16 replies to this topic

[betrbekepn]

Hi,
I just spent $120, got my hard drive wipe clean. Got home tonight with a "like new" computer, running windows xp. First thing I did was download windows updates. Next downloaded AVG Antivirus, then Zone Alarm Firewall, then Mozilla Firefox browser. I was very happy till I downloaded ccleaner and ran it. Computer slooooooow now. Start up is slow, browser acting squirrely , man I'm pissed. Tried to use, Windows, system restore but it tells me is can't, it has 9 diffrent restore points and none of them will work. In ccleaner, under tools then system restore, it list all the restore points as windows does but the only option ccleaner gives is to remove them. I've been reading this forum, supposively you can right click on them and press merge?, but when I right click it does nothing. Please, Help! I'm not very computer savvy so if you tell me to run say something in safe mode, I have no idea how to do that. I need step by step.

[hazelnut]

The right-click merge option is on the registry backups made when you do a registry (issues) clean. Is this what you did a registry clean?

Why did you need your hard drive wiped, did you have virus problems?

[betrbekepn]

"Why did you need your hard drive wiped, did you have virus problems?"
Yes, a very bad virus. It pretty much disabled my computer, I couldn't click on anything. Only thing that worked was I could move the courser around.


"The right-click merge option is on the registry backups made when you do a registry (issues) clean. Is this what you did a registry clean?"
I have no idea what I did, when you open ccleaner you see a list of stuff that it will/can "clean". Some of the boxes were not checked when I first downloaded, so I check all the boxes and pressed run cleaner thinking I want every thing possible "cleaned". Maybe a mistake?

[aqua]

you know,the very first thing you do after installing the OS,,is to install the antivirus,,then go to updates.
you like AVG,but if i were you i either use avira or avast free.
you pay 120...maybe the person you paid just formated the hard drive,and that is not enough...

[Andavari]

Where'd you get CCleaner from? The recommended download sites are CCleaner.com and FileHippo.com!

Also if you didn't restart your computer after installing AVG Antivirus and ZoneAlarm Firewall, I'd say give that a try. Then again it could possibly be some conflict between the two, especially if you're using a paid version of ZoneAlarm with antivirus built in.

Following these instructions can rule out any possible active malware infection.

[betrbekepn]

I fixed my computer Man, things were getting bad there for a bit, couldn't even surf the internet. What I did was uninstalled everything I had downloaded, CCleaner, AVG Antivirus, Zone Alarm Firewall, Mozilla Browser, restarted computer, for some reason windows system restore was working now. I don't know why it wasn't allowing me to restore before but man I'm stoked. Computers "like new" again, thanks for the advise guys, now running Avast Antivirus, Spyware Doctor Antispyware, SUPERAntiSpyware, Comodo Firewall, and Google Chrome Browser. I Would like to download something that would "clean" my computer but man, CCleaner might of scared me away forever from such.

[DennisD]

Now your computer is working OK, and after that experience, your priority should be to sort out some form of backup.

The first thing I would suggest is to backup your registry every day with ERUNT. This tool will make a copy of your registry at first boot only, so it isn't running every time you reboot during any particular day.

Secondly, look into making a "Disk Image" of your Operating System. This is more or less a "photograph" of your System Drive, minus the free space and unneccessary windows files.

If you have a problem like the one you've just had, you simply "restore" the Image, and your PC is back to exactly what it was when you made the backup.

Download ERUNT: (Freeware)

Macrium Reflect: (Freeware Disk Imaging Software):

Read through these topics, which were very recent.

http://forum.pirifor...showtopic=25733

http://forum.pirifor...showtopic=25993

If you need any advice on any aspect of using this free software, just post the question.

[betrbekepn]

Thanks DennisD! Will do!

[ident]

Uninstall spyware doctor, i would not let that fake near any thing.

[betrbekepn]

"Uninstall spyware doctor, i would not let that fake near any thing."

Please explain! I downloaded it because it was the only freeware spyware that I could find that activaly protects and supposively does a OK job. What do you guys recommend as a good freeware spyware defense?

