Re: Degraded Performance after Virus Removal
- From: "Ken Blake, MVP" <kblake@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 19 Jan 2009 13:01:24 -0700
On Mon, 19 Jan 2009 10:28:06 -0800, valt
<valt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
My computer was unprotected for a period, and got seriously infected with
Virus and various spyware. I have been unable for sometime to make a System
Restore work at all. I think I succeeded in getting the computer clear with
PC Tools Spydoctor and AVG 8.0, but in the process have had some unknown
changes in registry or otherwise that make the computer exceedlingly slow and
very prone to locking up.
Running XP Pro SP3 on Pentium 4, 2.67GHz, 512 Mb Ram
Is there anything to do short of reinstalling the operating system?
It is extremely difficult to know the answer to your question,
especially without knowing the specifics of your infections.
However, bear the following in mind:
1. A virus is not simply a nuisance thing that just sits somewhere on
your computer until you remove it. A virus is malware--malicious
software--that is designed to do irrevocable damage to the files on
the computer. Unless you remove it quickly after getting infected, it
may have already done its dirty work.
2. You say "Virus and various spyware," plural, but you don't say how
many. If you have multiple infections, your chances of successfully
removing them all and putting the computer back the way it was becomes
small.
If you truly had lots of infections, your best course of action at
this point is probably to reinstall Windows cleanly, reinstall all
your programs, then reload all your backed-up data (I hope you have
backed up your data).
In the future be aware that the best way to deal with malware
(viruses, worms, trojans, spyware, etc.) is to prevent them in the
first place. You do that by a combination of good software tools
(firewall, anti-virus, anti-spyware), staying up to date with Windows
updates, and using care in everything you do on-line (avoiding dodgy
web sites, downloading pirated software, opening attachments, etc.)
--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
Please Reply to the Newsgroup
.
- References:
- Degraded Performance after Virus Removal
- From: valt
- Degraded Performance after Virus Removal
- Prev by Date: Re: defrag
- Next by Date: Why windows xp becomes very slow after a few months-a year?
- Previous by thread: Re: Degraded Performance after Virus Removal
- Next by thread: Re: Degraded Performance after Virus Removal
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
