Cleaning Up a Computer

IknowLITTLE

New Member
So, someone has a virus free, but slow computer. is their any other (money free) ways to speed it up other than running ccleaner, defragging the hard drive, and blowing the dust out of the case? (sorry if miscategorized, wasn't really sure on this one) anyway, thanks for your time.
 
It all depends on how many programs he has running on startup (and the actual configuration of the system).
 
could you go more in depth im not really understanding where your going. do you mean programs like a audio driver that is always going or like a anti virus program?
 
Johnb35 will pop in here soon enough. He can help you out in an easier way than I can.
 
could you go more in depth im not really understanding where your going. do you mean programs like a audio driver that is always going or like a anti virus program?

He means any extra programs that start up that aren't from the OS install. Yes AV programs do start up and slow down your machine but they are a necessary evil.

Open Ccleaner and click on "tools" then click (I think it says) "start up". Look in that list for extra programs such as HP Update, Adobe ARM, Java updater, and so on. Be careful though because you don't want to stop everything. Post a list of programs that are starting up and we can tell you what you can safely stop.
 
Is this the same computer as this thread?

http://www.computerforum.com/203259-hijackthis-report-computer-running-slow.html

If so, I'm sorry it didn't get back to you. For some reason I miss a thread now and then. Just bump it from now on if I don't reply in a day or two.

Are you sure its virus free? Malwarebytes and antivirus software won't catch mbr rootkits/bootkits which will cause system slowness.

If its the same machine as the other thread then ignore running tdsskiller, but run combofix and answer questions 2, 3, and 4.

First of all, I need some info from you.

1. What operating system?
2. How much system memory?
3. What processor?
4. When was the last time the operating system was freshly installed?

There are also malware services that startup at system boot, we can run programs to check for rootkits/bootkits and such.

Have you ran the following?

1. TDSSkiller?
2. Combofix?

If not, then here are the procedures.

Please download and run TDSSkiller

When the program opens, click on the start scan button.

TDSSKiller will now scan your computer for the TDSS infection. When the scan has finished it will display a result screen stating whether or not the infection was found on your computer. If it was found it will display a screen similar to the one below.

infection-found.jpg


To remove the infection simply click on the Continue button and TDSSKiller will attempt to clean the infection.

When it has finished cleaning the infection you will see a report stating whether or not it was successful as shown below.

scan-completed.jpg


If the log says will be cured after reboot, please reboot the system by pressing the reboot now button.

After running there will be a log that will be located at the root of your c:\ drive labeled tdsskiller with a series of numbers after it. Please open the log and copy and paste it back here.

Download and Run ComboFix
If you already have Combofix, please delete this copy and download it again as it's being updated regularly.
  • Download this file here :

    Combofix

  • When the page loads click on the blue combofix download link next to the BleepingComputer Mirror.
  • Save the file to your windows desktop. The combofix icon will look like this when it has downloaded to your desktop.

    cf-icon.jpg
  • We are almost ready to start ComboFix, but before we do so, we need to take some preventative measures so that there are no conflicts with other programs when running ComboFix. At this point you should do the following:

  • Close all open Windows including this one.
  • Close or disable all running Antivirus, Antispyware, and Firewall programs as they may interfere with the proper running of ComboFix. Instructions on disabling these type of programs can be found here.
    Once these two steps have been completed, double-click on the ComboFix icon found on your desktop. Please note, that once you start ComboFix you should not click anywhere on the ComboFix window as it can cause the program to stall. In fact, when ComboFix is running, do not touch your computer at all. The scan could take a while, so please be patient.
  • Please click on I agree on the disclaimer window.
  • ComboFix will now install itself on to your computer. When it is done, a blue screen will appear as shown below.

    cf-preparing.jpg

  • ComboFix is now preparing to run. When it has finished ComboFix will automatically attempt to create a System Restore point so that if any problems occur while using the program you can restore back to your previous configuration. When ComboFix has finished creating the restore point, it will then backup your Windows Registry as shown in the image below.

    erunt.jpg

  • Once the Windows Registry has finished being backed up, ComboFix will attempt to detect if you have the Windows Recovery Console installed. If you already have it installed, you can skip to this section and continue reading. Otherwise you will see the following message as shown below:

    recovery-console-prompt.jpg

  • At the above message box, please click on the Yes button in order for ComboFix to continue. Please follow the steps and instructions given by ComboFix in order to finish the installation of the Recovery Console.
  • Please click on yes in the next window to continue scanning for malware.
  • ComboFix will now disconnect your computer from the Internet, so do not be surprised or concerned if you receive any warnings stating that you are no longer on the Internet. When ComboFix has finished it will automatically restore your Internet connection.
  • ComboFix will now start scanning your computer for known infections. This procedure can take some time, so please be patient.
  • While the program is scanning your computer, it will change your clock format, so do not be concerned when you see this happen. When ComboFix is finished it will restore your clock settings to their previous settings. You will also see the text in the ComboFix window being updated as it goes through the various stages of its scan. An example of this can be seen below.

    still-scanning-clockchanges.jpg

  • When ComboFix has finished running, you will see a screen stating that it is preparing the log report.
  • This can take a while, so please be patient. If you see your Windows desktop disappear, do not worry. This is normal and ComboFix will restore your desktop before it is finished. Eventually you will see a new screen that states the program is almost finished and telling you the programs log file, or report, will be located at C:\ComboFix.txt.
  • When ComboFix has finished, it will automatically close the program and change your clock back to its original format. It will then display the log file automatically for you.
  • Now you just click on the edit menu and click on select all, then click on the edit menu again and click on copy. Then come to the forum in your reply and right click on your mouse and click on paste.


In your next reply please post:
  • The ComboFix log
  • A fresh HiJackThis log
  • An update on how your computer is running
 
John your a freakin champ. i see you on this forum replying to everyone and helping many people, ive been meaning to let you know i noticed it and think your doing a real good thing. then you call out a post from what a month ago (im impressed)? but no, that computer is an amd 955 black, gtx460, asus m4a78lt-m and 8gb ram (my personal machine). this computer im talking about now is just a friends. but, to answer the problem was fixed when i got it to restore. and before i restored i ran tdsskiller and found nothing. its been running good ever since the restore, aside from the pesky gtx graphics drivers always failing when using google translator+skype, but i can deal with that.
Back to the topic at hand. i cant really get all that for you now because i was over his house, but when i go to install ram on it for him, ill be sure to make a new thread. anything else aside from startup process's, ccleaner, and is running tds killer+ combo fix something that you should do every time when "trying to speed up a computer"?

Side note, do you do computers for a living john? just curious.
 
I have my own computer repair business on the side, hoping to go full time in the very near future. Can't handle this manual labor anymore at my age and the health issues I have.

The thing about tdsskiller and combofix is that they can find mbr rootkits and bootkits that normal malware software can't. Combofix will also find malware services and kill them too. So without having much knowledge about the pc in question, I always suggest running them.

However, if its not infected then usually running ccleaner and making sure the hard drive is defragged can help tremendously. Also make sure that no unnecessary programs are running at bootup.
 
haha, manual labor is no fun. Thanks for your time though, ill be sure to let you know how the cleanup of this laptop goes. oh and if anyone else has any suggestions feel free (:
 
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