my computer is running very slow, could i have spyware?

Question

how can i remove spyware, trojans, and stop popups

Answer 1

u could have 2 many progs running,also give it a disc clean and defrag

Answer 2

2

Answer 3

Why is my computer slow? I bet you have asked yourself that very question time and time again. And for the most part, you probably just can not figure it out. Ask the guy next to you, and they probably don’t have the foggiest idea either. I mean, you may get the “spyware,virus” answer, but this most likely is not the case.



The first place I check when my computer starts to run slower is the registry. Yes, the registry. Most people don’t even know what, or where the registry is, and especially don’t understand how this can slow a computer down. Let me explain.



Basically, the registry files contain information and settings for all of the software, hardware, operating system software, and anything else running on your computer. Mess any of these files up, and the computer does not know how to function. The computer goes to start up the software, looks for the registry files, and either can not find it or finds something that does not look like it is suppose to look like. It then just sits there: it does not know what to do next. This is where the “hanging” or “locking up” of your computer comes from. These files will need to be fixed.



To fix the registry files, find a good quality registry repair software called registry cleaner and run it on your computer.Top 5 registry cleaners can be found in here: http://www.speed-up-pc.info/index.php?t=makepcf .It will tell you how many files are corrupted and need to be fixed. Just tell the software to fix it and it restores all of the registry files to their correct configuration. It is really that simple. It may take only about 5 minutes to perform this check. And then as a maintenance item for your computer, I would recommend performing this registry fix at least once a week. This will always ensure your registry files are good, and keep your computer running with no slow,freezing and errors. So if you find yourself asking why is my computer slow, I would check the registry files first.



Now you can check out

http://www.speed-up-pc.info/index.php?t=makepcf ,there are reviews of top rated registry cleaners and a clear guide to tell you how to speed up your computer.And from there you also can get a free scan to fix any problems such as computers slow,computer freezing, computer errors and getting the blue death screen.

Hope that can help you.

Answer 4

The best way is to download Ccleaner here http://bitly.com/UrALrK



Or you can go on Windows operating system locate the command prompt and go there to do the following:

Create a Recovery file of system and date it today.



Then begin by;

delete the 'Temp' folders..they have hidden subfolders so you need to set the attributes in order to bypass this. For each subfolder delete all cookies and rubbish left behnd after install-uninstalled programs. Do a 'dir' command to check your progress. Make sure the 'Temp' file is empty.



goto c:\windows\prefetch and delete everything in there..no exceptions



goto c:\windows folder and delete all the '$' files that have been installed by updates. They can all be succesfully deleted and just take up disk space.



Locate the Internet Temporary Files..Check to see how high the saving level is..some have it set at 30 days..but that stores faaaar tooo much data..though it slows down the system overal. Keep this to a minimum..suggest 2 or 5 at most.



Delete all 'cookies' all those you don't need.



Locate the windows directory and go through the folders you know and those you don't need. Check this once a week at least. Some programs will install under XP as NT and older systems where there is no check of systems weight.



Check to see that system files have not changed since last booting. Things like .ini files or .bat are important items.





Check for 'Hidden Directories' all over the disk...do this at the command prompt:



dir *.* /ah wil show these hidden directories



Check the 'dir' command for all parameters

Answer 5

You are infected with spyware if:



* You see too much pop-up advertisements.

* Your browser has toolbars that you haven't installed.

* Your homepage has changed (and you can't change it back).

* Other settings have changed without your permission.

* Your computer is slow.



To get rid of spyware and keep your computer clean you can use an antispyware or even more.

There are 10 good anti-spywares.

here is the reviews: http://topten-reviews.info

Answer 6

it could be you are running low on hard drive space,

un-install programs that you no longer use or need,

scan your computer for spyware and virus, then run your disk defragmenter to free up lost space on your hard drive and to reorganise your files for easy access, found as follows.

All Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Disk Defragmenter

Once you have found the disk defragmenter click on

HDD (C:) then click on Analyse this will tell you if your hard drive needs defragmenting, do the same for the Data (D:)

good luck.

