I've noticed when I run Photoshop on my computer that opening other programs take a little longer and the whole system becomes sluggish. I have Winodws XP Home running on a 2.4GHz Pentium 4 with 1022MB of Kingston dual channel PC3200 RAM. I would have thought having more RAM would help this issue, but obviously not. Recently I got a new SATA hardrive (SeaGate Barracuda 250GB) and I was thinking maybe I need to get a second one to act as a Photoshop scratch disc.
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Q: Programs get sluggish? 12
- Thread starter dcloud
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #61
I ran FDISK (using the Windows ME boot disc version), but I've run into a few snags. The first time I did it I had two drives in My Computer - C drive was blank, and everything was on D drive. So I ran FDISK again. This time checking with FDISK to make sure my drive letter was correct before refomatting. Now I have one drive in my computer - the C drive with everything on it.
I have an ASUS P4P800 mobo. Some of the stuff on the Motherboard CDs are old, but I don't know where to get any updates (and believe me, I've tried). So I have to use these to get my internet going, graphics, etc. After I began installing stuff off the mobo CDs I started getting those error messages again. They say stuff like my registry is corrupt, STOP WINDOWS IS CRITICAL, and such.
For example one of them says:
Message from SECURITY MONITOR to WINDOWS USER - Important Windows Security Bulletin - Buffer Overrun in Messenger Service allows remote code execution.....blah blah blah
All of these message warnings have a link they want me to click to download some patch. They are really annoying because they keep popping up, even when I'm trying to type or use a program.
I am happy to report that aside from this annoying thing with the messages the fdisk thing seemed to go well. I mean I'm back here typing this post, lol. So does this mean I'm still infected with something? God, I hope not. I've been up all day working on this and I have to work tonight. I'll probably fall asleep there.
I have an ASUS P4P800 mobo. Some of the stuff on the Motherboard CDs are old, but I don't know where to get any updates (and believe me, I've tried). So I have to use these to get my internet going, graphics, etc. After I began installing stuff off the mobo CDs I started getting those error messages again. They say stuff like my registry is corrupt, STOP WINDOWS IS CRITICAL, and such.
For example one of them says:
Message from SECURITY MONITOR to WINDOWS USER - Important Windows Security Bulletin - Buffer Overrun in Messenger Service allows remote code execution.....blah blah blah
All of these message warnings have a link they want me to click to download some patch. They are really annoying because they keep popping up, even when I'm trying to type or use a program.
I am happy to report that aside from this annoying thing with the messages the fdisk thing seemed to go well. I mean I'm back here typing this post, lol. So does this mean I'm still infected with something? God, I hope not. I've been up all day working on this and I have to work tonight. I'll probably fall asleep there.
- Thread starter
- #62
I installed the SP2 update (I have the CD) and the warning messages have stopped. I'm still concerned about this, but having run fdisk my HD should be clean. Right?
So now I will install Photoshop and everything else and see if this entire sleepless day has been in vain.
So now I will install Photoshop and everything else and see if this entire sleepless day has been in vain.
dcloud,
Way back on your 1 Jun 06 5:32 post when you said you were getting MSN popup windows after reformatting and reinstalling Windows, are you sure it was a "clean" installation? Are you sure your C: drive was blank to begin with before you installed Windows XP? If so, then the infection survived the reformatting likely by hiding itself elsewhere in your system (possibly the MBR or on another partition).
But now that you're way beyond that and have used FDISK, perhaps you're OK now. Only time will tell. It does appear that you have done a clean install at this point since you have to reinstall your apps. You might want to look in your list of services again for Laa1erps making sure it's gone.
Again, the reason why I didn't recommend FDISK to begin with is that you can only format the drive using FAT32. I have a personal preference for NTFS (file security is the main reason), which FDISK cannot read. Plus, the XP CD installer is just as efficient as FDISK when it comes to deleting partitions and formatting. It's all in the past at this point, so I won't waste any more time on it.
Once you get the applications that are most important to you installed and customized the way you like them, it would be a good idea to consider making an image of your entire C: drive. Doing so will make the task of reformatting and starting over painless in case you get infected like that again. It is crucial that you do this BEFORE you start surfing the internet or installing other crap you don't necessarily need. If you don't already have a backup utility, Norton Ghost, Dantz Retrospect, and several others you can find listed here might be worth a look.
