My Computer hates me?

Question

Can anybody help me figure out how to clean out my CPU of all viruses? I cant get rid of any of the problems with Norton can anybody suggest the best way to fix it myself?

Answer 1

Download the programs linked below. Install them. Update them. Scan your pc with them, and do so weekly.



If you have System Restore turned on, the Restore files may be infected, and trying to reinfect your pc. I turn off that feature, reboot to delete the files, then turn it on after a full system scan with AVG.



Turning off System Restore.

(right-click My Computer, Properties, System Restore tab, check the box to turn off System Restore on all drives.)



Restart your PC, and hold down the F8 key.

When you see the Boot Menu appear (black screen white letters), choose SAFE MODE.



Run a FULL SYSTEM SCAN with AVG.

You an heal or quarentine anything found.



You can also run Spybot and AdAware while in Safe Mode. I suggest you do a full system scan. Get rid of anything they find.



To exit Safe Mode, just restart your PC normally.



AVG Antivirus - Free Antivirus Software

(CNET: "AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition is the most popular free solution available at no cost to home users and provides the high level of detection capability that millions of users around the world trust to protect their computers.")



Ad-Aware - Free Antispyware Software

(CNET: "One of the first applications built to find and remove adware and spyware, Ad-Aware 2007's excellent reputation is well-justified.")



Spybot Search&Destroy - Free Antispyware/Antitrojan Software

Some REALLY great features of Spybot Search&Destroy: Its ability to help your PC block known spyware/hijacker sites with Immunize feature, a Secure Shredder for truly removing files from your PC, and Startup, which allows you to view the files starting with Windows.



SuperAntiSpyware

SUPERAntiSpyware Free Edition is 100% Free and will detect and remove thousands of Spyware, Adware, Malware, Trojans, KeyLoggers, Dialers, Hi-Jackers, and Worms. SUPERAntiSpyware features many unique and powerful technologies and removes spyware threats that other applications fail to remove.



Hope this helps.

Answer 2

If you are using an antivirus program from a reliable vendor like McAfee (i use) or Norton.. the only reason it would not be working is



A) If you did not have it properly configured and updating itself with the latest virus definition files



B) If you or someone (even a virus) disabled it.



C) You are not infected with a virus and have something else going on. It's possible that it's another type of program like adware/spyware although alot of antivirus/firewall suites come with this protection too.



If you suspect your A/V is not working properly (see above) then you can do a web based scan from here:

http://housecall65.trendmicro.com/



OR



You will need your antivirus CD and do a command line scan with it (hopefully it's fairly new).



If you have the other programs mentioned you can install Spybot which is a reliable and real anti-spyware program:

www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html



If that doesnt work... contact a reliable technician who is certified (check their credentials)...



good luck.

Answer 3

You can always reformat it. I guarantee that every single virus in you computer will be gone if you do that. Downside is, you'll lose all your data. And i mean EVERYTHING. which isn't so bad if you ask me.



OR



You could try killing those viruses. There are manyways besides using anti-viruses. And here's the good thing - they are most of the time free. Isn't that great? All you need to do is to find a site where there are people willing to help you with your problem.(no kidding)



Here's one site that you could try: geekstogo.com

They have experts there. Go to their forums.



Oh and always remember: DON"T BUY ANYTHING THEY OFFER YOU OVER THE INTERNET COZ MOST OF THE TIME YOU CAN GET IT FOR FREE.

Answer 4

What 'sort' of problems are you having exactly?

If you explain in more detail you'll probably get a more informed solution to your problem.



Some good, free antispyware programs you can download are...



SuperAntiSpyware (free)

http://www.superantispyware.com/...

Ad-Aware (free)

http://www.snapfiles.com/reviews/ad-awar...

SpyBot S&D (free)

http://www.safer-networking.org/...



(A security program is only effective if it updated with the latest definitions.

Updating will help provide protection against the most recently introduced security threats.)



Then clean up the clutter with...

CCleaner (free)

http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner

Free online scans, that will clean for you as well.



Ewido Online Scan

http://www.ewido.net/en/onlinescan/

Bitdefender Online

http://www.bitdefender.com/scan8/ie.html

A-squared Web Malware Scanner

http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/ax/



Trend Micro Housecall

http://housecall.trendmicro.com/



Antivirus solutions...

AVAST 4 Home Edition

http://www.download.com/3000-2239_4-1072...

AVG Free Edition.

