Computer Repair & Tune-up Procedure
Download the following programs and store them on a CD or the computer to be tuned up.
Ewido (30-day trial)
A-Squared (Free Version)
Kaspersky Antivirus (30-day trial)
Bitdefender (30-day trial – won’t run in Safe Mode)
Windows Defender (only computer has if 512 meg of RA
One firewall program (e.g. Kerio, Outpost, Filseclab, Comodo (PC Mag Editor's Choice), ZoneAlarm, etc.)
One Anti-Virus Program (e.g. Avast Antivirus, AVG, Antivir or BitDefender 8 Free)
Hosts Secure (secure and auto update Host File)
Make sure you have at least Windows SP1a (download here). Don't install Windows XP SP2 until your computer is clean. Without SP1a, you are highly subject to re-infection.
Install one firewall program (e.g. Kerio, Outpost, Filseclab, ZoneAlarm, etc.)
Turn the screensaver off, set hard drives to always on.
Turn System Restore off.
Go into Control Panel / Add/Remove Programs. Uninstall all the junk software, software that looks like it may contain spyware or unnecessary software.
If some programs need to be uninstalled while Windows is running in Safe Mode, reboot into Safe Mode (F8) and finish uninstalling.
Install and update (if needed) the following programs, but do not scan your computer yet.
CCleaner (no update)
Easy Cleaner (no update)
Ewido (30-day trial) – update after installation
A-Squared (Free Version) – Must register and log in to update. Update after installation
Kaspersky Antivirus (30-day trial) update after installation
Adaware - Update after installation
Sypbot Search & Destroy (turn Teatimer on if computer has 512 meg of RAM or more) Update after installation
Boot into Safe Mode and run the following programs in the order listed to clean computer of viruses, spyware, and unnecessary files. Run each until all indicate the computer is clean.
Ewido (30-day trial)
A-Squared (Free Version)
Kaspersky Antivirus (30-day trial)
Reboot into Windows.
Uninstall all Kaspersky Antivirus, A-Squared and Ewido
Install and run the following until they indicate the computer is clean.
Bitdefender (30-day trial – won’t run in Safe Mode)
Uninstall Bitdefender
Scan the computer using at least 2 or 3 of the following online scanners and repair or delete any problems found.
Trend Micro Housecall (you may be promoted to install Sun Java – do it.)
Install and update Avast Antivirus or one of the other antivirus programs mentioned in step 1. When prompted, select that you want to run a boot time system scan. Reboot and let the scan run.
Install and run Hijack This. Post report on web sites like TomCoyote, BleepingComputer, Lockergonme or MajorGeeks for help in what to delete if necessary.
Your computer should be pretty clean now. Install Windows Service Pack 2 if it’s not already installed.
Make sure Windows Updates is turned on.
Install and update Spyware Blaster, IE Spyad, MVPS Host File and Hosts Secure.
Go into MSCONFIG / Startup Settings and uncheck programs that run at startup that you are confident don't need to startup. Be careful that you know what you are doing.
Compress the registry using NTREGOPT
Turn off “Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file search” in the properties section of C:
Defrag the hard drive
Install performance enhancement tweaks such as Advanced Windows Care and TuneXP 1.5.
Setup “Computer Maintenance” shortcuts folder
Install the following freeware programs (these take up much fewer resources than other applications that do the same thing).
Turn the screensaver on
Turn on System Restore
Manually set a Windows System Restore Point