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Topic: computer person needed
OneMoreTimeAround Joined Tue 09/04/07 Posts: 3649	Sat 09/27/08 05:38 AM
I went to the previous posts and tried to figure out what to do before I posted this. I'm still not sure. First...I've defrag..cleared my history, deleted temp internet files, restarted my computer. All the things I know to do. Every day my computer has been getting slower and slower, dropping me off the internet and this a.m. I came in and my wallpaper had changed by its self. I think there's a virus somewhere but my scan isn't showing one. I have McAfee and the spyware program that comes with AOL. Anyone got any ideas about what I should do now? Before I have to call a professional? Thanks, Cathy

Moondark Joined Tue 11/27/07 Posts: 5866	Sat 09/27/08 05:43 AM
One, you have to update those data files. Two, those only look for viruses. You need something that goes after mal-ware, spy-ware. Malicious programs that may be attached to something you actually wanted to download. You also want a registery cleaner what will fix your registery from vicious programs or from anything you might have done when cleaning your computer the standard way. If I was at home, I'd tell you what my computer friend put on my computer to protect it. I can't remember off the top of my head.

awolf1010 Joined Sun 03/30/08 Posts: 7251	Sat 09/27/08 05:44 AM
try AVG.... new virus attaches itself to your antivirus. I spent 3oo ,had my puter erased...and still didnt work.....my 12 year old nephew got me back online with this.

gary_03103 Joined Sat 09/20/08 Posts: 2	Sat 09/27/08 05:46 AM
ad-aware by lavasoft - There is a free version for use at home. http://lavasoft.com/single/trialpay.php click the green download button. and spybot seek and destroy which is free. http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html Both of those will remove malware/spyware and nuke bad registry keys. Gary

OneMoreTimeAround Joined Tue 09/04/07 Posts: 3649	Sat 09/27/08 06:35 AM Edited by OneMoreTimeAround on Sat 09/27/08 06:36 AM
Thanks...I have a reg clean program already installed. Seems AVG is the more popular antivirus program..over McAfee? If I install another antivirus program I need to delete the one I already have?

Chazster Joined Tue 08/28/07 Posts: 6206	Sat 09/27/08 07:16 AM Edited by Chazster on Sat 09/27/08 07:16 AM
A couple of things. Do you have a firewall? I suggest Zone Alarm. As for antivirus I use Avast. Another thing you can do is go to Start Run - type msconfig go to the start up tab and look for programs that you don't want to run at start up. This is a common place for viruses so they will auto launch at start up. Also, by limiting what launches at start up you will decrease the time it takes your system to boot. Sometimes you can even google search your problems and find people that know the name of the virus and where it is located and you can just delete it. (I did that once on my old PC when I use to file share a lot)

OneMoreTimeAround Joined Tue 09/04/07 Posts: 3649	Sat 09/27/08 08:27 AM Edited by OneMoreTimeAround on Sat 09/27/08 08:28 AM
A couple of things. Do you have a firewall? I suggest Zone Alarm. As for antivirus I use Avast. Another thing you can do is go to Start Run - type msconfig go to the start up tab and look for programs that you don't want to run at start up. This is a common place for viruses so they will auto launch at start up. Also, by limiting what launches at start up you will decrease the time it takes your system to boot. Sometimes you can even google search your problems and find people that know the name of the virus and where it is located and you can just delete it. (I did that once on my old PC when I use to file share a lot) thank you!! I'm also doing a couple other things that's been suggested to me. One person said to just restore back to the date before my trouble started...will this get rid of a virus if I do that? and yes, I have a firewall that comes with AOL.

tngxl65 Joined Sat 01/12/08 Posts: 6189	Sat 09/27/08 08:30 AM
A couple of things. Do you have a firewall? I suggest Zone Alarm. As for antivirus I use Avast. Another thing you can do is go to Start Run - type msconfig go to the start up tab and look for programs that you don't want to run at start up. This is a common place for viruses so they will auto launch at start up. Also, by limiting what launches at start up you will decrease the time it takes your system to boot. Sometimes you can even google search your problems and find people that know the name of the virus and where it is located and you can just delete it. (I did that once on my old PC when I use to file share a lot) thank you!! I'm also doing a couple other things that's been suggested to me. One person said to just restore back to the date before my trouble started...will this get rid of a virus if I do that? and yes, I have a firewall that comes with AOL. It might, but probably not. It really depends on on what's wrong. But if you don't have anything to lose then I'd do it.

