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How Do I Know If I Have Spyware / Malware
October 10, 2009 by Scot
Your computer becomes very slow and you have lots of trouble running any program. (No you don’t need a new computer)
You start getting pop-ups. A well known spyware program gives you the appearance of an antivirus (fake) program running. It tells you that your computer is infected. The infection actually is the program informing you that you have the infection. (How ironic is that?) Whatever you do don’t pay for it! This could possibly lead to someone stealing your credit card info which is not a good thing! This type of spyware is easy to remove by yourself. If you are afraid to do the following procedure, please give me a call and I will be glad to help you.
Spyware Removal / Malware
The antivirus type spyware / malware will not allow you to run much of anything in Windows. Here is a procedure to get rid of those nasty pop-ups that appear in your system tray:
- Shutdown and restart your computer.
- Press F8 while booting up.
- Chose Safe Mode. (This type of spyware does not load when in safe mode)
- When prompted, select Yes to put Windows into safe mode.
- Once Windows comes up, click on Start, select Search.
- In the search box type 1*.exe. This will search your computer for all files starting with a 1. (Usually this spyware has a filename that starts with a 1)
- If no files are found, substitute the 1 for 2, then 3, etc. all the way to 9.
- If a file(s) are found, delete them. There is no legitimate Windows file name that starts with a number.
- If nothing is found, reboot your computer and get a free program like threatfire or malwarebytes for removal.
Category: Computer Tips, Spyware / MalwareTags: fake antivirus, infected computer, Malware Removal, slow computer, Spyware Removal, unwanted pop-ups, Windows | Comments (0)
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Spyware / Malware Prevention
by Scot
- Install Netcraft Toolbar or Siteadvisor for Internet Explorer (IE) or Firefox. There is also another plugin for Firefox called WOT (Web Of Trust).
- These applications rate web sites: (green – good, orange – caution, red – very suspicious and gray – not tested). Use these as a guide to surf safely and for downloading free files.
How Do I Get Spyware / Malware
You can get spyware three different ways:
- Email: Anyone (including your friends – they may not realize what the file contains. You have no idea where they got the program from) sending you an executable file. You save it an install it.
- No hardware firewall: Having no hardware firewall between your computer and the DSL or cable modem is a bad idea. They keep you from being attacked by the outside world. If there is none, you run the risk of having a malicious program installed on your computer without your knowledge. This won’t happen if your computer is turned off.
- Free Software: Downloading and installing free software from suspicious web sites (orange or red if Siteadvisor is installed). Inside these executable files may contain spyware or a virus. Stay away from these sites. Siteadvisor is not fool proof. It may give you a false positive (A site may come up bad but really may be good. That is why it is good to have a couple of these tools installed. See above.) You will keep yourself out of trouble.
Category: Computer Tips, Spyware / MalwareTags: Malware, safe browsing, Spyware, Spyware / Malware Prevention | Comments (0)
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Running Chkdsk /f to Fix File Errors
by Scot
About once a month you want to check to see if you have problems with your hard drive or Windows program files. Here is the procedure:
- Click on Start.
- Select Run.
- In the box type: cmd.
- A black DOS window is displayed.
- At the command prompt type: chkdsk.
- After chkdsk runs, you will get a report that tells you if there are any errors.
- If there are no errors, type exit at the prompt (C:\…>)
- If there are errors, then type chkdsk /f at the prompt
(C:\…>) - You will get a message: Cannot lock current drive.
- You will get another message: Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process. Would you
like to schedule this volume to be checked the next time the system restarts? (Y/N) Press Y. - At the prompt type: exit.
- Close all of your programs.
- Click Start.
- Select Shutown.
- At the shutdown, select Shutdown & Restart.
- Before Windows loads, chkdsk runs and corrects any errors.
- Windows loads.
Category: Computer Tips, PC MaintenanceTags: Computer Maintenance, Fixing File Errors, Hard Drive Problems, Windows program file problems | Comments (0)
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Prevent “NTDLR Is Missing Press Any Key To Continue” Error Message
by Scot
You turn your computer on and you see this error message “NTDLR is missing, press any key to continue”. Uh oh! My Computer is not loading Windows. This means the file(s) for Windows to function are damaged. Hopefully this never happens to you or else you will be calling a tech. Running a defrag tool like PerfectDisk 10 will help prevent this from happening. Defragging the operating system files can only be done when the operating system is not active. PerfectDisk 10 can perform this task manually not automatically. Note: Before you go on make sure you close any open programs. On the PerfectDisk 10 main screen click on the System Files button and you will see this:
Offline defrag of your System Files could not run on drive C:\ because the drive is in use by another process. Do you want to force all open handles closed? Select No. Then you will see this:
System files on the drive C:\ can only be defragmented at boot time. Would you like to defragment these files during the next reboot of your system? Select Yes
You will be asked if you would like to reboot now. Select Yes.
A 5 minute countdown timer will appear allowing you to close any open programs. If all programs are closed, select Reboot Now. Your system will shut down and perform a system file defrag before Windows loads. Defragging the operating system files should be done about once a month.
Category: Computer Tips, Error Messages, PC MaintenanceTags: Defragging, Error Message, NTDLR is Missing | Comments (0)
