Starting this week, I’d like to introduce a new feature to Computing Blog — Tech Q&A.
Do you have questions about your computer? Need recommendations for hardware, software, or getting rid of spyware or viruses?
Whatever problems you have, the Computing Blog is here to help!
Send your questions to BarbaraEB@families.com, and I’ll do my best to assist you. By submitting your question, you will be giving permission to feature your inquiry in an upcoming blog. Your name and email address will not be published.
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Q. I’ve had my computer for about a year and now it seems to be running much slower with tons of pop-ups. What can I do to clean it up and make it run faster again?
Keeping up regular maintenance on your computer is very important towards ensuring it’s health. If yours is no longer running in tip-top condition, there are a number of things you can do to fix it.
I’m a huge fan of PCPitstop.com— a free site that offers an arsenal of tools to scan and repair many common computer problems. Some of their diagnostic tests include PC performance, spyware, anti-virus, disk health, driver scan, and internet speed and optimization. Running a scan at PCPitstop will clue you in on the problem areas in your system, as well as compare your PC’s performance to other similarly equipped machines. It can automatically heal spyware and virus infections, as well as offer additional options for improving performance of your machine. PCPitstop has located and repaired problems on my machine when all other online scans have failed, and is the first place I turn when something goes awry.
Prevention, of course, should always be your first line of defense.
In addition to keeping up-to-date with any new system updates and service packs, be sure you have a firewall on your machine. Windows comes packaged with it’s own, but make sure it’s enabled.
You should also have up-to-date anti-virus and anti-spyware software on your system. AVG is a free choice that works well for both. Two other popular options for spyware include SpyBot Search and Destroy, and Ad-Aware. No individual spyware program will catch everything, so it’s a good idea to have at least two installed. Scan with these regularly, and always keep spyware/virus definitions up-to-date.
Trend Micro, Symantec and McAffee offer online scanning, but don’t count on these exclusively. You need software on your computer to catch threats in real-time–not just after you’ve already been infected.
Beyond basic maintenance, you might also want to consider running a browser like Firefox that is less vulnerable to attack, and, above all else, avoid downloading from anywhere other than known and trusted sources.