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Spyware / Malware / Virus Removal

Is there anything wrong?

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Post #1
Hi I have an okay computer. It's 1.8ghz amd 64 sempron 3000+, 1024MB of ddr 333 RAM, radeon ati x1300 pro agp 256MB video card and every so often i experience huge lag spikes and i was wondering if i have a virus or if something else is wrong? this is my log file:

Logfile of HijackThis v1.99.1
Scan saved at 5:59:35 PM, on 1/13/2007
Platform: Windows XP SP2 (WinNT 5.01.2600)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v7.00 (7.00.5730.0011)

Running processes:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\smss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\Ati2evxx.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\Ati2evxx.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\ZoneLabs\vsmon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgamsvr.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgupsvc.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgemc.exe
C:\Program Files\Webroot\Spy Sweeper\SpySweeper.exe
C:\Program Files\ATI Technologies\ATI.ACE\CLI.EXE
C:\Program Files\Zone Labs\ZoneAlarm\zlclient.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgcc.exe
C:\Program Files\Microsoft IntelliType Pro\itype.exe
C:\Program Files\Microsoft IntelliPoint\ipoint.exe
C:\Program Files\Webroot\Spy Sweeper\SpySweeperUI.exe
C:\Program Files\Memzip\memzip.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe
C:\Program Files\ATI Technologies\ATI.ACE\cli.exe
C:\Program Files\ATI Technologies\ATI.ACE\cli.exe
C:\Program Files\Webroot\Spy Sweeper\SSU.EXE
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe
C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player\wmplayer.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\DllHost.exe
C:\Documents and Settings\Francois Forrest\Desktop\HijackThis.exe

