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Heheh. I've probably got the worst computer of the lot that is roughly up to date. It's a Acer Veriton 5100, with a 1ghz Intel Celeron with 256mb ram. I keep it as a back up. I use my iPad for PW most of the time. And i use a older mac laptop for most computer stuff. but the acer is very reliable, always works. Love it.

(sorry, a bit ot ain't it?)

yeah, ultimately i agree with piano joy; get a new machine with 64 bit Windows 7 for a few hundred bucks and start enjoying life again.

Thanks again for all the great advice!

And, I will enjoy life a great deal as long as I have my piano(s)!! The computer is secondary (though I do love Piano World ).

Rick

As said above by others:

-Run an antivirus if you haven't already
-disk defrag (but have a feeling this isn't the main issue)
-get new drivers only from original manufacturer CDs or websites
-install more ram
-and my favorite....get rid of windows completely and install linux....but only if you are already familiar with linux. If not, scratch that thought.

My guess though is that your registry is dirty with possibly obsolete entries. It will bogg down a system and cause frequent freezing episodes which require frequent reboots. The only way you can 'safely' clean it is with special registry cleaning software. I don't have any to recommend though, since I am MS free for quite some time. Before you do such a thing, you should back up everything...just in case....

Update on my computer issues…

First of all, I want to thank everyone again for your comments and advice. As much as I like to fix my own stuff and keep my own things in good working condition, I had to concede and take my PC to a repair shop.

After doing some research, I was going to uninstall the free edition of the AVG antivirus I was using and install the latest free edition of Avast antivirus. I had read that AVG could slow down some older operating systems and computers. Well, when I removed AVG, all hades broke loose on my PC and the malicious virus, that was apparently already there, went wild and I could not even log on to the internet to download Avast. The virus kept redirecting me to a website about an XP antivirus, which was the virus; in other words, I let it out of it cage when I removed the AVG antivirus.

At that point, I knew I needed professional help. The computer repair shop charged me $95 to do a clean-up, tune-up and virus removal. It seems to be working much better now.

In all honesty, though I do have a tendency to be a cheapskate at times, I don’t mind paying for good, quality services. However, it does make me want to learn more about computers. I suppose I’ve been very fortunate… I’ve had a computer and internet service for about 8 years now, and I’ve been able to keep my system working smoothly and without any major problems or issues. If I did have a problem, I’d do the research, ask questions and try to fix it myself. I’ve been successful up until now.

At this point, I’m wondering if I need to invest in a good antivirus program that is above and beyond the capability of the free antivirus versions you can get. Like I said, I don’t mind paying for something of value that will save me some headaches!

I think I'll go play my piano now....

Best regards!

Rick

Hang on, how did you post this?


Edit: sorry for my lack of comprehension. Your computer seems to be fixed.

Rickster,
The 3 best programs for anti-viral are; AVG, Spybot, and Malwarebytes. All of these have free versions.... Yes the new AVG is a bit of a memory hog, but you can change the setting to low priority of you are working when the scan runs….

Here is an article from Randy Stafford who is an administrator for AVG group. The article at this link was written in 2004 and there have been several posted updates from the same fellow.

Here is the 2004 article;

Poptray forum

And here is the Google search for a whole bunch of links from Randy some recently updating the same article.

Google search

IMO Avast is as good a choice as any, free or subscription.

The problem is that AV isn't going fully protect your system. Nothing will 100 percent.

However, learning to "browse intelligently" will help eliminate unwanted visitations from the great majority of malware vectors.

This takes a certain amount of discipline in addition to software utilities/addons.

At minimum (After installing Avast or other AV, configuring to actively scan, and performing a full system scan.)

I would suggest:

1. Avoid IE. Instead use Firefox with NoScript or Chrome (both free) with NotScripts and learn how to block the majority of script activities. You will be shocked to see what resides in the backgound of your everyday web pages. It's actually a good idea to keep more than one web browser available for quick changes when a high-risk vulnerability is announced that affects one of them. Set options in the browser to maintain the minimum amount of history and information you need cached.

2. Run a Spyware/Adware cleaner once a week. (Free) Keep it up to date.

3. Avoid clicking on links sent via e-mail. Use known bookmarks or type in the URL instead.

4. Don't run under an "admin" account for everyday tasks.

5. Always keep backups. Even highly protected systems get attacked occasionally. It's the nature of the Internet.

6. Occasionally clean the registry, the best time is after removing unused software.

7. Buy expansion memory if possible. For a system of that age extra memory will provide the best boost for the money and permit better use of the protection software mentioned above.

Regards,
Julie, CISSP

Ah yes the old Veriton... I have one of the all-time best selling computers ever to be put on the market..a Commodore 64 ....not this one I am on of course...

The best antivirus software is Microsoft Security Essentials which is free from Microsoft. I had a similar virus. It did not go away until the real time virus protection was turned on. Another trick that gets rid of some very stubborn viruses it to run the virus scanner in safe mode. Press F8 while rebooting to get into safe mode.

The PC repair shop loaded the Microsoft Security Eccentials antivirus on my computer. I'm not sure if I'll stick with that or go back with AVG or Avast. Either way, I do plan on adding more security to my system.

Thanks again for the great suggestions!!

Rick

Good work! Gold star 🌟

Rick, I use AVG Free on all my machines. It seems to be about as good as any other antivirus. I have heard good reviews of the Microsoft Security Essentials. I think it should do the job well for you. There is no such thing as perfection. Any antivirus will miss the occasional bad file. It is a good idea to install and run the free versions of Malwarebytes AntiMalware and Ad Aware. I run these once a week or so. The scans can take awhile, so it's best to start them when you go to bed and check the results in the morning. These two (if you let them update automatically) will find anything your antivirus misses. Staying away from porno and shady "download" type websites will help avoid many (but not all) viruses. Those are the hardest hit areas on the web, but as we found out awhile back, even Piano World can be victimized by hackers.

I'm glad you got your computer cleaned up. A friend of mine makes good money cleaning up computer viruses as a sideline. He usually charges about $50, but he works from home and has no overhead to pay for.

Rick,

If you do choose to buy an antivirus, I can recommend Kaspersky with which I have had very good experience in the past. Most antiviruses cost about what you would pay to have someone do the cleaning for you once per year. However, they have the benefit of stopping viruses immediately, rather that waiting for another pc repair visit. Kaspersky also gives you pc backup apps, spyware cleaning, email protection and other odds and bits which are nice bonuses.

I admit that I have always wondered if maybe some antivirus companies create viruses on purpose....I dunno....

And my vote would be for Apple. I have substantial experience with several different OS options including Windoze, of course. My suggestion is that if you are considering a different machine, you at least investigate this option -- on which you can now run MS Windows based programs if you need.

This is for the same reason that I would suggest someone check out multiple brands of pianos: You owe it to yourself to be informed. Personally, I haven't looked back and don't miss de-fragging, using AV software and not getting caught in the OS vs. hardware support hassle that precipitates this thread.

This is FWIW. If you check the options and decide Windows is right for you, more power to you.