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Before I run off to the ASAP people, as recommended by Liz before, I was wondering if this is normal & I should proceed with cleaning up space, spywear, etc., from my laptop.
I've began following the previous instructions to clean up my system & downloaded CC Cleaner, ran it, watched it delete hundreds of MB's of junk, deleted picture programs I've never used which deleted hundreds of MB's more & now my laptop is 75% slower when I'm online. This reminds me of the old 486-PC days, I swear it's that slow. My system, as far as I can see, should be at least a bit faster, given all that's been purged, right?
Should I proceed with the cleanup & continue to download Spybot, then a new anti-virus program (I've got Norton), new browser (I use IE or Netscape), etc., or stop & contact ASAP?
Thank you very much for all help.
Have a great weekend, everyone... VV
I'm finally getting around to the suggestions made here, but ran into a bit of a snag & my apologies in advance for my technical unsavviness.
Are SpyBot & HijackThis no longer free? I downloaded & did initial runs of both which showed a lot of unnecessary stowaways onboard my laptop, but when I tried to click on "Fix", it prompted me to purchase them online. I used to use SpyBot for free, just months ago. I was under the impression HijackThis was free, as well. There's a button to use a Free Trial with HJ, but it prompts me for a License # & tells me "Removal of detected threats requires a licensed copy of Spyware Dr".
Also, I'm embarassed to say that I downloaded HiJack This from the MajorGeeks site, but the program is called Spyware Doctor by PC Tools. Am I crazy or is this HJ This? Did I misunderstand the freebie deal, did this change or am I visiting the wrong sites?
Sorry, I'm struggling here. I searched for HijackThis on my system & saw I hadn't set it up as I don't have the program to open the .pf file extension. I'm brought here:
Is there an uncomplicated way to instruct me as to what I need to download to get it to run? I'll keep poking around but I feel rather like a bull in a china shop.
I was under the impression HijackThis was free, as well. There's a button to use a Free Trial with HJ, but it prompts me for a License # & tells me "Removal of detected threats requires a licensed copy of Spyware Dr".
Also, I'm embarassed to say that I downloaded HiJack This from the MajorGeeks site, but the program is called Spyware Doctor by PC Tools. Am I crazy or is this HJ This? Did I misunderstand the freebie deal, did this change or am I visiting the wrong sites?
HiJack This has always been free and the version I JUST this min downloaded from Majorgeeks is still free (altho there IS a donate button on it, donations are NOT required). Here is the link I used: |MG| Free Download - HijackThis 1.99.1 and use one of the mirror sites (it has a flag next to it, I usually use a TX site).
Spyware Doctor is a Free To TRY program. I would remove it using the add/remove program in your control panel. It's not a bad one but it's not that helpful either. There ARE better FREE ones.
Spyware Doctor isn't HiJack This. HiJack This was written by a man named Richard Merijn who has sold it to Trend Micro and they will be developing it from this point on. You can read about him here and can also download HiJack This from his own site here: Merijn.org Version 1.99.1 Liz
So that I don't come across as that inept, I just retraced my steps & see why I abandoned it a few weeks ago until I had time to figure out what went wrong. The MajorGeeks site downloads Spyware Dr when I click on the download link for HiJack This (I swear, did it twice!) & then from the link/error message I received in my initial post, brings me to a free download for StuffIt Expander to be able to handle the .pf file format. Seems like Hijack This was just that!
I don't know where I took a wrong turn & why I found the Major Geeks site for HJ (it must have been a link here), or more importantly, why it downloads a different software than requested. I thought I was crazy, but after doing it twice, this is what happens. So, I'll delete what I have, as you suggested & then begin again with your new links.
The MajorGeeks site downloads Spyware Dr when I click on the download link for HiJack This (I swear, did it twice!) & then from the link/error message I received in my initial post, brings me to a free download for StuffIt Expander to be able to handle the .pf file format. Seems like Hijack This was just that!
HiJack This downloads in either a zip or an rar (Winrar format) extension, unless you are on a linux/mac. And it can not be used on a linux/mac. Only place I know that uses the Stuffit Expander was a mac.
You got Spyware Doctor because Major Geeks places ads at the top of the download screen to entice you to click them. It is done in such a way that you think you should click the box to get your download, but you get something else. Very tacky. Skip the box at the top! Your download is HijackThis 1.99.1. Look a little lower on the screen. Download should start automatically when you click on a download site after clicking on the link to 1.99.1.
Try download.com instead. You might find it friendlier.
Have you checked for programs at startup? Some installs, HP is renowned for dumping junk on your computer, will add unnecessary programs to that start every time your computer starts. Many can be deleted. I will walk you through some things later, but first:
BTW check your System Tray (lower right corner of the screen. The clock is here. If you have more than, say, four to six icons here you have too many. That is unless you have to run a lot of specialized programs at startup. We'll deal with that, too, when we clean the startup files.
This is a site that has a huge list of programs that can run at startup and will tell you if they should be allowed may be allowed or shouldn't be allowed.
Now, start HijackThis. After you scan you will see a list. Each item has a number to the left of it. We are concerned only with items that have 04 in front. Scroll down to this area and look at the first item. Find the filename (usually is filename.exe) and write it down. Switch to the open browser and type in the filename in the search box. You can omit the exe portion. Read the descriptions carefully if there are multiple names listed. Sometimes the names are very close to the same, have a different extension, or have uppercase letters in them where yours doesn't. Click Search. If the name is found look for the letter associated with it under Status. Look at the legend above to determine if it's a good file or a bad file and act accordingly. Go back to HijackThis and place a check in the box left of any file that the site you just left tells you is bad. Only those files! You can delete any file not denoted with a "Y", discretion is advised. You should start by marking only those files with an "X", use HijackThis to delete them, reboot ad see how it works. If things still seem slow then I suggest the help of someone that can look through your Hijack log and tell you what else to get rid of.
Also go to Start/Control Panel/Add Remove Programs and look for any programs listed that mention Search or Coupons, or Toolbars. Automatically delete the first two. I strongly recommend removing Toolbars ( especially Yahoo - actually anything Yahoo, they dump a lot of garbage on your system) unless you absolutely have to have them. Remove Kazaa, Limewire, and Bear something or other?
Oh! Ccleaner when you install it has a screen with a bunch of check boxes. Remove the check from the bottom box! Yahoo Toolbar alert!
Do you use AOL or MSN? They also like to add too much junk to the PC and can slow down a system.
Thank you boatloads for the depth of your response! My apologies that I didn't see it sooner than today.
I have printed off your info & the Notepad save of the Hijack run. You are right, the MajorGeeks window was confusing me & I was downloading the wrong software (the buttons weren't clearly indicative). I also have a dial-up account, so my system is incredibly slow downloading & kept hanging, so it took me hours just to download HJThis & run it.
I am away until Wednesday, so I will follow your directions & have everything finished by Thursday & post back. Thank you kindly for taking the time to offer so much help. I'm very grateful for your knowledge & willingness to take the time to share.
Have a great week... VV
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