R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Search_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157
O2 - BHO: Yahoo! Toolbar Helper - {02478D38-C3F9-4EFB-9B51-7695ECA05670} - C:\Program Files\Yahoo!\Companion\Installs\cpn\yt.dll
O2 - BHO: Adobe PDF Reader Link Helper - {06849E9F-C8D7-4D59-B87D-784B7D6BE0B3} - C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\ActiveX\AcroIEHelper.dll
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {53707962-6F74-2D53-2644-206D7942484F} - C:\Program Files\Spybot - Search & Destroy\SDHelper.dll
O2 - BHO: SSVHelper Class - {761497BB-D6F0-462C-B6EB-D4DAF1D92D43} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_10\bin\ssv.dll
O2 - BHO: Windows Live Sign-in Helper - {9030D464-4C02-4ABF-8ECC-5164760863C6} - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Windows Live\WindowsLiveLogin.dll
O3 - Toolbar: Yahoo! Toolbar - {EF99BD32-C1FB-11D2-892F-0090271D4F88} - C:\Program Files\Yahoo!\Companion\Installs\cpn\yt.dll
O3 - Toolbar: (no name) - {E0E899AB-F487-11D5-8D29-0050BA6940E3} - (no file)
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [ATICCC] "C:\Program Files\ATI Technologies\ATI.ACE\CLIStart.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Zone Labs Client] "C:\Program Files\Zone Labs\ZoneAlarm\zlclient.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [AVG7_CC] "C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgcc.exe" /STARTUP
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [itype] "C:\Program Files\Microsoft IntelliType Pro\itype.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [IntelliPoint] "C:\Program Files\Microsoft IntelliPoint\ipoint.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SpySweeper] "C:\Program Files\Webroot\Spy Sweeper\SpySweeperUI.exe" /startintray
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [MemoryZipperPlus] "C:\Program Files\Memzip\memzip.exe"
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [ctfmon.exe] C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Startup Manager] C:\Documents and Settings\Francois Forrest\Application Data\Systweak\ASO 2\smstartUp manager.exe
O8 - Extra context menu item: E&xport to Microsoft Excel - res://C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~4\Office12\EXCEL.EXE/3000
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_10\bin\ssv.dll
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Sun Java Console - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_10\bin\ssv.dll
O9 - Extra button: Research - {92780B25-18CC-41C8-B9BE-3C9C571A8263} - C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~4\Office12\REFIEBAR.DLL
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {e2e2dd38-d088-4134-82b7-f2ba38496583} - %windir%\Network Diagnostic\xpnetdiag.exe (file missing)
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: @xpsp3res.dll,-20001 - {e2e2dd38-d088-4134-82b7-f2ba38496583} - %windir%\Network Diagnostic\xpnetdiag.exe (file missing)
O9 - Extra button: Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Windows Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O11 - Options group: [INTERNATIONAL] International*
O16 - DPF: {17492023-C23A-453E-A040-C7C580BBF700} (Windows Genuine Advantage Validation Tool) - http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=39204
O16 - DPF: {2250C29C-C5E9-4F55-BE4E-01E45A40FCF1} (CMediaMix Object) - http://musicmix.messenger.msn.com/Medialogic.CAB
O16 - DPF: {2917297F-F02B-4B9D-81DF-494B6333150B} (Minesweeper Flags Class) - http://messenger.zone.msn.com/binary/MineS…er.cab31267.cab
O16 - DPF: {5D6F45B3-9043-443D-A792-115447494D24} (UnoCtrl Class) - http://messenger.zone.msn.com/EN-US/a-UNO1/GAME_UNO1.cab
O16 - DPF: {8E0D4DE5-3180-4024-A327-4DFAD1796A8D} (MessengerStatsClient Class) - http://messenger.zone.msn.com/binary/Messe…nt.cab31267.cab
O18 - Protocol: livecall - {828030A1-22C1-4009-854F-8E305202313F} - C:\PROGRA~1\MSNMES~1\MSGRAP~1.DLL
O18 - Protocol: ms-help - {314111C7-A502-11D2-BBCA-00C04F8EC294} - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Help\hxds.dll
O18 - Protocol: msnim - {828030A1-22C1-4009-854F-8E305202313F} - C:\PROGRA~1\MSNMES~1\MSGRAP~1.DLL
O18 - Filter hijack: text/xml - {807563E5-5146-11D5-A672-00B0D022E945} - C:\PROGRA~1\COMMON~1\MICROS~1\OFFICE12\MSOXMLMF.DLL
O20 - Winlogon Notify: WRNotifier - C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\WRLogonNTF.dll
O21 - SSODL: WPDShServiceObj - {AAA288BA-9A4C-45B0-95D7-94D524869DB5} - C:\WINDOWS\system32\WPDShServiceObj.dll
O23 - Service: Ati HotKey Poller - ATI Technologies Inc. - C:\WINDOWS\system32\Ati2evxx.exe
O23 - Service: ATI Smart - Unknown owner - C:\WINDOWS\system32\ati2sgag.exe
O23 - Service: AVG7 Alert Manager Server (Avg7Alrt) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. - C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgamsvr.exe
O23 - Service: AVG7 Update Service (Avg7UpdSvc) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. - C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgupsvc.exe
O23 - Service: AVG E-mail Scanner (AVGEMS) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. - C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgemc.exe
O23 - Service: TrueVector Internet Monitor (vsmon) - Zone Labs, LLC - C:\WINDOWS\system32\ZoneLabs\vsmon.exe
O23 - Service: Webroot Spy Sweeper Engine (WebrootSpySweeperService) - Webroot Software, Inc. - C:\Program Files\Webroot\Spy Sweeper\SpySweeper.exe




Thanks for the help
Post #2
Hi Barqers and welcome to the forums here at TomCoyote.

Thanks for providing your hardware details and explanation. I wish we could see that more up front as it helps save so much time. I don't see anything malicious in your log and you have some excellent protection in place. I have not used Memory Zipper before and I'm not saying it is bad. But I have seen some of those "memory managers" slow down performance in the past and I don't recommend using them. Although I know people who swear by them. So you have to decide for yourself. With a gig of RAM you should not need a memory manager IMHO. You could try temporarily disabling it to see if there's any difference.

You certainly have the hardware to handle just about anything here. When do you experience the slowdowns? When on the internet? Or playing games? ect…?

