MIKEB
The King Of Rationality
Posts: 4,536
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Post by MIKEB on Jul 7, 2004 20:59:00 GMT -5
I'm not sure if it's spyware but I came back to Newfoundland yesterday and my poor old computer has turned to crap. At one point it DID have spyware but Kazaa and other downloading programs haven't been used in probably almost a year. Now the computer itself is really really slow, restarts on its own, freezes without a warning and has so much stuff on it. The only thing I can think of doing is formatting the harddrive but I don't have my Windows 98 CD with me as it is in Halifax. I'd like to defragment the drive but there's so much stuff open and whenever I press alt+cntl+del to close down unnecessary programs, the computer will freeze. Any suggestions? I've suggested to my Dad to bring it to a computer store, buy a Windows XP CD and get it done that way. The computer is 4 years old now and it probably needs to be serviced and set to his options since I don't use it anymore. It's a perfectly good computer with a burner and stuff.
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CRAIG:
KYLiE Freak
Posts: 10,902
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Post by CRAIG: on Jul 7, 2004 21:01:10 GMT -5
On my other computer, i thought i had a virus...ran virus check and nothing came, and it just dawned on me today it must be spyware f*ckin brother with f*ckin kazaa.
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Post by Drew on Jul 7, 2004 22:11:38 GMT -5
I'm not sure if it's spyware but I came back to Newfoundland yesterday and my poor old computer has turned to crap. At one point it DID have spyware but Kazaa and other downloading programs haven't been used in probably almost a year. Now the computer itself is really really slow, restarts on its own, freezes without a warning and has so much stuff on it. The only thing I can think of doing is formatting the harddrive but I don't have my Windows 98 CD with me as it is in Halifax. I'd like to defragment the drive but there's so much stuff open and whenever I press alt+cntl+del to close down unnecessary programs, the computer will freeze. Any suggestions? I've suggested to my Dad to bring it to a computer store, buy a Windows XP CD and get it done that way. The computer is 4 years old now and it probably needs to be serviced and set to his options since I don't use it anymore. It's a perfectly good computer with a burner and stuff. I would update the antivirus (if you're not already doing that). Then, scan the system for viruses. After that, you can check for spyware using SpyBot or Ad Aware or whatever spyware removal program you're using. I wouldn’t recommend defraging your hard drive if it’s almost fulll... nope, that's not a good idea. Try uninstalling some stuff first... you should at least have around 3% free. Also, while you defrag, no programs should be running... exit out of all programs, disable antivirus, and close any programs running in the system tray. Also, I'd recommend getting a program called Norton Win Doctor... it will search for any errors on your system and then fix them. I would also recommend installing a free firewall program called ZoneAlarm. If your system still keeps rebooting on its own, you may want to try System Restore, which allows you to restore your computer to the way that it was previously. Only system settings are restored, you won't lose any of your documents or anything. ...Or you may just want to have your system reloaded.
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Post by Drew on Jul 7, 2004 22:19:22 GMT -5
What kind of computer do you have? Pentium 2? You might just want to get a whole new system if it's that old. Windows XP only works on new computers anyway. Whatever you do, don't upgrade to Windows ME... that OS runs like cr*p.
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MIKEB
The King Of Rationality
Posts: 4,536
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Post by MIKEB on Jul 7, 2004 23:56:54 GMT -5
It's a PIII and it's a great computer! I love it! But the problems just added up. It's only about 50% full right now. I'll probably try to defrag it but I gotta try to close everything so nothing interupts it. I think screensaver freezes the computer too so I shut that off. Unfortunately, the computer DOES freeze if left unattended for maybe 5 minutes or so.
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Post by Drew on Jul 9, 2004 23:44:05 GMT -5
It's a PIII and it's a great computer! I love it! But the problems just added up. It's only about 50% full right now. I'll probably try to defrag it but I gotta try to close everything so nothing interupts it. Yeah, close everything down except "systray" and "explorer" when you defrag (in Windows 98 only). The monitor and/or harddrive may be set to turn off after 5 minutes (causing your computer to freeze like you said). I would disable those features in your display settings. It's usually under "Screen Saver / Energy Saving Features / Settings". Also, password protected screen savers will sometimes lock-up Win 98. So you may want to disable the screen saver password (if you have one). Sometimes, pressing "F8", "Alt+F4", or "Ctrl+Alt+Del" will unfreeze the computer... but, that rarely works for stuff like this.
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