Cleaning Computer

Welcome to Bleeping Computer, a free community where people like yourself come together to discuss and learn how to use their computers. Using the site is easy and fun. As a guest, you can browse and view the various discussions in the forums, but can not create a new topic or reply to an existing one unless you are logged in. Other benefits of registering an account are subscribing to topics and forums, creating a blog, and having no ads shown anywhere on the site.
Click here to Register a free account now! or read our Welcome Guide to learn how to use this site.

Important Announcement: The winners of the BC Million Post contest have been announced. You can read who the winners are at this post.

- BleepingComputer Management

BleepingComputer.com > Security > AntiVirus, Firewall and Privacy Products and Protection Methods

Cleaning Computer, Recommend software Please

Options

Markil View Member Profile	Jul 30 2004, 11:21 PM Post #1
New Member Group: Members Posts: 11 Joined: 24-July 04 Member No.: 1,637	Hi all, I had a friend to come by today and told me that his puter is acting weird, hanging up a lot, and shutting down. He said his wife and mother-in-law set it up and he has no idea what protections, if any, are on it. What would you guys recommend as far as any cleaners/av's/firewalls I could dl for him, burn, and take over to him that might help. And what are the best online test areas? This guy is on a slow dialup, so Im gonna try to dl the programs he needs. Thanks for your help.

Grinler View Member Profile	Jul 31 2004, 12:34 AM Post #2
Bleep Bleep! Group: Admin Posts: 29,367 Joined: 24-January 04 From: USA Member No.: 3	Have him run both of these online virus scans: http://housecall.antivirus.com/ http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/ Then let us know if its working better and what the scans found. -------------------- Lawrence

jgweed View Member Profile	Jul 31 2004, 10:22 AM Post #3
Forum Addict Group: Global Moderator Posts: 20,576 Joined: 11-April 04 From: Chicago, Il. Member No.: 113	You should download the following and then install them on his computer: AdAware 6.0 (he will have to use the NET to obtain updates) AVG free antivirus (updates from the web) If he doesn't know what is on the computer, then you will probably have to show him how to use both of these. While on-line virus scans are all well and good, they have two disadvantages; first, for the dialup user, they consume a lot of time, and second, they will not prevent infections (resident AVs will do this) only find and remove them after they have done their damage. Make sure all the latest MS critical updates are installed on his computer. A firewall is also a good idea; but you will have to show him how to train it. Sygate Personal Firewall is a very good free application and seems pretty stable. From what your friend indicates, he either has some spyware or malware on a computer used by the family. Or, he needs to do some routine maintenance, like running scandisk and then defragging. Regards, John -------------------- Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one should be silent.

Dangitall View Member Profile	Jul 31 2004, 04:34 PM Post #4
Member Group: Members Posts: 20 Joined: 31-July 04 Member No.: 1,800	Also, while you are downloading the programs mentioned above, you might wish to grab the latest versions of other security-related programs as well, such as Spybot Search & Destroy, SpywareBlaster, SpywareGuard, ZoneAlarm, et cetera, for installation after this particular machine has been dealt with. -------------------- *'Newbie'?? In a pig's ear!* Main Machine: 500MHz P3, 320MB PC100, 80GB Seagate, Nvidia FX5200, Philips RhythmicEdge

Markil View Member Profile	Jul 31 2004, 08:51 PM Post #5
New Member Group: Members Posts: 11 Joined: 24-July 04 Member No.: 1,637	Thanks everyone. I dl'd the latest Spybot S & D, Ad-aware, AVG, ZoneAlarm, and Spywareblaster. When I got there I found he was hooking up with AOL, and using all of their recommended tools. It took me almost 4 hours to get his puter cleaned, up and running. AVG found and cleaned 12 viruses. S & D found and then corrected 212 (red) problems. Before we started, according to ShieldsUP he had 3 ports stealthed, most ports closed, but 5 were wide open. I installed ZoneAlarm, and he is now completely stealthed. Before I left, we dl'd Dustbuster and got rid of some junk. Needless to say, when I left, he was truly amazed as to how well his puter actually ran. He and his wife both agreed that it was a LOT faster. Thanks again guys. I think my next help for him will be to tell him to register on this forum and keep his mess together Markil

Dangitall View Member Profile	Jul 31 2004, 09:21 PM Post #6
Member Group: Members Posts: 20 Joined: 31-July 04 Member No.: 1,800	If you want to decrease the probability of your having to do this all over again, try steering your friend away from AOL. They charge far too much for their service, and I've had to clear too many AOL-related problems on others' computers. -------------------- *'Newbie'?? In a pig's ear!* Main Machine: 500MHz P3, 320MB PC100, 80GB Seagate, Nvidia FX5200, Philips RhythmicEdge

« Next Oldest · AntiVirus, Firewall and Privacy Products and Protection Methods · Next Newest »

1 User(s) are reading this topic (1 Guests and 0 Anonymous Users)

0 Members:

Display Mode: Standard · Switch to: Linear+ · Switch to: Outline

Track this topic · Email this topic · Print this topic · Subscribe to this forum

Lo-Fi Version

Time is now: 22nd November 2008 - 01:54 PM

Advertise \| About Us \| Terms of Use \| Privacy Policy \| Contact Us \| Site Map \| Chat \| Tutorials \| Uninstall List
Discussion Forums \| The Computer Glossary \| Resources \| RSS Feeds \| Startups \| The File Database \| Malware Removal Guides