holly said:
I have been getting this internet explorer pop up that
says it will help me surf more annonomously. Is this a
hoax? So far I am afraid to let it in. Also my fovorites
have reordered themselves, is this normal. I do have alot
of bookmarks. My computer still lock up after about an
hour after use.-holly
Clean up that machine, secure it and see if things improve...
Please Notice that if you use AOL, you should at least upgrade to 9.0 or
greater before doing any of the fixes. I know you can get AOL 9.0 at almost
any convenience store, gas station, super market or other retail outlet in
the world, so this should not be a problem. Also, if you are using AOL 9.0,
you will not be able to perform the first step in this list. You should
look into another solution, such as ZoneAlarm, for a firewall.
Turn on that firewall...
http://www.microsoft.com/WindowsXP/home/using/howto/homenet/icf.asp
Make sure you have all the updates (critical) installed from:
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/
(Scan for updates, Review and Install)
Get rid of the spy/ad/mal-ware..
(Yes - using MORE than one of these..
I recommend at least the first three. Also..
UPDATE the definitions for them before using.)
Spybot Search and Destroy
http://www.safer-networking.net/
Lavasoft AdAware
http://www.lavasoft.de
CWSShredder
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html
Hijack This!
http://mjc1.com/mirror/hjt/
I also like "The Cleaner" and "SpywareBlaster" and "SpywareGuard".
-
http://www.moosoft.com/
-
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/
The first is a PAY product, but useable for 30 days - it has found and
eliminated problems in the past the others did not. The latter two are
prevention mechanisms. SpywareBlaster is a FANTASTIC free product, I
suggest getting this after you cleanup and keeping it updated as well.
And Assortment of Others:
http://spywareinfo.com/
ALSO - Be sure to IMMUNIZE after you clean up. SpywareBlaster and Spybot
Search and destroy both have these features - use both!
After you cleanup your PC somewhat of spy/ad/mal-ware, verify your antivirus
software is updated and run a full scan of your computer. If you have no
antivirus software - get one NOW! Grisoft AntiVirus:
http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php
Empty your Temporary Internet Files and shrink the size it stores to about
80 to 120MB (seems to be an optimal size for the normal user)
- Open ONE copy of Internet Explorer.
- Select TOOLS -> Internet Options.
- Under the General tab in the "Temporary Internet Files" section,
do the following:
- Click on "Delete Cookies" (click OK)
- Click on "Settings" and change the
"Amount of disk space to use:" to something between 80MB
and 120MB. (Betting it is MUCH larger right now.)
- Click OK.
- Click on "Delete Files" and select to
"Delete all offline contents" (the checkbox) and click
OK. (If you had a LOT, this could take 2-10 minutes or
more.)
- Once it is done, click OK, close Internet Explorer
- Re-open Internet Explorer.
Uninstall any software you do not use often/ever. (If you have something
installed but never use it, uninstall it.) If you go through Control
Panel -> Add/Remove Programs and see things you seldom if ever use, it is to
your advantage to remove it.
Also, if you are tired of Web Page Pop-Ups/Unders.. You could try the
Google Toolbar.
http://toolbar.google.com/
Stop loading applications at logon.. run MSCONFIG and look under the startup
tab for things you DON'T want to startup! Search the Internet with Google
to discover what things are safe to remove and what things may even be
malware infecting your computer.
Better control your email and lessen the amount of time you spend dealing
with SPAM:
SpamBayes
http://spambayes.sourceforge.net/
or
Spamihilator.
http://www.spamihilator.com