Ok no problem mate.
Follow my instructions below as long as your system is running fine;
Hide system files
- Open My Computer.
- Go to Tools > Folder Options.
- Select the View tab.
- Scroll down to Hidden files and folders.
- Select Do not show hidden files and folders.
- Check (tick) Hide extensions of known file types.
- Check (untick) Hide protected operating system files (Recommended).
- Click OK.
- Close My Computer.
Flush the system restore points
- Right click on My Computer and select Properties.
- Select the System Restore tab.
- Check (tick) Turn off system restore on all drives box.
- Click OK.
- Restart your computer.
After restarting your computer, follow these steps:
- Right click on My Computer and select Properties.
- Select the System Restore tab.
- Uncheck (untick) Turn on system restore on all drives box.
- Click OK.
- Restart your computer.
Note: Do this only ONCE, don't flush it regularly.
Keep your system updated
Microsoft releases patches for Windows and Office products regularly to patch up Windows and Office products loopholes and fix any bugs found. Please ensure that you visit the following websites regularly or do update your system regularly.
Install the updates immediately if they are found. Reboot your computer if necessary, revisit Windows Update and Office update sites until there are no more updates to be installed.
To update Windows
Go to
Start >
All Programs >
Windows Update
To update Office
Open up any Office program.
Go to
Help >
Check for Updates
Alternatively, you can visit the links below to update Windows and Office products.
Windows Update
Office Update
If you are forgetful, you can change some settings so that you will be informed of updates. Here's how:
- Go to Start > Control Panel > Automatic Updates
- Select Automatic (recommended) radio button if you want the updates to be downloaded and installed without prompting you.
- Select Download updates for me, but let me chose when to install them radio button if you want the updates to be downloaded automatically but to be installed at another time.
- Select Notify me but don't automatically download or install them radio button if you want to be notified of the updates.
Besides Windows that needs regular updating, antivirus, anti-spyware and firewall programs update regularly too.
Please make sure that you update your antivirus, firewall and anti-spyware programs at least once a week.
Be careful when opening attachments and downloading files.
- Never open email attachments, not even if they are from someone you know. If you need to open them, scan them with your antivirus program before opening.
- Never open emails from unknown senders.
- Beware of emails that warn about viruses that are spreading, especially those from antivirus vendors. These email addresses can be easily spoofed. Check the antivirus vendor websites to be sure.
- Be careful of what you download. Only download files from known sources. Also, avoid cracked programs. If you need a particular program that costs too much for you, try finding free alternatives on Sourceforge or Pricelessware.
Stop malicious scripts
Windows by default allow scripts (which is VBScript and JavaScript) to run and some of these scripts are malicious. Use
Noscript by Symantec or
Script Defender by AnalogX to handle these scripts.
Backup regularly
You never know when your PC will become unstable or become so infected that you can't recover it. Follow this
Microsoft article to learn how to backup. Follow
this article by Microsoft to restore your backups.
Alternatively, you can use 3rd-party programs to back up your data. One example can be found at
Bleeping Computer.
Make your Internet Explorer safer
For Internet Explorer 6
- Open Internet Explorer. Click on Tools > Options.
- Click on the Security tab.
- Click on the Internet icon.
- Click on the Custom Level button.
- Under Download signed ActiveX controls, select Prompt.
- Under Download unsigned ActiveX controls, select Disable.
- Under Initialize and script ActiveX controls not marked as safe, select Disable.
- Under Installation of desktop items, select Prompt.
- Under Launching programs and files in an IFRAME, select Prompt.
- Under Navigate sub-frames across different domains, select Prompt.
- Under Allow paste operations via script, select Disable.
- Click OK to apply these settings.
- If it prompts you as to whether or not you want to save the settings, press the Yes button.
- Press OK to exit the Internet Properties page.
For a pictorial guide, please refer to this
article.
For Internet Explorer 7
Please read
this article to configure Internet Explorer 7 properly.
Avoid P2P
P2P may be a great way to get lots of stuffs, but it is a great way to get infected as well. There's no way to tell if the file being shared is infected. Worse still, some worms spread via P2P networks, infecting you as well. If you do need to use them, use them sparingly. Check this list of
clean and infected P2P programs if you need to use one.
Regards Jason
This thread is for the use of wallywimple ONLY.
Please do NOT post your own virus/spyware problems into this thread. Instead, open a new thread in our security and the web forum.