This is the 2nd part of the series, the Part One can be found here.

In the first part of the article, I tried to describe the types of infections you can get, what problems and limitations you’ll experience, as well as preliminary techniques to try to keep you computer clean. But at this point, you are probably already infected. Let’s deal with that part now.

First, we need to see if we can do a preliminary cleanup. SuperAntiSpyware (SAS) and MalwareBytes (MWB) are both good candidates for the first pass. The advantage for SAS is that it is faster than MWB. The advantage for MWB is that you can install it in Safe Mode if necessary. Both will want to update their internal databases, so reboot your computer into “Safe Mode with Network Support” after installing them. You do this by tapping the F5 or F8 keys after you see the BIOS startup screen or logo.

When you run the cleaner the first time, it will want to go online to get the latest definitions. If possible, I strongly recommend this. When it completes the update, you can then begin. I suggest you do the Complete Scan or Full Scan first. SAS will actually show you what it has found as it finds it. MWB will only show the number of things it found until it finishes and then you can view a detailed log of the results. After the scan and fix is complete, you’ll usually be requested to reboot the computer. Please do so. When rebooting, I suggest you keep coming back to “Safe Mode with Network Support” and running the cleaner until it doesn’t find anything else (except for cookies, perhaps). Some of you may have more than one user on the computer. If this is so, you really need to log into each user, one by one, and run the cleanup program in Complete or Full Scan mode in order to check everything. Once these steps are completed and the results come back with just cookies or less, you can reboot into normal mode.

At this point, you’ll need an Antivirus program. There are many good ones out there, but no matter which one you use, you need to make sure it has its latest updates downloaded. Because they are free, you have two good choices.

You can use AVG, (currently at version 8, available at http://free.avg.com/.

The other alternative is Avast! (currently at version 4.8 and available from http://www.avast.com/, click on FREE SOFTWARE).

Like the SAS and MWB programs mentioned above, after you install an AV product, please get all available updates before scanning. Of course, if you already have an AV program installed (such as Norton, McAfee, PC-Cillin, please use it. Just make sure you have it get any virus definition updates and program updates first. As the AV scanner is doing its job, it may find further infections. If you are given a choice of deleting or quarantining the infected item, you should normally choose quarantine. That way you’ll have the best chance to avoid losing any of your data files. Be aware some sometimes you’ll need to run your AV a second (or third) time in order to make sure that all infections have been cleaned up. Once you’ve gotten the preliminary Anti-Spyware and Anti-Virus scans complete, you can now go in and try to clean out the rest of things.

The HiJack-This utility is good at this point because it can point out bad startup items that have had their files removed, but that have entries in Startup locations still in place. When you run HiJack-This, have it do a scan. Work your way down the list looking for any items that have “(file missing)” on the end of the line and put checkmarks at the start of those lines. Then, at the bottom left, you can click on FIX to remove those orphaned entries. Scan again when it has finished. You will see many entries prefaced by O4. Windows runs these automatic startup entries when it boots up. I’m not going to go into a long discussion on what each of the other entries in this list means because there are many websites that will help you interpret your HiJack-This log file. CastleCops.com and BleepingComputer.com come to mind as good sources. If there are any bad things you recognize in this list and if you know what you’re doing, you can checkmark and FIX them. Hijack this will make a backup so that it can restore them if needed. Because HiJack-This puts all the control in your hands, you have to be extra careful about what you remove from your computer. It lists bad as well as good things on your computer and it puts the responsibility to determine which is which in your hands. Please exercise caution when removing entries.

The work that has been done so far is the lion’s share of the brute force work. Most (all?) of the malware should be gone. However, all Anti-Spyware and Anti-Virus programs are not equal and there is no one single program that will prevent, find, or fix all possible infections. So you are now in a position of needing a second or third opinion that your computer is truly cleaned up. Yes, you could install another one or two Anti-Virus or Anti-Spyware programs and run them, but perhaps an easier solution is to use some of the online scanners out there. That way, you can just visit their websites and they will scan your entire computer for you in an attempt to give you a clean bill of health.

