Windows 7: good security info

I had this folder on my hard-drive which had a lock icon on it. I looked in the folder and there was a file called install.exe. I tried to delete the folder and it wouldn't let me, said i needed admin priv. So i tried to delete the file within and it said the same thing. I am the admin. So i downloaded a program called Eraser to remove it and even it would not and it was written by a D.O.D. guy to shred data.
Finally...
I remembered a file i downloaded here awhile ago called Take Ownership which puts the option in the right-click menu. Took ownership and the folder/file is history.



I think this file was a virus or trojan or something bad because my pc got real sluggish all of a sudden a couple days ago and i just noticed the file. Long story short, download "Take Ownership".

cheers

yeah install.exe with a lock on it, sounds like the system quarantined it.
You probably could have deleted it easily if you had gone through your antivirus/defender.

kem,
quite often malware doesn't travel alone.

Strongly recommend performing a full scan of all of your drives with MalwareBytes from MalwareBytes.org. Link in my signature.

Or I probably could have drilled into the permissions maybe but this was quick.

Well I have no AV or FW installed but that is about to change. A couple hours ago I went to DuckDuckGo and got a plugin for Firefox that blocks all tracking.
duckduckgo is a search engine that does not put you in a filter bubble or track you like google does.
You wouldn't believe the massive tracking you are bombarded with the second you get on the web. The program is DoNotTrack+ or DNT+.

I'm installing comodo to lock down portals etc. and do a clean install.

thanks karl

Well all is good n clean with my pc. Didn't do a clean install, I installed avast, did a complete sys scan and a boot scan, it found 1 infection and deleted it. Then I turned off avast and installed comodo firewall then turned avast self protection back on and the 2 programs seem to be playing nice with each other. But I wonder if they will fight over who gets to put something in either sandbox ?

Tell me something: My pc is behind a router and without comodo all ports are closed except telnet and with comodo on they're all closed except telnet.
How can I close it ?

kem,
all I know is that the one and only anti-malware protection you need is MSE, Microsoft Security Essentials with link in my signature.

This link will provide you with solid, technical reasons for my choice of protection software.
Understanding Microsoft Anti-Malware Software 2012 ~ Security Garden

Thanks Karl,

I'll look over that 2mar. zZzz

One reason I bought a router was so that it provided firewall protection therefore no need for a software firewall. The router looks like it is closing all ports except 23 and even with comodo it's like that so I might dump comodo.

Does the mse have a sandbox ?

Hi Kem,

You still need a software firewall - both compliment each other.

A hardware firewall (router) is the first line of defense, but if it is breached and you do not use a software firewall, there is no second layer of defense to protect the PC's sitting behind the hardware firewall. Hardware firewalls tend to be less sensitive to traffic leaving your PC on its way out to the interent : quite a problem if you unknowingly have a malicious bit of software sending every keystroke you type back to some hacker. A hardware-based firewall will not recognise this activity as malicious, and will not block it.

A software firewall on the other hand plays the role of the secondary defense. It specialises in filtering all the outbound traffic from your PC to the internet, and has the ability to determine what is malicious traffic or not, based on several rules (which is why it is so important to keep your firewall software updated).

In a nutshell :

Hardware firewalls inspect and intercept inbound traffic from the internet to your PC
Software firewall inspect and intercept outbound traffic from your PC to the internet

I strongly recommend you install a software-based firewall.

Regards,
Golden

Well said,
the outbound traffic is one of main the reasons i acquired comodo.
You reminded me of why I should keep comodo.

thanks golden