Computers & Networking

[syndicate]

How easy would it be for a daily computer user whose computer got virus, spyware or both problems in fixing their computer.The different types that does major problems to one's computer  that not that might not be  easy to fix. It makes a person's computer run slow, shut down or restart very slow(taking forever), Windows explorer could be messed up in certain areas(like can't copy cut, past  or do all three). Sometime a different viruses/spyware could have so many popup messages say there is this and that infected, and it either the computer do have that problem or it the viruses/spyware getting you to open something from their end. It could also be that it make programs one installed in their computer unusable or able to get into like AVG, Printmaster, Itune,Thumb Plus and other programs. Maybe even Control.exe is messed up and one can't get in there. Also can't get go to any websites like yahoo, google, Best Buy, hotmail, comcast.net, bing, flickr, imdb.com, tvshowsondvd.com, movieweb and so on.

So what would be the different ways for one to fix that up and not have it happen again, or even able to, and only so much fix and it still some what slow in areas.

[NoNoBadDog]

How "easy" it is to fix depends entirely upon what infections the computer has. I would say that before you worry about how easy or hard it will be to fix, you should concern yourself with what got you into trouble in the first place. You have apparently not installed a reputable security suite, nor have you kept it updated. You also apparently do things online that allowed you to get infected (music sharing sites, file sharing sites, porn sites, etc). You will need to learn how to protect your computer proactively before you "fix" the current damage. If you don't then you'll just re-infect the computer in literally a matter of minutes. As for "fixing" the current damage, you should let someone who is well versed in cleaning up an infected system handle the job. I would bet money that your computer is infected with far more malware than you suspect. Your computer may also be "botted". Because you don't take the time to educate yourself about security and protecting your computer, you become a threat to all of your online contacts. Many of them may be infected by your computer. So your lack of understanding of even basic computer security hurts not only you, but all those you have online contact with.

[usrevenge]

download Avg free from their website.

run avg free

hope it works.

very good chance of it working, you want to avoid norton and Mcafee though

[syndicate]

I already have AVG , it will not let me use it,the problem I have. It would not even let me reinstall it. As the last   person posted it could be malware that doing all that stuff. The thing is what is the first step to start fixing it up.

[NoNoBadDog]

Syndicate, you really need to find someone that knows how to deal with such infections. It is not something that is easily fixed, and the chances that you will miss something are huge. You will have to use more than one tool, and will have to do some manual editing of registry files. The process to clean up a computer is not easy at all. Lastly, you'll find plenty of opinions about what security package to use, but Norton is really the best protection available.

[RedWyv3 Best Buy Employee]

Normally I'd say nuking (format and reinstall) a computer is a cheater's way out. Oftentimes business's do this because their IT people want to be certain they got anything, and lazy techs do this because well.. they are lazy.

But in this case, with your limited skill, you have two options: Do the nuke or bring it to Geek Squad.

If you are going to do the nuke, do a total nuke.. don't just overwrite your drive. Lose everything, positively everything, and make sure you cold boot in or you're just gonna have the virus sitting in your memory until your done, ready to reinfect.

Don't know what I'm talking about? Bring it in.

[CrimsonRain]

---

NoNoBadDog wrote:
How "easy" it is to fix depends entirely upon what infections the computer has.

---

This.

---

usrevenge wrote:

download Avg free from their website.

run avg free

hope it works.

very good chance of it working, you want to avoid norton and Mcafee though

---

I could have sworn NoNoBadDog said reputable... If you're going to go free/cheap, go with Microsoft Security Essentials. Norton has actually gotten a lot better post-2009.