I use a tool called ATF Cleaner that is great for cleaning up:
Use ATF Cleaner to remove temp files, cookies, cache, ect…

Download ATF (Atribune Temp File) Cleaner© by Atribune to your desktop.

Double-click ATF Cleaner.exe to open it.

Under Main select the following:
Under Main choose: Select All
Click the Empty Selected button.

If you use Firefox:
Click Firefox at the top and choose: Select All
Click the Empty Selected button.
NOTE: If you would like to keep your saved passwords, please click NO at the prompt.

It's normal after running ATF cleaner that the PC will be slower to boot the first time.

You may also want to take a look here at these links to see if there is anything that may help also:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/s…estoreperf.mspx
http://users.telenet.be/bluepatchy/miekiem…owcomputer.html

Let me know if ATF helps out at all and if you have any other questions feel free to post back.

Regards,
Dave
Post #3 last edited
Hey IndiGenus, No problem I figured it would help people understand what I was working with here, so that you guys don't have to take a wild swing at this problem. So I did what you said and disabled MZP which did speed up my computer. Yet I was still having problems in America's army. So I've removed a bunch of programs from my computer and I've defraged my computer with O&O defrag Professional version and my computer is running fast. I'm not too concerned with the lag spikes as much anymore its probably because America's Army takes up so much RAM. Plus my hardware is bellow the requirements, which I seem to find there requirements pretty high. So anyways I was wondering if you knew if any of my security programs use a lot of RAM. I know windows uses about 200mb or something ridiculous like that. Also I was just curious why my computer takes forever to logon. I have no idea what it is yet it takes about 4 minutes to log on and that's just annoying heh. Well thank you for helping my speed up my computer I didn't know that Memory Zipper Plus and ATF cleaner would give such drastic changes. I was just curious though if there was a way to speed up my boot time and login time, and also if Memory Zipper Plus would have helped my gaming in anyway, say if my RAM got below 50mb? Well thank you for all the help :D ****Hey sorry about this, but I see you're on the forum right now and I was looking at your security programs you use. I don't like spy sweeper and was wondering if spy blaster has realtime protection? also is avast or AVG free better to use. Just curious because I hate spy sweeper, it lags the computer so much and if I can find a better program I would certainly switch for it, same goes for avast and AVG my mom uses avast I just wasn't sure how good it is?**** Thanks once again
Post #4 last edited
Hey IndiGenus just going off to bed and JUST finished installing new programs to use less RAM and CPU%. I switched from webroot to AVG antispyware and deleted Memory zipper plus, I also used the spywareblaster program just it's too bad it doesn't have real time protection otherwise I wouldn't use AVG. I also was wondering if there was a way to overclock my cpu from like 1.8ghz to 2.0ghz and if that would fry my computer or something. Anyways this is my new log and my computer is running alot faster now:


Logfile of HijackThis v1.99.1
Scan saved at 1:29:09 AM, on 1/15/2007
Platform: Windows XP SP2 (WinNT 5.01.2600)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v7.00 (7.00.5730.0011)

Running processes:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\smss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\csrss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\Ati2evxx.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\Ati2evxx.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\ZoneLabs\vsmon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgamsvr.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgupsvc.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgemc.exe
C:\Program Files\ATI Technologies\ATI.ACE\CLI.EXE
C:\Program Files\Zone Labs\ZoneAlarm\zlclient.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgcc.exe
C:\Program Files\Microsoft IntelliType Pro\itype.exe
C:\Program Files\Microsoft IntelliPoint\ipoint.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe
C:\Program Files\ATI Technologies\ATI.ACE\cli.exe
C:\Program Files\ATI Technologies\ATI.ACE\cli.exe
C:\Program Files\Grisoft\AVG Anti-Spyware 7.5\guard.exe
C:\Program Files\Grisoft\AVG Anti-Spyware 7.5\avgas.exe
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe
C:\Documents and Settings\Francois Forrest\Desktop\HijackThis.exe