In the final part of the article, I’ll talk about the tidying up and finalizing of the cleanup procedure.

So you want to upgrade your operating system or OS for short. Well, there is a right way and a wrong way to upgrade. Buying the “Upgrade” version sounds good, and sure it saves a lot of hassle reinstalling everything. That is, IF it does its job correctly. However, this usually results in slow machines, driver failures, or it just won’t boot at all when it’s finished.

Most commonly the drivers won’t work as they were designed for the older OS and the new OS chokes, splutters, and dies when it tries to access these drivers. Other common issues are small anomalies within the OS itself. Sure it worked fine before, that’s because the errors either were too small to notice or they developed gradually and you simply did not notice. When you upgrade the OS, all those “little” errors become compounded into major problems. Many times the installation of the new OS will go quite smoothly, but when it actually tries to boot into the new OS it will hit that old driver or it misinterprets command and will go right to Blue Screen and reboot throwing you into a loop. Any of these situations result in having to reload completely, which might prove quite difficult with an “Upgrade” version, and will cause data loss if you’re not careful.

My suggestion is to back everything up, inventory all your software before hand, and spend the extra couple of bucks for the full version of the new OS. Yeah, I know everyone is short on funds, but it can be a lot more costly in the long run. The first thing, however, is to check the specifications on the OS and compare it to your system. If your system does not meet the required specifications then this entire exercise will be for naught.

The best thing is to create a spreadsheet listing all your software packages and the order they need to be installed. I would suggest making two categories; one – has a list of all OEM and retail software, and the second – has a list of all downloaded software.

OEM and retail software are those that either came with the system or were purchased through a retail outlet where you have the actual installation disc. Once this first list is made, start locating the discs and storing them in a safe place. This way when you finally do install your new OS they will be handy in order to rebuild your system structure.

Downloaded software is, of course, all software packages that were downloaded directly over the Internet. You will need to list not only the name of the program but also the version as well as the website to download it from, unless you still have the original installation file. You will also need to take note of whether earlier versions are required to install before installing the version you are currently running.

Now that you have both lists completed, you will need to look up the specifications for these software packages and verify that the version you have are compatible with the new OS you will be installing. If they are not then you will want to find out how to get the updated versions. Some may be as simple as downloading a new updated version, others however may require purchasing a new version. Some manufactures due allow for a discount for owners of previous versions. I would suggest checking out the FAQ, frequently asked questions, section of the manufacturer’s website, if they have one – most do. If you can’t find anything there than contact tech support, either through e-mail or phone.

Okay, now that we have the programs taken care of, let’s look at the data end of it. Obviously you’ll want to save your data. This includes documents, pictures, movies, music, etc… Anything you’ve personally created or been sent that is not part of the program directly. There are a few ways of doing this. Some ways will be cheaper than others, and some will require less technical skill than others. I’ll start with the least technical and work up from there.

The first way I want to mention is using a thumb or jump drive. These small, physically, memory drives can be purchased in multiple sizes from 1gig up to 16, 32, and even 64 gigabyte sizes. Piecewise they can be as little as $5 for 1gig. Most places carry them now, even some of the grocery stores have them mixed in with the film aisle. You plug these into the USB port and the system will see it as another drive letter – f:\, e:\, g:\, etc… NOTE!!! Using windows 2000 or XP will normally recognize these without the addition of any driver software. However, Windows ME and 98 will require you to download the driver from the manufacturer’s website and install it before connecting the thumb drive. If, by chance, you are still running Windows 95 then I’m afraid they won’t work as the Win95 technology is just too old to support them. MAC and Linux versions will normally support these drives correctly without the need for further drivers.

