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As a happy long term user of Avast, I'd happily recommend it. There are probably a large number of users who would also recommend Avira, and quite a few that would recommend MSE, and maybe even a few that would recommend AVG. Why don't you try each of those you are interested in for, say, two weeks each, have a look at the help forums for each, cross-check the machine from time to time with MBAM, and then settle on the AV you find overall best.
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In Ccleaner>options>settings do you have it set to normal file deletion, or secure? And if secure, how many passes? If normal, then it is only the file header that is removed and any recovery program worth the download should be able to recover the files.
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New Test Result from AV-Comparatives - Nov 2009
Tarq57 replied to abu aufa's topic in Windows Security
It'll be here when it's here. No hurry, really, Avast 4.8 seemed to do fairly well. -
The pagefile (or swap file) is used by the OS and rebuilt at every system boot. To delete it, in any particular computing session, see MS KB314834 Applies to XP. Makes shutdown take 1-2 min longer.
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Yep, I'm glad all is well. Maybe K-lite was a factor. Don't know. And it probably doesn't matter.
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I don't see how that is different to what I'd posted, except possibly for syntax. If something was unclear, please tell me, so I can change it next time.
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Assuming you are malware free, and the Avast services are actually running, the next step would be a full re-install from scratch. Download the full Avast setup file (Direct download from Avast, 36.99Mb). Download the Avast uninstall utility. Disconnect from the internet. Right click the Avast tray icon, select "Program settings>troubleshooting" and disable the self defence module. Right click the tray icon and select "Stop on access protection". Go to control panel>add/remove programs" and uninstall Avast.Reboot. (You will loose any custom program settings you had, and anything that was in the quarantine will be deleted.) Run the Avast uninstall utility. If there were any problems with the uninstall before (and you would know) you'll have to run it in safe mode. Reboot. Install Avast from the setup file. Go through the setup prompts - if you are sure you are malware-free, you might prefer to skip the Boot scan, it can take a while. Reconnect to the net, get updates.
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No, it isn't right. You only stop the ones indicated in the step by step.Windows Management Instrumentation, and Security Centre. If they aren't' stopped, you will not be able to delete the repository file. (Try it, if you want. Windows will say "Unable. In use by another...") After the file has been deleted, the reason for the reboot is (1) Windows will rebuild the file, using up to date information, and (2) the services you stopped earlier will restart with Windows. All should be good. That's an option too. The security centre is not always a perfect warning system. Personally, I like it present, in case something happens (hasn't yet) or I forget something (has happened) and there is almost always a warning produced. So I treat it as a handy warning light, that can sometimes be wrong. + if you have something on your computer, and you're like me, you want it working correctly.
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Oh, step one (which I should have posted first, but just barged into the repository reset following the earlier post) is to check your system date and time. And were there any other AV's installed prior to Avast, or even still installed now? If the above steps don't work, I can talk you through a full install. If you had (or have) another AV I can supply you with the uninstall tool. Believe it or not, you don't have to visit porn sites to get an infection. Totally legit sites can be hacked. (The webshield and network shields are excellent at preventing this sort of thing. Disabling automatic scripting in the browser is an almost fail safe way of preventing a lot of this sort of exploit.) All that has to happen is the site is using out of date or vulnerable software. (You wouldn't know.)
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Oh, step one (which I should have posted first, but just barged into the repository reset following the earlier post) is to check your system date and time. And were there any other AV's installed prior to Avast, or even still installed now? If the above steps don't work, I can talk you through a full install. If you had (or have) another AV I can supply you with the uninstall tool.
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It's not scary, don't worry. It seems complicated, but it's not. When you open "services", you'll see an interface with the services listed, and they can be ordered alphabetically. When you right-click each service, there are various options, including "stop". Stop those listed. Check under the "startup type" each is set to automatic (which is the default - you shouldn't have to change a thing.) Then you can close that. Then use Windows explorer (or the method listed - it's just another way of getting to the same place) to locate the file indicated. Right click and delete it. (You may need to enable "view hidden and system files" to find/see it. Put that setting back later.) Then reboot. This is a fairly common requirement, believe it or not. Hopefully it's the second (and last) step of this troubleshoot. Windows Security Centre sometimes gets itself all bewildered, the poor thing, and just needs a bit of a poke to put it right. This is that poke. I've had to do this myself, once, (+ twice more, for practice) and seen it suggested dozens of times. It usually works.
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There is a manual way of doing it, which is basically the command line translated from nerdish into wannabe geek. The instructions are for XP.
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This (Adobe Flash Player) is probably the most well known and often installed.
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+1 for Avast. Been using it for about three years. Very stable, does a good job (especially as part of a layered security strategy), and has very good forum support, when needed. Avast 5 likely to be released round the end of November, Support for 4.8 likely to continue for around a year after the release of 5. I'd install 4.8, rather than the Beta of 5. You'll have about a years use out of it before having to think of updating.