Am I wrong?

[Jason]

For the 3rd time this year my cousin has a virus on his computer.
I have removed the 2 previous ones; but this time I'm pissed because I use my internet every single day and I surf all over the place and only use windows defender as my protection, and I have't had any virus/spyware problems. When I ask him what caused the problem he gives me this crap "I just turned it on one day and it said I had a virus" I ask him what websites he was on he tells me he doesn't know and of course the internet history and url history is clear.

What I'm asking is, Am I wrong for telling him "oh well" this time or should I help him yet again; it's my little 14 year old cousin so I can't make him pay me or anything but I think this guy has earned a vacation from his computer.

 

[BlackBird.]

He probably goes to dirty websites, downloads a lot of crap, and doesn't know what is safe and what isn't. Same story with my brothers PC, he needs a reinstall all the time. Just wait a while with reinstalling or removing that virus, and then help him for the last time. Or give him some porn video's for his birthday so he doesn't have to download thim

 

[LeviTheDegu]

Next time you have to clean one off, install some parental controls.... that log the web history, then the following time find what what sites he's going to.

 

[eurocracy]

Next time you have to clean one off, install some parental controls.... that log the web history, then the following time find what what sites he's going to.

The quickest way to get someone to hate you is to put a parental control on their PC. For one if he doesn't want you seeing it, it's usually for a good reason and you should keep your nose out of it. Besides, there are always ways to remove them (If he wants you not to look he's going to try), I've had to destroy 3 of them already.

On topic, just teach him how to boot into safemode and run malwarebytes from time to time and also teach him how to format if it all really does go wrong.

 

[a pet rock]

Euro, if he doesn't know how to not get viruses or even how to get rid of them, chances are he wouldn't even notice Parental Controls. And if he did, he'd still have no idea how to get rid of them.

That being said, I would tell him that it's all his fault. It's completely a user-related error and that it's simple to fix so figure it out. But that might just be because I've got two older brothers and that kind of crap is okay with brothers.

 

[SoldierX77]

What rock said...

 

[USMC SatComm TeK Stubster]

Tell his parents because if he is getting viruses he is going to sites he shouldn't be going to in the first place.

 

[Monkey Brawler]

Honestly, most of us are guys and most of us go to the explicit websites and im sure you guys dont get these viruses. I know i never have. You may just have to re-install the OS, there could be something on there re-installing itself. You should cover the basics that you can be aware of when checking his PC. Making sure to tell him not to torrent or use p2p software of any kind. If the kid is smart enough to clear his history and/or download items using p2p, its about time for him to learn how to clean his PC.

 

[reflex99]

tell him you won't fix it next time.

I bet the problem will stop.

 

[vudu]

Another option is to setup a restore point. Microsoft has specifically released software that lets you roll back any changes. Other companies release this as "coffee shop" software. Another option is norton ghost or vmware.

 

[Cut Chem!st]

If you're using internet explorer, stop. Get firefox, download ad block plus. Will at least decrease the chances.

 

[Prisoner416]

Hostsman will block most ad/malware/spyware/pirate sites from accessing your computer, and it's free and easy to use.

http://www.abelhadigital.com/hostsman

 

[Gomezzz]

sounds like he needs linux!

 

[Dayman]

after three times of fixing it i would just go over there pick up the computer tell him you just lost this and throw it out the window. then go downstairs explain to your parents why you were driven to this decision and then he will be grounded and you get ice cream......mmmm ice cream *drools*