OneMoreTimeAround Joined Tue 09/04/07 Posts: 3649	Sat 09/27/08 10:21 AM
thank you

symbelmyne Joined Mon 01/14/08 Posts: 5356	Sat 09/27/08 10:25 AM
AOL sucks...get a new ISP.

talldub Joined Fri 09/12/08 Posts: 2629	Sat 09/27/08 11:09 AM
How technical are you? You could run the Autoruns executable from the sysinternals team and delete a lot of unneeded startup junk but if you're not too au fait with computers then I'd advise against. Google have a link on their website for software downloads, one of these is an anti spyware package and there also an anti virus scanner. I'd help more but I need to go out and drink right now. Best of luck!

Belushi Joined Sat 04/07/07 Posts: 2995	Sat 09/27/08 11:11 AM
If you have a virus, chances are AVG will find it. If you have malware, then Adaware should do the trick. However, neither of these will totally delete the residual files in the registry. There is a small program that publishes the files that are running in your machine. With this print out, you can delete them (in safe mode) and there is a huuuge forum for support in doing it. The program is called hijackthis and the website (and its associated forum) will guide you through using it. Good luck.

Gypsy41 Joined Tue 05/15/07 Posts: 123359	Sat 09/27/08 11:39 AM
spybot search and destroy!!! dl it.........dl all updates.......should help you!!!

OneMoreTimeAround Joined Tue 09/04/07 Posts: 3649	Sat 09/27/08 12:12 PM
Thanks all of you. I'm working on it.

Scarlett_156 Joined Wed 09/17/08 Posts: 469	Sat 09/27/08 12:36 PM Edited by Scarlett_156 on Sat 09/27/08 12:38 PM
AOL sucks...get a new ISP. What she said. I was recently at my accountant's office where they kindly allowed me to use their computer to download and print a tax form. I noticed with dismay that they have AOL as their ISP. I started Internet Explorer, and waited.. and waited... and waited... then the browser crashed. I asked the accountant if the computer always did this, and she said "yes" in a sort of disgusted and weary tone. So I started IE again, and waited... and waited... and waited.... You get the idea. Spybot Search & Destroy is an excellent FREE program that removes spyware and adware from your computer. It now has a new feature that will check new apps on startup. I have Spybot set to scan my computer for spyware and malware once a day. I update it about once a week. It's awesome. For antivirus I have Clamwin Antivirus, which is also a completely free open source antivirus program. It does NOT automatically scan things that you download, however, so if you visit a lot of questionable sites that may not be right for you. However, it works great for me. If I download something I usually will right click on the file and use Clamwin to scan it manually. Spybot and Clamwin use up very little memory. My computer is about 6 years old and still runs like a new computer. I used to use AVG but the free version misses a lot of things. I have also used Lavasoft's Adaware which is a really great program but in my opinion too expensive. There are also AV scanners that you can use online, like Bitdefender, where you don't have to install any software; you just go to the site and use the app from your browser. It's often a good idea if you think your computer has a bug to get a "second opinion" with another scan. Always keep in mind that when you do a first scan with any application it's going to take awhile, up to a few hours depending on what you're scanning. Anyway, changing the ISP to something besides AOL would be the first thing I would do. I hope this was helpful. yours in Chaos, Scarlett Start Run - type msconfig go to the start up tab and look for programs that you don't want to run at start up. This is a common place for viruses so they will auto launch at start up. Also, by limiting what launches at start up you will decrease the time it takes your system to boot. That's a good suggestion, but it's pretty advanced. There are applications that will safely scan the registry and startup menu for invalid entries and changes; msconfig in the hands of someone with only limited tech knowledge can be dangerous. xoxoxo

Winx Joined Fri 08/31/07 Posts: 39051	Sat 09/27/08 12:38 PM
Thanks...I have a reg clean program already installed. Seems AVG is the more popular antivirus program..over McAfee? If I install another antivirus program I need to delete the one I already have? I have been hearing that McAffee is no good. I just got Trend last week.

