Speccy shows some drive errors:
01
Attribute name Read Error Rate
Real value 0
Current 118
Worst 99
Threshold 6
Raw Value 000AF3C660
07
Attribute name Seek Error Rate
Real value 0
Current 82
Worst 60
Threshold 30
Raw Value 002503D975
C3
Attribute name Hardware ECC Recovered
Real value 0
Current 49
Worst 28
Threshold 0
Raw Value 000AF3C660
Status Good
It's a Seagate (legendary unreliability) and it's fairly old so make sure you have anything you don't want to lose backed up. Consider cloning it before it fails. Even if Seagate considers the errors acceptable any error is going to slow things down since the action has to be repeated. You might want to keep Speccy and watch the above values. If they continue to increase start looking for a new drive.
The best drives are Western Digital Blacks.
Your current drive:
Seagate BarraCuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive
Amazon has a WD Black 1 TB:
WD Black 1TB Performance Desktop Hard Disk Drive - 7200 RPM SATA 6 Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch - WD1003FZEX for $73.09
Their Blue is OK if the price is a problem
WD Blue 1TB SATA 6 Gb/s 7200 RPM 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch Desktop Hard Drive (WD10EZEX) is $49.99
You can usually borrow the SATA cable from the DVD drive temporarily and there are always free power connections. Hook it up and turn it on then let speccy look at the SMART values of the new drive to make sure it's good. We want the Raw values of any error attributes to be 0 (Probably is a good drive but why waste time trying to clone to a bad drive).
You can use the program that WD offers on their website to clone it with or you canuse one of the free cloning programs:
You can use the program from your new hard drive or even from Seagate or you can use one of the free ones:
Some of them require you to boot from a CD or USB drive (it's faster that way but others like aomei can clone from within windows.
Just make sure you are clear on which drive is the source and which is the destination.
Once the clone is complete, shut it down, install the new drive and return the SATA cable to the DVD drive. Boot up and run disk check to make sure everything is happy.
I think we can clean up now:
Time to clean up:
To delete the Quarantine Folder used by FRST create a fixlist.txt file with just the following line:
DeleteQuarantine:
Save the fixlist.txt to the same folder as FRST then run FRST and hit Fix. You can easily delete any other folders and logs.
If we installed Speccy it needs to be uninstalled. Process Explorer, VEW, AdwCleaner, JRT and their logs and Speccy's log can just be deleted.
Also make sure you have the latest versions of any adobe.com products you use like Shockwave, Flash or Acrobat. Flash is now the most malware targeted program so it must be kept up to date. Be careful with Adobe. They are fond of offering optional downloads like yahoo or Ask toolbars or that worthless McAfee Security Scan. Go slow and uncheck the optional stuff.
Whether you use adobe reader, acrobat or fox-it to read pdf files you need to disable Javascript in the program. There is an exploit out there now that can use it to get on your PC. For Adobe Reader: Start, All Programs, Adobe Reader, Edit, Preferences, Click on Javascript in the left column and uncheck Enable Acrobat Javascript. OK Close program. It's the same for Foxit reader except you uncheck Enable Javascript Actions.
If you use Chrome/Firefox/IE then get the AdBlock Plus Add-on. Go to adblockplus.org with each browser and get the add-on. (It's actually a program for IE)
If Chrome/Firefox is slow loading make sure it only has the current Java add-on. Then download and run Speedy Fox.
If you are a Facebook user get the FB Purity extension for your browser:
This will stop all of the suggested pages and ads so that Facebook loads much quicker.
Be warned: If you use Limewire, utorrent or any of the other P2P programs you will probably be coming back to the Malware Removal forum. If you must use P2P then submit any files you get to
http://virustotal.combeforeyou open them.
Due to a recent rise in the number of Crytolocker infections I am now recommending you install:
CryptoPrevent
The free version does not update on its own so you should check for updated versions once in a while. When you install it the default is NONE which is kind of worthless so change it to Standard or default. If you have problems after installing CryptoPrevent you can just uninstall it.
If you have a router, log on to it today and change the default password! If using a Wireless router you really should be using encryption on the link. Use the strongest (newest) encryption method that your router and PC wireless adapter support especially if you own a business. See
http://www.king5.com...0637284.htmlandhttp://www.seattlepi...ted-1344185.php for why encryption is important. If you don't know how, visit the router maker's website. They all have detailed step by step instructions or a wizard you can download.
Special note on Java. Old Java versions should be removed after first clearing the Java Cache by following the instructions in:
Then remove the old versions by going to Control Panel, Programs and Features and Uninstall all Java programs which are not Java Version 7 update 25 or better. These may call themselves: Java Runtime, Runtime Environment, Runtime, JRE, Java Virtual Machine, Virtual Machine, Java VM, JVM, VM, J2RE, J2SE. Get the latest version from Java.com. They will usually attempt to foist some garbage like the Ask toolbar, Yahoo toolbar or McAfee Security Scan on you as part of the download. Just uncheck the garbage before the download (or install) starts. If you use a 64-bit browser and want the 64-bit version of Java you need to use it to visit java.com.
Due to multiple security problems with Java we are now recommending that it not be installed unless you absolutely know you need it. IF that is the case then go to Control Panel, Java, Security and slide it up to the highest level. OK.
My help is free but if you wish to show your appreciation, please donate to Kwiaht instead of me. It's an Orcas Island environmental organization that I volunteered with:
http://www.kwiaht.org/donate.htm(The name means something like "clean place" in one of the local native-American dialects)
Ron
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