TO HELP
PREVENT VIRUSES FROM LOADING
ALWAYS
FOLLOW
THESE
EMAIL RULES
BEFORE
OPENING EMAIL ATTACHMENTS
Do not open the attachments of messages
with a suspicious or unexpected subject.
If you want to open them,
first save them to your hard disk and scan them with an updated
antivirus program.
Delete any chain e-mails or unwanted
messages.
Do not forward them or reply to their senders.
This kind of messages is considered spam, because it is undesired
and unsolicited and it overloads the Internet traffic.
To see SAFE and DANGEROUS EMAIL
FILES click here
THE
SIX STEPS TO
KEEP
YOUR COMPUTER HEALTHY
PRIVATE,
and FAST...
Follow my
suggestions below to run
the latest and greatest security, virus detection software,
spyware detection, and email tips
ALL SAFE & FREE TO YOU !!
Believe me, a
licensed engineer, and computer geek since before there were
desktop computers.
If you don't run these recommended programs, especially SPYBOT,
your computer will definitely be FULL of spyware, secret ads, and
expensive dialers that take control and secretly command your
computer
in such a way that it robs your system of internet speed,
efficiency, and privacy.
1) I LOVE THIS FREE
CLEANER
It will REMOVE all of your old TEMP files that WINDOWS
doesn't delete.
It has deleted VIRUSES and ROGUE temp files that nothing else can
find
And it will fix BUGS from VIRUSES in MEDIA PLAYER and other
programs
It will find files so old you thought were gone YEARS AGO!
CCleaner
Be SURE to run CCleaner
and then set this option in CCleaner:
Click OPTIONS, ADVANCED,
then UNCHECK
"Only delete files in Windows Temp folders are
older than 48 hours".
2) SPYWARE REMOVAL
& SYSTEM HIJACK WATCHER
(Very Highly Recommended -
run it once every week - or more often)
To clean your computer from SPYWARE:
Spyware will rob you of your speedy connections, slow
your computer down, and compromise your privacy, running in the
background without your knowledge or consent.
Also, this program will watch your computer for unauthorized
automatic background hijacks and unauthorized downloads.
Please click below and follow my step-by-step instructions below
Before I downloaded this program, my computer was slowed almost
to a halt by a SPYWARE HIJACK being downloaded without my
knowledge and/or consent.
Virus detection programs will NOT find these SPYWARE malware,
Install SPYBOT WITHOUT:
TEATIMER
IMMUNIZATION
and SDHELPER
Download and install the latest Spybot program
FREE OF ANY CHARGE, and with no advertising, CLICK
HERE for LATEST VERSION.
If you want - FOLLOW the SPYBOT Tutorial HERE
I wouldn't run my computer or any of my friends' computers
without this nifty cool program
*** And Check UPDATES once a month or sooner ***
Better yet, have SPYBOT scheduled to run DAILY, and check for
UPDATES DAILY.
3) VIRUS DETECTION
(Highly recommended - once
a week - or follow the program's automatic scheduling)
The best virus detection
software and it's FREE
AVG ANTI-VIRUS FREE VERSION
AVG has a new undesirable feature called
LinkScanner
which will scan every single link in a webpage which will
SLOW your computer down
How to install AVG without LinkScanner
In order to install AVG 8.0 Free
Edition without the LinkScanner component:
Download the AVG 8.0
Free Edition installation package
from their website
Save the AVG-Free
installation file directly to disk C:\
Now click Start ->
Run then copy and paste:
c:\avg_free_stf_en_8_100a1295.exe
/REMOVE_FEATURE fea_AVG_SafeSurf /REMOVE_FEATURE
fea_AVG_SafeSearch
CUSTOM install AVG WITHOUT
(uncheck):
Seachshield
Email scanning
Plugin for Microsoft Office
Need Help?
AVG PERSONAL FREE FORUMS
This program will install
itself for free and protect your computer against viruses and
worms
If you leave your computer on 24/7, set the scheduler to run each
day.
If AVG finds a virus,
always choose to put it in the VIRUS VAULT
If AVG says it can't - then you must run AVG in safe mode - see
below.
CLICK UPDATE MANAGER,
and UPDATE AVG weekly or more often
Updating the current virus definitions takes a very short time,
and allows AVG current.
I have it set in AVG SCHEDULER to update itself daily.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
PANDA Collective
Intelligence SCAN online
here
Cant scan?
