Hi,
I have used Avast 4.7 for a long time and had no problems. Then the 4.8 edition came and I updated my 4.7 to 4.8. Still there was no problem.
Later I had to format my C: drive(idk why but that was my bro’s idea to make the system faster) and after that I downloaded avast 4.8 and installed it from my user account. (my system have 2 accounts.1 for me and 1 for my bro).
So after installation it asked to restart and schedule boot time scan. I clicked ‘Yes’ and rebooted. It all went well and reached the welcome screen. But when I clicked my user name it hanged. It never logged in to my account. But when I tried to login to my bro’s account it was all OK.
After that i uninstalled 4.8 and installed 4.7 and there was no problem again But I wanted to use 4.8 so badly that I updated 4.7 (not downloaded) and rebooted. This time it logged in to my user account but my desktop was not responding. No icons, no rightclick no nothing.
Start menu & taskbar were ok .When i tried to start explorer from start menu, it hanged.
There was no change even when changing the schedule boot time scan option. I didnt use any other av’s or firewall at that time
Now im just using Comodo firewall to defend my computer.
Plzz help.
Thanks :-\
and yes I run Windows XP sp2 with 256MB RAM and 1.6GHz processor
Probably goes without saying, but don’t listen to your brother anymore. ;D
Seriously, reformatting the hard drive to speed up the system should be a last resort. You can get more speed out of your system by:
Cleaning up junk files
Defragmenting the hard drive
Cleaning the registry (CCleaner is still the best free product for this task)
Defragmenting the registry (There is some debate as to whether this is really necessary, but I’ve found it helps my system - jkdefrag GUI has a very good registry defragmenter, although it doesn’t call it that)
Adding more memory (this is the only part that will cost money ;))
Also, run a good spyware or malware sweeper (Windows Defender does an OK job, but also run something like Spybot Search & Destroy - make sure your definitions are up to date).
It probably doesn’t do a lot of good right now to tell you all this stuff, since you’ve already reformatted your drive. Check your brother’s desktop to see why his works OK and yours doesn’t - or better yet, make him fix your desktop, since it was his advice that got you in this mess in the first place.
All good advice, especially more RAM - at least 512MB and preferably 1GB for XP.
As for malware, try SuperAntiSpyware and Malwarebytes, both free, as Spybot S&D isn’t the best for pure malware - its Immunize feature is good if you use IE especially. Don’t use S&D’s Teatimer as it can conflict with other apps. that are for security.