Can anyone help me with a windows xp problem im having?

[alan s]

Hi , Would anyone here know what's wrong with my computer and why its messed up? This is the problem im having.

I turned on my computer this morning , loaded my profile and i wait about 5 minutes , no taskbar or desktop icons load , i just thought something might have gone wrong in the startup so i restarted my computer again. My profile loads same problem. I go to the task manager ( Ctrl +Alt +Del ) to see if anything can be accomplised from there. Nothing seems out of the ordinary and no process's seem to be running that havnt been running before. I open up the "Create New Task" program so i can see if any application runs , everything that i type in works. I go out to school leaving the computer on to see if anything happens in the 4 hours im in school , came back from school about 20 minutes ago and its still the same.The only program i installed yesterday was SpyWare Doctor which as the name suggests finds and deletes spyware , i did run a scan on that and it turned up a few nasty pieces of spyware. I restarted my computer last night after the virus scan and everything still worked. Its only today that this problem came about.

I'd apprecieate any help/advice/tips on how to fix it. Baring in mind i only have access to the Run Program box (Start -> Run )

- Thanks


Alan S

[alan s]

Ok, my taskbar , startmenu and desktop icons appeared within minutes of me typing this post. I have a feeling it has something to do with a virus i removed yesterday...........oh oh.........* Runs off to run a few virus scans and investiage further*

[redone]

A few things your PC should NEVER be without.

a) anti-virus (updated automatically) for a free one try AVG.
b) Adware by Lavasoft or something along those lines.
c) a decent fire wall. Zonelabs free one would do.

All the above are free and essential in todays internet world. Happy surfing!

[Nokonium]

The best thing to do is go here ---> http://www.thespykiller.co.uk/ this is run by one of my co-admins or here -----> http://our-local.co.uk/ (also in my sig), he will pick it up from either and is an MS MVP on PC security.

[alan s]

A few things your PC should NEVER be without.

a) anti-virus (updated automatically) for a free one try AVG.
b) Adware by Lavasoft or something along those lines.
c) a decent fire wall. Zonelabs free one would do.

All the above are free and essential in todays internet world. Happy surfing!

I have ZoneAlarm , AVG Free and Spyware Doctor 4.0 Full Version. Spyware doctor detects most things. Im running it now and i've got 8 hits so far. I'll be running a virus scan in a few minutes. Thanks for the advice.

The best thing to do is go here ---> http://www.thespykiller.co.uk/ this is run by one of my co-admins or here -----> http://our-local.co.uk/ (also in my sig), he will pick it up from either and is an MS MVP on PC security.

Ok thanks , i'll check it out later.

[mnichols7]

If all else fails, do a restore back to when your computer was working correctly.  

I have found that so called free programs you download often comes with spy and ad ware.  This can bypass your security software because you give it permission to install.  You most likely already knew that but in case there are others who aren't aware of that, just a word to caution you on free stuff you can get.

Most often these are screen savers.  I have a sister who is very new to the world of computers and fell into this trapped.  A restore didn't help her we had to do a format where her computer was infected so bad.

I run virus protection, firewall and ad and spy ware programs, and I have to watch my son when he goes to porn sites, they are the worst culprits for infecting a PC.

[G6Cad]

The absolute BEST way to keep your PC clean is to stay out of porn sites, but thats a guy thing i guess, or just use Linux or MacOSX:)

[mnichols7]

Yes, they are the worst sites possible!  I have tried software to block him from visiting these site but they are of little help, he's 25 btw.

[alan s]

The absolute BEST way to keep your PC clean is to stay out of porn sites, but thats a guy thing i guess, or just use Linux or MacOSX:)

Haha i dont really use porn sites , as you said way too much gets installed on your comp without knowing , i scan every file i download aswell just incase. I found the problem though. A so called spyware dector , Spyware Nuker 2004 , i had installed was after downloading malware and adware onto my computer. The adware created really annoying popups to porn sites and antivirus advertising sites and the malware slowed my computer down. When i attempted to move them yesterday they didnt get removed properly from the computer and when i turned on my comp today windows stared up on of those programs and since it didnt have all the nessecary files to run correctly it stoped my taskbar and desktop icons from appearing like they usualy dont appear for a few seconds while windows starts up and thats why it took 5 hrs for the taskbar and icons to appear.


Thanks for all the replys and advice , i really have to create system restore points more often.!

[akulion]

out of the many people ive helped throughout my life who have had pc problems with:

- popups
- viruses
- spam floods

ALL eventually admitted to browsing porn sites and making downloads

so alan u better stop too man