Answer 5

first off , you need to get rid of norton,, then go to www.grisoft.com and grab avg (it is the free edition) i swear by it , it works great. then run a scan and see how many it finds,, then once it does that.. you need to write down the name of all the virus's it pops up in the box, put them in quarintene for now and then go online and search all the virus's , most have patches to help you heal them or try to heal them with avg free edition. wish i was there i could do all this for you... then once you do all that and do scans repeatedly so you know they are gone then you can then do drive cleans,,, meaning disk clean up , defrag and all that to be sure everything is running fine

Answer 6

VIRUS REMOVAL:



this is a realll P.I.A. !!!



THE 1ST PART YOU NEED TO DO offline:

run anti-virus program

run anti spyware program

shut down System Restore

clear cookies

clear temp files

clear history

clear pre-fetch folder

clear out ALL emails starting at 2-3 days ago or when you 1st knew you were infected in:

ALL folders

sent

trash

junk



bookmarks or favorites folder in I.E. or Firefox



as you can see,there's QUITE a bit of work ahead of you.



shut down System Restore:

virus/spyware can hide in your system restore points so we shall delete all previous restore links hiding places by turning system restore OFF.

later,when we finish,we'll turn it back on,set up a new [ CLEAN ] restore to work from in the future.

hopefully,lol,you'll never need it !



XP Home:



start

all programs

accessories

system tools

system restore

settings

drive [c]

settings

check the OFF link



VISTA:



start

control panel

performance and information tools

open disk clean up

select o.s. [c]

select more options

select system restore and shadow copies

select clean up



XP Home & Vista:

start

control panel

internet options

general

clear cookies

clear temp files

clear history

and set history days to keep to 0



clear temp files

not all your temp files will be removed so easily,so we need to do this manually as well.

start

my computer [ or just computer in Vista ]

windows

temp

file

click each file and delete



Clear Pre-Fetch Files

start

my computer [ or just computer in Vista ]

windows

prefetch

file

select all

press delete key on keyboard



empty recycle bin



run anti-virus and anti-spyware programs again



when your protection programs find any pirates,DELETE them,do NOT quarantine !!



should you NOT have ANY protection programs installed:

Avast--anti-virus

AD Aware--anti-spyware

Spyware Blaster--anti-spyware blocker

Rootkit Revealer--anti-rootkit

Arovax

PC Tools Firewall--firewall to replace MS's deficient firewall [ turn that sucker OFF ! ] and replace with above.



replace windows firewall with PC Tools firewall

install Arovax protection and choose protection for internet explorer if you use it,firefox if you use that or opera if you use that

install spyware blaster and set for internet explorer and/or firefox protection



should you choose to install Firefox web browser [ and you SHOULD ]

here are some Firefox Security Extensions to install

CallingID Link Advisor

Finjan Secure Web Browsing

No Script

Dr. Web

SafeDownloads

http://browseraddons.friendpages.com...



now it's time to set up your new [ clean ] restore point



XP Home:



start

all programs

accessories

system tools

system restore

settings

drive [c]

settings

check the ON link



Vista:

start

control panel

back up and restore center

create restore point

create restore points on selected disks

select drive

click create

apply and ok



FINALLY....



SECURE COMPUTER:



NEVER !! :



open an email from:

anyone you do NOT know/trust

anyone purporting to be/from:



Microsoft

your bank

your creditors

your government

your financial company/ies

even your lawyer/s or church UNLESS you have a prior agreement with them

online petition

contains attachment/s



SAFE EMAIL SET UP:



YAHOO:

open options link on your email page

select spam

Spam Protection



Choose the tools you'll use to protect your mail account from spam. Not sure what tools you need? Take a look at our Setup Guide for help.

Spam Filter

SpamGuard is ON



For messages SpamGuard identifies as Spam:

Immediately delete these messages upon receipt. (Note: If you choose this option, you will not be able to review the messages before they are deleted.)

When I mark a message as Spam, in addition to deleting the message:

Add the sender's email address to my blocked addresses list

Image Blocking

Block images in messages that SpamGuard thinks are spam

[ possible but 1 or the other ]

Block all images until I've had a chance to look it over



Block Addresses



Block addresses from which you don't want to receive mail.

Add Block

Enter email address (or domain) to block:



GMAIL:

Gmail has an EXCELLENT spam filter,learn to trust it.

Spam Filtering is automatic,unlike Yahoo.

Gmail offers a second way to protect your inbox by using filters.

1st,you need to create labels [ folders ] to store your filtered email in.

then create the label filter.



SETTINGS:FILTERS:

Create a new filter

Create a Filter

Choose search criteria - Specify the criteria you'd like to use for determining what to do with a message as it arrives. Use "Test Search" to see which messages would have been filtered using these criteria.