The second method involves a CD or DVD burner. If your system has one of these, which most have some variant or the other, than buy yourself a stack of the appropriate media, and I would suggest the R (write) and not the RW (rewrite) as they will be more compatible and less likely to be erased by accident. Use whatever disc burning software you are used to, to start creating copies of your data. I would suggest making two copies of each disc and keeping them in two separate places. In this manor you will be assured that if the first disc gets lost or scratched, or the drive your trying to read it with just won’t read the disc, you’ve got another disc to try. If you use a felt tip marker, a sharpie works rather well, you can label the discs.

The third way is to use an external hard-drive. Now this works rather well for backup purposes as it is a renewable source to place files. The nice thing about this that the CD/DVD discs do not provide is the updatability. However, because of the updatability of the drive that also means it can be erased or overwritten by accident. The other drawback to this is their frailness. Don’t drop it. I can’t tell you how many people come to me asking me to retrieve their data as they dropped their drive, or it fell over, or the cat knocked it off the desk. Yes, they can be a great backup device, but do be careful.

The last way I’ll mention is using a second hard-drive. If you know how, you can slave a second hard-drive into your system, if it’s SATA this makes it even easier. I suggest getting a larger hard drive than the one you currently have, usually the largest hard drive you can afford is best as you can always use the space. After you get your drive, open the case and disconnect the current drive. If you have an IDE drive and the new drive is also IDE then set the new drive up as a single drive, with nothing else attached to the cable, and install the OS onto it. If you currently have a SATA drive, or are adding a SATA drive to a machine that currently has an IDE drive, attach the drive to SATA1. Now, when the system boots go into the CMOS and make sure it is set to boot off the CD/DVD drive first and your new hard-drive second. Insert the new operating Disc and install the OS onto the new drive. Once you’ve completed the installation you’ll want to go back into the CMOS and have it boot to the new hard-drive first and the CD/DVD drive either second or disabled from boot completely. Now that you have completed the install, turn the system off and reconnect the drives. If both drives are IDE then the new one should be set for Master and the second one set for Slave. If the old is IDE and the new is SATA, then just reconnect the old as is. If both are SATA, then reconnect the old to SATA2 or another besides SATA1. Then go into CMOS a double check that it is still set to boot from the new drive. Now when you boot not only will your data still is intact on the second drive but you will now have more storage space.

Following one these methods will provide you with the best possible functioning OS and greatly reduce your chance of Data loss. However, if you doubt your ability in any way, I would suggest having a knowledgeable technician do the upgrade. If your information is dear to you, or having your computer in down time would be difficult for you, then you’ll want to lessen any possible mistakes. For the most part the process is not difficult, but it can be confusing. If anyone has any experiences they’d care to share, feel free to comment.

Working on computers as much as I do and seeing how commonly they can be infected, I can really relate with other people’s concern about keeping their computer infection-free. Therefore, it’s important to keep a clean machine. Having good protection software on it, and more importantly, practicing good online habits can go a long way towards keeping your PC healthy. Sadly, many of you will be reading this after you’ve been infected. So, let’s see if I can provide you with some techniques to resolve the infection and get back to a clean state.

To start this series, I want to say that some of you will have such a badly infected computer that these techniques may not work for you. If Windows won’t even boot up, not even in Safe Mode, then you’re probably done at that point and your only hope is a repair shop or an extremely competent computer friend. In other cases, some infections have side effects that inhibit what we want to clean and how we use our computers.

For example, it’s common for some Spyware and Viruses to disable the RUN command or the TASK MANAGER. They can block some or all of the Display Properties functions so that you can’t change your desktop wallpaper. They can even change the way the clock in the lower right looks or the System Properties window appears, usually indicating that you are infected. In some extremely difficult cases, it can block most applications (.EXE files) from running. Another tactic is to hide your DVD/CD-ROM’s from Windows or by disallowing programs to run from them. In many cases, even if you remove the malware that caused the situation, these side effects still linger and affect your continued use of your computer.