Check your Internet Explorer, Tools, Internet options,
Security, Active X settings...
set everything to Enable except what Microsoft warns in RED unsafe
- - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
Go here :
Click FREE SCAN ONLINE
And it doesn't require any updating...since it
is automatically updated with every online scan you make.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
And another FREE:
- - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
And another FREE:
Kaspersky here
- - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
Single file analysis:
submit file here virusscan
or here Virustotal.com
Download COMBOFIX here
When finished with combofix uninstall it - click START, RUN
combofix /u
4) MAKE
SURE SYSTEM RESTORE IS TURNED ON
ALWAYS
5) IE, TOOLS, INTERNET OPTIONS, GENERAL,
TEMPORARY INTERNET FILES, SETTINGS:
Keep this setting low - to prevent hard disk searching. I
use 9 MB!!
6) IE, TOOLS, INTERNET OPTIONS,
SECURITY, RESTRICTED SITES:
Keep these entries to a very small number - I use ZERO entries.
Manage this AFTER installing SPYBOT.
To manage large amount of entries use:
ZonedOut
Zone Alarm FREE Personal Firewall
Zone Alarm has a great FREE personal firewall and it's
a necessity for all desktop computers
connected to broadband Internet, using DSL, cable, ISDN, WiFi or
satellite modems.
tough
virus ?
If
you have a particularly tough virus - that won't get
cleaned away:
1.
Disable System Restore (Windows Me/XP).
2. Update the virus definitions.
3. To restart the computer in Safe mode - (PRESS F8 while
rebooting)
4. Run a full system scan and delete all the files
detected.
To disable
System Restore (Windows Me/XP)
If you are running Windows XP,
we recommend that you temporarily turn off System
Restore.
Windows Me/XP uses this feature, which is enabled by
default,
to restore the files on your computer in case they become
damaged.
If a virus, worm, or Trojan infects a computer,
System Restore may back up the virus, worm, or Trojan on
the computer.
Windows prevents outside programs, including antivirus
programs, from modifying System Restore.
Therefore, antivirus programs or tools cannot remove
threats in the System Restore folder.
As a result, System Restore has the potential of
restoring an infected file on your computer,
even after you have cleaned the infected files from all
the other locations.
HOW TO TURN OFF SYSTEM RESTORE
GEEKS TO GO
Expert free help
www.CASTLECOPS.com
|
DELETE OLDER VERSIONS &
UPDATE YOUR JAVA
Older
versions of Java Runtime Environment have
vulnerabilities that malware can use to infect your system.
Please follow these steps to remove the older versions of Java
Runtime Environment..
- Close any
programs you may have running, ESPECIALLY your web
browser
- Click Start
> Control Panel.
- Click Add/Remove
Programs.
- Check any
item with Java Runtime Environment (JRE or J2SE) in the
name.
- Click the Remove
or Change/Remove button.
- Repeat as
many times as necessary to remove all versions of Java.
- Reboot your
computer after all Java components are removed.
Please download
the latest Java Runtime Environment.
- Scroll down
to where it says Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 6. The
Java SE Runtime Environment (JRE) allows end-users to run
Java applications.
- Click the Download
button to the right.
- Check the box
that says: Accept License Agreement.
- The page will
refresh.
- Click on the
link to download Windows Offline Installation with or
without Multi-language and save to your desktop.
- On your
desktop, double-click on jre-6-windows-i586.exe to
install the newest version.
After you have
installed the Java software on your computer, you must restart
your browser.
You can verify that Java Runtime Environment (RTE) has been
installed correctly by clicking on
the Verify Installation button on the JAVA
SOFTWARE MANUAL DOWNLOAD page.
DEFRAGMENT YOUR HARD
DRIVE
(Highly recommended - once
every two weeks)
CLICK START, PROGRAMS,
ACCESSORIES, SYSTEM TOOLS, DISK DEFRAGMENTER.
Just relax and follow the prompts -this will take about 30
minutes or so, depending on the size of your hard drive and the
speed of your computer.
This Microsoft Windows program will kind of put all the memory
bits on your hard-drive in order
so that your hard drive can read your files and fill your cache
in one quick pass,
rather than search in different places throughout your hard
drive.
RegSupreme 1.2
Download & Run this nifty program to clean
your registry from obsolete no longer needed keys
TEST YOUR COMPUTER SETUP
HERE
PC Pitstop: Free PC Diagnostics and Tune-ups
Just click "New
Members"
Not necessary to login or to register
Turn off all browser windows,
and other programs during the test
Also, temporarily turn off your antivirus program (AVG) &
firewall
Watch
what you download!
Many freeware programs, and P2P (Peer-to-Peer)
programs like Grokster, Imesh, Kazaa and others
are among the most notorious, come with an enormous
amount of bundled spyware that will eat system resources,
slow down your system, clash with other installed
software, or
just plain crash your browser or even Windows itself.
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PERHAPS MOST
IMPORTANT OF ALL
MS Internet Explorer Updates
Go to Internet Explorer > Tools > Windows
Update
And install ALL Security Updates listed.
It's VERY important to always keep current with the
latest security fixes from Microsoft.
|
Browser Search Page
Hijacked
To earthlink.net ?