R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Search_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157
O2 - BHO: Yahoo! Toolbar Helper - {02478D38-C3F9-4EFB-9B51-7695ECA05670} - C:\Program Files\Yahoo!\Companion\Installs\cpn\yt.dll
O2 - BHO: Adobe PDF Reader Link Helper - {06849E9F-C8D7-4D59-B87D-784B7D6BE0B3} - C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\ActiveX\AcroIEHelper.dll
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {53707962-6F74-2D53-2644-206D7942484F} - C:\Program Files\Spybot - Search & Destroy\SDHelper.dll
O2 - BHO: SSVHelper Class - {761497BB-D6F0-462C-B6EB-D4DAF1D92D43} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_10\bin\ssv.dll
O2 - BHO: Windows Live Sign-in Helper - {9030D464-4C02-4ABF-8ECC-5164760863C6} - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Windows Live\WindowsLiveLogin.dll
O3 - Toolbar: Yahoo! Toolbar - {EF99BD32-C1FB-11D2-892F-0090271D4F88} - C:\Program Files\Yahoo!\Companion\Installs\cpn\yt.dll
O3 - Toolbar: (no name) - {E0E899AB-F487-11D5-8D29-0050BA6940E3} - (no file)
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [ATICCC] "C:\Program Files\ATI Technologies\ATI.ACE\CLIStart.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Zone Labs Client] "C:\Program Files\Zone Labs\ZoneAlarm\zlclient.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [AVG7_CC] "C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgcc.exe" /STARTUP
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [itype] "C:\Program Files\Microsoft IntelliType Pro\itype.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [IntelliPoint] "C:\Program Files\Microsoft IntelliPoint\ipoint.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [!AVG Anti-Spyware] "C:\Program Files\Grisoft\AVG Anti-Spyware 7.5\avgas.exe" /minimized
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [MSConfig] C:\WINDOWS\PCHealth\HelpCtr\Binaries\MSConfig.exe /auto
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [ctfmon.exe] C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe
O6 - HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Control Panel present
O8 - Extra context menu item: E&xport to Microsoft Excel - res://C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~4\Office12\EXCEL.EXE/3000
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_10\bin\ssv.dll
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Sun Java Console - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_10\bin\ssv.dll
O9 - Extra button: Research - {92780B25-18CC-41C8-B9BE-3C9C571A8263} - C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~4\Office12\REFIEBAR.DLL
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {e2e2dd38-d088-4134-82b7-f2ba38496583} - %windir%\Network Diagnostic\xpnetdiag.exe (file missing)
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: @xpsp3res.dll,-20001 - {e2e2dd38-d088-4134-82b7-f2ba38496583} - %windir%\Network Diagnostic\xpnetdiag.exe (file missing)
O9 - Extra button: Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Windows Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O11 - Options group: [INTERNATIONAL] International*
O16 - DPF: {17492023-C23A-453E-A040-C7C580BBF700} (Windows Genuine Advantage Validation Tool) - http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=39204
O16 - DPF: {2250C29C-C5E9-4F55-BE4E-01E45A40FCF1} (CMediaMix Object) - http://musicmix.messenger.msn.com/Medialogic.CAB
O16 - DPF: {2917297F-F02B-4B9D-81DF-494B6333150B} (Minesweeper Flags Class) - http://messenger.zone.msn.com/binary/MineS…er.cab31267.cab
O16 - DPF: {5D6F45B3-9043-443D-A792-115447494D24} (UnoCtrl Class) - http://messenger.zone.msn.com/EN-US/a-UNO1/GAME_UNO1.cab
O16 - DPF: {8E0D4DE5-3180-4024-A327-4DFAD1796A8D} (MessengerStatsClient Class) - http://messenger.zone.msn.com/binary/Messe…nt.cab31267.cab
O18 - Protocol: livecall - {828030A1-22C1-4009-854F-8E305202313F} - C:\PROGRA~1\MSNMES~1\MSGRAP~1.DLL
O18 - Protocol: ms-help - {314111C7-A502-11D2-BBCA-00C04F8EC294} - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Help\hxds.dll
O18 - Protocol: msnim - {828030A1-22C1-4009-854F-8E305202313F} - C:\PROGRA~1\MSNMES~1\MSGRAP~1.DLL
O18 - Filter hijack: text/xml - {807563E5-5146-11D5-A672-00B0D022E945} - C:\PROGRA~1\COMMON~1\MICROS~1\OFFICE12\MSOXMLMF.DLL
O20 - Winlogon Notify: WRNotifier - WRLogonNTF.dll (file missing)
O21 - SSODL: WPDShServiceObj - {AAA288BA-9A4C-45B0-95D7-94D524869DB5} - C:\WINDOWS\system32\WPDShServiceObj.dll
O23 - Service: Ati HotKey Poller - ATI Technologies Inc. - C:\WINDOWS\system32\Ati2evxx.exe
O23 - Service: ATI Smart - Unknown owner - C:\WINDOWS\system32\ati2sgag.exe
O23 - Service: AVG Anti-Spyware Guard - Anti-Malware Development a.s. - C:\Program Files\Grisoft\AVG Anti-Spyware 7.5\guard.exe
O23 - Service: AVG7 Alert Manager Server (Avg7Alrt) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. - C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgamsvr.exe
O23 - Service: AVG7 Update Service (Avg7UpdSvc) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. - C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgupsvc.exe
O23 - Service: AVG E-mail Scanner (AVGEMS) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. - C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgemc.exe
O23 - Service: TrueVector Internet Monitor (vsmon) - Zone Labs, LLC - C:\WINDOWS\system32\ZoneLabs\vsmon.exe