Lastly, some infections pretend to be protection programs that claim to be able to find and remove infections if you pay them $$ to download their software. This is a case of different levels of malware working together against you. To start, you get the minor infection first that gives you these warnings of the bad software it has found. Then, if you follow its procedure, it will want you to pay for, and then download, the main application that actually opens the door to other malware out there. Of course, it will tell you about all the (imaginary) things it has found and removed in order to protect you, but it never actually cleans your computer of anything.

A well-protected computer relies on a four-part protection plan. First, you should have good Anti-Virus software that you update regularly. Second, you need Anti-Spyware software that you will update regularly and use to scan your computer at common intervals. Third, a good Firewall on your computer. Make sure you get updates for it when they become available. Granted, Windows comes with a firewall if you have XP or Vista, but the level of control leaves a bit to be desired. Fourth, you need to practice safe computing habits. Oh, and did I mention that you want to update these programs regularly? The first three are relatively easy to accomplish. The forth is just a matter of learned habits and practice and is probably going to need to be it’s own article separate from this series.

Here are some good default settings you should consider. If you use Internet Explorer, go to the Control Panel and bring up the Internet Options icon. Then, go to the Security tab. One by one, click on each of the four zones you see and then click on Default Level. If you have a button that says ‘Reset all zones to default level’, click that instead. Next, go to the Privacy tab and click on the Advanced button. A window will pop up. Put a checkmark in the ‘Override automatic cookie handling’ and then set First-party Cookies to ‘Accept’ and set Third-party Cookes to ‘Block’. Now click on the OK button. Lastly, to help optimize Internet Explorer, go to the Advanced tab and scroll to the very bottom. Look for the line that says ‘Empty Temporary Internet Files folder when browser is closed’ and put a checkmark in front of it. Now you can click on OK and you’re done here.

If you have FireFox, a very helpful plugin is called NoScript. It normally blocks any web page scripts by default and you can then grant only the sites you approve of permission to run. You can get it here.

For more protection, you might want to try using software that will lock things into a virtual sandbox with the intention of preventing any malware you download from affecting the rest of the computer. Currently, the most popular app is called SandBoxIE. It is very well thought of and it’s free, too.

Good Scanning tools: SuperAntiSpyware, MalWareBytes, Spybot, AVG, HiJackThis, CoolWebSearch, online scanners such as Trend-Micro or Panda Soft

Good Copying tools: Unstoppable Copy, TeraCopy, Norton Ghost, Acronis True Image

By the way, if you are a dial-up user you might fall into the habit of putting off getting needed Windows and program updates. Getting those updates can be critical to avoiding bigger infection problems down the road. And disappointing as it is, you have to realize that whenever you go online, you’re going to bring back at least a little bad stuff back with you. Think of it as washing your car at common intervals to keep the gunk from building up on it.

Realizing that and keeping up-to-date on your protection software will go a long way towards keeping your computer in good shape. In the next part of the series, I’ll walk you through the main steps to clean up your PC.

Part 2 can be found here

I purchased the Fujitsu Scanner S510 and installed it on Windows XP and it worked great. No problems. I would recommend this scanner even though I had a problem with it. I have scanned in over 20000+ searchable pdf files into the ScanSnap software that is provided with the scanner.

I had a windows crash and I decided to upgrade to Windows Vista Premium. I installed the S510 scanner on Vista and it worked for a while, but then it jammed and came up with the error pfussmon.exe stopped working every time I tried doing a scan. After searching the internet I found a site that talked about this error, but it didn’t give a fix to the problem.

http://www.fixya.com/support/t500422-fujitsu_scansnap_s300_pfussmon_stopped

Fujitsu’s answer to this was to reformat the machine and reload windows which doesn’t seem very practical.

What I did to fix the problem was uninstall all of the scanner software including the manager and organizer, but not the Adobe software. Then I rebooted and deleted any remaining folders relating to the scanner under programs. Then I reinstalled all of the scanner software except the Adobe software which was already on the system and it worked fine again.

If anyone fixed this a different way let us know, thanks.