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1. I think my computer has a virus. How can I find out if I do for sure and how do I get rid of it?

There are several types of common viruses. Different anti-virus programs are designed to get rid of different types of viruses. For example, spyware allows an attacker to gather information from your computer including usernames, passwords, and almost any other data he/she wants. Adware creates unwanted popup ads and may redirect your browser to sites you didn't want to go to. A general virus infects system files on your computer and may cause errors, crashes, etc. While some viruses may not affect system performance, sometimes a common sign of a viurs is lowered system performance, etc.

Now, how to get rid of those viruses. I recomend 3 or 4 peices of free software to be used together that is a good coverage against most types of viruses.

Ad-Aware 2008 Free - Free anti adware tool. Get rid of those annoying popups and browser redirects!

Spybot Search and Destroy - Get rid of viruses, infected system files, and now includes a real-time monitor.

ZoneAlarm Firewall - Free basic firewall, provides better protection than the basic windows firewall. Can be annoying to set up, but once it is properly installed and configured, prevents unwanted applications from accesing the internet.

There are several answers to this one. First of all I will cover the fastest, easiest, free option. A computer can become slow with normal use for several reasons. I suggest the following steps be taken in the order they are given for various reasons.

1. Remove any unused programs/software, trials, demos, etc. These take up hard drive space, clog up the windows registry, and are just unneeded.

2. Follow FAQ #1 to get rid of any viruses that may be slowing down your computer.

3. Download a RAM (Random Access Memory) cleaner such as AnalogX's Maxmem. This helps running processes to take up less memory and keep your computer running faster even after it has been turned on awhile.

4. Download, configure, and run CCleaner. This amazing tool will clean out a lot of unneeded system logs, temporary internet files, etc. Be sure to also run the registry cleaner. By running this on a computer that has never been "cleaned" I have gained over 3GB of hard drive space and cleared out hundreds of unused registry entries.

5. After you have completed the above steps, defragment your hard drive(s). You can use the default Windows tool by going to start--> all programs--> accessories --> system tools --> disk defragmenter. This will defragment your hard drive and rearrange files to give you slightly more hard drive space, faster system performance, faster startup, and sometimes less error messages, depending on source of the problems.

Comments

Admin Fritz
17 Sep 2008, 16:24

Thanks Chris. I have found that even our family computer with 256mb RAM benefits from a RAM cleaner...and personally I really like mine. (AnalogX's MaxMem)

Yes, defragmenting does help make your computer faster, and I agree that defragging may not help noticably that much if all you use your computer for is browsing the internet. Though if all you use it for is the internet, I still highly recomend cleaning out your temperary internet files once in awhile because that can drastically slow a computer down. (CCleaner for this one, http://www.ccleaner.com) Defragging will help with games though! Immediately after (and even before) installing a large game (such as Crysis or Flight Simulator X)a defrag will help loading times (both before game start and in-game loading, such as loading new parts of a large world while playing the game)because the computer can find all the needed files and call them much faster when needed. Thanks for commenting! I hope all my hard work in this new site section is doing some people some good!

Chris-X
17 Sep 2008, 16:05

1.
This Is just kinda bothering me, I got to mention. I've had lots of experience with Ram cleaners ect.And truely they speed up your computer temporarly (30 minutes max) then slow it down.The reason for memory is so your computer remember the application and loads it faster next time. And if you don't have above 512 mb of memory chances are it isn't gonna help you a whole lot.
2.
Defragmenting, now defragmenting will help speed up your computer, yes But it will not help any applications you use. Defragmenting lets you access files on your hard drive faster.And If you juse useing the internet or playing a game your not gonna see a preformance boost past the time when it loads. But everything else is True.Thanks for your time. This site rocks..(crush central) (go smithies)

Administrator Fritz
29 Jul 2008, 19:14

Please comment on my tech section. Let me know of any mistakes, additions that should be made, etc. Thanks!! :)

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