OneMoreTimeAround Joined Tue 09/04/07 Posts: 3649	Sat 09/27/08 12:38 PM
thank you

Winx Joined Fri 08/31/07 Posts: 39051	Sat 09/27/08 12:40 PM
thank you You're welcome.

OneMoreTimeAround Joined Tue 09/04/07 Posts: 3649	Sat 09/27/08 01:12 PM Edited by OneMoreTimeAround on Sat 09/27/08 01:13 PM
AOL sucks...get a new ISP. What she said. I was recently at my accountant's office where they kindly allowed me to use their computer to download and print a tax form. I noticed with dismay that they have AOL as their ISP. I started Internet Explorer, and waited.. and waited... and waited... then the browser crashed. I asked the accountant if the computer always did this, and she said "yes" in a sort of disgusted and weary tone. So I started IE again, and waited... and waited... and waited.... You get the idea. Spybot Search & Destroy is an excellent FREE program that removes spyware and adware from your computer. It now has a new feature that will check new apps on startup. I have Spybot set to scan my computer for spyware and malware once a day. I update it about once a week. It's awesome. For antivirus I have Clamwin Antivirus, which is also a completely free open source antivirus program. It does NOT automatically scan things that you download, however, so if you visit a lot of questionable sites that may not be right for you. However, it works great for me. If I download something I usually will right click on the file and use Clamwin to scan it manually. Spybot and Clamwin use up very little memory. My computer is about 6 years old and still runs like a new computer. I used to use AVG but the free version misses a lot of things. I have also used Lavasoft's Adaware which is a really great program but in my opinion too expensive. There are also AV scanners that you can use online, like Bitdefender, where you don't have to install any software; you just go to the site and use the app from your browser. It's often a good idea if you think your computer has a bug to get a "second opinion" with another scan. Always keep in mind that when you do a first scan with any application it's going to take awhile, up to a few hours depending on what you're scanning. Anyway, changing the ISP to something besides AOL would be the first thing I would do. I hope this was helpful. yours in Chaos, Scarlett Start Run - type msconfig go to the start up tab and look for programs that you don't want to run at start up. This is a common place for viruses so they will auto launch at start up. Also, by limiting what launches at start up you will decrease the time it takes your system to boot. That's a good suggestion, but it's pretty advanced. There are applications that will safely scan the registry and startup menu for invalid entries and changes; msconfig in the hands of someone with only limited tech knowledge can be dangerous. xoxoxo I won't get into anything that's real advanced. I know better! I can destroy things! AOL is not my ISP, Embarq is. I have aol installed on my computer because family and friends use it and I use it to keep in touch with them. When I installed it (aol) it came with all their security programs and I left them.

xgamerider Joined Fri 11/09/07 Posts: 4	Tue 09/30/08 02:10 PM Edited by xgamerider on Tue 09/30/08 02:19 PM
I would agree with most of the suggestions given spybot,avast and hijack are all good software, I would steer clear of the suggested zone alarm as it is known for many software conflict issues. How old is the mentioned pc? I would also suggest checking the free space if you have say an 80gb drive and 4gb free it's time to do some spring cleaning as you will constantly be paging the hard drive. The symptoms you are describing could also be a drive that is on it's way out( I have one less than a year old that is already dying on a server) the newer drives aren't built like the used to and have seen 7 fail this month alone all of which were under 1 year old. The internet dropping I would need more info on the connection itself as it was not identified (dial up ,dsl ,cable or satellite)