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we my PC is really messin up n i herd this program would help so i got it but..dont know how to use it.
i have like alot of spyware/adware but the 5difrent programs i regurly use dont seem to help at all.its so bad the tool bar dissapear and get pop ups like crazy!!
any one can help?
Well you can do what you like but i would strongly recommend to backup all your important files and format your whole pc.
Anti-spyware, anti-virus, anti-pop-up, anti-whatever programs do help alot but nothing beats a good old clean out of your system and then install these programs afterwards. Your system will be so much faster afterwards and will be fresh again, free of crap and spyware. My parent's pc is full of spyware and is corrupted but they refuse to let me reformat. I have installed anti everything but it still ain't 100%. YOu will need about half a day to do this. Good luck.
Which program is it?
Have you installed any unusual software lately that you downloaded?
LukeB
yea idid and i tought that was wat messed me up.but i deleted it and apparently there still some files lyien around somewhere.
Not really an hair issue but will give you some hints. First of all, switch to Firefox browser, http:\\www.firefox.com\, if you don't use it allready. It's way better handling the annoying pop-ups and alot safer as well. And tabbed browsing is the best invention for long! You might also wanna try out some of these programs; Spyware doctor, Registry Mechanic, Yahoo! Spyware scanner (in the toolbar), F-secure. There are other alternatives around but I've found these really helpful. Think you can find most of them on download.com allthough they are only probably just sharewares. Of course there are other ways to get a hold on the programs unlimited and fully working but I will not get in to that here. ;)
Oh, and one more thing. ALWAYS use the uninstall program supplied with the program or you will have a lot of trash messing up your system
the problem I have with Firefox is that it doesnt render some pages properly, and I have lots of language issue (I view chinese and english pages at the same time) with Firefox, in some cases certain page just looks like garbage when I use it.
I use FireFox as my browser.
Spyware Blaster to patch MSIE, FF and Resticted Sites to stop the spyware getting on my system in the first place.
Ad-Aware SE and Spybot S&D to check / remove should any get on.
Using this i have not got any spyware on this system (possibly once, dont really remember)
Ok, lets do this from the top. I've built over 5000 systems in the past 20 years and have helped design several major rollouts for a couple of very large companies. I've spent the past 5 years doing ungodly ammounts of spyware removal. Trust me on this one. First things first, backup anything you want to keep. Next...
I have to assume that your using some version of XP since you didnt say. First off, you should download these two programs (sorry in advance for the linkthrough, but if the topic is here then I dont see that it can do any harm). Use IE if you can.
http://downloads.pcworld.com/pub/new/privacy___security/anti_spyware_tools/aawsepersonal.exe
and
http://public.planetmirror.com/pub/spybot/spybotsd14.exe
Uninstall any antispyware you already have installed. Reboot your system. Install the new ones and update them via the software update controls. Also consider a good antivirus program. I like AVG free. It doesnt remove the virus, but it tells you where they are so you can remove them by hand (a bit advanced for most users), so you might want to stick with one of the commercial programs like MaCafee or Norton.
The next step is where you may take the risk of hosing your system. Then again, your system sounds like you can barely use it anyway, so what have you got to lose. Right click on your "my computer" icon on the desktop. The left clik on properties. From there left click on "System Restore". Turn off system restore on all drives. It may take several minutes for the system to respond after clicking on the turn off option. Click on apply, then click ok.
Close all windows. Power off your system. Now you need to go into safe mode. Do this by pressing the power button and then start tapping your "F8" key until you either get one of two messages. The first message may be a error message. Something like "keyboard error" or what not. Most likely the bottome of the screen will have instruction on how to "continue" with your boot process if this message comes up. More often than not, all you have to do is hit the "F1" key, but read to make sure.
The second message (and the one you want to see), is your "safe mode option screen". You want the first option on the list. Just plane old safe mode. Your screen will default to 640x480 and drop to 256 color when it finishes booting. Dont worry about it. It'll be normal again when you reboot in normal mode. Now start with Spybot. Let it do a full scan and delete all enteries found. If you want you can keep them locked in a vault to make sure all your software works after the cleaning, but I dont think it worth it.
Next up is AdAware. When you start it go through the options and make sure you set it up for "deep scan" and to check archives. Start the scan and again, I recommend deleting the found files. AdAware (under these settings), can take awhile to do it's thing so you might want to head out for a drink or a snak.
After this, you can click start, shutdown, reboot and go into normal mode. I would recommend back into safe mode again right after one normal mode reboot. Then do another scan with both programs. If you still have spyware or trojans, they may be "hatched" from another file when it detects it's child copy missing. If either program finds more files on a second run, then you will have to either lookup the files and how to remove them by hand (via google) or consider a fresh install of windows.
If all is clean, then it's time to fix a few problems. Make sure your OS is up to date on all updates. Open IE and click the "tools" tab at the top. Then click on the "check for updates" option. Follow the instructions on your screen. You may have to reboot and do this several times.
The final two things you might want to consider will help prevent windows from slowing down and devloping more problems. I highly recommend them. Download a copy of "ccleaner" - stands for crap cleaner. You can find it on google. Run it and cleanup your registry and wipe out your cookies. Then do a defrag of all your drives.
There are a few thousand things I could tell you but with the info you supplied those basics should help get you started. Also I noticed that there was an opinion here to use firefox. I wouldnt recommend it. The past 6+ months IE has had much tighter security than firefox. That may change again later on, but thats the way it is right now. IE is safer. You should consider a second browser though. At the momment I would recommend opera. It has some issues on some sites, but overall it works well, fast, and is pretty safe.
If you endup with a hosed install of windows, then your just going to have to reinstall. If you have to do this, then try not to use a system restore CD if you can help it. Instead, see if you can get a plain copy of XP (home, pro, media center, etc) and use another computer to download the latest drivers for your system. This includes your mother board drivers. Burn them to CD and after you install XP, install your drivers from the CD. Odd's are, you will have to restart after you install each one. Save your video drivers as the last things to install. Update windows (ignoring any display updates you may see). Install directx as your last update. Then install your video card drivers.
If it seem to complex to do it that way, you can just install all your drivers and then all the updates. No big deal, but then method above helps to improve performance on any directx apps (ie, more FPS with games).
Lets here how it goes and feel free to ask any questions if you need to. Good luck. ^_^
