Good Morning Cindy,
Both one of the teachers and myself have deemed your system clean, it is free of any viruses or malware.
There are a few things you can do that would possibly speed it up a little. Keep in mind that the Celeron Processor, even though it is a good processor made by Intel, it is a low end version for cheaper computers. You would get better performance out of a Pentium.
As you use your computer, install new programs and such, this sometimes will start to slow things down. The amount of memory you have is the bare minimum for XP to run. If you doubled that you would see a significant increase in performance. It is a very simple upgrade that if you like to tinker, you can do yourself or take it to a shop to have it done. What I would do is buy a 256 mb moduale that would bring you up to 512 and that will speed up your system. You can download this program
BelArc Advisor that will give you all info on whats inside your system. You want to look under the memory, it will most likely say that there are 2 banks with a 256 in one bank, that would be good, then you can slip another 256 in the other bank. Don't buy any cheap memory from places like Costco or Walmart or you will have other problems. Go to
Crucial which is the leader in memory and plug in your make and model and it will pull up what you need. This is the place that Dell and all the leading manufacturers buy from.
http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html
http://www.crucial.com/
Lets do this also, go to
MY COMPUTER> YOUR C DRIVE> DOCUMENTS AND SETTINS> YOUR NAME OR THE ADMINISTRATOR START MENU> PROGRAMS> START UP and delete any programs that you don't need from starting up.
You can also adjust the way windows automatic updates is configured, set it this way or else it will download updates and when you shut down it will try to install them slowing you down
START> CONTROL PANEL> SECURITY CENTER> AUTOMATIC UPDATES> and set the radio button to this
NOTIFY ME BUT DONT AUTOMATICALLY DOWNLOAD AND INSTALL THEM
The next thing you want to do is to Defrag your hard drive. Turn off your screensaver so it won't interfere with it. If you have never done this, it could take about an hour or so, if you run it every few weeks which you should it won't take so long. This will organize all the files on your hard drive so programs will load faster. It is a very safe program to run.
Go to
START> ALL PROGRAMS> ASSESSORIES> SYSTEM TOOLS> DISK DEFRAGMENTER Highlight your C: drive and click on Defragment.
If you installed the full Norton package with the firewall and all, this is a good program but also a resource hog that will clog up your system. You may want to consider just a stand alone virus program and a free firewall from Zone Labs.
Free Version of Zone Alarm
Here are some other tips and free programs that will help keep the bad guys out.
Now that your clean, we need to erase all possible older infected files that may still be lurking on your system.
clean out your TEMP FILES
* This procedure should be run from SAFEMODE for better results.
To Enter SAFEMODE
* Go to START/ SHUT OF YOUR COMPUTER/ RESTART
* As the computer starts to boot-up, Tap the F8 KEY somewhat rapidly, this will bring up a menu.
* Use the UP AND DOWN ARROW KEYS to scroll up to SAFEMODE
* Then press the ENTER KEY ON YOUR KEYBOARD
Now, while in SAFEMODE,
* click on START/ RUN , and type %temp% and press the ok button.
This will open up the temp directory that your machine uses. GO TO EDIT/ SELECT ALL and delete all the contents of that folder.
* Do this for each user of your computer.
* Do this same process for %windir%\temp.
NOW RE-BOOT NORMALLY
DELETE TEMPORARY INTERNET FILES
* Open INTERNET EXPLORER
* Click on the TOOLS MENU
* Then INTERNET OPTIONS
* At the GENERAL TAB, (which should be the first tab you are currently on),
* click on the DELETE FILES BUTTON and put a checkmark in DELETE ALL OFFLINE CONTENT.
* Then press the OK BUTTON . This may take quite a while, so do not be alarmed with how long it takes.
* When it is done, your Temporary Internet Files will now be deleted.
Now we need to TURN OFF and then TURN BACK ON SYSTEM RESTORE.
This will remove infected files that have been backed up by Windows. The files in System Restore are protected to prevent
any programs changing those files. This is the only way to clean these files: (You will lose all previous restore points
which are likely to be infected)
Turn off System Restore.
* On the Desktop, right-click My Computer.
* Click Properties.
* Click the System Restore tab.
* Check Turn off System Restore.
* Click Apply, and then click OK.
Reboot your System
Turn ON System Restore.
* On the Desktop, right-click My Computer.
* Click Properties.
* Click the System Restore tab.
* UN-Check Turn off System Restore.
* Click Apply, and then click OK.
* Now Create a New Restore Point
* Make sure that your ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE is up to date and run a full scan at least once aweek.
* If you want to use a free program, try this one –> http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1
* Run SPYBOT SEARCH AND DESTROY/ CHECK FOR UPDATES/ IMMUNIZE and run a full system scan on a regular basis.
* Run AD-AWARE SE PERSONAL/ CHECK FOR UPDATES and run a FULL SYSTEM SCAN on a regular basis.
* Follow the links at the bottom of my post and download and run SPYWARE BLASTER, check for updates and enalble all protection.
* Also install SPYWARE GUARD.
These two programs won't scan your system, but will sit in the background blocking most of the garbage from installing in the first place.
* WINDOWS UPDATES - Enable Automatic Updates
Right click on MY COMPUTER/ GO TO PROPERTIES/ AUTOMATIC UPDATES and put a mark in the radio button
DOWNLOAD UPDATES FOR ME BUT LET ME CHOOSE WHEN TO INSTALL THEM.
Hope this helps you, I will keep this thread open for a few days in case you have any other questions.
Thanks for using Tom Coyote,
Ken