~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884
Way back on your 1 Jun 06 5:32 post when you said you were getting MSN popup windows after reformatting and reinstalling Windows, are you sure it was a "clean" installation? Are you sure your C: drive was blank to begin with before you installed Windows XP? If so, then the infection survived the reformatting likely by hiding itself elsewhere in your system (possibly the MBR or on another partition).
But now that you're way beyond that and have used FDISK, perhaps you're OK now. Only time will tell. It does appear that you have done a clean install at this point since you have to reinstall your apps. You might want to look in your list of services again for Laa1erps making sure it's gone.
Again, the reason why I didn't recommend FDISK to begin with is that you can only format the drive using FAT32. I have a personal preference for NTFS (file security is the main reason), which FDISK cannot read. Plus, the XP CD installer is just as efficient as FDISK when it comes to deleting partitions and formatting. It's all in the past at this point, so I won't waste any more time on it.
Once you get the applications that are most important to you installed and customized the way you like them, it would be a good idea to consider making an image of your entire C: drive. Doing so will make the task of reformatting and starting over painless in case you get infected like that again. It is crucial that you do this BEFORE you start surfing the internet or installing other crap you don't necessarily need. If you don't already have a backup utility, Norton Ghost, Dantz Retrospect, and several others you can find listed here might be worth a look.
~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884
- Thread starter
- #64
I checked Services and Laa1erps is no longer there. Also, I was able to format my drive with NTSF, and the drive is reporting a correct size at 250GB. So it seems to have worked pretty well. I will finish up the job when I get home tomorrow. Thanks to all of you for your awesoem help. I could not have done this without you guys.
dcloud,
How is your PC connected to the Internet? Directly to a DSL or Cable Modem, or ???
All these messages you say pop up shortly after a reformat/reinstall leads me to suspect your PC is connected directly to the Internet. The messages you say are from MSN are most likely from Windows Messenger and the fact they pop-up says your PC is exposed to the Internet.
This thread sounds a lot like what you say you saw:
Report back how you are connected to the Internet so security suggestions, if needed, can be made.
How is your PC connected to the Internet? Directly to a DSL or Cable Modem, or ???
All these messages you say pop up shortly after a reformat/reinstall leads me to suspect your PC is connected directly to the Internet. The messages you say are from MSN are most likely from Windows Messenger and the fact they pop-up says your PC is exposed to the Internet.
This thread sounds a lot like what you say you saw:
Report back how you are connected to the Internet so security suggestions, if needed, can be made.
If, after all this, you still have problems, use DBAN. It's much easier to use:
1.) Download file from website:
2.) Run the file (will create a CD image file if you use the CD-Rom version (faster than floppy in operation) OR for floppy, run the file, and make sure you have a blank floppy in your floppy drive.
3.) For CD, after creating CD Image file, burn it to CD with Nero or whatever CD burning app you use.
4.) Reboot computer, make sure either the floppy or CD (whichever you chose to use) is in the corresponding drive, and that your system is set to boot from CD or floppy (if you've never changed BIOS boot settings, then it should be that way by default).
5.) DBAN will load - you don't have to do anything, it takes care of it totally.
6.) When it stops loading (very short time frame), it will give you the options of what to do: Here, I always just type "autonuke" - without the quotes, of course. This command tells it to run all of the formats (different programs).
7.) Walk away for a very long time - I'd do it overnight before going to bed, and check it when get up in the morning.
8.) When you come back, just ignore any message that says anything about creating a log file to a blank floppy disk, b/c all you care about is that it's all gone.
9.) Put in your Windows CD (assuming this is a full version, not an upgrade, if upgrade, you'll need to supply a full version CD for reference - same or prior version)
10.) Install Windows as normal.
Now, your machine will likely run at least a little better, if not much better than it has in quite some time (moreso than just using Windows reformatter). Basically, I don't think it's possible for anything in any way to hide from the DBAN compilation of programs. It's getting more and more popular all the time. It runs in Linux, but that doesn't matter for the end result, of course.
