[annB]

Hi all,

I have reached the point of complete frustration with my PC (Dell 4700, Windows XP) and am preparing to WIPE everything and reinstall only the software I need and new security (dumping Norton).



I have tried using those programs like "speed up your PC" or" registry booster" and either they don't do enough or I don't know how to use them properly. Anyway I want to know what I need to be aware of before I do this and how to best save and reinstall my files, bookmarks, email addresses and email archives. If anyone wants to give me some step by steps it'd be appreciated! Or just advice on what to watch out for and how to get the computer the cleanest possible. I know there are things like ghost files and stuff that stay behind even when you wipe clean. Should I do a system restore? Or something else? All advice is appreciated.

Thanks,

AnnB

[JessOnTechComps]

Hi Ann,

I just posted about this on my blog.Uninstall ALL the "speed up your PC" programs and what not. The four programs you need are:
# AVG Free/Avast for Anti-Virus
# Spyware Doctor (free in the Google Pack) for Anti-spyware
# MalwareBytes for Anti-malware
# CCleaner to remove all the other garbage which has built up over time!
They are all free downloads, and the link to my blog will take you to the pages for the first three. Ccleaner (aka Crap Cleaner!) can be found here. Please let me know if you have any further questions about using these products, and good luck without doing a re-install.



Jess

[annB]

The thing is, I'm having problems like all of a sudden my CD burner won't work (has happened in the past), or I'm getting email from myself (Trojan robot inside?), or there are TONS of behind the scenes programs that run at start up and I can't figure out how to KEEP them turned off, or my desktop weather downloaded from the weather channel all of a sudden stopped working... just lots of different things. Will doing these 4 things take care of this stuff too?

annb

[number6]

There are many things that you can do to speed up your PC before you wipe your hard drive. They are all very easy. I have the step-by-step instructions following.

I recommend that you run the following programs weekly:
1. Disk Cleanup
2. CCleaner (available as a free download at www.ccleaner.com/download/builds. Choose the

download at the bottom of the page, the slim build)
3. Disk Defragmenter
4. Check Disk


Instructions for running Disk Cleanup:

Click Start ? All Programs ? Accessories ? System Tools ? Disk Cleanup
The following check boxes should be checked:
a. Downloaded Program Files
b. Temporary Internet Files
c. Recycle Bin
d. Temporary Files
e. WebClient/Publisher Temporary Files
f. Catalog files for the Content Indexer
The “Compress old files” check box should not be checked (having to decompress old files every time you need to access them slows down your PC)
Click OK
Instructions for running CCleaner:
Double-Click the CCleaner icon on the Desktop
All but the “Advanced” section and the last two check boxes from the “System” section should be checked.
Click Run Cleaner

Go to the Tools section, click Startup, and select the programs that you do not want to run at boot

Instructions for running Disk Defragmenter:



Open My Computer
Right-Click the C: drive and select properties
Under the Tools tab click the Defragment Now
When the Defragmenter opens click Defragment
Instructions for running Check Disk:
Open My Computer and Right-Click the drive you want to scan
Click the Check Now button
Click Start

You can also scan for malware incase there is some taking up resources. Let us know how it turns out or if you have any problems running the programs.

[JessOnTechComps]

OK, stay calm! Computers can be extremely frustrating at times, but together we can work through this!
These four programs WILL stop the majority of all these malicious pop-ups and whatnot which are interfering with your computer. I own a computer retail and service store in Ontario, and these are the four programs we use the majority of the time. I'm going to recommend you start with Malwarebytes first though. Basically you want to do this at a time you have dedicated to cleaning up your computer. Make sure no one else in your house wants/needs to use it. This will take a LONG time, so you might want to start this in the evening and then leave the computer running overnight.

Start with MalwareBytes. Download it. Update it. Run a full scan. When it's finished (or the next morning!), clean EVERYTHING it comes up with. This will take out all the REALLY malicious stuff first, freeing up computer resources to run the other scans faster. Restart your computer.

