Cleaning GF's PC

unwashed potato!

unwashed potato!

unwashed potato!

Soldato
Joined
12 Feb 2006
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Location
Surrey
From the use of LogMeIn i can finally access my girlfriends Pc to clean it out and get her some new software to improve it

My plan so far is to get rid of norton and replace with avast and AVG, get Adaware and spybot. Also put firefox on and set that to default browers, get some extensions etc for it too.

Also going to check what services are running but not going to change much in there as im still new to what services are which and i know she'll kill me if i screw something up on her PC

Is there anything else i can do to clean it up and anything else i should put on it?

Also how do i remove Norton, and norton internet; do i just go add/remove software and remove it from there or is there more i need to do to get rid of it, such as in services etc?

think that was all i needed

thanks
 
Well first thing I can see being very problematic is your plan to install two antivirus programs- why? Your asking for very big problems doing that ;)

IIRC, norton comes with an uninstaller which lets you choose which bits to remove and it should remove the services for you :)
 
Google for Norton removal tool.
Why would you put Avast & AVG on ? One will do my preference is Avast.
Services. Google them individually and it will tell you what it is and whether you can safely turn it/them off.
Check start up in msconfig and get rid of anything you can.
Download Ewido and run it.
Download CCleaner and run it.
Download Regcleaner and run it.
Once all is done defrag it.
Shouldn't take you more than 3 years. :p
 
i figure the more Antivirus the better, but i guess one will do and i'll go for Avast as i too think it is better.

what does CCleaner, Ewido, and REGcleaner do, i know Reg would be the registry but what is that?

what was that thing that i needed to type in on run to remove msn messenger competely?
 
No, you figured wrong- you need one antivirus and one only otherwise they will conflict with eachother ;)

ewido is an anti-malware program and a very good one at that. CCleaner (Crap cleaner) removes cookies and temporary internet files and the like. Regcleaner, as its name suggests will clean the registry which is windows' back-bone and is thus as you may well guess, fairly important :p

EDIT: You can remove messenger from the add/remove components wizard from control panel :)
 
Trigger said:
You can remove messenger from the add/remove components wizard from control panel :)
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I believe all that does is remove the shortcut on the desktop to Messenger.

Something like this would remove MSN Messenger properly or nLite Windows to remove it from the install in the first place.
 
Steve Watford said:
Forget cleanup, get her this.
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was thinking bout it until i read the part that it started getting built in 1994 or something and was finished in 2002. dont think she can wait that long.

imagine playing games no that pc thought, loading times wouldn't be heard of. plus one day when that is whats in pc imagine the games that people will be building, theyll be so so huge
 
Hi, i'm new to the forums, but hopefully i can help

You can use the add remove feature integral to NAV but you need to make sure that its not running at the time. This doesnt really deal very well with uninstalling itself, and as has been said, its beneficial to obtain a proper removal tool from Norton by doing a google search. NAV buries itself in the Registry real deep and the removal tool scrapes it out!

Put only one AV on in its place. I prefer AVG but its preference at the end of the day.

Also, once you've done all this, its worth removing obsolete preferences from the registry. Search google for 'RegSeeker', its freeware and is a fantastic tool at removing dead entries.

Lastly, performance things (if its a XP machine) such as altering the System Restore backup size, turning off serious eye candy, etc can all help in making a system run uber smooth

HTH
 
I would keep the programs you put on to a minimum.

Personally, I would do the following:

1) Download Avast
2) Remove NAV via Add/Remove... then see if...
2a) ... you need the NAV Removal Tool. Do it if necessary.
3) Install Avast, run it and the boot time scan. Register and update it.
4) Download and install Windows Defender. Update and run a scan.
5) Download Spware Blaster, install, update and run it.

That should be it. Also, removal of non-used programs and documents is a good start. Defrag if you like, don't see much use of it though.

Going through startup programs in Windows Defender is useful in speeding start up times too.

Update Windows too.
 
LoadsaMoney said:
U gona have a snoop through her porn collection while your on. :p
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course, she tries to find some on mine all the time and this is the first and only chance im going to get in the 9months we have been together. She tells me she has deleted it all though which she probably has but im guessing its all on CD's now so i can't check them
 
Sounds like her Windows install is in a bit of a state... just reformat. In my experience no amount of reinstalling and cleaning can get rid of filthy scum and bloat, so just nuke it and start over :cool:
 
Why waste time, perform a full backup to a seperate disk, re-format the disk and start again.

You would be simply wasting time trying to prevent the inevitable.
 
addy_010 said:
course, she tries to find some on mine all the time and this is the first and only chance im going to get in the 9months we have been together. She tells me she has deleted it all though which she probably has but im guessing its all on CD's now so i can't check them
Click to expand...

I bet. :D
 
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