How to Remove Viruses in Computer

If you suspect you have a virus (or any other malware), you should take steps immediately. The following procedures work for most viruses or malware (except perhaps for completely new, unknown or unusually malignant strains). It is better to complete all steps, so you can be (reasonably) sure that all traces have been removed.

Signs to look out for (infections may cause one or several of the following) :

• Slow computer, and/or slow internet connection. Strange pop-ups or web browser redirections (beyond those expected from dodgy websites).
• Program failure, or inexplicable errors (even after a fresh install).
• System functions unavailable (eg: Control Panel, Task Manager, Internet Explorer).
• System giving a "RPC error", giving a window with a 30 second countdown to a restart.
• Excessive internet cap usage, i.e high internet traffic on your computer.

Steps :

1. Confirmation and Preliminary Action: Make a list of ways yourcomputer is showing signs of abnormal operation. Satisfy yourself that these signs are not due to hardware failure or problems with attached equipment. Sometimes people misdiagnose software problems (such as bugs in Outlook Express or printer drivers) as virus activity. Also, problems with the Registry can be a source of errors, this happens if you install and uninstall lots of programs.
• Run your virus-scanner, but beware, many modern viruses can circumvent (or hide from) common anti-virus programs. Norton Antivirus and Mcafee have both been seen to exhibit this weakness, or seem unable to remove certain strains.
2. Check access to System Restore & the Internet.
1. Check computer for system access - Try to disable System Restore - right-click My Computer and select properties. Turn off System Restore on all drives.
2. Download and install new Anti-Virus. Both AVG Free Edition and Avast! are highly acclaimed programs. Install one of them (see External Links). Update the program's virus definitions. Don't scan for viruses yet.
3. Install Spybot Search & Destroy or Webroot Spysweeper (see External Links), and update its definitions. Don't scan for malware yet.
4. Install Adaware Personal Edition (see External Links) and update its definitions. Don't scan for malware yet.
3. Reboot into Safe Mode - Restart your computer and press F8 before Windows loads. Press F8 several times if you need to. Select Safe Mode from the resulting menu. Safe Mode disables much of the startup routine (including some common Malware hiding places).
4. Run your Anti-Virus - Run the freshly installed Anti-Virus. And Heal or Delete any references to Malware.
5. Run your Malware Scanners - Run both the scanners sequentially, deleting any references found.
6. Reboot and turn System Restore back on.
7.  Enjoy your sanitised computer

adrian™

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How To Schedule Automatic Updates

Want your computer more protection from spyware, virus you must to shedule automatic updates for your windows operating system.

Follow this steps to shedule automatic updates.

You must be logged on as an administrator or a member of the Administrators group in order to complete this procedure. If your computer is connected to a network, network policy settings might also prevent you from completing this procedure.

Open System, and then click the Automatic Updates tab.
– or –
If you are running Windows 2000, click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click Automatic Updates.



Click Automatic (recommended).
Under Automatically download recommended updates for my computer and install them, set the time and day you want Windows to install updates, and then click Apply.
Notes

To open System, click Start, click Control Panel, click Performance and Maintenance, and then click System.
Scheduled updates are automatically installed at the scheduled time, regardless of who is logged on to the computer. If you choose to be notified before updates can be installed, you must be logged on as an administrator to get notifications and to install updates.

Some updates require you to restart your computer before they can take effect. Windows will notify any user who is logged on to the computer before restarting; however, only members of the local Administrators group can stop the computer from restarting. Make sure you save your work before restarting your computer and remind other users to save their work, especially before scheduled installation times.

Adrian™

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How to Speed Up Your Computer

How to make your computer fast ? 

By following a few simple guidelines, you can maintain your computer and keep it running smoothly.

Free up disk space

By freeing disk space, you can improve the performance of your computer. The Disk Cleanup tool helps you free up space on your hard disk. The utility identifies files that you can safely delete, and then enables you to choose whether you want to delete some or all of the identified files.
Use Disk Cleanup to:

1. Remove temporary Internet files.
2. Remove downloaded program files (such as Microsoft ActiveX controls and Java applets).
3. Empty the Recycle Bin.
4. Remove Windows temporary files.
5. Remove optional Windows components that you don't use.
6. Remove installed programs that you no longer use.

Speed up access to data
Disk fragmentation slows the overall performance of your system. When files are fragmented, the computer must search the hard disk when the file is opened to piece it back together. The response time can be significantly longer.

Disk Defragmenter is a Windows utility that consolidates fragmented files and folders on your computer's hard disk so that each occupies a single space on the disk. With your files stored neatly end-to-end, without fragmentation, reading and writing to the disk speeds up.

When to run Disk Defragmenter

In addition to running Disk Defragmenter at regular intervals—monthly is optimal there are other times you should run it too, such as when:

1. You add a large number of files.
2. Your free disk space totals 15 percent or less.
3. You install new programs or a new version of Windows.

Detect and repair disk errors
In addition to running Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter to optimize the performance of your computer, you can check the integrity of the files stored on your hard disk by running the Error Checking utility.

As you use your hard drive, it can develop bad sectors. Bad sectors slow down hard disk performance and sometimes make data writing (such as file saving) difficult, or even impossible. The Error Checking utility scans the hard drive for bad sectors, and scans for file system errors to see whether certain files or folders are misplaced.

If you use your computer daily, you should run this utility once a week to help prevent data loss.

http://www.microsoft.com/atwork/getstarted/speed.mspx

Credit By : Adrian

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