Answer 7

Possible... have you seen any sign of them? What protection do you have? It might be that you are running too many programmes at a time or you are running out of capacity.... Try deleting programmes you only use very rarely... You can always reload them if you need them....Also see what is in your start up that can slow srart ing up a lot if there is a lot of unneccessary stuff there ....

Answer 8

Hi,

You should use "NoAdware".It's ver effective.I don't have anymore problem with spyware,pop-up,trojan or computer viruses.I came across this software in PC World Magazine.Now, you can download and try or FREE.check it out here:

http://ataja.es/noadware5

Answer 9

Do an online scan using panda site...its free and catches alot of viruses that make it past our companies norton protection.

Slow computer =

1. old computer

2. or viruses

Answer 10

its very simple. download google toolbar, ad-aware from www.adaware.com and get AVG ant-virus from download.com by searching in the download.com search bar. getting more RAM could also help.

Answer 11

it could be you running low in hard drive, unistal junks, scan spyware and virus, run defragments.

Answer 12

Just delete the cookies and temp files.

Answer 13

Check http://www.pc-optimizer-pro.com

With pc optimizer pro you can safely clean, repair and optimize your computer.

It will help improve your system performance without expensive hardware upgrades.

Good luck!

Answer 14

try to use antispyware program and scan your computer. i recomend Ad-Aware, SpyBot, XoftSpy

Answer 15

Run Superantispyware and CCleaner then read this article:



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

CCleaner: http://ccleaner.com/



http://www.microsoft.com/windows/IE/community/columns/bugbusting.mspx

Answer 16

go to http://www.lavasoft.de and download Ad-Aware. It's free and it's good.

Answer 17

This is taken from the microsoft.com users forum.It is long but read on.I found it very helpful=============

harry wrote:

> Just did a clean installation of xp pro sp1 and download 'avast anti

> virus' from downloads.com. my pc was flooded with undersirable web

> pages which appear by itself. When i go to 'add/remove', there are

> other programs being added such as Internet

> Optimiser,Istsvc,Sidefind,180 search Assistant , Power scan etc whcih

> some cannot be removed off-line.

> My question is why when I download 'Avast'-they are suppose to help

> me to keep my pc clean but I get all these rubbish into my system and

> according to NAV2005, I these are all spyware etc. Precisely why I

> do a clean installation is because NAV cannot clean it and now I am

> back to square it.



Avast didn't give you the popups, etc..



Did you firewall before connecting to the internet?

Did you go to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/ as your first visit on the

Internet and patch with the critical updates?

Did you install/use/immunize with AntiSpyware applications before surfing

the web more than for updates and necessary applications?



Tip 10 should help you reduce the spyware/malware.

Tip 9 will give you options other than Avast! (although I love Avast!) for

AntiVirus.



Microsoft has these suggestions for Protecting your computer from the

various "bad things" that could happen to you/it:



Protect your PC

http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/





Although those tips are fantastic, there are many things you should

know above and beyond what is there as well as other methods and

applications you can use to protect yourself. Below I have detailed

out many steps that can not only help you cleanup a problem PC but

keep it clean and secure as well as running at its top performance mark.



I know this list can seem intimidating - it is quite long and a lot

to take in for a novice - but I assure you that one trip through this

list and you will understand your computer and the options available

to you for protecting your data much better and that the next time

you review these steps, the time it takes will be greatly reduced.



Let's take the cleanup of your computer step-by-step. Yes, it will take

up some of your time - but consider what you use your computer

for and how much you would dislike it if all of your stuff on your

computer went away because you did not "feel like" performing some

simple maintenance tasks - think of it like changing the oil in your car,

changing the air filter on your home A/C unit, paying your bills on time,

etc.



