Computer Sofware problems? (Last update 12-27-09) This document mostly aims to fix Windows 2000 and XP software problems caused by virus, malware, adware, and spyware. Follow these steps for a tune up that fixes many common problems like slow downs, crazy pop-ups and such. It can also be done as a preventive to keep problems away, kind of like Metamucil. You need the internet to download some of the programs used. If you are reading this on http://www.sameks.net/, you have the internet. If you need the programs on another internet-less computer, use a CD-R or digital drive to copy the programs to the needed computer. Check http://sameks.net/computer/ from time to time for updates to this document. A separate hardware document will be available in the future.
Note on Apple computers:
Note on Windows 3/95/98/ME Operating Systems: Put computer in toilet; flush. Buy a new computer. All done! Some of these steps may work for you, but not even a plunger is going to get you very far.
Windows XP & up Operating Systems: Print and read this page, download any needed programs, close everything and reboot into safe mode. Safe mode is a special operating mode of Windows that lets you fix problems, and not much else including internet. It is the safest place to do maintenance type work. Click the Start button, Shutdown, Restart and keep pressing the F5 key while booting until you see safe mode start. Login using the special Administrator account with no password (unless you gave it one earlier). If you don not have the Administrator account, use another account that has administrative privileges. It will say Safe Mode in the corners of your screen if you do it right. If not, try again and press F5 sooner. Press it a lot.
2) Delete temp files (CCleaner does this part easy if you can get to it CCleaner - Optimization and Cleaning): Delete all temporary files from all user accounts and Windows. They are useless and have no value--it is okay to say goodbye, trust me, lots of goblins hiding in these. Open My Computer (icon on the desktop or in the Start menu), go to C: drive, and find the Documents and Settings folder. You may have to enable show hidden files and folders and un-Hide protected operating system files to see these, under the Tools, View tab, Advanced Settings. Look for the Temp and Temporary Internet Files folders. Here is an example of the local address path for the folders of the Administrator account:
C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Temp C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files
Clean the folders by going into each folder and doing the following: hold Crtl and press A to select all the files, and then hold Shift and press Delete to get rid of them. Do this for each user account folder in the Documents and Settings folder. Also clean out the C:\Windows\Temp or C:\WINNT\Temp folders. Empty the Recycle Bin for good measure. If some of the files will not delete, try again after later doing the rest of the steps.
3) Turn off System Restore (Windows XP only): Another great idea gone awry: System Restore. It can restore a broken computer to a previous state using automatic backups, giving choices of previously good saved states. The problem is that all the bad stuff gets backed up by System Restore and it prevents modification by other programs. As a result, the backups can not be cleaned up and they will re-infect the computer. Turn it OFF to prevent this. This does not delete or remove any of your personal stuff. How to: Right click My Computer (icon on the desktop or in the Start menu), choose Properties. Click the System Restore tab. Check the Turn off System Restore or Turn off System Restore on all drives check box. Click Apply. A message appears: Holy crap! This will delete all existing restore points. Click Yes, Click OK.