Or perhaps your ISP's Search Page
Copy everything below to notepad then save it to your
desktop as IEfix.reg.
Doubleclick on it and let it import.
This resets all IE search configurations to their
original state.
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Internet
Explorer\Search]
"SearchAssistant"="http://ie.search.msn.com/{SUB_RFC1766}/srchasst/srchasst.htm"
"CustomizeSearch"="http://ie.search.msn.com/{SUB_RFC1766}/srchasst/srchcust.htm"
"Default_Search_URL"="http://www.microsoft.com/isapi/redir.dll?prd=ie&ar=iesearch"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Internet
Explorer\Main]
"Default_Search_URL"="http://www.microsoft.com/isapi/redir.dll?prd=ie&ar=iesearch"
"Search
Page"="http://www.microsoft.com/isapi/redir.dll?prd=ie&ar=iesearch"
[HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\Internet
Explorer\Main]
"Search
Page"="http://www.microsoft.com/isapi/redir.dll?prd=ie&ar=iesearch"
"Search
Bar"="http://g.msn.com/0SEENUS/SAOS01"
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet
Explorer\SearchUrl]
""="http://home.microsoft.com/access/autosearch.asp?p=%s"
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet
Explorer\main]
"Search
Page"="http://www.microsoft.com/isapi/redir.dll?prd=ie&ar=iesearch"
"Search
Bar"="http://search.msn.com/spbasic.htm"
"Use Custom Search URL"= dword:00000000
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet
Explorer\URLSearchHooks]
"{CFBFAE00-17A6-11D0-99CB-00C04FD64497}"=""
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr
entVersion\URL]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr
entVersion\URL]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr
entVersion\URL\DefaultPrefix]
@="http://"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr
entVersion\URL\Prefixes]
"ftp"="ftp://"
"gopher"="gopher://"
"home"="http://"
"mosaic"="http://"
"www"="http://"
EARTHLINK SEARCH
HIJACK
to earthlink-help.net
Not easy to repair
without the following fix:
First of all you will need to set a static ip address for
your pc.
Follow the instructions here
for dns servers use 4.2.2.1 and 4.2.2.2
Earthling recommends
207.69.188.172 (east coast)
207.69.188.171 (west coast)
If for some reason this doesn't work
(It did work for me without the following modification)
you may also want to modify your HOSTS file in
c:/windows/system32/drivers/etc
open with note pad and add this at the bottom:
127.0.0.1 elydm.01.am.barefruit.com
127.0.0.2 elydm.02.am.barefruit.com
127.0.0.3 elydm.03.am.barefruit.com
127.0.0.4 elydm.04.am.barefruit.com
127.0.0.5 elydm.05.am.barefruit.com
127.0.0.6 elydm.06.am.barefruit.com
255.255.255.255 www.earthlinkhelp.com
127.0.0.7 http://earthlink-help.net
click on file.... click save
Reboot PC and problems should go away.
Look at earthlink blog here for more detailed
info
|
HOW TO AVOID RUNNING
VIRUSES & OTHER NASTY THINGS
You must
follow this order
While surfing your antivirus
program opens a popup
VIRUS DETECTED...
THIS IS THE WORST CASE
an executable .exe file tries to get
through your defenses
TURN OFF
THE INTERNET MODEM BUTTON NOW
(or the following cleaning is for
naught)
NOTE THE
FIRST FEW LETTERS
of the .exe FILE showing in the AVG popup
Send the VIRUS to AVG's VAULT or if you can DELETE
IT.
Run CCLEANER
To double-check names &
locations of all VIRUSES that got through your
firewall,
GO to your firewall logs.
SEARCH
for virus names on hard-drive or just look in C:\
(They did get through your defenses!)
DELETE THEM :)
If you cant delete the .exe
files, then they are already running.
CTRL-ALT-DEL opens Windows Task Manager
Search the IMAGE NAME column
for the stubborn .exe file that wont get deleted
and the any other files sent to the vault
HIGHLIGHT them and END PROCESS
Run a REGISTRY
CLEANER
RE-BOOT
TURN ON
THE INTERNET MODEM BUTTON
Do an online antivirus scan for
your c:\ HERE
16. If you cleaned well - the antivirus scan will
be clear.
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Workaround to
SHUT DOWN Ad-Aware 2007
aawservice.exe
This workaround has
solved the problem for
me in Windows XP:
1. Open the Services
Management Console
(Click Start, Run, type
in "services.msc"
without the quotes,
click OK).
2. Find "Ad-Aware 2007
Service" on the list and
double-click it.
3. For the Startup Type,
choose "Manual". Click
OK and close the
Services window.
The program
aawservices.exe will no
longer start at Windows
startup, but will
auto-load as needed
whenever you run
Ad-Aware 2007.
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REV.24.239.187.183AART