[Andavari]

betrbekepn, on Jan 28 2010, 08:40 PM, said:

I downloaded it because it was the only freeware spyware that I could find that activaly protects and supposively does a OK job. What do you guys recommend as a good freeware spyware defense?

Avira AntiVir Personal - Free Antivirus, and Avast Free Antivirus both already have anti-spyware built in amongst other protections, just choose one of them for your real-time protection.

Also grab Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware, the free functionality version doesn't have real-time protection however it's very good for detecting and getting rid of malware that conventional antivirus knows nothing about.

Edit:
If you want to know what's good protection software without a thousand different suggestions have a good read here.

[tomn]

DennisD, on Jan 28 2010, 03:41 PM, said:

Secondly, look into making a "Disk Image" of your Operating System. This is more or less a "photograph" of your System Drive, minus the free space and unneccessary windows files.

If you have a problem like the one you've just had, you simply "restore" the Image, and your PC is back to exactly what it was when you made the backup.

Macrium Reflect: (Freeware Disk Imaging Software):

What type of media do you back up images using the Macrium Reflect (local drive, Portable HD, CD/DVD etc..) and is it user friendly for those of us who are not particularly computer savy?

[DennisD]

tomn, on Jan 31 2010, 06:55 PM, said:

What type of media do you back up images using the Macrium Reflect (local drive, Portable HD, CD/DVD etc..) and is it user friendly for those of us who are not particularly computer savy?

For the last 3 years I've had my Image on a partition of a single drive, and used it a couple of times from there, but I now have it on a second hard drive inside my desktop PC.

The best place obviously is to have it on a second hard drive, be it internal or external. Next best is a partition on the same drive of your OS if you only have the one drive.

Last choice IMO, is to store it on DVD, which means splitting the Image. Macrium can do this quite easily, and is very user friendly, but I wouldn't want to rely on restoring an Image from a number of DVD's simply because of the "disk swapping" issue.

It would probably be as reliable as restoring from a singe file on a hard drive, but I think the split file aspect of it would fill me with a wee bit of trepidation. However, if your Operating System is goosed, it's better than nothing.

I wouldn't contemplate using CD as the number of disks needed would be "a lot". My back up Image is 13GB, which would be about 20 disks. No way.

EDIT: You can of course ask for help or advice with any part of the process.

[anres]

This following question may be a little rude, but many times problems are caused by bootlegged software downloaded from malicious sites or BT, which have been implanted with virus. So are your forementioned software all legit? including your windows, AVG, and ZoneAlarm? It is better to use a legit free version than a poisoned "full" version. I am just asking because a friend of mine does this kind of crap and I am sick and tired of getting his call every few months asking for help about his FUBAR system.

If your answer is Yes they are all legit, then I highly recommend you to have your hardware checked out. It sounds like you are having some flaky hardware, which might not have anything to do with virus.

Get a free software called memtest86 to check your memory modules and make sure they are good. And if in the future you do need to wipe your hard drive again, you can use another free software called DBAN (Darik's Boot and Nuke). That's probably what they used to wipe your disk, but charged you $120 for it.

CClean should not screw up your system like that.

[Andavari]

anres, on Feb 1 2010, 10:00 PM, said:

This following question may be a little rude, but many times problems are caused by bootlegged software downloaded from malicious sites or BT, which have been implanted with virus.

Typically they're always infected, so you're right on the money!

[Ishi]

I think his problem was that he was installing so much of this security software that are now having conflicts with one another. Typically, I wouldn't recommend 2 or more firewalls and I personally don't like Avira. I hate it when Avira shows that banner in your desktop when you start the computer.

Try Panda Cloud Antivirus then. Its been highly rated.

When it comes to utility, having removed CCleaner is a very unwise thing. His PC will get loaded with crap and eventually get slow again. An what's the easiest and possibly safest utility software out there for free??? You got the one and only CCleaner. Man I love this app.

[Andavari]

Ishi, on Feb 3 2010, 12:15 AM, said:

I hate it when Avira shows that banner in your desktop when you start the computer.

It shows a splash screen during startup which is sort of ancient and can be disabled via a registry tweak. The ad it shows to upgrade to the commercial version is only during updating, which can also be disabled via a tweak.