Let's go through some maintenance first that should only have to be done

once (mostly):



Tip (1):

Locate all of the software (the installation media - CDs, etc) that you

have installed on your computer. Collect these CDs into a single pile

and locate the original installation media (CDs, disks) in a central and

safe place along with their CD keys and such. Make backups of these

installation media sets using your favorite copying method (CD Burner and

application, Disk copier, etc.) You'll be glad to know that if you have

a CD burner, you may be able to use a free application to make a

duplicate copy of your CDs. One such application is ISORecorder:



ISORecorder home page (with general instructions on use):

http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/isorecorder.htm



Pre-SP2 version:

http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/IsoRecorder/download.asp



Post-SP2 beta version:

http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/download/ISORecorderV2B2.zip



More full function applications (free) for CD/DVD burning would be:



DeepBurner Free

http://www.deepburner.com/



CDBurnerXP Pro

http://www.cdburnerxp.se/



Another Option would be to search the web with Pricewatch.com or

Dealsites.net and find deals on Nero and/or Roxio.





Tip (2):

Empty your Internet Explorer Temporary Internet Files and make sure the

maximum size for this is small enough not to cause trouble in the future.

Empty your Temporary Internet Files and shrink the size it stores to a

size between 128MB and 512MB..



- Open ONE copy of Internet Explorer.

- Select TOOLS -> Internet Options.

- Under the General tab in the "Temporary Internet Files" section, do the

following:

- Click on "Delete Cookies" (click OK)

- Click on "Settings" and change the "Amount of disk space to use:" to

something between 128MB and 512MB. (Betting it is MUCH larger right

now.)

- Click OK.

- Click on "Delete Files" and select to "Delete all offline contents"

(the checkbox) and click OK. (If you had a LOT, this could take 2-10

minutes or more.)

- Once it is done, click OK, close Internet Explorer, re-open Internet

Explorer.





Tip (3):

If things are running a bit slow or you have an older system

(1.5GHz or less and 256MB RAM or less) then you may want to look into

tweaking the performance a bit by turning off some of the memory

using Windows XP "prettifications". The fastest method is:



Control Panel --> System --> Advanced tab --> Performance section,

Settings button. Then choose "adjust for best performance" and you

now have a Windows 2000/98 look which turned off many of the annoying

"prettifications" in one swift action. You can play with the last

three checkboxes to get more of an XP look without many of the

other annoyances. You could also grab and install/mess with one

(or more) of the Microsoft Powertoys - TweakUI in particular:



http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx





Tip (4):

Understanding what a good password might be is vital to your

personal and system security. You may not need to password your home

computer, as you may have it in a locked area (your home) where no

one else has access to it. Remember, however, that locked area is

unlocked when you access the Internet unless you are taking proper

precautions. Also, you aren't always "in that locked area" when using

your computer online - meaning you likely have usernames and passwords

associated with web sites and the likes that you would prefer other

people do not discover/use. This is why you should understand and

utilize good passwords.



Good passwords are those that meet these general rules

(mileage may vary):



Passwords should contain at least six characters, and the character

string should contain at least three of these four character types:

- uppercase letters

- lowercase letters

- numerals

- nonalphanumeric characters (e.g., *, %, &, !)



Passwords should not contain your name/logon name. Passwords should

be unique to you and easy to remember. One method many people are

using today is to make up a phrase that describes a point in their

life and then turning that phrase into their password by using only

certain letters out of each word in that phrase. It's much better

than using your birthday month/year or your anniversary in a pure

sense. For example, let's say my phrase is:

"Moved to new home in 2004"

I could come up with this password from that:

"Mv2n3whmN04"



The password tip is in the "one time" section, but I highly

recommend you periodically change your passwords. The suggested time

varies, but I will throw out a "once in every 3 to 6 months for

every account you have."





Tip (5):

This tip is also "questionable" in the "one time" section. However,

if properly setup, this one can be pretty well ignored for most people

after the initial "fiddle-with" time.



Why you should use a computer firewall..