Thanks for the help,

Francois
Post #5
Hi IndiGenus I see you in the topic right now so I just wanted to let you know I don't have anti spyware right now they are hogging my RAM for some reason. they are taking like 70mb so is there an antispyware that doesn't hog mem ? also i don't know, but I heard you can overclock your cpu speeds? will it speed up my computer and reduce my lag spikes and if so does it lower my pcs life, side effects? Thanks =D
Post #6
Hi Francois,

Well…you appear to know what you're doing and to me it sounds like you've made the right choices in making the balancing act between security and speed (and it's no small task). Also glad to hear things are running a bit better. You should expect and get good performance out of the hardware you are running. But it does take some knowledge and work.

I'll try to address your main questions…

I was just curious though if there was a way to speed up my boot time and login time, and also if Memory Zipper Plus would have helped my gaming in anyway, say if my RAM got below 50mb?

Zone Alarm will also slow things down. I used it for quite a while and actually got used to it…then recently I disabled it and went back to the Windows Firewall (yes, I know, not as good) and was amazed how much my PC perked up…again, that balance between security and speed. And I don't think memory zipper would have helped you with that…I know that's what they advertise but your own testing has proved that program to be junk.

also is avast or AVG free better to use. Just curious because I hate spy sweeper, it lags the computer so much and if I can find a better program I would certainly switch for it, same goes for avast and AVG my mom uses avast I just wasn't sure how good it is?****

I have and still use both (5 pc's in my house). Speedwise both AVG and AVAST have the same impact. I personally think Avast is a little more robust than AVG so I'm using that now on my main PC's.

I also was wondering if there was a way to overclock my cpu from like 1.8ghz to 2.0ghz and if that would fry my computer or something. Anyways this is my new log and my computer is running alot faster now:

Ahh…a true gamer at heart I see…(btw, I played AA a few years ago and loved it, just don't have the time for it any more though. But I do remember how resource hungry it was even then…I can only imagine now). To answer your question, yes, you should be able to over clock your CPU. But this forum isn't for that. I'm sure if you type "overclock my CPU" into google you will get some great places to help you out with that though. There are also many other hardware tweaks that can be made and if you look I'm sure you'll find them. Just one note there that I'm sure you're aware of though…watch the heat once you start playing around with hardware.

