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Have been using Norton Antivirus (with updated reference files) since the computer was new. Also use both AdAware SE Personal and Spyware Blaster. In general, I reject most cookie offers. Don't offhand think it is a virus or spyware problem.
If you disk is not more than 50% full, and you have defragged, its most likely going to be some kind of intrusion.
Also install and run Spybot:
Tucows | Retiring Tucows Downloads
Go to and execute the TrendMicro Housecall:
Free Online Virus Scan | Trend Micro HouseCallThis is extremely thorough, but it does require Java and I do not actually know if it will work on a 98 machine.
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Whoops, I have just realised you did not mention a Firewall. Thats very bad indeed. Do the following in strict order:
- download ZoneAlarm from
PC and Mobile Security Software | ZoneAlarm. The free version is fine.
- disconnect from the network physically and restart the machine
- run spybot, adaware, spyware blaster, everything you have
- still disconnected, restart the machine and install zonealarm
- zonealarm will require a reboot, do so, then reconnect your network
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Hit CTRL+ALT+DEL and choose the Task Manager. Swith to the Processes tab and look at whats running. There will be a lot; sort them by CPU utilisation to look for likely culprits. The SystemIdle process can take up to 99% of CPU and thats fine, btw. If you see anything you think is supicious, the simplest way to check it out is to type the filename into google and look for hits related to worms/trojans or the Microsoft resource library (which suggests the process is legit).
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If all else fails, there are other techniocal help boards like majorgeeks.com. They will likely want you to install and run a programme called 'HijackThis' which produces an output of registry and system data for them to review.
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You cannot go on the net any more without a firewall. I read the other day some tests in the UK indicated that the average time before an unprotected machine encountered a malicious probe was something like 0.2 of a second.
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My computer guru tells me that it is bound to happen over time. The solution is to store away all your data and such somewhere other than the hard drive. Then reformat the hard drive and reinstall Windows and all the software.
Its sort of true and sort of not. This can happen, but I would not be concerned if you disk usage is so low. Also, defragging adresses just this. A slightly different source might be that registry can build up unwanted entries, and these are hard to deal with, but usually not critical in speed terms. I recommend 'registryfix' for clearing out redundant registry entries.
All that said, all machines could really do with being scrubbed and rebuilt every now and then.
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