Hi Maz63:

 

I answered your first post on this 2 days ago, but the thread mysteriously disappeared, so I'll try again:

 

1) First read the post at the top of this board titled: Slow Computer May Not Be Malware Related
http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=si_virus&message.id=58687
It contains tips that might apply in your case.

 

2) I'm not familiar with " spyDr", but if its name is actually " SpyDoctor" then be aware this is a rogue antispyware, which you should definitely  uninstall. It might actually be part of your slowdown problem.

 

3) If spyDr = PC Tool's " Spyware Doctor", this is a legitimate antispyware. It is not, however, an AntiVirus. You need a good AV. There are good free AVs available that are recommended here, which are small and will not slow your system significantly. Here's a good review article on what is available:
http://wiki.castlecops.com/AntiVirus_Comparison

 

4) I'm not aware of any paid program called " pc pit stop", however the website PC Pitstop does offer several paid programs: what is the exact name of this program you purchased? The programs I've seen being pushed by PC Pitstop lately haven't impressed me as being partcularly good.

 

5) " Unible RTegistry boost" sounds like a general registry cleaner. Using such programs for wholesale registry "cleaning" is a good way to not only slow down a PC- it can also render it unusable. I would uninstall it. It certainly won't help your problem, and might make things far worse.

Hi Joe53

 

I did step 1 of your note that's where I got thye PC pit stop from ...What I bougt was pc pitstop optimize2, it checks the pc to see how and what needs repaired or removed to get a better performance. I paid £15 ponds for a year. I down loaded Spyware Doctor and it was taking for ever to run and said I had loads of virus and in the end it would have cost me to get these fixed....I removed the program as I could not understand how I would have so many as when I had Norton on my PC I had no virus and had just removed it and had not used the Pc so I was left wondering how good Spyware Dr was and as I had bought Norton then this PCPITSTOP I thought which one and why is Norton not any good as soon as I put it back on my PC it just stops working  ...so I then downloaded another virus program which I got from the Forum pages its SUPEAntisspyewar....I ran this and it said I had no virus or infections...so was at a loss, PC is still slow but at least I can use it as when I had Norton on it I could not use it....I contacted Norton and they were not helfull at all they said they had never had a problem with the softwear and did not know why it keeps asking me to uninstall...and that  was the reply from them...take my money £50 and run .... It allstarted when I downloaded updates from Dell and the next thing I knew I could not use my CD/DVD drive it was missing or corrupted or missing....I sorted this by using the Forum help and restored my drive, so any other advise....Thanks in advance

Maz

Ok, that explains a bit.

 

1) PC Pitstop's website scan " Full tests" is a useful online checkup for fine-tuning your PC, and I presume you have tried that.Unfortunately this scan increasingly has become aggressive at recommending paid-for programs such as Optimize 2, which is why I no longer recommend PC Pitstop.

 

2) I recently tried its Optimize 2 trial version: it found literally hundreds of  registry "errors" that it could "fix" if I purchased the paid version. This, on a PC with absolutely no problems or slowdowns. I consider such a program as another rogue- a program that detects multiple problems that don't exist as a goad to purchase. It is basically another registry cleaner, and your experience using it confirms my belief that such programs do not speed up performance, and may in fact contribute to the problem. I would take advantage of the Optimize '30 day money-back' guarantee, if it is not too late, and get that program off your PC asap.

 

3) SUPERantispyware is one of the best antispyware programs out there. It is not, however, an Antivirus, and a clean scan by it does not rule out that you might have a virus. I would do an online antivirus scan to get a second opinion, and can recommend ESET Online Scan:
http://www.eset.com/onlinescan/
If this scan is clean, it is highly unlikely you have a virus.

 

4) I'm not familiar with Spyware Doctor, and can't tell you why it detects so much. It too, is an antispyware, not an antivirus.

 

5) You really should download the free HijackThis utility, run a scan, generate a logfile, and post that log to the HJT forum where the experts can advise you (don't use HijackThis to change anything it finds youself!)

Instructions on how to do all this are here:
http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=si_hijack&message.id=52014

 

Good luck!

How did you remove norton?

 

Did you use the removal tool?

 

http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2005033108162039

Thanks Joe53

 

I shall try the Eset Scan....I found that I had only ran a quick scan on SUPERantispyware and last night I ran a full scan and it did have tracking cookies and 1 virus, so these have now been removed and the speed has improved. I shall still run Eset and see what that says. Thanks for your help.

I just thought that when I purchased Norton 360 it would do all these things and keep my PC in good ni, but no... or am I doing sothing wrong?

Thanks in advance

Yes....I used the tool

Maz63:

 

I'm not sure you did anything "wrong", but it is no secret that security suites (all-in-one protection: antivirus+antispyware+firewall+etc) such as Norton 360 will slow down performance on many PCs. I have to tell you my bias is against using such suites, and also against using anything from Norton in particular. A search on "Norton 360" in this forum will give you an idea of the problems folks have had with it.

 

I am concerned though that since you uninstalled Norton 360, you now have no real-time antivirus program. All the programs you indicate you have tried subsequently are either antispyware(not a substitute for an AV) or registry cleaners(I hope you uninstalled them!)

 

I repeat my previous advice to post a HJT log (regardless of what ESET online finds). It will help to sort out your slowdown problem even if you have no infection.

joe53

Thanks for all your help...What Real Time Antivirus program do you think I should get or instal I would value your advice.....

Maz63

Maz63:

 

I use and recommend Nod32 v2.7 as one of the best paid AVs available, if your budget isn't tight.
http://www.eset.com/products/nod32.php
(Ignore the sales pitch for version 3.0, or for their security suite  - 2.7 works perfectly well for XP/Vista)

 

Very good free AVs frequently recommended here by many (and I use, or have used, and can recommend them all, also):

 

AVG Anti-Virus Free edition 7.5 (98/ME/NT/2000/XP/Vista) 31.5MB
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/downloads-products/us/frt/0?prd=aff

 

avast! 4 Home Edition (95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP/Vista) 17.8MB
http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html

 

AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic (2000/XP/Vista) 17MB
http://www.free-av.com/antivirus/allinonen.html

 

The features of these free AVs are reviewed here, if you want more info on them:
http://wiki.castlecops.com/AntiVirus_Comparison

 

If you choose one of these free AVs, you can still use ESET's NOD32 online scanner for a "second opinion" scan. Just remember that you should never have more than one AV installed/running on your PC in real-time at one time.