4) Remove adware/spyware infections Adware & spyware are part of a wide range of programs that secretly monitor your actions. Sometimes sinister, like hijacking by an 3l33t hax0r, many software companies use spyware to gather data about customers and adware to market desirable products. The practice is generally frowned upon and turns sunshine smiles upside down into pickled sour croute sneers. There are many good FREE programs to help with this, check www.spychecker.com. All of these programs need to be updated at least once a month to learn about the new threats, or they will not help much. It is like sending you kid so school, they learn about a lot more crap each time they to for updates. Download, install & run at least these three: 1. Malwarebytes will fix most of the bad. 2. Spybot Search & Destroy will fix some more. (How to: http://www.safer-networking.org/en/tutorial/) 3. HijackThis will fix the nasty bad, but is more complicated and should only be used if the other tools don’t work. How to: http://www.tomcoyote.org/hjt/
5) Remove virus infections: Virus & Trojan programs spread faster than warm jelly and taste much worse. They can be removed one at a time with specific removal tools from Symantec http://securityresponse.symantec.com, or more easily by an anti-virus program. There are many anti-virus programs, but FREE is best. Experienced advice: If the product has Norton in the name, seriously burn it. Symantec’s corporate products are good, but their home products are made of moldy potatoes. If you must use Symantec Norton products, make sure to run the Liveupdate process at least 4 times in a row once a month, and wait forever each time. It makes me very sad it does. Happy: AVG FREE edition Antivirus from http://free.grisoft.com/ will heal or move all detected viruses to a virus vault very nicely. You will need to update any antivirus program at least once a month to have it learn about the new virus threats, or it will not help you once bit. Hubris offers some how to help: http://support.hubris.net/software/xp/avg.html
6) Remove all unused/unwanted programs from your computer. Many computer manufactures load junky trial & shareware program titles on their machines to help sell them. Most of them nag you to buy the full version, and some of them may even have adware/spyware built in! They can safely be removed if they are not wanted or have already been replaced by something better. To get rid of the yuck, click Start, Settings, Control Panel, Add or Remove Programs, then select a program title from the list that should go away, and click Remove. Repeat until all unwanted programs have been removed. You may have to restart between uninstalls.
7) Defragment the system drive. Defragmenting the system drive will not fix any actual software problems, but it will speed up the problems and goodlems (when things are good, they have to have a word too). Defragmenting moves all files stored on the hard drive(s) to a places where everything can be accessed faster, ergo the computer runs faster. I can get way more detailed with my 4 year Computer Science degree, but you won’t care anymore than you do now. Trust me when I say it is a good idea. To run the hard drive defragmenter, Right click My Computer (icon on the desktop or in the Start menu), choose Manage, Disk Defragmenter, click drive (C:) , click Defragment . Wait forever (bigger hard drives take longer), leave and come back if desired. Click OK to message that states it finished. Done.
More things to do in regular Windows after these steps have been done Restart the computer and return to regular Windows (not Safe Mode) by choosing Start, Shutdown, Restart and keeping your grubby hands off the keyboard until the regular looking Windows is back up.
8) Windows update: Microsoft knows they have issues with security. They even try to fix some of them occasionally. Windows Update is the way they share these fixes with you. Using Internet Explorer, go to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com and agree to anything they ask. Microsoft already owns your soul, as stated in their license agreement that you okayed, so what does it matter? Choose the Express install, wait for awhile (broadband internet) or forever (modem internet) and click the Install button when able. Repeat this at least 2 more times after each successful update & reboot. This will give you the latest Service Pack and related updates. If you have Microsoft Office, you can do the same for it at http://officeupdate.microsoft.com, but you will need the original CDs during the process or the FBI will hunt you down. They pack a mean wallop too.
9) Internet Explorer alternatives, a safer internet experience. How do things get so messed up to begin with? A lot of problems sneak their way in through a popular wide open door: Internet Explorer, the big blue E program most people use to surf the intertimmy™. Consider not using Internet Explorer for your internet web browsing as a simple prevention to bad CPU cycles rising. It is more prone to adware/spyware, pop-up adds, computer hijacking exploits, and virus attacks than other web browsers. The government said so even. They don’t EVER lie. Good FREE replacements can be found with Mozilla Firefox at www.mozilla.org or Opera at www.opera.com. You can still use Internet Explorer if certain sites/companies require it, but get your intertimmy™, through safer means when possible. Adjust Internet Explorer’s settings to be more better than my grammar. Open the blue E and on its toolbar click Tools, Internet Options, Settings, change Amount of disk space to use to 60 MB, click OK, click the Security tab, Custom Level, change Reset custom settings to Reset to Medium, click the Reset button, click OK, click the Advanced tab, checkbox any Disable Script Debugging (. . .) boxes, click OK. All done.
Things should be back on-track to getting your time wasted on real problems, like solitaire, http://snood.com, and the regular junk. Email me for other hints, suggestions, or what else you want to know. I do birthday parties! |