Oh, and similar to what these other guys are getting at in regards to reinstalling Windows; considering that you have had at least one or two pretty tough viruses in the past on your machine, do NOT plug up your machine to the internet until AFTER everything is installed, including antivirus, firewall, antispyware, and Windows updates (SP2 at least) if at all possible. Also, if you have broadband - this may have been mentioned already - make sure you have a router with built-in firewall. Otherwise, you're basically a sitting duck; the physical firewall creates a boundary to hackers and viruses before you get to your actual machine, and really seems to block out something like at least 90% of all problems. Just make sure you change the password from the default "admin" that most or all of them use.
If you're still reading this whole thing, get some coffee. You'll probably need it after reading all of these posts in this thread, and working on your computer software!![[wink]](/data/assets/smilies/wink.gif "[wink] [wink]")
1.) Download file from website:
2.) Run the file (will create a CD image file if you use the CD-Rom version (faster than floppy in operation) OR for floppy, run the file, and make sure you have a blank floppy in your floppy drive.
3.) For CD, after creating CD Image file, burn it to CD with Nero or whatever CD burning app you use.
4.) Reboot computer, make sure either the floppy or CD (whichever you chose to use) is in the corresponding drive, and that your system is set to boot from CD or floppy (if you've never changed BIOS boot settings, then it should be that way by default).
5.) DBAN will load - you don't have to do anything, it takes care of it totally.
6.) When it stops loading (very short time frame), it will give you the options of what to do: Here, I always just type "autonuke" - without the quotes, of course. This command tells it to run all of the formats (different programs).
7.) Walk away for a very long time - I'd do it overnight before going to bed, and check it when get up in the morning.
8.) When you come back, just ignore any message that says anything about creating a log file to a blank floppy disk, b/c all you care about is that it's all gone.
9.) Put in your Windows CD (assuming this is a full version, not an upgrade, if upgrade, you'll need to supply a full version CD for reference - same or prior version)
10.) Install Windows as normal.
Now, your machine will likely run at least a little better, if not much better than it has in quite some time (moreso than just using Windows reformatter). Basically, I don't think it's possible for anything in any way to hide from the DBAN compilation of programs. It's getting more and more popular all the time. It runs in Linux, but that doesn't matter for the end result, of course.
Oh, and similar to what these other guys are getting at in regards to reinstalling Windows; considering that you have had at least one or two pretty tough viruses in the past on your machine, do NOT plug up your machine to the internet until AFTER everything is installed, including antivirus, firewall, antispyware, and Windows updates (SP2 at least) if at all possible. Also, if you have broadband - this may have been mentioned already - make sure you have a router with built-in firewall. Otherwise, you're basically a sitting duck; the physical firewall creates a boundary to hackers and viruses before you get to your actual machine, and really seems to block out something like at least 90% of all problems. Just make sure you change the password from the default "admin" that most or all of them use.
If you're still reading this whole thing, get some coffee. You'll probably need it after reading all of these posts in this thread, and working on your computer software!
Based on what I'm reading I don't think you formatted again after using fdisk did you? It would have been nice but you may be okay.
cdogg, I prefer NTFS over FAT32 also however its easy enough to convert aftwards with no risk to data loss. (CONVERT C: /FS:NTFS)
Freestone has some very valid points. If you don't have a router with a built it firewall it is well worth the investment.
"Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy"
Albert Einstein
badfrog,
You may not have been aware that fragmentation and cluster size can be an issue after a conversion, depending on the amount of data you have on the drive, and the size of the partition.
I can dig the article up if you need it, but take my word that conversion afterwards is loss of efficiency. I still don't see any reason to use FDISK unless you are sticking with FAT32.
~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884
You may not have been aware that fragmentation and cluster size can be an issue after a conversion, depending on the amount of data you have on the drive, and the size of the partition.
I can dig the article up if you need it, but take my word that conversion afterwards is loss of efficiency. I still don't see any reason to use FDISK unless you are sticking with FAT32.
