My computer must have a virus...help please ...

[eee]

Heres the deal.
1. I have a Dell and am running Windows XP.
2.My internet provider is AOL and I have Walmart internet provider.
3.It does not matter which one I am connected to I get booted about every 5 minutes.
4.My computer is very slow.
5. My son has been home from college for a week and his computer he does not get booted via our telephone lines here at home,so that tells me it is not a telephone connection problem.
6.We have McAfee virus scan and Ad-Aware personnal by Lava Soft for adware protection.
7.Friday afternoon my son loaded FireFox ran the adware program,all Friday evening the computer worked fine,I thought it was fixed.Saturday the problem started all over again.

I am at lost as what to do now.



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[mathey]

This may be a stupid question...do you have all the latest updates for both Mcafee and Ad-aware? New updates are released almost daily.

 

[eee]

Not a stupid question at all..... /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
Yes as far as I know they are all up to date....

 

[dbelisle]

I was having some of the same problems. I have Norton antivirus and ad ware.

I changed from Ad ware to Spyware Doctor and it made a big differance.

I also installed Registry mechanic. The first run it repaired around 800 problems with the registry.

It runs fast again and doesn't reboot itself every so often. It is amazing how many sites will put spyware and tracting cookies on your computer. Even sites you wouldn't think!

Dave in NH

 

[JJT]

I update my Norton antivirus def's at least weekly, run a full scan about once a week, run AdAware regularly and have Stopzilla, (popup blocker) running in the background.

How often do you run Adaware? Make sure you run an indepth scan regularly.

 

[RoyJackson]

It's almost impossible to diagnose a computer problem online...unless one is pretty computer savvy.

First, I'd check the fireewall settings. XP has a firewall built in (go to START-CONTROL PANEL-SECURITY CENTER). If you anti-virus also has a built in firewall, there may be a conflict. You should disable one or the other. Personally, I'd uninstall Norton in it's entirety so see if that helps.

Now, is the computer slow...or is your internet connection slow? Big difference! If it's your internet connection, there could be incorrect or redundant settings. That's too complicated to discuss on this board. You'd need to call your ISP.

First, go to START-PROGRAMS-ACCESSORIES-SYSTEM TOOLS and select DISK CLEAN UP....then DISK DEFRAGMENTER. That's routine maintenance that should be done at least monthly.

If that doesn't help...well, I'd start un-installing programs...do this one at a time, a reboot after un-installing. See if this helps. If you install more then one program, and it runs better...you won't know which program was the culprit. I'd do Norton first, BTW.

If all else fails, I'd back up any important files to a floppy, CD-R (or RW) or any other media you might have, then boot up with your XP CD in the drive and format/reload XP. This will wipe out everything on your hard drive..so make sure you back up important files!

If you go the format/reload route, then you can start reloading programs. It'll be a PITA, but this should fix any problems.
Now, as you start reloading programs, set a RESTORE POINT (START-PROGRAMS-ACCESSORIES-SYSTEM TOOLS-SYSTEM RESTORE) after every installation. If your machine goes south again, it'll be easier to fix.

It's important to work on computer problems in a disciplined, systematic manner... Even upgrading to new drivers or Windows updates can cause problems.

I learned most of this the hard way...so, Ive been in your position...

Good luck!

 

[Jimbrown]

Your son's works yours does not. Try a different modem.

 

[gws]

First lets figure out your problem.
You say you get booted every 5 minutes, What does that mean, Your machine reboots or your dialup connection drops?

You say the computer is running slow, It it the computer running slow or the internet link that is slow? If its the computer how are determining its slow? What does the perfmeter say? What processes are running?

 

[Marine1]

roughcut,
I had Adaware but switched to Spysweeper by Webroot and my computer works a whole lot better. I did a sweep with Adaware and then installed spysweeper. I then did a sweep with spysweeper and found 17 more objects that Adaware did not recognize. I am convinced that Spysweeper is a much better product. One of the national chains uses this product on all the computers they build.
Also, did you download the SP2 download for XP? It is highly recommended that you do so even if you don't use Internet Explorer.
I hope you find the problem and I hope this helps. Good Luck.

 

[GerardC]

<font color="blue"> I also installed Registry mechanic. </font>

Where did you buy/get this? Sounds like something I'd like to try myself.

I have McAfee and my new annual subscription started last week. Seems to works as far as I can tell. Gerard