From: Has the words:

To: Doesn't have:

Subject: Has attachment



after you fill the above out,you go to label [ folder ] selection.



MSN HOTMAIL:



on your email page,select options then more options

Junk e-mail

Filters and reporting

Safe and blocked senders



choose from these choices:

Safe and blocked senders

Safe senders

Manage who is allowed to send you e-mail. Messages from safe senders will not be sent to the junk e-mail folder.



Safe mailing lists

Manage which mailing lists are sent to your account. Messages to safe mailing lists will not be sent to the junk e-mail folder.



Blocked senders

Manage who is blocked from sending you e-mail. Messages from blocked senders are automatically deleted.



WINDOWS LIVE MAIL:

JUNK E-mail

Options:

safe list only

permanently delete suspected junk e-mail



Safe Senders:

add e-mail addresses to your safe list here

check:

also trust my Windows Contacts

automatically add people i e-mail to the safe senders list



Blocked Senders:

add senders addresses here to create a blocked address list



International:



Blocked Encoding List:



choose the language pack you do NOT want downloaded into your inbox here



Phishing:



check:

protect me from potential Phishing emails

move phishing emails to junk

apply & ok



Windows Live Mail has 2 other options:

Tools

message rules

mail

conditions:

where you choose:

from

to

subject

content and more



Message:

junk e-mail

add to:

safe senders

blocked senders



Web Browsers:



Internet Explorer:

XP Home & Vista:



start

control panel

internet options

general

history:

clear history

set days to keep to 0



Privacy:

advanced

override

First-party Cookies:

Accept

Always allow session cookies

Third-party [ spyware ] Cookies

Block

ok



Content:

content advisor

Enable

ratings:

set content you do NOT want permitted



Approved Sites:

add websites that ARE allowed ALWAYS here



apply & ok



Advanced:

Phishing Filter

enable



Security:

for Internet--Trusted Sites--Restricted Sites

custom

Enable Protected Mode

Custom Level:

XP Home:

Active X:

uncheck each active x control marked:

unsafe

unsigned



Vista:

be sure Active X controls and plugins is marked disable

as well as Automatic prompting for Active X controls

and download unsigned Active X controls

and Initialize and script Active X controls not marked as safe



XP & VISTA:



Access data sources across domains-disable

Allow scripting of Internet Explorer web browser control

disable



Allow script-initiated windows without size or position

disable



Allow websites to open windows without address or status bars

disable



Don't prompt for client certificate selection when none exist



Navigate sub-frames across different domains

disable



Use Phishing filter

enable



Allow status bar updates via script

disable



now for your Restricted Zone,EVERYTHING should be disabled EXCEPT:

Pop up blocker

Phishing Filter



[internet,trusted,restricted]

download signed-PROMPT

auto-prompt-DISABLE

binary & script-ENABLE

download UNsigned-DISABLE

download UNsafe-DISABLE

run active x-ENABLE

download SAFE -ENABLE



Spy Sites



Stop Web Sites from installing Spyware, Sleazeware and Cookies on your PC



SpySites includes a database of over 4,600

known Spy/Sleaze sites and guides you

through the simple process of including them in

Internet Explorer's Restricted Zone and setting policies

to prevent them from performing intrusive acts on your PC.

By setting the policies for the Restricted

sites zone to a very high level of security,

you can be assured that any web sites added

to the Restricted sites zone cannot do

certain things which could compromise your privacy

and security such as installing and/or running:

Spysites

http://camtech2000.net/pages/spysites_pr...



Pre-Fetch File Cleaning



pre-fetch files are "cached" or stored copies of files/websites you visit each session

after a period of time,these files hog up a LOT of disk space

for this reason,i advocate the deletion weekly of those space hogs

some claim that windows will automatically remove files older than 7 days

I have found MY pc does NOT perform this task so I do it manually

what happens is,when you go to a website,your pc looks into your pre-fetch file/folder

to see if that website is "cached",stored there FIRST

this gives you a faster website load,BUT,you get the "cached" version and NOT the NEWEST version

unless you have "check for newest version" checked in internet options

it may take that website 1/2 a second longer to load

but,you'll get the newest version loading each time



as added security,spyware removers often miss these files,so delete them manually.



My Computer,disk drive [c],windows,pre-fetch,view,select... all,select delete



same situation with Temp files:

Temp File Folder



i use Disk Clean to clean up extraneous files i no longer need

however,every time i use Disk Clean,it DOESN'T clean out Temp Files!

solution?