~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884
If its not too much trouble I would be interested in reading that. I've been using fdisk and converting for awhile now and havn't really noticed any efficiency loss. Then again I havn't been bench marking either. Anyways like I said if its not too much trouble, I'm more curious than anything. Thanks.
"Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy"
Albert Einstein
"Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy"
Albert Einstein
- Thread starter
- #70
I have cable internet with the cable modem. I have not had any of those pop-up messages since installing SP2. I'm wondering if it's because of Windows firewall (that was installed with SP2). Freestone, thanks for that link. Now I'm wondering if the Windows firewall is adequate. Obviously I am open to the possibility of being infected again, since I was still getting those message boxes.
Another thing I noticed is that sometimes when I turn the computer on there is this little computer icon down by the clock that says: Local Area connection, Speed 100.0 mbps, Aquiring network address...
I found it odd since I have cable, but then again I believe this is part of installing the SP2 update.
Another thing I noticed is that sometimes when I turn the computer on there is this little computer icon down by the clock that says: Local Area connection, Speed 100.0 mbps, Aquiring network address...
I found it odd since I have cable, but then again I believe this is part of installing the SP2 update.
Okay, thanks for confirming you are directly connected to the Internet. I'm at work at the moment so can't take too much time for a post, but I suspect in little time you will be inundated with security recommendations.
And yes, as soon as your network connection was made to the cable modem, you were exposed to anything that was out there on the Internet, good and bad, and it doesn't take the bad too long to find you.
The icon you are seeing is your network card acquiring an IP address from your cable provider, and it is this address that is the exposure.
And yes, as soon as your network connection was made to the cable modem, you were exposed to anything that was out there on the Internet, good and bad, and it doesn't take the bad too long to find you.
The icon you are seeing is your network card acquiring an IP address from your cable provider, and it is this address that is the exposure.
dcloud,
Since you have a cable modem, if you don't have a router with built-in firewall, you're basically a sitting duck until you get one. You could have the best software firewall in the world, if one is necessarily the best, and still not necessarily block everything. By the way, I can't remember the exact number for sure, but on average, any computer connected to the internet gets attacked, or attempted to be attacked within 6 or 7 minutes, I believe it is. So, with that one statistic, I would say definitely get a router, or you'll end up with at least the same problem in the near future.
The popups weren't fixed by Windows Firewall. The pop-ups you are talking about (if I know for sure which ones you are talking about) were stopped, b/c in SP2, Microsoft disabled the Messenger service, which is not needed for home users. Many people (some got in big trouble with it in court) started using this a good while back to send out blanket messages, trying to get you to buy their software (for example). Anyway, b/c of many complaints about it, Microsoft disabled that service to keep that from occuring on standard home pc's.
Since you have a cable modem, if you don't have a router with built-in firewall, you're basically a sitting duck until you get one. You could have the best software firewall in the world, if one is necessarily the best, and still not necessarily block everything. By the way, I can't remember the exact number for sure, but on average, any computer connected to the internet gets attacked, or attempted to be attacked within 6 or 7 minutes, I believe it is. So, with that one statistic, I would say definitely get a router, or you'll end up with at least the same problem in the near future.
The popups weren't fixed by Windows Firewall. The pop-ups you are talking about (if I know for sure which ones you are talking about) were stopped, b/c in SP2, Microsoft disabled the Messenger service, which is not needed for home users. Many people (some got in big trouble with it in court) started using this a good while back to send out blanket messages, trying to get you to buy their software (for example). Anyway, b/c of many complaints about it, Microsoft disabled that service to keep that from occuring on standard home pc's.
- Thread starter
- #73
Regarding firewall issues:
I haven't seen bcastner around here in a while (and that's a shame), but he'd be the first to tell you how secure any workstation is with Windows XP SP2's firewall enabled. If I remember correctly, there were tests done in the past to show that even skilled hackers were not able to get through it. Keep in mind this is regarding a PC that just sits idle and isn't infected within.
So even though I don't doubt XP's firewall protection, we all know most PC's eventually become infected from downloading, web surfing, and email attachments. EVen power users have trouble avoiding it. Once a PC is infected within, XP's firewall is of no use anymore. It only protects from inbound traffic, and isn't good for monitoring outbound (trojans, worms, etc).
