- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
Get the following programs:
HiJack this
SpyBot: Search and Destroy
Lavasoft Ad-Aware
Turn off your computer, and when you turn it back on, hit F8. You may have to hit it repeatedly. It should come up with a little selection. Choose to boot in "Safe Mode". This loads only the things the OS absolutely needs to start up, so things will look very low-res and bad because it doesn't load the video card drivers. Run HiJack this, select/'fix' programs that look a little supicious(I don't think I need anything from C:\Program Files\SearchBar\ in my startup!), then run Ad-Aware and Spybot. Then reboot your computer and let it boot up normally. That should fix it.
Oh, and don't worry about screwing things up in HiJack this. You can remove anything you want in there and it won't damage your computer, but some things you may want to run at startup for whatever reason.
I really could go on forever on how to keep your PC stable and secure. Basically, run regular malware/virus checks, regular defragments(or better yet, click the "analyze" button in the defragmentation program, it's much faster and if it tells you need to defragment after, then you do it), and always stay on top of Windows updates. Most of the major viruses and security exploits occured after a fix was released.
And finally, make sure all of your passwords aren't guess-able. Use capitals and lower case, numbers, acronyms, whatever you can remember but is not a dictionary word.
I should put this in its own thread, it's good stuff.
[Edited on 12/11/2004 1:40:29 PM]