My Computer,local disk drive [c],windows,temp

you can safely delete each temp file there.

i leave the most current [that day] alone.

also,do not delete any FOLDER there

folders have a folder icon,leave alone

[ Vista,it's Computer ]



Firefox Web Browser:

tools

options

content

check block pop ups



load images automatically:

exceptions:

enter those websites addresses that show up on pop ups that appear AFTER you close a browser window

also add those same urls to

Privacy

Cookies

Exceptions



there are a number of kewl Security add on firefox extensions i use and they are:

CallingID link advisor

Dr. Web [ link checker ]

Finjan Secure Web Browsing

No Script

SafeDownload

http://browseraddons.friendpages.com...



IF you follow all the above suggestions,you'll not have the Fort Knox of computers,but Dammed close !

Answer 7

The FIRST thing to do is DISABLE System Restore.

If enabled, this allows malware to hide in the computer and re-install itself. To disable it, RIGHT-click on "My Computer." Select "Properties" then under the 'System Restore' tab, check 'Turn off system restore' IF not already checked.

The next most helpful things that would help you are to use ONLINE scanners from websites to remove any malware on your PC. The current best online scanners I prefer are from Kaspersky antivirus and Bitdefender antivirus. Together, these 2 scanners will find ALL the bad stuff on your PC because they have the BEST detection rate.

First, use Kaspersky's. (FYI: ALL these scans require you to agree to a EULA and install an activex control which is needed to perform the scan, so agree to them all.)



*NOTE: Some scanners ONLY work with IE or may not fully remove malware



http://www.kaspersky.com/virusscanner......



Then scan with:

http://www.bitdefender.com/scan8/ie.html...





There are MANY other good online scanners which you may choose to also use (which will take longer but ensure safety):



http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/defau... (Windows Live Onecare)



http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/ax/.... (A-squared scanner)



http://www.ewido.net/en/onlinescan/...... (ewido)



http://www.ca.com/us/securityadvisor/pes... (Spyware scan)



http://www.ca.com/us/securityadvisor/vir... (Virus scan)



http://www.pandasecurity.com/homeusers/s... (Panda Antivirus)



http://www.housecall.trendmicro.com/...... (TrendMicro)



http://www.eset.com/onlinescan/...... (Nod32)



http://support.f-secure.com/enu/home/ols... (F-secure)





After using these, it's ESSENTIAL to install at least 3 antispywares. Do NOT use more than 1 antiVIRUS or firewall as they conflict.



The best things in life are FREE, and great free software can be found @:



Superantispyware.com (Superantispyware FREE)

lavasoft.com (Ad-aware SE)

emsisoft.com (A-squared FREE)

safer-networking.org (Spybot S&D)

javacoolsoftware.com (SpywareBlaster)

microsoft.com (Windows Defender)

free-av.com (Avira AV)

siteadvisor.com (Tells you how safe websites are)

phoenixlabs.org (Blocks malware, government, anti-p2p org's)

zonealarm.com (Top Notch Firewall)

comodo.com (Another Top Notch firewall)

iobit.com (Advanced Windows Care)

Eusing.com (Registry cleaner)

ccleaner.com (Junk file cleaner)





Now if you can afford it, the best software to BUY are:



Spy Sweeper (VERY much worth the $$$)

Security Task Manager

Norton Internet Security

Kaspersky (BEST! =D )

Bitdefender (2nd BEst!)

F-secure (Same as Kaspersky)

Linkscanner (Blocks exploits in real time)

Advanced Uninstaller



If there's ever ONE file you suspect is infected, you can try some single file scanners which use MULTIPLE engines to scan ONE file.

They are @ virusscan.jotti.org or virustotal.com



If you're PC is squeaky clean, re-enable system restore because it IS good to have but we needed to shut it off to wipe out the malware.

Just RIGHT-click on "My Computer." Select "Properties" then under the 'System Restore' tab, UN-check "Turn off system restore."





*Another thing to consider is using another browser besides Internet Explorer. It has a lot of security holes,

making it less safe. I prefer Firefox from mozilla.org.

It's easy to use, FAST, and has a lot of neat little add-ons you can toy around with. It is also safer from exploits than IE.*

Answer 8

your computer loves you miscrosoft hates all of us thats the root of the problem Linux operating systems are free and secure take a look at freespire and ubuntu they are also very easy to install its worth a look you will be glad you did

Answer 9

sorry i have my own pc problems

lolz check my last question out if u wanna help

.... on my profile

Answer 10

adaware is a good program