[thehoagster07]

Hi all,

I have a Dell Inspiron i15R-1633sLV laptop with Windows 7. When I boot up, I get to my home screen and can begin to open programs, but once I click anything, my computer freezes. Occasionally I am able to open Chrome and get 2-3 websites from my bookmarks bar to load, but that's about as far as I've gotten. My computer seems to be fully functional in safe mode w/ networking, which is where I'm typing from now.

 

Thanks in advance for any assistance you can give!

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[Lemurian]

Looks like it's time to reinstall your Windows. With drive C formatting, malware detection and all the stuff accompannying.  

[thehoagster07]

Bummer! That's kinda what I was expecting though.

 

Once I reinstall, any tips on best free virus protection/malware detection to use?

[phillpower2]

     thehoagster07

 

Please do not reinstall the OS unless it is absolutely necessary 

 

Has the computer crashed at all.

 

As the computer is working without issue in Safe Mode it is possibly a driver issue, download then run Speccy and post the resultant url for us please, details here, this will give us an idea of what hardware and software you have running.

[thehoagster07]

Well, that's better news, phillpower2! Here is my Speccy url: http://speccy.pirifo...3PzadzCpHspbhnU

 

My computer has gone unresponsive for hours and I've been forced to restart using the power button, but it hasn't shut itself off completely or anything. 

[phillpower2]

Thanks for the url thehoagster07 

 

Two items in Speccy that are a concern are both AV related, you have AVG free and McAfee installed and they are possibly conflicting, AVG is a hog on system resources + it is nowhere near as good as it once was, McAfee is known to be problematic on it`s own and also having AVG at the same time will be aggravating it.

 

As a starting point please uninstall McAfee using the steps below;

 

Windows 7 

1. Close all McAfee program windows.
2. Click Start, Search, type Programs and Features, and click Go.
3. Double-click Programs and Features.
4. Select McAfee SecurityCenter.
5. Click Uninstall and follow any on-screen prompts. 

Uninstall AVG using the removal tool from here

 

Install either Avast or MSE, both are free, light on system resources while offering very good real time protection.

 

Lastly, download and run TFC by oldtimer from here, if your computer does not reboot when TFC has finished, restart it manually so that it can get rid of the junk/temp files that it has found.

 

Post back with an update when you are done.

[thehoagster07]

Hi phillpower2,

Strangely - McAfee is not in my programs anywhere. I did a search and found the folders where McAfee files exist, but can't find any uninstaller or even any trace of the program running.

 

I ran through the rest of your steps (uninstall AVG, installed Avast and ran TFC) and ran a new Speccy and I still see 3 McAfee entries on it:

 

Running: McAfee Firewall Core Service

Running: McAfee McShield

Running: McAfee Validation Trust Protection Service

 

http://speccy.pirifo...tgqp5zi6vBSKrTk

 

Also, the good news is that when Avast installed, it rebooted my computer in regular mode and it's actually working/not freezing on me now. I'm going to use it like normal throughout the day today and will report back later to see if it's having any functionality issues.

[phillpower2]

Glad to hear that you have made progress thehoagster07 and thanks for the update 

 

If you have not done so already download and run the McAfee product removal tool;

 

1. Download the MCPR tool from:http://download.mcaf...atches/MCPR.exe and save it to a folder on your computer.
   
   IMPORTANT: The MCPR tool is updated periodically when new products and updates are released. Always download a new copy of the MCPR tool before using it to uninstall your product.
    
2. Navigate to the folder where you saved the file, and double-click MCPR.exe. 
3. When you see the User Account Control dialog box, click Yes.
4. At the McAfee Software Removal screen, click Next.
5. At the End User License Agreement (EULA) dialog box, click Next to accept the agreement.
6. When prompted, type the Captcha information, which is case sensitive, to validate to application security, and then click Next.
   • If you have Family Protection installed, type your Administrator user name and password and click Next.
   • If you cannot authenticate, follow the on-screen instructions to obtain an uninstall code. If you do not have Family Protection installed, you will not receive this authentication prompt.
7. When you see the message CleanUp Successful, restart your computer. Your McAfee product will not be fully removed until after the restart. 
   
   IMPORTANT: If you see the message Cleanup Unsuccessful, save your MCPR log files for analysis by Technical Support:
   1. At the Cleanup Unsuccessful dialog box, click View Logs. Your troubleshooting log opens in a Notepad window.
   2. Click File, Save As, and save the file to your Desktop. Name the file MCPR_date.txt (for example, MCPR_Jan10_12.txt).
   3. Contact McAfee Technical Support and provide the log file to your technician for troubleshooting.
   4. Confirm that all McAfee products have been removed from your computer. 

[thehoagster07]

McAfee cleanup was successful. Computer appears to be running fine from my end now - is there anything else I need to do to search for/remove other risks?

 

Thanks again!!

[phillpower2]

Apologies for the delay thehoagster07, I was called to business away from home and have not been near a computer for a couple of days   

 

First thing to do is create a new restore point now that the computer is stable.

 

If you would like to improve the overall performance of the computer you could tidy up the data on the HDD and disable any unwanted programs that run on start up etc, let us know on this.

 

You are welcome btw 

[thehoagster07]

Not a problem - I was out of town for the weekend anyways.

 

I created a restore point. That's all I should need for now. Thanks so much!

[phillpower2]

You are welcome