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/viruses/fwbenefits.mspx



You should, in some way, use a firewall. Hardware (like a nice

Cable Modem/DSL router) or software is up to you. Many use both of

these. The simplest one to use is the hardware one, as most people

don't do anything they need to configure their NAT device for and

those who do certainly will not mind fiddling with the equipment to

make things work for them. Next in the line of "simplicity" would

have to be the built-in Windows Firewall of Windows XP. In SP2 it

is turned on by default. It is not difficult to turn on in any

case, however:



Enable/Disable the Internet Connection Firewall (Pre-SP2):

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/283673



More information on the Internet Connection Firewall (Pre-SP2):

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320855



Post-SP2 Windows Firewall Information/guidance:

http://snipurl.com/atal



The trouble with the Windows Firewall is that it only keeps things

out. Truthfully, for most people who maintain their system in other

ways, this is MORE than sufficient. However, you may feel otherwise.

If you want to know when one of your applications is trying to obtain

access to the outside world so you can stop it, then you will have to

install a third-party application and configure/maintain it. I have

compiled a list with links of some of the better known/free firewalls

you can choose from:



ZoneAlarm (Free and up)

http://snipurl.com/6ohg



Kerio Personal Firewall (KPF) (Free and up)

http://www.kerio.com/kpf_download.html



Outpost Firewall from Agnitum (Free and up)

http://www.agnitum.com/download/



Sygate Personal Firewall (Free and up)

http://smb.sygate.com/buy/download_buy.htm



Symantec's Norton Personal Firewall (~$25 and up)

http://www.symantec.com/sabu/nis/npf/



BlackICE PC Protection ($39.95 and up)

http://blackice.iss.net/



Perhaps you can find the right firewall for your situation in that

list and set it up/configure it. Every firewall MAY require some

maintenance. Essentially checking for patches or upgrades (this

goes for hardware and software solutions) is the extent of this

maintenance - but you may also have to configure your firewall to

allow some traffic depending on your needs. Also, don't stack these

things. Running more than one firewall will not make you safer

- it would likely (in fact) negate some protection you gleamed

from one or the other firewalls you run.







Now that you have some of the more basic (one-time) things down..

Let's go through some of the steps you should take periodically to

maintain a healthy and stable windows computer. If you have not

done some of these things in the past, they may seem tedious at

first - however, they will become routine and some can even be

automatically scheduled.





Tip (6):

The system restore feature is a new one - first appearing in Windows

ME and then sticking around for Windows XP. It is a VERY useful

feature - if you keep it maintained and use it to your advantage.

However, remember that the system restore pretty much tells you in

the name what it protects - "system" files. Your documents, your

pictures, your stuff is NOT system files - so you should also look

into some backup solution.



I'll mainly work around Windows XP, as that is what the bulk of this

document is about. I will, however, point out a single place for you

poor souls still stuck in Windows ME where you can get information on

maintaining your system right now:



Windows ME Computer Health:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsME/using/computerhealth/articles/



Pay close attention to the sections:

(in order)

- Clean up your hard disk

- Check for errors by running ScanDisk

- Defragment your hard disk

- Roll back the clock with System Restore



Now back to the point at hand - maintaining your system restore in

Windows XP SHOULD be automatic - but I have seen the automatic go wrong

too many times not to suggest the following.. Whenever you think about

it (after doing a once-over on your machine once a month or so would

be optimal) - clear out your System Restore and create a manual

restoration point. Why? Too many times have I seen the system restore

files go corrupt or get a virus in them, meaning you could not or

did not want to restore from them. By clearing it out periodically

you help prevent any corruption from happening and you make sure you

have at least one good "snapshot".

(This, of course, will erase any previous restore point you have.)



- Turn off System Restore.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310405

- Reboot.

- Turn on System Restore.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310405

- Make a Manual Restoration Point.

http://snipurl.com/68nx



That covers your system files, but doesn't do anything for the files

that you are REALLY worried about - yours! For that you need to look

into backups. You can either manually copy your important files, folders,

documents, spreadsheets, emails, contacts, pictures, drawings and so on

to an external location (CD/DV - any disk of some sort, etc) or you can

use the backup tool that comes with Windows XP:



How To Use Backup to Back Up Files and Folders on Your Computer

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308422



Yes - you still need some sort of external media to store the results

on, but you could schedule the backup to occur when you are not around,

then burn the resultant data onto CD or DVD or something when you are

(while you do other things!)