A router with NAT (Network Address Translation) is going to increase your protection from the outside, but it too will not monitor outbound traffic. For that, you need a software firewall like Zonealarm Pro. There have been many threads on the subject, so I'd recommend searching this site or starting a new thread if you need help here. Don't forget a good antispyware app and antivirus software too. All 3 provide different levels of protection and should be used in tandem.
Badfrog,
Sorry, still haven't had time to look up the article, but let me clarify what I meant about "loss of efficiency". I didn't mean you would necessarily notice a drop in performance. However, the way files are stored in clusters and sectors could suffer from more wasted "slack" space (unused space per cluster) as well as increased fragmentation. This is all at first until the drive is cleaned up with a defragmenter that can handle both. Disk Defragmenter in Windows doesn't deal with slack space just so you know.
So even though it's not a big deal, the process you're taking with FDISK then doing the conversion seems like a zig-zag approach to get from point A to point B. That's really what I was getting at when I mentioned efficiency.
~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884
I haven't seen bcastner around here in a while (and that's a shame), but he'd be the first to tell you how secure any workstation is with Windows XP SP2's firewall enabled. If I remember correctly, there were tests done in the past to show that even skilled hackers were not able to get through it. Keep in mind this is regarding a PC that just sits idle and isn't infected within.
So even though I don't doubt XP's firewall protection, we all know most PC's eventually become infected from downloading, web surfing, and email attachments. EVen power users have trouble avoiding it. Once a PC is infected within, XP's firewall is of no use anymore. It only protects from inbound traffic, and isn't good for monitoring outbound (trojans, worms, etc).
A router with NAT (Network Address Translation) is going to increase your protection from the outside, but it too will not monitor outbound traffic. For that, you need a software firewall like Zonealarm Pro. There have been many threads on the subject, so I'd recommend searching this site or starting a new thread if you need help here. Don't forget a good antispyware app and antivirus software too. All 3 provide different levels of protection and should be used in tandem.
Badfrog,
Sorry, still haven't had time to look up the article, but let me clarify what I meant about "loss of efficiency". I didn't mean you would necessarily notice a drop in performance. However, the way files are stored in clusters and sectors could suffer from more wasted "slack" space (unused space per cluster) as well as increased fragmentation. This is all at first until the drive is cleaned up with a defragmenter that can handle both. Disk Defragmenter in Windows doesn't deal with slack space just so you know.
So even though it's not a big deal, the process you're taking with FDISK then doing the conversion seems like a zig-zag approach to get from point A to point B. That's really what I was getting at when I mentioned efficiency.
~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884
- Thread starter
- #75
dcloud,
Just about any modern router will do the trick. It seems they've come a long way. I've not used Netgear, but their reviews do seem to be good. I know that Linksys and US Robotics both have good routers - I've used both. I also like DLink ok, but there was one security option that wasn't available as far as I could tell - they may have started including that in the most recent 6 months, but before it was not there. It's basically just a setting to make it appear that you do not exist if someone tries to ping your IP address - this is often the first tool a hacker or virus will use before trying to actually attack. After all, what is the use of them attacking if no-one is there?
Anyway, the closest thing you'll get to a foolproof secure system is this (as far as tools):
Hardware Firewall - such as Linksys or USRobotics, DLink, Netgear, etc - I'd just do some searching around for one particular model you like. I've noticed that each one of the manufacturers seem to have some good ones and not so good ones.
Software Firewall: ZoneAlarm Free should be plenty - a home user doesn't really need the "pro" version. Windows Firewall may be ok, so long as you have your updates all current.
Antivirus: AVG Antivirus by Grisoft works very well. I personally prefer it over any of the paid antiviruses or other free ones I've tried. (have tried Antivir (free), Norton, McAfee)
Spyware: If you do enough research, you'll find that SpywareBlaster, Spybot Search and Destroy, and Ad-Aware Personal SE do an excellent job, if not the best job of keeping your computer free of spyware/adware. I tried the Microsoft AntiSpy, and didn't like it too much. It slowed down my machine a bunch, and it did the same on the other 2 or maybe 3 comptuers I tried it on. For what you get out of it (unless it got a whole lot better in maybe the past year), it's not worth the download. There are some other ones that will say they find spyware, but as soon as you take their suggestions, you end up messing up a normal (non-spyware program); I tried a couple of the others, and that is the results I got - I've not tried all of them. The 3 I recommend come from using them on multiple computers (when I help others in my area), as well as my own, for now at least 1.5 to 2 years.
