JARRID[dot]NET - WEB DESIGN

^{Special thanks to Hightek-Designs.com}

Now that we know how to not get a virus, let us learn how to protect your pc and how to get rid of viruses.

Please note that these instructions are designed for Windows and is to be used at users own risk. JARRID[dot]NET is not responsible for any damage done to your computer when following these instructions. These instructions are what we use personally on our computers and find it to be the best solution at a $0.00 cost to you.

First thing you need to do is press F8 when booting and start your windows in “Safe mode with networking”. Log into the Administrator user. Open up a browser, and head over to http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/combofix/how-to-use-combofix* Please note that bleepingcomputer.com* is the ONLY site you should download combofix* from. You will then need to download the combofix.exe file. They have a guide their too, which is good to read. Make sure to save it to your desktop, and then close out of everything, and double click on the program. It will make sure you downloaded it from the right source, and will ask you a few questions. Just answer them to the best of your ability. Pretty much you can just accept and say yes to everything. It should be fine, but read it carefully anyway, as they do change the details every week or so. You may need to restart the computer a few times, depending on how bad your computer is. Once finished, a notepad log will come up. You do not have to worry about it, but I always look through it to see what was created in the past few days. It’s really good information if you know what you're doing. Now, restart your computer.

I then recommend download Spybot Search & Destroy.* When installing Spybot Search & Destroy, make sure to turn off teatimer* only because it can be annoying. Read everything carefully, I cannot stress that enough. Even if you don’t understand it, reading it will help you choose the best possible options. Once installed, open the program, and click on update. Please be sure to check all the updates available to make sure the program is at top performance. Once updated, close out of everything and open the program back up. Click on immunize, and have it immunize the system.

Click mode and go to advance mode. On the bottom left you should see tools. Click on tools. On the right hand side you should now see a bunch of check boxes, go ahead and click them all. Back on the left side you should now see BHOs. Click on BHOs, then on the right you may see a few thing appear (you may not if your computer is in good shape). Click on each one without a green check mark and then hit remove at the top. Now on the left hand side click on ActiveX*, and do the same process. Now go to System Startup. This part is the hard part, and is really up to you. I would first uncheck anything that is red. Other than that, you can shut off certain things from starting up here. Now click on SPYBOT S&D at the top left, then click on to Search & Destroy and now click on Check for Problems. Have it run all the way through (Please Note: this may take up to 3 hours), then click all the check boxes, and click “Fix Selected Problems”. You may close this program.

Go to the Start menu and click onto Run... Enter in the text field "msconfig" in the run box and press enter. Uncheck "load startup items". Now, restart your computer. All, if not most, of your computer problems are gone. Once your computer restarts, a pop up will appear and will state that your changes to your settings have been made. Just close out of the pop up.

Your computer is almost cleaned. However, you now need virus protection and scan programs as well as a firewall to protect incoming problems. If you are not computer savvy and are looking for a good virus protection program, I recommend AVG*. They have 2 types of versions. The free version works great. Install like a normal program and run the program daily (recommended) or at least weekly. For the computer savvy friends, I recommend a different program instead of AVG. The program is called AVAST*. This program is really good at getting viruses out and keeping them out, however, it can be difficult to use at first. Please be sure with any program you install, to keep updating them so they can be at top performance.

A nice firewall is recommended. I am pretty sure windows comes with a firewall to protect your PC, however, it really is not the greatest (though it does do some of the job). I recommend Kerio* as a good firewall. Kerio, at one time, use to be free, however they have canceled the free version of this program. It is now a 30-day trial. If you prefer to use the windows firewall because it is free. . . I don't blame you. I do also recommend one more program. I know you are probably thinking "wow. . . all this to protect my computer", but truthfully, it does take a lot to take care of your computer, especially due to all the viruses available these days. the final program is CCleaner*. It is a simple program that just cleans up unused programs and improves your system performance.

After you have finished all of these steps I recommend you to go to the Start Menu, go to All Programs, over to Accessories, go to System Tools, and run the Disk Defragmenter. Once you have finished with this entire process, your computer will be at top performance.

^{*Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.}