Tip (7):

You should sometimes look through the list of applications that are

installed on your computer. The list MIGHT surprise you. There are more

than likely things in there you KNOW you never use - so why have them

there? There may even be things you KNOW you did not install and

certainly do not use (maybe don't WANT to use.)



This web site should help you get started at looking through this list:



How to Uninstall Programs

http://snipurl.com/8v6b



A word of warning - Do NOT uninstall anything you think you MIGHT need

in the future unless you have completed Tip (1) and have the installation

media and proper keys for use backed up somewhere safe!





Tip (8):

Patches and Updates!



This one cannot be stressed enough. It is SO simple, yet so neglected

by many people. It is especially simple for the critical Windows patches!

Microsoft put in an AUTOMATED feature for you to utilize so that you do

NOT have to worry yourself about the patching of the Operating System:



How to configure and use Automatic Updates in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306525



However, not everyone wants to be a slave to "automation", and that is

fine - as long as you are willing to do things manually. Admittedly, I

prefer this method on some of my more critical systems.



Windows Update

http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/



Go there and scan your machine for updates. Always get the critical ones

as you see them. Write down the KB###### or Q###### you see when

selecting the updates and if you have trouble over the next few days,

go into your control panel (Add/Remove Programs), match up the latest

numbers you downloaded recently (since you started noticing an issue) and

uninstall them. If there was more than one (usually is), uninstall them

one by one - with a few hours of use in between, to see if the problem

returns. Yes - the process is not perfect (updating) and can cause trouble

like I mentioned - but as you can see, the solution isn't that bad - and is

MUCH better than the alternatives.



Windows is not the only product you likely have on your PC. The

manufacturers of the other products usually have updates as well. New

versions of almost everything come out all the time - some are free, some

are pay - some you can only download if you are registered - but it is best

to check. Just go to their web pages and look under their support and

download sections. For example, for Microsoft Office update, you should

visit:



Microsoft Office Updates

http://office.microsoft.com/

(and select "downloads")



You also have hardware on your machine that requires drivers to interface

with the operating system. You have a video card that allows you to see on

your screen, a sound card that allows you to hear your PCs sound output and

so on. Visit those manufacturer web sites for the latest downloadable

drivers for your hardware/operating system. Always (IMO) get the

manufacturers' hardware driver over any Microsoft offers. On the Windows

Update site I mentioned earlier, I suggest NOT getting their hardware

drivers - no matter how tempting. First - how do you know what hardware

you have in your computer? Invoice or if it is up and working now - take

inventory:



Belarc Advisor

http://belarc.com/free_download.html



EVEREST Home Edition

http://www.lavalys.com/products/download.php?pid=1&lang=en



Once you know what you have, what next? Go get the latest driver for your

hardware/OS from the manufacturer's web page. For example, let's say you

have an NVidia chipset video card or ATI video card, perhaps a Creative

Labs sound card or C-Media chipset sound card...



NVidia Video Card Drivers

http://www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.asp



ATI Video Card Drivers

http://www.atitech.com/support/driver.html



Creative Labs Sound Device

http://us.creative.com/support/downloads/



C-Media Sound Device

http://www.cmedia.com.tw/e_download_01.htm



Then install these drivers. Updated drivers are usually more stable and

may provide extra benefits/features that you really wished you had before.



As for Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Windows XP, Microsoft has made this

particular patch available in a number of ways. First, there is the

Windows Update web page above. Then there is a direct download site

and finally, you can order the FREE CD from Microsoft.



Direct Download of Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Windows XP

http://snipurl.com/8bqy



Order the Free Windows XP SP2 CD

http://snipurl.com/8umo





Tip (9):

What about the dreaded word in the computer world, VIRUS?



Well, there are many products to choose from that will help you prevent

infections from these horrid little applications. Many are FREE to the

home user. Which one you choose is a matter of taste, really. I wouldn't

list one here I had not personally used - and they all work. Many people

have emotional attachments or performance issues with one or another

AntiVirus software. Try some out, read reviews and decide for yourself

which you like more:



avast! (Free and up)

http://www.avast.com/



AVG Anti-Virus System (Free and up)

http://www.grisoft.com/



AntiVir (Free and up)

http://www.free-av.com/



RAV AntiVirus Online Virus Scan (Free!)

http://www.ravantivirus.com/scan/



Symantec (Norton) AntiVirus (~$11 and up)

http://www.symantec.com/nav/nav_9xnt/



Kaspersky Anti-Virus (~$49.95 and up)

http://www.kaspersky.com/products.html



Panda Antivirus Titanium (~$39.95 and up)

http://www.pandasoftware.com/

(Free Online Scanner: http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/)



McAfee VirusScan (~$11 and up)

http://www.mcafee.com/



Trend Micro (~$49.95 and up)

http://www.trendmicro.com/en/home/us/personal.htm

(Free Online Scanner:

http://housecall.trendmicro.com/housecall/start_corp.asp)



Untested (by me):

eTrust EZ Antivirus ($29.95 and up)

https://www2.my-etrust.com/commerce/buy.it.cfm



Most of them have automatic update capabilities. You will have to

look into the features of the one you choose. Whatever one you finally

settle with - be SURE to keep it updated (I recommend at least daily) and

perform a full scan periodically (yes, it protects you actively, but a

full scan once a month at 4AM probably won't bother you.)





Tip (10):

The most rampant infestation at the current time concerns SPYWARE/ADWARE.

I hate this stuff. It has no purpose. I have seen people try to justify

it over and over - it's worthless. It slows down your PC, it can send

your private information to people you'll never meet and did I mention,

it's worthless. You need to eliminate it from your machine.



If you use P2P software, this COULD make that stop working. Find some

decent software to do the same thing - what you are currently using is

crap.



Anyway - there is no one software that cleans and immunizes you against

everything. Antivirus software - you only needed one. Firewall, you

only needed one. AntiSpyware - you may need several. I have a list and

I recommend you use at least the first 5. I know that sounds like a lot,

and you may be saying "But you said earlier that I should clean my system,

now you are telling me to install more software - 5 pieces in fact!" Okay,

I get your point, but please consider that this stuff has prevented the

install of the latest service pack for some people, it has the potential

to slow and crater your PC, it can send your private information around

the world to people you do not know - it is all around BAD.



First - make sure you have NOT installed "Rogue AntiSpyware". There are

people out there who created AntiSpyware products that actually install

spyware of their own! You need to avoid these:



Rogue/Suspect Anti-Spyware Products & Web Sites

http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm



Also, you can always visit this site..

http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm

For more updated information.



Then, my suggestion again is that you at least install the first five of

these: (Install, Run, Update, Scan with..)



Lavasoft AdAware (Free and up)

http://www.lavasoft.de/support/download/

(How-to: http://snipurl.com/atdn )



Spybot Search and Destroy (Free!)

http://www.safer-networking.net/en/download/index.html

(How-to: http://snipurl.com/atdk )



Bazooka Adware and Spyware Scanner (Free!)

http://www.kephyr.com/spywarescanner/

(How-to: http://snipurl.com/ate3 )



SpywareBlaster (Free!)

http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/sbdownload.html

(How-to: http://snipurl.com/ate6 )



IE-SPYAD (Free!)

https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/ehowes/www/resource.htm

(How-to: http://snipurl.com/ate7 )



CWShredder (Free!)

http://www.softbasket.com/download/s_8114.shtml



Hijack This! (Free)

http://mjc1.com/mirror/hjt/

( Tutorial: http://hjt.wizardsofwebsites.com/ )



ToolbarCop (Free!)

http://windowsxp.mvps.org/toolbarcop.htm



Browser Security Tests

http://www.jasons-toolbox.com/BrowserSecurity/



Popup Tester

http://www.popuptest.com/



The Cleaner (49.95 and up)

http://www.moosoft.com/



If used properly, you should have a malware free system now. The last

two of the first five I suggest you install are immunization applications.

None of these programs (in these editions) run in the background unless you

TELL them to. The space they take up and how easy they are to use greatly

makes up for any inconvenience you may be feeling.



Unfortunately, although that will lessen your popups on the Internet/while

you are online, it won't eliminate them. I have looked at a lot of options,

seen a lot of them used in production with people who seem to attract popups

like a plague, and I only have a few other suggestions that should help.

This one ends up serving double duty (search engine and popup stopper

in one):



The Google Toolbar (Free!)

http://toolbar.google.com/



Yeah - it adds a bar to your Internet Explorer - but it's a useful one. You

can search from there anytime with one of the best search engines on the

planet (IMO.) And the fact it stops most popups - wow - BONUS! If you

don't like that suggestion, then I am just going to say you go to

www.google.com and search for other options.



Please notice that Windows XP SP2 does help stop popups as well.



Another option is to use an alternative Web browser. I suggest

"Mozilla Firefox", as it has some great features and is very easy to use:



Mozilla Firefox

http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/



One more suggestion is to disable your Windows Messenger service. This

service is not used frequently (if at all) by the normal home user and

in cooperation with a good firewall, is generally unnecessary. Microsoft

has instructions on how to do this for Windows XP here:



http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/howto/communicate/stopspam.asp





So your machine is pretty clean and up to date now. If you use the sections

above as a guide, it should stay that way as well! There are still a few

more little things you can do to keep your machine running in top shape.





Tip (11):

You should periodically check your hard drive(s) for errors and defragment

them. Only defragment after you have cleaned up your machine of

outside parasites and never defragment as a solution to a quirkiness in

your system. It may help speed up your system, but it should be clean

before you do this.



How to use Disk Cleanup

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=310312



How to scan your disks for errors

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=315265



How to Defragment your hard drives

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=314848



I would personally perform the above steps at least once every three months.

For most people this should be sufficient, but if the difference you notice

afterwards is greater than you think it should be, lessen the time in

between its schedule.. If the difference you notice is negligible, you can

increase the time.





Tip (12):

SPAM! JUNK MAIL!

This one can get annoying, just like the rest. You get 50 emails in one

sitting and 2 of them you wanted. NICE! (Not.) What can you do? Well,

although there are services out there to help you, some email

servers/services that actually do lower your spam with features built into

their servers - I still like the methods that let you be the end-decision

maker on what is spam and what is not. I have two products to suggest to

you, look at them and see if either of them suite your needs. Again, if

they don't, Google is free and available for your perusal.



SpamBayes (Free!)

http://spambayes.sourceforge.net/



Spamihilator (Free!)

http://www.spamihilator.com/



As I said, those are not your only options, but are reliable ones I have

seen function for hundreds+ people.





Tip (13):

ADVANCED TIP! Only do this once you are comfortable under the hood of your

computer!



There are lots of services on your PC that are probably turned on by default

you don't use. Why have them on? Check out these web pages to see what all

of the services you might find on your computer are and set them according

to your personal needs. Be CAREFUL what you set to manual, and take heed

and write down as you change things! Also, don't expect a large performance

increase or anything - especially on today's 2+ GHz machines, however - I

look at each service you set to manual as one less service you have to worry

about someone exploiting. A year ago, I would have thought the Windows

Messenger service to be pretty safe, now I recommend (with addition of

a firewall) that most home users disable it! Yeah - this is another one you

have to work for, but your computer may speed up and/or be more secure

because you took the time. And if you document what you do as you do it,

next time, it goes MUCH faster! (or if you have to go back and re-enable

things..)



Task List Programs

http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm



Black Viper's Service List and Opinions (XP)

http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm



Processes in Windows NT/2000/XP

http://www.reger24.de/prozesse/



There are also applications that AREN'T services that startup when you start

up the computer/logon. One of the better description on how to handle these

I have found here:



Startups

http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.php





If you follow the advice laid out above (and do some of your own research as

well, so you understand what you are doing) - your computer will stay fairly

stable and secure and you will have a more trouble-free system.



--

>=- Shenan -=<

>=- MS MVP -=<

--







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I hope this solves some of your problems,have a nice day,P