A guest has been using my computer for the last 5 months and will now be moving out. He has downladed and added a bunch of programs/games to my computer which I think has caused it to slow down. Being the computer idiot I am, I was wondering if I could just restore it back to Aug.1, 2005 or do I need to go through manually and delete everything. Then how do I do all that? Thanks.
Yeah, you probably didn't have restore points going back to August (before this person started downloading things) so deleting each one manually was probably your best bet. Now that you've got it all deleted, I'd do four things: 1. Run TrendMicro's Housecall program. That's an excellent virus scan, it's free, and it doesn't leave anything running on your computer. 2. Download, install, update, and run Spybot Search & Destroy, which doesn't do viruses, but is great for other (more common) types of malware like spyware. 3. Download, install, update and run Ad-Aware. (make sure to look for and get the free version). Ad-Aware will generally get anything Spybot S&D misses. 4. System slowdowns are often caused by having a lot of unneeded crap lying around and gunking up your system registry, so you need to download, install, update and run a registry cleaner. RegistryFix works pretty well, just be sure to get the free version and don't agree to install any of the other bloatware they're pushing. Any questions?
Actually, I do have more questions. I have went to these sites and don't know where the things are I need to download. They say download here then it takes me to another page and then another when I click on the download here. :evil:
Ok, that isn't working for me either. It just got saved as a file or something. Ken, you know where I live and I could get you some beer if you would like to help with this issue too. :wink:
1. For TrendMicro's Housecall program, you don't download or install anything. Just go to the page I linked and click 'scan now'. Running that will take an hour or more though, depending on the size of your hard drive, so plan for the downtime. 2. CLICK HERE for a direct download of Spybot S&D. 3. CLICK HERE for a direct download of Ad-Aware. 4. CLICK HERE for a direct download of RegistryFix. Hope that helps. Please let me know if you have any further questions.
Ok, am I supposed to save this to disk? Because that is the only option I get. Then what? Is there more to do? I HATE COMPUTERS! :twisted:
Start with #1, OK? I listed them in the order that you should do them. Follow that link to TrendMicro that I posted, and click 'scan now'. Then just follow the directions and let it perform a complete scan of your system. Once that's done, come back and let me know, and then I'll walk you through the rest of the steps.
Ok, tried that but it said there was an error and then I did it again same thing happened. This is so frustrating. Case of beer for anyone who wants to come over and do this. :wink:
TrendMicro's Housecall gave you an error message? That's not good at all. I'm going to need some more info here... 1. What Operating System are you using? (Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows XP, etc.) 2. Are you using Internet Explorer for your web browsing? 3. What exactly does the Housecall error message say?
[quote='Card]TrendMicro's Housecall gave you an error message? That's not good at all. I'm going to need some more info here...[/quote] 1. What Operating System are you using? (Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows XP, etc.) XP 2. Are you using Internet Explorer for your web browsing? mozilla firefox? 3. What exactly does the Housecall error message say? First my firewall came up and asked if it should keep blocking from that site. I said no. Then it says an error has occured while trying to run housecall.
OK, sounds good. I'm especially pleased to hear you're running Firefox. Someone has given you good advice. Now, let's do two more quick checks. First and foremost, when you tried to run Housecall, did you see a message like this before the download started? "Testing was successful. You can now start using HouseCall." Second check, I want you to hold your mouse over the taskbar at the bottom of your screen. Not over the start button, but just a blank section of the taskbar. Right-click there, and when the window pops up, click 'Task Manager'. Then let me know what happens.
Yes, I got that message. Windows Task Manager pops up on the screen and it is on the processes tab with a long list of stuff.
OK, that's good news. There are some really nasty viruses I've seen lately that block access to virus-detecting programs like Housecall, and they also won't allow you to open Task Manager. I had you check that to make sure that wasn't your problem. *ponders* OK, if you're allowing your firewall to let Housecall through, then I honestly can't understand why you're getting an error message. Housecall works fine with Firefox - in fact I just started it myself to make certain. I'll tell you what... let's try another good free anti-virus/malware program and see if it will work on your system. Unfortunately, you're going to need to use Internet Explorer (instead of Firefox) to run it, but that's not a big deal if you only use IE occasionally. So click the Start button, then Programs, then open Internet Explorer (the big blue E). Copy-and-paste this url into the address window: http://www.pandasoftware.com/products/ActiveScan.htm Look about halfway down that page and click the 'Scan your PC' button. Then just follow the instructions from there. Let me know if that one works.
Did you update it before you ran it? -and- As far as I know, Norton doesn't check for spyware - just viruses. It'd be better if you could get one of these online scans running (they are constantly updated) but if you can't, we can move on to the next step. Not that big of a deal.
Ok, That link you gave me I tried it and got it started half way through it freezes up and I have to reboot the computer. I have tried it twice. Ken, my offer still stands. :wink:
