Spring Cleaning

g4m3rof1337

g4m3rof1337

Active Member
I use the full version of McAfree and it deleted a few viruses it found in a file I received, and before that my computer has been slow on some sites, its probably the internet, but I still want to clean my computer.


What are some good free or full *pay* versions that can clean my computer throughly?

Whats the best Vista DeFragger as well.



Thanks.
 
g4m3rof1337 said:
I use the full version of McAfree and it deleted a few viruses it found in a file I received, and before that my computer has been slow on some sites, its probably the internet, but I still want to clean my computer.


What are some good free or full *pay* versions that can clean my computer throughly?

Whats the best Vista DeFragger as well.



Thanks.
Click to expand...

for defrag: Tuneup Utilities 2008, not free, but u can if u catch waht im saying ;)

av: avg free and ad-aware personal
 
Hi just joined this forum does Eraser remove the Operating System as well only i have a HP computer and vista is installed on pc itself no Windows discs and if it takes the whole lot off im snookered ty in advance Skiddly
 
Yeah, what does Eraser do?

Does it format something, or remove everything bad.

The McAfree program I have, came free as the full version recommended by my Internet Provider, so. Should I get something else then.

Thanks.
 
Get Nod32 or Avast. I use Avast Pro, TuneUp Utilities, and Spyware Doctor. Together my pc will never be infected. LOL
 
g4m3rof1337 said:
Yeah, what does Eraser do?

Does it format something, or remove everything bad.

The McAfree program I have, came free as the full version recommended by my Internet Provider, so. Should I get something else then.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Eraser and a few other programs like it repeatedly write binary zeros to the entire drive. What do you do when tossing an old drive in the trash to insure there's no personal data remaining? wipe it completely!

For a good reformat of the drive and fresh installation of Windows would see things running again virus free.
 
I dont want to reinstall stuff, but if I can find a program that scans and removes anything that is bad, that would be good.


Thanks.
 
With custom booting and beta testing I've been a lot of that lately. As far as programs to find and remove things dump McAfee and start working with AVG, Ad-Aware 2007, and one ever far improved over others is Spyware Terminator. http://www.spywareterminator.com/

That one finds what others miss along with placing an active shield around the system registry. Even when going for Windows updates it will prompt you before allowing any changes direct from MS.
 
CCleaner is mostly for cleaning the IE offline content and seeing useless temp folders with nothing in them found and removed. If your drive is infected with a virus even the restore points have to be deleted by turning off the system restore feature since those can infected as well as other files simply being stored in custom folders.

If you intend to try and save the current installation the programs mentioned before as well as a few others can sweep the drive looking for any bugs remaining. Once found 100% virus free you can then use drive cleanup tools like CCleaner for removing other clutter. The alternative is to simply wipe everything and start fresh all over again.
 
O I know what CCleaner does. He wants to do a 'spring cleaning' that would en tale a whole system cleaning, not just bits and pieces. So far all the bases weren't covered (he doesn't want to reformat, so those program aren't any good) CCleaner just covers one more of those bases.
Obviously one program doesn't do it all.

Bob
 
The problem with an optional tool is that it will be a waste of time until after deciding if the drive will be wiped or swept clean of any bugs. That is first on the list. If the drive ends up being wiped clean there won't be any temp folders to worry about.
 
lol, true.
However, he doesn't want to reformat (and let me quote), "I dont want to reinstall stuff, but if I can find a program that scans and removes anything that is bad, that would be good."

CCleaner would be a waste of time, if he decided that he was going to reformat, but he said he doesn't want to reformat, so there fore it isn't a waste of time.

I, unlike over half the forum don't really have an issue with you PC eye, so lets end this now and keep my opinion intact.

Thanks
Bob
 
What I was stating there simply was first see a normal operating system free of any infections since the mention of viruses was the concern. If the current installation can be saved by a thorough sweep of the system with antivirus tools and new restore points created g4m3rof1337 can then go on to use programs like that to see the leftovers cleaned up as well as considering a good registry cleaner as well.

If you have any other recommendations for system protection and virus removal that could be one thing to add in here at this point. We don't want g4m3rof1337 pulling hair :eek:! from being left with McAfee for sure! :P
 
Not everything quite yet. Another good tool is Trend Micro's House Call free online scanner seen at http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

Before installing too many things and still needing to hunt down any virus infections or end up reformatting the drive as a last resort the idea is to first get the system cleaned up and bug free.

For defragmenting drives Diskkeeper was a good one for 98-XP while I am looking at Auslogics Disk Defrag a rather new freeware tool seen at http://www.auslogics.com/disk-defrag/index.php

Disk Defrag at work.

 
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