Keep Windows up to date.
Stay away from online chatting, gaming, and such as possible, or at least limit it and be careful. When I say online gaming, however, I'm talking more of where you find "download these free games!" and things of that nature. From the pc's that I've cleaned off tons of spyware and viruses, the majority had at least some sort of internet games played on them (I'm not talking the multiplayer games, such as Call of Duty and the like - though they may cause the same problems, I just don't know of it), and/or had some sort of active chatting software installed.
If you are not using MS Outlook Express, uninstall it - it's just a possible security threat, with all the fixes taht Microsoft has pushed out for it.
If you don't use MSN Messenger or any other chat program that's installed, remove it. Any program that can connect to other users over the web can be a possible security threat, especially if you get infected with a virus or spyware app that tends to use that particular program as a tool.
Stay away from P2P if possible. P2P can be a great tool, but it can also be a very dangerous tool to use. With P2P, you are opening up your firewall more, so outsiders have a greater chance of getting in as well.
Keep all the antivirus/firewall/spyware stuff up to date. AVG has an auto-update feature, to where you don't have to do anything for it to check for updates. ZoneAlarm Free - you'll get a notification of an update whenever one is available, and you basically just download the newest version and reinstall it. The spyware apps listed have update features (though not auto-update); they only take a few seconds to maybe a minute each to complete.
Be careful on browsing to unknown websites and opening any attachments via email. This should be a no-brainer, but it's also an easy one to slip up on. I personally once had a coworker trying to find free templates for Microsoft Powerpoint, and she ended up with all sorts of stuff on her computer - she searched in Yahoo I believe it was, followed the link to what she thought was templates, and viola! she was infected; tons of pop-ups was the biggest problem with that particular one.
Well, I hope some of this has been helpful. At the very least, you got the garbage off your pc, and now you've got loads of info from diff people to try and get it all together.
Just about any modern router will do the trick. It seems they've come a long way. I've not used Netgear, but their reviews do seem to be good. I know that Linksys and US Robotics both have good routers - I've used both. I also like DLink ok, but there was one security option that wasn't available as far as I could tell - they may have started including that in the most recent 6 months, but before it was not there. It's basically just a setting to make it appear that you do not exist if someone tries to ping your IP address - this is often the first tool a hacker or virus will use before trying to actually attack. After all, what is the use of them attacking if no-one is there?
Anyway, the closest thing you'll get to a foolproof secure system is this (as far as tools):
Hardware Firewall - such as Linksys or USRobotics, DLink, Netgear, etc - I'd just do some searching around for one particular model you like. I've noticed that each one of the manufacturers seem to have some good ones and not so good ones.
Software Firewall: ZoneAlarm Free should be plenty - a home user doesn't really need the "pro" version. Windows Firewall may be ok, so long as you have your updates all current.
Antivirus: AVG Antivirus by Grisoft works very well. I personally prefer it over any of the paid antiviruses or other free ones I've tried. (have tried Antivir (free), Norton, McAfee)
Spyware: If you do enough research, you'll find that SpywareBlaster, Spybot Search and Destroy, and Ad-Aware Personal SE do an excellent job, if not the best job of keeping your computer free of spyware/adware. I tried the Microsoft AntiSpy, and didn't like it too much. It slowed down my machine a bunch, and it did the same on the other 2 or maybe 3 comptuers I tried it on. For what you get out of it (unless it got a whole lot better in maybe the past year), it's not worth the download. There are some other ones that will say they find spyware, but as soon as you take their suggestions, you end up messing up a normal (non-spyware program); I tried a couple of the others, and that is the results I got - I've not tried all of them. The 3 I recommend come from using them on multiple computers (when I help others in my area), as well as my own, for now at least 1.5 to 2 years.
Keep Windows up to date.
