COMPLETE CLEANUP WINDOWS XP

Install and/or Update AdAware

If you do not already have AdAware SE 1.06installed:

  • Open your Internet browser and go to . In the upper right-hand corner of the screen click on Free Download AdAware SE Personal.Under the Ad-Aware SE Personal box click on Free Download. Click on Download Now>click Save>navigate Save In to Desktop.
  • When it is finished downloading, close out of everything, find the icon you just downloaded on your desktop and click on it to start the installation. Let it install in the default locations. If you have a previous version of Ad-Aware installed it will advise uninstalling the old version first – go ahead and let it uninstall the old version for you. When it asks you if you want it installed for anyone who uses the computer or just you, choose anyone who uses the computer.
  • At the end of the install there will be a window that has 3 boxes checked. Uncheck the 1st and 3rd and just leave the one checked that will update the definitions.
  • When it is finished updating, close out of Ad-Aware.

If you already have Ad-Aware SE 1.06 installed:

  • Open the Ad-Aware program>click on Check for updates now >click Connect>click OK to download and install new reference file. You will see the blue bar running across the window as it installs. If it doesn’t go up to 100% or it immediately says web update complete without really doing anything then you need to manually replace the reference file.

To manually replace file:

  • Connect to the internet>go to the bottom of the screen click on Download Current Definition File and click Save. When the Save As window pops up go to Save In, drop down the menu and pick Desktop, click Save. Close out of your internet session.
  • On your desktop, find the file you just saved, right click on it and click extract. Extract to My Computer>C Drive>Program Files>Lavasoft>Ad-Aware SE. When it asks you if you want to overwrite the current file say Yes.

Install and/or Update Spybot Search and Destroy 1.4

If you do not already have Spybot 1.4 installed:

  • Open your Internet browser and go to . On the right side of the screen click English or the language you prefer.
  • On the left side of the screen under Home, click Download. Scroll down the page, under Download click the Download icon to the right of Spybot – Search & Destroy 1.4. In the new window that comes up, click the Download Here button to the right of BN FileForum or any other available mirror site (just be careful you download the correct program as some of the mirror sites can be a little confusing). In the next new window that comes up, click Download Now>click Save>Save In:navigate to Desktop.
  • When it is finished downloading, close out of everything, find the icon you just downloaded on your desktop and click on it to start the installation. Take the defaults, accept the agreement, and take all of the default locations and configurations.
  • At the end of the install there will be a window that has Run SpybotSD.exe checked. Click finish and let the program start. Click OK>if you get any compatibility warnings just click OK>click Create Registry Backup and when it is finished click Next>click Search For Updates>go to the Spybot program window behind this one, click on the dropdown arrow for download sites to the right of Search For Updates (see illustration below), click on Safer Networking #1 or #2>go back to the other Window you were in, click Download All Available Updates, and when it is finished click Next>go ahead and immunize when it asks you to and click Next>click Start Using Program.
  • When it is finished updating, close out of Spybot.

If you already have Spybot 1.4installed:

  • Open the Spybot program>click OK on any messages>click on Search For Updates>checkmark and install any new updates that it finds. If you haven’t updated in quite a while and it says it can’t find any new updates or it can’t connect to the server then you will need to manually install the detection update, tools, and advanced check library files.

To manually install files:

  • Connect to the internet>go to the left side of the screen under Home, click Download>scroll down the page, under Download:
  • click the Download icon to the right of Detection Updates>click Save and save to Desktop
  • click the Download icon to the right of Tools Update>click Save and save to Desktop
  • click the Download icon to the right of Advanced Check Library Updateclick Save and save to Desktop.

When you are finished downloading, close out of your browser windows and click on each of the files you just downloaded in the order you saved them to run them, take the defaults, install them, and click Close when you are finished.

Install Cleanup! 4.5.2

If you do not already have Cleanup! 4.5.2 installed:

  • Open your internet browser and go to On the right side of the screen, click on the red lettered Download Cleanup! Now>scroll down the page to Cleanup! 4.5.2 Downloads> under Available From: click CleanUp452.exe to the right of Primary Download Site (setup program)>click Save and save it to your desktop>close out of browser.
  • Find the file you just downloaded and click on it to run it>put a checkmark next to I Agree With The Above Terms And Conditions and click Next>leave the default installation location and click Start. When it is finished you can view the Read Me if you want but do not run the application yet.When you click OK at the end of the installation, Cleanup! opens a window with shortcuts. You may copy the top one (the one with the hand holding a yellow cloth that does not say Demo) and paste it to your desktop for easy access.

Update Anti Virus Definitions

  • Open your antivirus program and make sure your virus definitions are up-to-date. If they are not or if you are not sure then go ahead and update them through Live Update or whatever way your program uses to update itself.

Boot into Safe Mode

  • Rebootyour computer and when it starts to boot keep hitting the F8 key until you get a menu that allows you to choose Safe Mode. Highlight Safe Mode and hit Enter. If you have Windows XP, the next screen you see will have the operating system highlighted and will be prompting you. Just hit enter and let it continue. Say Yes to whatever popup message you see.

Clean up

If you have Cleanup! 4.5.2 installed:

  • Open Cleanup!>click Options>click on the Temporary Files tab>put a checkmark in the box next to Scan Drives For Files Matching:>click OK.
  • Click Cleanup! – it is not necessary to run it in Demo mode first. When it is finished click your preferred answer to the donating question and then click Close. You’ll get a window popping up that says you need to logoff and log back in to get rid of additional files – go ahead and do it now.

