it started with home page "trapping", and my system has gotten slower and slower. its to the point where it will barely start up, so its to late to down load a virus program. any suggestions?  do i need to reformat or defragment my hard drive? if so how do i go about it?

Hit this site and run their free virus scanner:  Housecall

thats the problem, i cant get it up and running to download a program or scan.

Boot into safe mode.  Then get adaware installed and run it.... and an AV program.

download and install spybot search and destroy

how do i boot into safe mode?  a friend told me to reformat my hard drive, and then i would have to reinstall all of my programs.

Someone may come along that knows for sure, but I believe you tap F8 right before or as the Windows splash screen comes up.

Shoot. Shovel. Shutup.


seriously, more info is needed. Win 98? XP? ME?
F8 while your computer is booting should get you into safe mode. then run spybot, antivirus and defrag.

Run a scandisk and defrag your hard drive.  That may get it running faster so you can then download a spyware program.  If you have a program like Ultra Win Cleaner try running that to get rid of unneeded clutter and junk.

its windows 98, once i hit the control key, then what?

Quoted: its windows 98, once i hit the control key, then what?

Oh... if its windows 98.... reformat and install Windows XP.  That will fix it.  :-)


Seriously, reboot, then get ready with your hand over the F8 key.... right when you first see "starting windows 98" in text, press F8 repeatedly, you should see a text window with Safe mode as an option.  Keep trying if you miss it and it boots normally.

In safe mode, it will take FOREVER to finish booting because all the caching stuff is disabled.  However, this will let you install Adaware or Spybot and that will clean a lot.

However, to run a full adaware and full AV scan, thats gonna take a LONG time.  Windows 98 is such a piece of CRAP OS that it really does need to be wiped and completely reinstalled from time to time to make it faster.

So, if you are comfortable with that.... and getting drivers and all your old programs working, thatsa the way to go.

When I have clients with this problem, I typically tell them to go to Dell's website, and order a $400 new computer that will come with XP.  WAY cheaper in the long run.

Quoted: Quoted: its windows 98, once i hit the control key, then what? Oh... if its windows 98.... reformat and install Windows XP.  That will fix it.  :-) Seriously, reboot, then get ready with your hand over the F8 key.... right when you first see "starting windows 98" in text, press F8 repeatedly, you should see a text window with Safe mode as an option.  Keep trying if you miss it and it boots normally. In safe mode, it will take FOREVER to finish booting because all the caching stuff is disabled.  However, this will let you install Adaware or Spybot and that will clean a lot. However, to run a full adaware and full AV scan, thats gonna take a LONG time.  Windows 98 is such a piece of CRAP OS that it really does need to be wiped and completely reinstalled from time to time to make it faster. So, if you are comfortable with that.... and getting drivers and all your old programs working, thatsa the way to go. When I have clients with this problem, I typically tell them to go to Dell's website, and order a $400 new computer that will come with XP.  WAY cheaper in the long run.

+1000

ok, i think i have it now. just reformat, which basically wipes everything clean, and then re install all of the programs that came with my computer?

that will do it.