Stay away from online chatting, gaming, and such as possible, or at least limit it and be careful. When I say online gaming, however, I'm talking more of where you find "download these free games!" and things of that nature. From the pc's that I've cleaned off tons of spyware and viruses, the majority had at least some sort of internet games played on them (I'm not talking the multiplayer games, such as Call of Duty and the like - though they may cause the same problems, I just don't know of it), and/or had some sort of active chatting software installed.
If you are not using MS Outlook Express, uninstall it - it's just a possible security threat, with all the fixes taht Microsoft has pushed out for it.
If you don't use MSN Messenger or any other chat program that's installed, remove it. Any program that can connect to other users over the web can be a possible security threat, especially if you get infected with a virus or spyware app that tends to use that particular program as a tool.
Stay away from P2P if possible. P2P can be a great tool, but it can also be a very dangerous tool to use. With P2P, you are opening up your firewall more, so outsiders have a greater chance of getting in as well.
Keep all the antivirus/firewall/spyware stuff up to date. AVG has an auto-update feature, to where you don't have to do anything for it to check for updates. ZoneAlarm Free - you'll get a notification of an update whenever one is available, and you basically just download the newest version and reinstall it. The spyware apps listed have update features (though not auto-update); they only take a few seconds to maybe a minute each to complete.
Be careful on browsing to unknown websites and opening any attachments via email. This should be a no-brainer, but it's also an easy one to slip up on. I personally once had a coworker trying to find free templates for Microsoft Powerpoint, and she ended up with all sorts of stuff on her computer - she searched in Yahoo I believe it was, followed the link to what she thought was templates, and viola! she was infected; tons of pop-ups was the biggest problem with that particular one.
Well, I hope some of this has been helpful. At the very least, you got the garbage off your pc, and now you've got loads of info from diff people to try and get it all together.
- Thread starter
- #77
While reinstalling programs and such after the FDISK fiasco, I had Windows search for the best drivers for my C-Media soundcard. While it was downloading the drivers my computer crashed. When I came back to the desktop a message said Windows had just recovered from a critical system error. It said the cause could not be determined, but it was obviously the C-Media drivers it was downloading.
I guess its high time I got a decent sound card.
I guess its high time I got a decent sound card.
I wouldn't think that the soundcard driver caused it if it happened while you were downloading the driver. Were you installing the driver or downloading from the net?
C-Media would be your onboard sound. You should be fine with whatever driver you find, so long as you get it from the mobo manufacturer. If that problem continues to happen, then you may want to make sure there isn't some bigger problem after all of this, like maybe a bad hard drive or some other component.
C-Media would be your onboard sound. You should be fine with whatever driver you find, so long as you get it from the mobo manufacturer. If that problem continues to happen, then you may want to make sure there isn't some bigger problem after all of this, like maybe a bad hard drive or some other component.
- Thread starter
- #79
No. C-Media is my sound card. A friend gave it to me because I was looking for something better than my onboard audio (which is SoundMAX). As for the bad hard drive we've been through this already (that's what this entire thread was about) and I ran FDISK to fix this problem.
FDISK won't fix a bad hard drive. You may recover bad sectors, etc, but in the long run, you'll just have to replace it. And considering you can get one for less than $50, it might not be a bad investment, given all of your troubles. To verify there are no hard drive physical errors (which no software can fix), check your event manager for disk errors.
And if you want to get a good sound card, just get a Soundblaster Audigy 1 or 2 off of ebay - they're pretty cheap nowadays, especially since Audigy Xfi is the most current Soundblaster.
And as far as "As for the bad hard drive we've been through this already (that's what this entire thread was about)" - just b/c it's already been mentioned and some software has been used to attempt a repair does not mean the problem is fixed - check your event manager to be sure.
And if you want to get a good sound card, just get a Soundblaster Audigy 1 or 2 off of ebay - they're pretty cheap nowadays, especially since Audigy Xfi is the most current Soundblaster.
And as far as "As for the bad hard drive we've been through this already (that's what this entire thread was about)" - just b/c it's already been mentioned and some software has been used to attempt a repair does not mean the problem is fixed - check your event manager to be sure.
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