One of the biggest issues I see when I am dealing with a computer that needs a tuneup is the slowness from viruses and spyware.
I like to first cleanup the temp files viruses and trojans are know for being in the temp directory the best tool I find for cleaning out the temp files is ATF Cleaner. Just select all then hit clean and all those files are cleaned. This will also free up space on the hard drive we will be going over temp files and hard drive space in a later part of this series.
The next thing I do is I run Spybot being the ideal spyware removal tool. After you install spybot make sure you do the updates before running the tool. A lot of times people run spybot with out of date spyware definitions and a lot of spyware gets missed on the system.
The next tool I run is Malwarebytes again same procedure as before update your spyware definitions before running. A quick scan is good for getting those few pieces of spyware that Spybot could not get but if you want to be thorough run a full scan this will take longer but in the long run might catch something that been sitting on your hard drive hidden.
Another tool I run is CWshredder this tool is great at getting rid of browser hijacks. This is that unwanted homepage or bookmark you did not want and can't change or get rid of no matter how hard you try.
Now that we have removed most if not all spyware lets focus on any viruses. The first anti virus I run is web based so not much install is needed but you you will need an active internet connection HouseCall by TrendMicro does a good job. During the install you will be prompted to do all updates and again do a full scan this will search all directories on your PC to make sure you have a trojan sitting in a common folder or in system32.
The last step I like to is install an anti virus for day to day use. These tools are great that I have suggested but do not give you real time protection. I am a big fan of Free AVG it's free and has anti virus and anti spyware built in. During the install process you will be prompted to do all updates and again do a full system scan so this way you can catch anything that HouseCall might have missed.
I recommend doing all scans in this article in Safe Mode some times regular mode has locked files and other issues can arise plus the scan will go faster due to less resources being used on the PC.
Please look for my entire PC TuneUp Series as I will be posting the Helix Zones first multi part series this month.
Brandon Lipani better know as helix2301 to his bloggers in the founder and owner of the technology blog http://www.helixzone.net/ The Helix Zone is Technical Blog for technology readers and geeks around the world.
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