Regards and Happy Tweaking,

Dave
Post #7
Hi Francois,
We crossed posts I think. Again, the balance between security and speed…ALL security software use system resources. Plain and simple. Some more than others.

I'll make one more note:
My favorite security software that I'm using right now is "Common Sense Security Suite 2007 and Beyond", No lag time and inexpensive…seriously though. Common sense and knowledge is the key…practice safe surfing.
Regards,
Dave
Post #8 last edited
Okay thank you. I'm glad to hear I have no spyware that was a relief. I'll try avast and the Common sense security suite. Yes I love games :P more so FPS games, which I find take more resources then most RPG which sucks. If you read this post again I was just curious if you have a personal choice on real-time spyware protection for using less resources for the best outcome. Also can you give me a link to the common sense security suite website I can't seem to find it on the net. Anyways have a good one, François
Post #9
The only thing I have going "real time" at this point is Avast AV along with my firewall. I also do use Spyware Blaster and SpywareGuard. Check out these 2 links for more info. there…
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial50.html
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/ind…showtutorial=49

While these don't offer the same level of protection as say your SpySweeper they are another level with relatively little resource use.

Also can you give me a link to the common sense security suite website I can't seem to find it on the net.

Shameless plug here…see my signature for my home at MD.

Have fun…I think I'm going to go dust off my old HalfLife 1 game and whack some headcrabs with a crowbar.

Regards,
Dave
Post #10
okay well I am removing AVG and installing Avast, I checked one of your links from your first post and it shows the % of resources different software uses so thank you. I've decided to switch my firewall aswell. Do not know what I will switch to yet though. As I don't know which firewall doesn't hog up my resources, but I will use the windows firewall for now. Have a good time beating people with a crobar :P . I wish I had xbox or xbox 360 but all I have is the ps2 and gamecube :angry: Have Fun, François
Post #11 last edited
Sorry if you've already read this >.< Shameless plug here…see my signature for my home at MD. What do you mean by that, is there a website for that security suite? Also which firewall would be the least memory hogger. Um something has just come to my attention. You know when you open the start menu there is a list of your last used programs? mine is gone…. I have the Internet which is always there same with the outlook express, but the line that divides last used programs is gone if you know why this happened please reply. Thanks
Post #12

What do you mean by that, is there a website for that security suite?

Umm…that's a plug for my anti-malware web site, MalwareDestroyer.net. There is a link to it in my signature. I was joking :rofl: (regarding Common Sense Security Suite 2007 and Beyond)…there is no such thing. Basically use common sense when surfing, don't download free screen savers, smileys, ect…. or use p2p, or surf porn sites, or ect…ect…ect…I could go on all day but I think you get the point.

Also which firewall would be the least memory hogger.

Check out this link…
http://www.thepcspy.com/articles/other/wha…_windows_down/5

maybe a bit more help. If you are going with "free" then there's really only a couple of good options anyway. And frankly the Windows Firewall probably uses the least resources….again the trade off between security and speed.

This is from my "canned speech" when advising people on firewalls:

Use a Firewall - I can not stress how important it is that you use a Firewall on your computer. Without a firewall your computer is succeptible to being hacked and taken over. Simply using a Firewall in its default configuration can lower your risk greatly. Here are some free and evalutation versions that provide
better security than the Windows Firewall.Kerio Personal Firewall
Zone Alarm Free
Outpost Firewall
For a tutorial on Firewalls and a listing of some other available ones see the link below:
Understanding and Using Firewalls
Regards,
Dave
Post #13
Lol woops :P I get it now. Well I've decided I'm just going to use avg security center with everything in it. Uses on average 5mb RAM so hopefully doesn't drag down my boot time that bad. Not too sure if it's there busy servers or my internet connection, but the download is going at 37kb/s which is a pain in the rear. Well thank you for all the help. It is greatly appreciated. François
Post #14
Okay now I am only running AVG firewall and AVG anti-virus computers load up however is still slow, but that usually happens with new hardware installs and I just used ATF so, This topic is resolved. Thank you IndiGenus
Post #15
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