@pirateneko:
Ok, I am on my dad's PC, the tower has "AOL Optimized" on it and on the monitor its "Sceptre" in other words, I have no idea what kinda computer this is.,..
He asked me to take a look at it, because apparently it was being REALLY slow. Well, after a few restarts, I've managed to get it working sorta… I found a trojan and got rid of it, got rid of both BearShare and Limewire (damn kids must've downloaded them....) so it seems to be bettter....
In the My Documents folder, I found a bunch of weird .tmp files... They apparently have been created while I was here trying to fix the computer (looked at the dates) And I can't delete them either... Has anyone else experienced something like this? What would be the best thing to do here?
I downloaded some program called Spyware Terminator.... it seemed to get rid of most of the problems, but I'm still getting pop-ups everywhere >_<
Someone help please? ^^;
Well, I'm personally a big fan of the "nuclear" option when it comes to Windows problems: wipe and fresh-install. It ain't for everybody.
Some things to try:
-Bring up Task Manager (right-click on the taskbar, select Task Manager).
-Go to "processes" tab
-Search for the names listed on the "Image Name" coplumn. Particularly any you don't recognize from a known-good computer.
Also, you might try booting in Safe Mode (smash F8 in the microsecond between the black screen which says how much memory and what CPU are installed, and when the Windows logo appears, select Safe Mode from the menu).
Anti-spyware often works better in Safe Mode as some of the things spyware hooks to are turned off. You may also be able to delete those temporary files. First drag 'em to Notepad and see if they contain any juicy tidbits as to what's going on though.
Also worth considering is trying multiple scan-repair tools. Ad-Aware and Spybot-Search and Destroy are historically trustworthy and well-regarded. You have to be careful because some of the off-brand spyware-removal applications are actually spyware in disguise.
You may be able to isolate what you're getting also by considering the popups you're getting… are they demanding you upgrade or install a specific program? Searching for a removal tool for that program is probably worth it.
If the sluggishness can be connected to something specific (i.e. running one of those damned "Your friend has sent you an e-card" messages) that can also be useful in searching-- you may be able to find out what malware is associated with the specific thing which was done.