Windows XP: Anti-virus and anti-spyware
“I need to upgrade my computer”
All things I heard about computers from people I know… mostly Windows. I want to give a few tricks to make sure you are running ok. Note that I assume your system is legit, if your Windows is copied, you might run into problems and I don’t really care about your mishaps. Buy your software!
First, left-click Start, right-click on “My Computer” and to the bottom of the menu, left-click on “Properties”. In the window that appears, look at how much RAM you have. If it’s in gigabytes (Gb), you are fine. If it’s in megabytes, you better have 512 or more. If not, that’s your first pit stop: bring your computer to your local repair shop and ask to have up to 1 gigabyte of RAM (more is sometimes useful but not for Mr. Everyone). If you have 256, it should run kind of fine, if you have less than that, here’s your problem. Don’t even think about changing your computer unless you give it a fair chance. You can cancel that window.
Second, make sure your system is properly updated. That means going to Start menu again, “All programs”, and look at the upper-left part of the window. If you see “Microsoft Update”, you are in luck. Click it. Go through all the loops and hoops that they say is required. It might take some time, and might ask for reboots. Do the quick update. If you are asked to update some things, do so, reboot, then do it again, until they say you are good to go. If you only have “Windows Update”, that’s not bad, simply less complete. Click it. Go through all the loops and hoops, same thing.
Third, you need some anti-virus. If you have the choice, Norton Anti-Virus is the most complete, however it’s expensive and does take a lot of computer juice. If you do not have a solution right now, you can see that part by going to Start Menu (again), Configuration Panel, Security Center and see if you have the anti-virus protection activated (Green light), consider using a free one, like Grisoft AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition (link opens a new window). It has no pop-ups, it has no major annoyances and it is easy to install. Simply press “Get AVG Free”, go down the window and download the file there, with the cryptic name ending with .exe. Say you want to execute it, follow up installation, and do a first preliminary virus check. If a virus is found, that might mean game over, that you have to reinstall Windows. Normally no, but sometimes it happens. Another possibility is Avira AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic (new window)… again a very good solution, reputable. The key here is reputability, will you use some anti-virus or anti-spyware that spams everyone simply because they say so? It might even be a spyware itself!
Then, speaking of spywares, you need to remove these pesky spywares that must clog your system. Many good reputable solutions exist, like Ad-Aware Personal (new window). I personally enjoy using Spybot Search&Destroy (new window). Do download the latter, choose your language, press Download, in the Download section below press Download here to the right of the software, then choose a mirror… I personally never had a problem with BN FileForum, so press Download here to the right, finally press Download Now to the right of the window. Execute immediately, follow instructions do a first scan. There will be problems, for sure. They might be simply cookies, but they might be bigger problems. You might again have to reboot, even multiple times. The system might even not be able to clean all of the pests. Then, another game over, and please reinstall Windows. Once it’s done, start the software again and inoculate against all threats.
Last part … Install Firefox (new window) as a default browser. You might like Internet Explorer but everyone tries to attack IE by all possible means. Most web sites support Firefox so why not. You can also go with Opera (new window) as it’s very good, quick, efficient and has nice features. All in all, it’s a matter of taste. However, what’s not a matter of taste is the security issues on Internet Explorer. Sad but true.
Now your system is theoretically clean, it is protected, it has everything you need. Now the cleanup part. Start menu, Configuration panel again, Add/Remove Software. Wait for the list to appear. Then, you are free to remove almost anything and everything that is in this first pane. The exceptions are everything that has the following words in it: “ATI, NVIDIA, Intel, VIA, Drivers, Update, Service Pack”. Use your common sense, if you remove Realtek AC’97 Audio (for example if you have that installed), you will not have sound on your computer anymore. Worst case, if you are unsure, Google the term.
If nothing works, maybe you computer is really too old. Maybe it really needs a good “Spring cleaning”, where you reinstall everything from scratch. Yes, you lose everything, but at least you are totally sure you really need a new computer before doing useless expenses.
