it might need.
I mean people still repair VW Bugs.
I'm suspicious of the internet info that suggest the sky is about to fall on us
and we are irresponsible for wanting to keep using this.
Thanks
Mike

 

I also updated all the drivers and got the last Microbastard updates.

 

First I do not know how long McAfee is going to support xp, nor is mcafee considered very compatible with windows.

you need a good antivirus running in real time

on demand scanner for malware and spyware

adblocker

stop using internet explorer use firefox or chrome

most adult sites will have malware, just do not click on anything as this is what gets onto your pc.

If your pc was hacked, it is good that you have changed all passwords, but you should do a complete reinstall to insure pc is totally clean.

or you can go to a malware removal forum and see if you are still infected.

================

On two of my xp's I am running 360 Internet Security from Quiho, and on one I am using avast , both are free.

http://www.360safe.com/
http://www.avast.com/index

http://www.malwarebytes.org/products/

you should also get either secunia psi or some other program that insures your programs are up to date.

Other than that just surf safely.



for malwarebytes I use MBAB

 

Thanks for the info.Already
Malware found 6 items including a couple of hijackers something turning off the firewall
and a speed up my pc thing I thought I got rid of.
and if thats for real macafee didn't get any of it and I paid 20 $ for it.

 

maybe you can get your $ back, but keep mbam, run quick scans daily and run a full scan once a week, keep it updated.

http://www.eset.com/us/online-scanner/

you also might want to go to above link and have them scan, it is a one time free scan, and Eset and Kaspersky are both very very good, but they do not offer a free antivirus, so if you are going to pay, go with Kaspersky as they will support xp for at least 4 more years.

 

You say you are low-income, and then you spend money you can't afford for something you don't need - there are any number of GOOD, free anti-virus programs available on the Net.
I'm going to tell you something now that supposed 'experts' will tell you not to do. I have been running five different anti-virus programs on my system for at least a couple years now, and each one catches something that each of the others missed (think about that, and see what that tells you about av programs).
Another thing I do, and experts will tell you you don't have to do, is partition your hard drive. Viruses only go after your operating system, and if you're machine is partitioned, with the OS on one partition (the "C" partition), YOUR data, e.g. mp3's, etc, will be completely safe, even if you have to format and re-install the OS.
According to most experts, what I do to protect my system is old-fashioned, but, my system is as close to bullet-proof as it can be made.
As for MS Updates: if they were so good, and effective, why would still need anti-virus and malware software on your system, to protect your system.
You may be a newbie, but that shouldn't be any reason to stop you from thinking, and learning how your system works, and find out for yourself how to keep your system safe and clean.
If you connect to the Internet, you're not secure, so you better do some homework.
If you want to contact me directly - [email protected]

 

malware protection?

I've found a product called AppGuard - that I've been using for 6 weeks or so.

I bought it for two reasons: 1) it claims that it “stops computer viruses and malware – even zero-day malware – from harming you and your PC.”; 2) it’s a one-time fee (no updates, no subscriptions)
What is does is look for bad behavior. So it doesn't need to be updated.
Hope this helps. Can't give you the URL as I'm a newbee.