[Gravity Gripp]

It's good that your programs are on an external hard drive. The reason that I ask is because I think that an operating system reload is going to be our best option here. I realize that this is not the most favorable option and we generally try to avoid these situation, but there are cases where this is the best course of action and I believe this is one of those cases.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

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thank you again for everything.
after I have reloaded windows is there anything more or special that I need to do, or will I be set and ready?

[Trance the MC]

thank you again for everything.
after I have reloaded windows is there anything more or special that I need to do, or will I be set and ready?

[Gravity Gripp]

Once Windows is re-installed, I'd advise you to get some sort of Anti-Virus protection. I generally recommend Avast Anti-Virus (Free) or ESET (Paid) as far as anti-virus solutions and I also advise you to run Windows Update. I apologize that we could not solve your problem without a re-install. If you have any questions, you are welcome to post to this thread.

And lastly, just some information for you. The following is a list of articles and tools that I like to recommend to people before they head out.
First, and most importantly is to keep your PC up-to-date with the latest patches from Microsoft. Make sure that you have auto updates turned on also. You will be informed if it is turned on or off when you visit the website below.

• Windows Update

Next, I'd like to discuss malware prevention with you. As I said, the first step is to keep Windows up-to-date, but that isn't always enough. You also have to be aware of the sites you visit. Questionable and illegal sites almost always try to infect your machine. Even if you have anti-virus and a firewall, you can still get infected from these sites. It's best to just avoid them all together.

Also, when surfing the web, be careful of popups and do NOT click on a popup. If you get a popup for anti-virus or anti-spyware software, NEVER download it and NEVER buy it, it is nothing more than just more spyware. Also, these are a couple of great programs to help prevent malware infections. Instead of being reactive they are proactive.

• MVPS Hosts File
• SpywareGuard by Javacool - Realtime protection from spyware.
• Spyware Blaster by Javacool - How to use SpywareBlaster
• ATF Cleaner - Cleans out temporary files that takes up space and could house malware.

While discussing browsing habits, I like to recommend to everyone to use an alternate web browser called Mozilla Firefox. My personal feeling is that Internet Explorer just doesn't fit the bill when coming to security. I have been using Firefox for several years now and have never had issues with it.

• Mozilla Firefox
• NoScript! - Adds a better layer of security to Firefox, but only if you are feeling adventurous.

Another avenue for malware in recent years has been Peer-To-Peer (P2P) applications, programs like Kazaa, Limewire, and even BitTorrent programs can spread malware. You have to be very weary of what you download from these applications as a lot of time they are infected also. Here is a very good article from Microsoft about the dangers of P2P.

• Dangers of P2P File Sharing

Now, every now and again the Windows operating systems just gets slow and needs to be cleaned up. The follow is an article by Miekiemoes that gives very good information on how to speed up your PC when it's not malware related.

• Help! My computer is slow by Miekiemoes

Also, I would just like to thank you for coming by Geeks-To-Go and I'm glad we could lend you a hand.