Then Spyware Doctor (use the link I had in my blog to get it free). Download it. Update it and run a full scan (don't click on the Scan Now button in the middle of the program screen, but the Scan button on the left hand side menu to choose a full scan instead of what they like to call the IntelliScan). Fix EVERYTHING it comes up with.

AVG or Avast - I personally find AVG more user friendly, but either will do. Wash, rinse, repeat!

Let me know what your results are of these three scans (like how many threats they're taking out), and I'll talk you through CCleaner when you get there.

GOOD LUCK and lots of silly {{{hugs}}}, for persevering with this!



Jess

Edit: I just saw Number6' response, and I'd like to quickly opine on that. Some of those are great in the long term, such as defragmenting your hard drive, but what Ann needs right now is an efficient way to get rid of the garbage which is infecting her computer and inhibiting her normal use. Let's get the crap off first, and then look at what else can be done.
Message was edited by: JessOnTechComps
Reason: Spelling and updated response

[annB]

Thanks for the tips, I actually already do most of these, maybe not as regularly as I should but I think I have bigger problems than these steps will solve. However you gave excellent instructions and have reminded me that it is very important for to be more committed to doing these things weekly.

Thanks for helping me, Annb

[annB]

Okay Jess! :D

Thank you for the encouragement and specific advice, I will work on these steps tonight and tomorrow AM and get back to you. I'd really LOVE to not have to wipe and reload :_| my hard drive!!!! I mean REALLY!!!!!! The thought of it has been making put this off for a long time! :|

This community is great! :^0



PS The over use of the smileys is due to some good wine B-) (not whine) and I've never used them before - they're kinda fun! ;

[Flashorn]

Hey AnnB !!



It looks like you are infected and in my opinion , would need the help of

Expert Malware Removers. These Experts can be found at

AumHa.org . They are patient and very good at what

they do. You also have to be patient as you might not be the only member asking

for help. You will have to Register as you did here before being able to ask for help.

Once registered , click on the link I have provided and in the HijackThis Forum,

start a new thread. Be as descriptive as possible. If there is a step which you are

confused with , don't wait to ask how. They will explain the procedure.



First I would like you to download and install these three programs. They are all FREE.



MalwareBytes AntiMalware . Install AND up-date . (Very Important)

Do a FULL scan . This will take a while.PLZ be patient.



SUPERAntiSpyware . Same instructions as above.



RogueRemover . This will take but a few seconds.Don't forget to up-date before scanning.



Once these scans are done , I would strongly suggest that you continue with the

cleaning of your PC at AumHa.



If you have any other concerns PLZ don't hesitate to ask.



FLASHORN. !http://forums.pcworld.com/legacyimages/
1!

[earthbru]

I assume you backed up your drive but I would like to make another suggestion.

Keep acurate notes of everything you do and what the results are. Include all settings you select.

Hopefully you will not need these notes and they will only come in handy the next time you want to do this.

[SpiritWind]

:D Hi Ann :


Would AVOID Spyware Doctor since it costs money ( there are just as good IF NOT

better antiSPYWARE/antiTROJAN program, such as the FREE Malwarebytes

Anti-Malware and FREE "SUPERAntiSpyware" ) and has a reputation of being a

resource hog ( like Norton ), putting "stress" on a computer .

And the Forums at aumha.net are staffed by Volunteer "Microsoft Most

Valuable Professionals", expert in properly removing malware from a computer .

[annB]

"I assume you backed up your drive"

the problem is I can't burn a CD, which is what motivated me to get this process going in the first place! so how do I back up the hard drive?

annb

[JessOnTechComps]

Hey Ann,

How did the MalwareBytes scan go?

Don't worry - you don't need to backup your hard drive while we're removing the garbage of your system. You would only want to back it up if you were about to wipe your Windows install. I'm hoping we'll be able to fix your CD drive's problems, during the "tidy up" process!



Jess

[earthbru]

Ann,

The best way to back up is to use an external hard drive.

I assume you do not have one or you wouldn't have asked the question.

