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Bryan

Bryan's squeaky clean computer guide
RE: All people who watch TOO much porn.
Enjoy. PS: I put this on another forum a while ago, too, just thought it'd bring it back up. This is COMPLETELY written by me.

Keep your computer healthy and fit by running a battery of scans [using free and easy-to-use software] designed to detect and annihilate all the nasties you can catch trolling the Internet. And do it at least every three months,because just checking out the wrong websites can infect a computer with viruses, spyware, and worse. These electronic cooties can quickly drag down a PC's performance and they can even allow thieves to access your personal data! - oh noes!
So, protect yourself by downloading and installing the following free utilities [unless you're running more powerful commercial software[, and giving them an initial crack at your system. Once you have been given a clean bill of health, you can leave them to run in the background and protect your computer in real-time from whatever the script-kiddies throw at you next!

Firewall
ZoneAlarm is a software firewall that acts like a traffic cop between the Internet and your PC. It can prevent thieves and perverts from accessing your PC and its files. It's a snap to use, in fact, the hardest thing about about it is finding the free version on the developer's website.
Visit www.zonealarm.com and click on Home & Home Office products on the left. Click ZoneAlarm on the left side of the next page, and follow the bright Free Download graphic. Choose basic ZoneAlarm protection. After installing, tell the program you're still sure you want the free version, and the firewall will activate. The default controls work fine for me, but if you have regular problems with trusted programs-especially online games-dig through the settings to the firewall a bit.

Rootkits
Rootkits are programs that have unfetted access to your operating system, at the root level, without a user's input. They're not always malicious (there are legitimate reasons for some applications to install similar software), but poorly designed ones can still leave your PC vulnerable to attack. Some rootkits even come from (fomerly) trusted sources, like 2005 Sony BMG copy protection software that automatically installed with audio CDs, which was notorously difficult to remove and left systems opened to attackers.
Rootkits may be detected by virus software, but don't take a chance, try F-Secure Blacklight to illumate these hidden culprits. Visit www.fsecure.com/blacklight/try_blacklight.html for a free download (make sure to get fsbl.exe which has the graphical user interface, Double-click on fsbl.exe, accept the agreement, and then smack the Scan button.

Antivirus
AVG-Anti-Virus Free Edition 7.5 is a strong antivirus scanner, and a free download resides at http://free.grisoft.com. After installation, follow the prompt to update the software so it recognizes the ugly, new faces of the latest virus; otherwise it won't indentify recent threats.

Click Scan Computer to search a PC for any viruses. AVG will scour your system and advise you about any malicious software. If those types of programs are detected, AVG will prompt you to remove any threats. Use the Scheduler to verify the default-controls, which look for virus definition updates and run a scan daily.

Spyware & Adware
Spyware nestles in a system, takes evil little notes about what you do, and typically attempts to upload that information to a third-party. Spyware can range from logging your web habits to stealing your passwords and credit card data. Adware is similar software that presents pop-up ads, but it may also record your actions without your knowledge for transmission back to the mothership.
Both kinds of malware may be detected by an antivirus program, but I recommend specialized tools to be sure culprits are located and removed. Visit www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html to download Spybot - Search & Destroy 1.4. Install this shareware program (optionally, give up a few dollars) to clean house.
Launch Spybot, search for updates, and then click the button to check for problems. After about 15 minutes, the program will produce a list of items to remove; click the button to fix selected problems and trash the baddies.
For the best protection, use two different programs to increase your odds of bagging all the threats. I also use the free version of Ad-Aware SE Personal at www.lavasoftusa.com. Install and launch the program, click Scan now, and pick a scanning mode, I go with the full system plan on the three-month plan; it takes about 15 minutes. After that, purge the bad guys with prejudice.

Multifunctional Computer Cleaner
'Nuff said. www.ccleaner.com
Thanks Jakuza.

Sidenotes: If you like this guide, feel free to give some rep!
If you go on the internet alot, you might want to do a Full System scan every week or so.
Thanks for reading!

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Bacn

Thanks. My computer has been acting a bit weird lately.

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Bryan

No problem!

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Guato617

WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU A WEEK AGO WHEN I WAS ASKING ALL THESE QUESTIONS!!!!!!!!!!!1 lol

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Jakuza

Bryan, you might wanna add a good system cleaner / organizer.

Put CCleaner up there.

It cleans all un-needed files.
Compresses stuff on your hard drives, so you have more space.
Fixes errors on your drives.
Cleans up messed up and invalid registry.
And it fixes physical errors in the registry, then defragments it.

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GrandHustle

Nice guide, I used to (and still do) use some of those free applications. I also recommend Windows Defender (though I've had it forever and it still hasn't found anything to date) but hey, it's made by Microsoft, and it's got some pretty cool options, so I keep it. Oh, and also, my computer is always very clean, so I don't really blame it for not finding anything.

Spyware Blaster is also pretty good, though it doesn't update much, probably only about once per month. It is an application purely built on shielding your computer from spyware.

Oh, and last... and also LEAST. I DO NOT recommend using Spyware Doctor, despite what all of the websites say about it. It always found these "Bugs" sometimes serious ones like trojans, and yet whenever I scanned my computer with other applications, nothing ever came up. I noticed that Spyware Doctor wouldn't let me delete any of these bugs, but simply search them and let me know that they were there. You needed to pay for the full version, which let you delete what Spyware Doctor found. I'm pretty sure that this was just a trick to get people to buy the service.

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Bryan

Thanks, added to list.

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fmwyso2

No I'm Sorry You Fail. You Can Never Get A Clean Computer And What You Posted Are Full Of Spyware. L2use Computers.

-- CCleaner and LAvasoft are good. Other then that, you suck and so does your post.

GrandHustle

Dude May I Just Say What The Hell Is Your Problem? Why Do You Capitalize Every Word In Your Sentence? Sort Of Like This?

Why don't you learn to use computers? You don't need to know much about computers to simply download these applications and keep them updated. And they aren't full of spyware. That's just your computer. They are all in fact very effective. Other than that, you suck and so does your post.

I bet you posted this just to piss people off... it worked.

I'ma quote Cyber7Chink right here...

You sir, FAIL!

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Mordar

you should add tune up utilities to the list, is a handy all-in-one program to keep your pc fully optimized, it's not free but...google is your friend