Keep Virus Free

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)

What is SPYWARE? You ask???
CLICK HERE for list of articles in major computer magazines

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)

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Dum, de, dum, dum
Time for a new free antivirus solution that is MORE ADVANCED than AVG

AVAST ANTIVIRUS
Read how to do an automated scan each day: here
AVAST Forums here

Important: In order to have AVAST scan your drive automatically
it needs to run through Windows Scheduler
(the paid version can be set to update automatically through the program itself)

So..Start, control center, Scheduled Tasks, Add New Schedule:
Use this Avast4\ashQuick.exe c: p: <-- the c: and p: are the drives you want to scan
Your computer is different...it may only be c:

TURN OFF ANNOYING SOUNDS -
Control Panel, Sounds
Also, RT CLICK AVAST, SETTINGS, Sounds, Disable

SAVES my butt daily!

------------------------------------------------

Or the best easier to use virus detection software and it's FREE :
AVG ANTI-VIRUS FREE VERSION

CUSTOM install AVG WITHOUT (uncheck):
Searchshield
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.

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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

Be sure AT and all other programs are closed.
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Go here :

Click FREE SCAN ONLINE

And it doesn't require any updating...since it is automatically updated with every online scan you make.

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And another FREE:

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And another FREE:
Kaspersky here

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Single file analysis:
submit file here virusscan
or here Virustotal.com

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Download COMBOFIX
from Bleeping Computer here
Download, save and run from your desktop
Instructions
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

HiJack This

POST your HiJack This log here for analysis

EXPERT VIRUS REMOVAL TOOLS

Spyware Info Forums

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.

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.

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.

VIRUSES & SPYWARE

SOFTWARE

WIRELESS

REMOTE DESKTOP
CONNECTION

PHONE

COPY
&
PASTE LESSON

SHOPPING

REV.24.239.187.183AART