There are several online options. Your ISP may offer one as part of your service.

If not, there are several that are free and some that have trial offers which would serve your purpose.

Here is an article www.pcworld.com/article/125729/store[uit[/u]ontheweb.html].

It is a bit old. I have never used one so maybe someone who has will advise you. If not, try google "online backup", it shows several choices.

[LincolnSpector]

See Reinstall and Restore Your Windows PC in Eight Easy Steps

Lincoln

[annB]

Hi Jess (and all)

The "Malwarebytes" went well, i ran it overnight,it detected 12 infections: 9 registry keys and 3 files.

I just finished running "superantispyware". It detected a few more things.

One thing was weird, I followed Flashorn's link to download superantispyware and selected the pro version (because i've heard it's worth paying for) and it downloaded without ever asking me to pay for it. ????

Now I'm preparing to run "rogue remover"

[rgreen4]

AnnB - it may have downloaded a "trial" version of SuperAntiSpyware. Right click on the bug in the system tray to get this dialog box"

!http://forums.pcworld.com/legacyimages/
1!

Click on the first item to open the scan menu and you will see this:



(Click on the image to enlarge and sharpen it)

In the lowere right corner it will tell you when you ran the last scan, when the defiitions were last updated and the status of your subscription. You may see trial version there, or an expiration date very near in the future. I took the option, as a registered user a while back to update to a lifetime subscriber.

[annB]

Oh boy,

now i'm in trouble. here are the details:



I've made the following changes:

deleted all Norton/Symantec

added:

Malwarebytes

superantispyware

rogue remover

avast antivirus

ccleaner

zone control

and scanned and cleaned the hell out of my computer. i also removed a few programs that i never use with the add/remove hardware part of the control panel (all had them listed as rarely used).

however now i cannot access my CDR or DVD (the CD was not working before I started all this either, but now they both show up with an exclamaition next to them in the hardware list and a question mark has appeared on both of the shortcuts on my desk top. i tried following the troubleshoot directions of uninstalling them and reloading with plug and play but get the same result and I'm getting an error 39 code when I do this. I can't use my CD to reinstall them because the drives don't work.

AND i tried to use the system restore option but it won't work, even though it shows checkpoints when i try to use yesterday or the day before it comes up with a message saying there is no checkpoint for that day.

I finished all my cleaning as advised last night and was preparing to go today to the Aumha site for help when all this appeared, thought i'd better check in here first.

HELP!

[SpiritWind]

Hi Ann :



GO TO AUMHA.NET AS FAST AS YOU CAN GET THERE, as both I and

Flashorn have recommended . And did you ALSO run the "Norton

Removal Tool", One of which is available at

www.majorgeeks.com/Norton[uRemoval[/u]ToolSymNRTd4749.html] !?

[JessOnTechComps]

Hey Ann,

Well I'm sorry to hear about the CD burner and Windows restore problems. Have you tried downloading the drivers from the manufacturors website? Plug and play just may not be enough.

I'm also wondering how badly infected your computer might have been to begin with. It's possible that some of the Windows files may have been corrupted. If it turns out you need to reinstall Windows,don't forget to backup all the data you value (for example anything in the My Documents folder). You don't need to backup programs, as you can reinstall those after Windows has installed.

Good luck,



Jess

[annB]

So I went to AumHa.org and asked for helpsaying pretty much the same thing in my previous post and this is the reply I got...



I can tell you that cleaning a computer by using a smorgasbord of
utilities found through a Google search is not anything any malware
removal expert would ever recommend.
It is not within the resources of the Forum to attempt to repair a computer damaged by unwise user cleanup operations...(he gave a few steps to get the system restore to work again) then...

I am no longer watching this thread.



I am following his steps but all in all the guy seemed pretty unhelpful. Too bad he can't recognize most of us don't realize we're in trouble until we're in trouble!!

anyway, I'm still working on the problem slowly but surely, thank goodness I still have the internet , I will be sure to ask for specific help at each step going forward.

Thanks everyone, for the help so far.

annb