General Periodic Maintenance of Windows 7 Home

Would you post instructions for us to do preventive maintenance and how often it should be done so that our computers don't get infected.

There is no replacement for safe surfing, and the only 100% way to keep clear is unplug the system, apart from that all you can do is minimise the risk, and I appreciate thats what your asking for, but I thought this point was important to make, otherwise you could gain a false sense of security, new nasties are coming out all the time, and no single piece of kit can get everything, so you need to take notice when things are not going the way your used to, sometimes thats the only early sign you get.

The most important thing to remember is you should NEVER run more than one scanner or real time protection of the same type at the same time, they can end up fighting each other, so always pause\exit real time cover of the same type before using any other tools. Now there are numerous tools available, and people have they're favourites, but probably the most often name at the top is Malwarebytes (mbam), you can use the free version as a standalone scanner\cleaner, but the paid version also gives real time cover.

There is no harm in using several pieces of protection, just remember to pause\exit any other protection before running another application, another tool I use is SUPERAntiSpyware, this should be used the same way as the previous.

There is one tool that does not require you to pause live protection when run, it's called SpywareBlaster, it simply adds known bad sites to your hosts file (something like that lol), which blocks you from them, this is not a scanner, it just adds another level of protection for you.

There are numerous other tools used by many, but before going on with more, if you could reply with what you are currently using, and what OS your running, once we know what anti virus and firewall etc you have then we may know of issues with certain tools, but this should get you started, and I'm sure the pro's can say far more than me, but this gets you going at least.

I have various machines; used by various family members. XP Ver 3 with Avira XP Ver 3 with MSE Windows 7 with MSE The youngest likes to play online games…which is probably contributing to some of the malware sneaking in. I run Malwarebytes about once a month and TFC about every two weeks. I run SmartDefrag about once a quarter…though I've heard that it's no longer necessary to defrag so much. I run Windows update about once a quarter. I am repeatedly having to remove Spigot, Ask.com, Yahoo Toolbar…and it's not easy. I also am hit by the fake MS Security notice which if you ignore starts delivering XXX web sites…not so good when the kids are on. I have three browsers - IE, FireFox, and Chrome. I mostly use Chrome, because it seems to be the smallest footprint in CPU and RAM, but occasionally I have to use IE. I tend to have multiple tabs open. I have a home network with four machines; and two printers I'm working with OldMan on another topic, to repair one of the laptops running XP. I've lost Hal.dll and can't seem to reload it. May need a new load. This has happened before…might be a hard-drive problem.

Well you seem to have the basics covered, although the news about defragging is new to me, but been so busy of the last several months, and with a mouthful of blood currently, I'll try and check that out when I feel better lol, but the A\V's are respected ones, although I personally worry about anything from m$, but others say it's pretty good, the defrag can be set to run on a scheduled basis, so easy to set and forget there, junk file cleaners, there are a few, and I run 3 personally, they each seem to find stuff the others miss, they are Disk Cleaner, CCleaner and ATF-Cleaner (the small red line of text is the download link).

As to windows update I let that download as they come out, but there is a mixed feeling with this, it's always good to have the latest patches etc., as these close security holes and the like, so make you more secure, but on the downside there are those who have horrendous times when an update messes up their system, not had that personally, but it's the reason many download when they are ready, and figured if there have been noted issues in anything before updating themselves, so it's up to you what you feel most comfortable with.

The issues you’re having though are a concern, as you are working with someone on this you need to follow their directions and wait for the all clear before doing anything else, as it may cause more problems for them, but once you get the all clear Here is something I found to do with the Hal.dll, hopefully it will help, not come across that one personally though.

The toolbars are easily uninstalled by the normal methods, they are not nasty, but they are sneaky how they sometimes get concealed, the rule of thumb is watch out for check boxes when installing ANYTHING, most of the time they are open and can be denied from getting on your system, BUT, I have seen a few things that do install them without asking, they either totally conceal it, or you need to use the advanced install to see the toolbars and deny them, but good news is they are easily sorted.

Now the fact you’re on a network "could" be adding to the problem, have you told the pros about this? they will almost certainly ask you to remove the system from the until it's all sorted, I'd also suggest asking for a check up on the other systems before connecting the network back up again, otherwise you will infect yourself again, I only mention this incase the pro's may not be aware of the network, as it will be harder for them to sort the situation for you.

The only other tool I use with the others I mentioned is Emsisoft Anti-Malware, Spybot is another big name, although I stopped using it when it slowed down the systems a lot (too heavy going), but it is extremely important to obey the one at a time rule, NEVER run more than 1 type of the same protection at the same time as another, this includes any real time cover.

So remember to pause\exit real time cover before running any of these standalone scanners, failure to do so can cause them conflict etc., just remember to enable real time cover after using any other scanners, but do not disable your firewall, only anti-virus\anti spyware, I'm sure the pros can explain far better than I on this lol, but hopefully it will help, others may have other points I missed, but this should get you started, hope it helps.

Many thanks for the advice. Will definitely notify the pros on the other problems about the fact that I'm a home network. I would suggest posting these sorts of preventive maintenance instructions permanently in the malware forum so that we can pro-actively keep our machines in better condition.