I recommend using all of the following, because they each detect/remove spyware and malware that the others don't:
Norton AntiVirus Ad-aware (free) Spybot Search & Destroy (free) Coolweb Shredder (free) Windows Defender (free so long as your Windows copy is valid) Windows Firewall or ZoneAlarm
Unfortunately, spyware and malware can install themselves, at times, through browser hijacks, VB scripts if you use Outlook, and other nasty ways, particularly if you're running without a firewall. You don't necessarily need to have downloaded much.
Defragmenting isn't really an issue - Windows does it itself these days.
Download the programs, install them all, run their internal update-to-most-recent-definitions things, then do the following:
Reboot into Safe Mode (*not* with networking) by pressing F8 during the first part of your boot.
Run each of the programs - set them to as thorough a search as they allow, and only run one at a time. Full virus scan, full adware scan, etc.
Reboot.
If it's still slow, download HijackThis, which is a Windows registry, BHO, and DLL checker - all it does is detect what is running on your system when it boots up, runs IE, etc., and email me the results - I'm happy to look and see if there's anything else in there that needs Total Destruction.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2006-10-12 02:50 pm (UTC)Norton AntiVirus
Ad-aware (free)
Spybot Search & Destroy (free)
Coolweb Shredder (free)
Windows Defender (free so long as your Windows copy is valid)
Windows Firewall or ZoneAlarm
Unfortunately, spyware and malware can install themselves, at times, through browser hijacks, VB scripts if you use Outlook, and other nasty ways, particularly if you're running without a firewall. You don't necessarily need to have downloaded much.
Defragmenting isn't really an issue - Windows does it itself these days.
Download the programs, install them all, run their internal update-to-most-recent-definitions things, then do the following:
If it's still slow, download HijackThis, which is a Windows registry, BHO, and DLL checker - all it does is detect what is running on your system when it boots up, runs IE, etc., and email me the results - I'm happy to look and see if there's anything else in there that needs Total Destruction.