Ask A Geek

Q: How reliable is Free edition AVG antivirus and do I need to install separate firewall/anti-spyware tools, even though it says it covers me with it all. It is showing up-to-date status.

AVG has a big bank of identified trojans and some virus stuff in virus vault. A “threat detected” warning screen keeps popping up asking if I want to “heal” move to vault” or “ignore”.

What do I do now with all the stuff in the vault?

Q: Which free anti-virus/spyware can remove threats detected during on-demand scans? If a threat is detected during scans but cannot be removed by the program, then what?

Q: I have several free antispyware programs on this computer. Sometimes they get so that they can’t be opened without reloading the whole program from scratch. I thought it could be low disc space, but it could also be a spyware program that disabled them. Does anybody know which is more likely?

Q: My old computer crashed so bought a new one. As a project I decide to try to fix the old one my self. I bought a scrubber and cleaned the system, reinstalled Windows XP and it works fine. I want to install Ad-Aware Free & Advast Free. Is this a good choice? Do I need Both? Is there other security I should install?

Q: For some reason something is blocking internet explorer. I have tried to run virus scans and spyware scans and nothing helps. I uninstalled it and tried to reinstall it but it won’t install. Can you please help me?

Q: Which all in one pc anti-everything bad, should I buy for my new pc?

Q: Something (virus or malware) has infected my computer and as as result I cannot access my internet security software website or download new virus definitions as well as any other security website to download a program that might fix my problem. I am also unable to use system restore, nothing happens when I click on the restore button after selecting a restore point. What are my options to resolve this problem.

Q: If I purchase stopzilla will it help to stop pop up windows and can I use it on another computer?

Q: I installed Norton 360 on an HP notebook and already had Spy Sweeper. Now my computer will not boot-up. Do Spy Sweeper and Norton conflict with one another? How do I fix this?

A: The most likely explanation for your computer’s malfunction is indeed that Norton and Spy Sweeper are conflicting with one another. Security programs tend to conflict with one another whenever they duplicate each other’s functionality. In your case, your computer’s security programs are both trying to protect against spyware. Fortunately, your should be able to repair your computer via the following procedure:

• Immediately after using the power button to start your computer, repeatedly press the F8 key. This will provide you with a list of ways to boot-up Windows. Choose the Safe Mode option. Safe Mode tells Windows to ignore security programs, some devices & drivers, etc.
• Log into your Windows user account. Read the rest of this entry »

Q: I have a Dell XPS 400 desktop and recently it has started to freezes up for no apparent reason. It is running Windows XP and I have tried everything I could think off including reinstalling windows, but again it froze up during installation. I would really like some help.

A: The first thing I would recommend is to run an anti-virus software program like AVG to make sure that your machine has not been infected. If you are virus free, then I would suggest downloading an anti-spyware program like Ad-Aware. If that is not the problem then the next step would be downloading and installing a free program, called HijackThis.

Unfortunately if none of these solve the problem, and they might not due to the fact that your computer froze during reinstall, then the problem might be related to your hardware in the computer. Maybe the CPU fan is not working anymore causing the computer to over heat and freeze up. Maybe the video card fan is not working anymore causing the computer to over heat and freeze up. So you will want to check all the fans in the system and maybe even try running your computer with the cover off and see if that helps a little bit.

Getting in your computer with a vacuum might even help to get the dust out that seems to always built up inside of a computer causing air to not travel as easily.