If you do not have Cleanup! 4.5.2 installed:

  • Go to Start>Control Panel>Internet Options. In the General tab, under Temporary Internet Files, click on Delete Files, put a check in the box to "Delete all offline content", click OK. When it's finished, click on Delete Cookies and click on OK when it asks you if you want to delete cookies. Click OK to exit out of Internet Options and then close the Control Panel.
  • Go into My Computer, click on the C Drive, click on Documents and Settings, and now you should see a list of users for the computer with dark gold file folders in front of them. If you don’t see any light colored folders, then go up to the toolbar, click Tools, click Folder Options, choose the View tab, under Hidden Files and Folders choose Show Hidden Files and Folders, click OK. Now, in addition to the dark folders you should be able to see light colored folders.
  • The next part of this you will need to do for every user with a dark colored folder except for All Users. Click into the user folder, open Local Settings (light colored), open Temp, up in the toolbar click Edit>Select All, click delete and say yes to whatever it prompts you so that you clean out the folder. Go back to the list of users and do this procedure for every one of them.
  • Go back to My Computer, right click on the C Drive and go to Properties. In the General tab, click on Disk Cleanup, put a check mark in front of everything except Catalog Files and Compacted Files, click OK, and say Yes or OK when it asks you if you really want to delete the files. Close out of everything you have open.

Scan for Malware & Spyware

  • Open Ad-Aware, click on the cog shaped icon in the upper right hand corner, click on Scanning and make sure that “Scan within archives” has a green checkmark in front of it, click on Advanced and make sure that “Include environment information” under Logfile Detail Level has a green checkmark in front of it, click on Tweak, click the + in front of Scanning Engine and make sure there is a green checkmark in front of Obtain command line of scanned processes, click the + in front of Log Files and make sure there is a green check mark in front of “Create log file for removal operations” and “Include module list in log file”, click Proceed.
  • At the main screen, click Start, choose “Perform Full System Scan”, click Next, let the scan run.
  • When it is finished, click Next, make sure you are in the Critical Objects tab, right click ( if necessary) on one of the boxes under Obj and choose Select All Objects to make sure all objects have green checkmarks in front of them, click Next, and click OK. If there were many critical objects found then run another scan just to make sure everything is gone. When you are finished, close Ad-Aware and move on to the next step.
  • Open Spybot, click Ok to whatever little messages you get. Click the Immunize button on the left side of the screen. It will say 0 (or another number) bad products already blocked, 11,350 additional…Please Immunize.
  • Click OK, and you’ll be on the Immunize menu. Click the +Immunize button at the top left of the screen. It will let you know it worked.
  • Click “Search and Destroy” on left hand side.
  • Click on “Check For Problems” on top.
  • When it is finished it will show you a list of problems found, make sure there is a checkmark in front of all problems you want it to fix, and click Fix Selected Problems near the top of the window. You can omit any Windows Security Center entries.
  • Run another scan to make sure it found everything and, when you are completely finished, close out of Spybot.

Scan for Viruses

If your antivirus definitions were not up-to-date or you weren’t sure then open your antivirus program and run a full system scan now. If it finds any viruses then make a note of what it finds and call us.

Scan for and Fix Hard Drive Errors

  • Go into My Computer, right click on the C Drive and go to Properties. Click on the Tools tab. Under Error-Checking Status click on Check Now, put a check mark in front of both options – “Automatically fix file system errors “ and “Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors”, and click Start. A message will pop up telling you that a Checkdisk has been scheduled at your next reboot. Agree to everything, close out of any windows you have open, and reboot your computer.
  • On reboot you will see the option to cancel Checkdisk by hitting any key. If you need to get back on your computer right away, this is the only time to do it, otherwise you just have to let the Checkdisk run its course.
  • When the process is finished and your computer has finished booting up you can check the log to see if Checkdisk found any errors. Click Start>Control Panel>Administrative Tools>Event Viewer>Application (on the left side of the screen). Make sure the log is sorted by date with the most recent at the top, find the most recent instance of Winlogon and click to open up the report. In the Description area of the window that pops up, you will see the Check disk report. If you have any questions about the contents of that report feel free to call us at the office.

Defragment the Hard Drive

  • Go into My Computer, right click on the C Drive and go to Properties. In the System Tray down in the lower right-hand corner of your screen by the date, right click on the Norton Antivirus icon and click on Disable Auto-Protect (or do the same basic thing for any antivirus program you may have).
  • Back up in the Properties window, choose the Tools tab, under Defragmentation Status click Defragment Now. In the window that pops up make sure your C drive is highlighted and click Defragment.
  • When it has finished, close out of the windows you have open and down in the system tray right click on your antivirus program and re-enable Auto-Protect.
  • Reboot your computer.

Install Windows Critical Updates

  • Click Start>All Programs>Windows Update. Let it install a scan engine from Microsoft if it needs to and then click Custom Install. If there are any High Priority Updates to be installed, they will automatically be chosen for you and all you have to do is click Go To Updates and Click Install.
  • If you are installing Service Pack 2 then make sure all your network connections are connected and keep in mind that this update will take about an hour.
  • When it is finished, reboot your computer and repeat the High Priority Update procedure until there are no more to install.

Start fresh with system restore pointsONLY AFTER EVERYTHING IS WORKING!!!

  • Go into My Computer, right click on the C: drive, and go to Properties. On the General tab, click on the Disk Cleanup button.
  • When the Disk Cleanup window pops up, click on the More Options tab. At the bottom of the window, under System Restore, click Clean Up. It will ask you if you are sure, click Yes. When it is finished, close out of these windows.
  • To create a brand new restore point click Start>All Programs>Accessories>System Tools>System Restore. Click on “Create a restore point”>Next>enter a description such as After Cleanup>Create. When it is finished just exit out of the windows you have open.

If you have any more problems or questions then please feel free to call us at the office (845) 647-6986. Good luck!!!