numerous questions for xp based computer

Hello to all,
I'm hopeful I'll find the help I need here. I have a tower that is infected, so I obtained this laptop, for transferring programs, etc. It is running, but I have read enough in the last few days, to now.. have just enough information to be dangerous. And while successful at some of this stuff, I'm not that experienced. And not sure which step to take first, to get this computer, running well, and protected. Of the concerns I have here:

I have Java download ready to "swap out" per instructions... but holding.
I have their old McAfee partly expired protection running, with AVG Free exe loaded, but not installed. I found that it has a long list of start-up programs which have been disabled, (mostly Toshiba accessories) and have no idea how long this has been running (w/msconfig) in bypass mode. For instance it has several McAfee (exe) listings disabled, where it was probably installed again.. with old stuff disabled. And so I have registry concerns.. not knowing what will happen if I just go back to normal startup mode.

It's a XP OS, which since I received it, has had updates of SP3. And I'm running Firefox now. And Microsoft Baseline Security analyzer looks good.. despite my concerns about AV and Spyware. I have uninstalled as much junk as possible.. but have AOL 9.0 (and WAOL.exe in the startup).. and no uninstall file present.

I was working on computers in '81 with Vector Graphics and S-100.. and have used cassettes tapes loading from a flip switch entered boot loader.. but Windows.. is a different animal.

If it were one thing at a time, I'd be more comfortable, but just don't want to make it worse! Anyone willing to tackle this one?? The support was certainly appreciated on the first posts to Malware removal, but I feel the need to see this one through first, as Virtumonde may have eaten the other one.
Thanks in advance, Jerry

 

You should go back to your thread http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=179511 in Malware Removal and continue there. At this point, anything we tried to do here would only confuse the issue.

 

Hi,
And thanks for the reply. These are two completely different computers. The 1st post was a feeble attempt to get on line, and "quickly" fit it. I had no idea how involved this would be. Shortly after the first post, while still on line here.. IE went nuts. The second post was from THIS used machine. But I know it has problems.. and I can't even install AV, without worry about the registry. IF I fool around too long, this one too, will end up with a virus, and then I will have two dead in the water.

This computer is functional.. but it needs some attention. If I "practice here" on running some of the scans, etc.. I can have a reliable computer and link to the forum, and a method to burn the downloads, for quick install into the other one with luck. And that will make it much easier to focus on the much larger problems which it has.

I have no "unsaved" files here. I'd prefer not to reinstall the OS, as I was given this computer without a boot disk, or restore disk, etc. (I just read how that can be done). But my other computer has files which I don't want to lose with a recovery mistake.. (if they are recoverable). So I hope this one can be addressed first. Jerry

 

I should have started by saying Welcome to MajorGeeks.

By attention, do you mean it has malware too, or just needs some general clean up? If the latter then you should probably follow the Basic computer maintenance guide here: http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=106650

If the former then you will need to go back to the Malware Removal forum, follow the Read Me Run Me guide and then if needed start a second thread for this second machine.

Do you have a firewall installed? If not then you should check out one of these: http://www.majorgeeks.com/page.php?id=20#firewall

Hopefully someone much more experienced than me will come along shortly to give you better help than I can.

 

g'day Jerry if you have concerns over having registry issues download and install ccleaner from here " http://www.majorgeeks.com/CCleaner_Slim_No_Yahoo_Toolbar_English_d4191.html ". this is a very safe program to use,be sure to keep all backups when prompted and save them untill you sure there are no problems with your computer.
this program has a secure file deletion mode and a registry scan that finds obsolete file paths that clutter up the registry it also has an uninstall mode as well as a startup manager.i and many others here at mg's use this program after uninstalling programs.and like i stated it is very safe to use.good luck

 

If you've followed iwonderdownunder's advice and that of the Basic computer maintenance, then hopefully you have gotten rid of the WAOL.exe startup problem.

To remove McAfee you will probably need this: http://majorgeeks.com/McAfee_Consumer_Product_Removal_Tool_d5420.html

Please read the lower section of that page on how to use it. Once you have finished with the McAfee removal, re-run CCleaner. Then you should be able to install AVG. Or, you could try updating the McAfee subscription instead of removing it.

The MSConfig situation is something that needs to be dealt with and I'm no where near qualified to give you help on that. There are many here who are though and one or more of them will show up.

 

Many thanks to Dust and IWunder,
OK.. yes, this is a new-to-me laptop.. no virus infection.. (and don't want one). And yes, I need to get this one, protected so that I don't loose it. I will then address the other post, and infected machine.

Yes, I have read the preventative post instructions, and have already downloaded a bunch of files, but only installed Spybot, and Firefox, before seeing the registry issues. My experience with "reg edits" is a whopping "click to fix" from Spybots! I have no idea how long this computer was used, with the start-up having been in bypass mode. So that is my biggest concern.

What may appear to be a very simple question is this. What to do first?
Do I run msconfig and put the startup back in normal mode? Or do I run CCleaner first. I know the registry can cause the whole machine to go lifeless.

As to McAfee, I even own a current subscription.. (on the other machine), but I would assume they will want me to do a full removal, and full down-load, etc. And besides.. their program didn't protect me on the other computer! So I am trying diligently to find good solutions.. and be much more serious about all.

I'm running only the XP system firewall, and I check spybot S&D, which with tea-timer seems to work. But I don't want to spend days, with removal, and reloads of virus software, if changing the registry causes it all to stop working.

So.. do I run msconfig and switch to normal boot mode first? Do I restart in safe mode? Do I just run CCleaner first? Or.. will installing a firewall, or Java updates, not be a problem and deal with the registry issues later? WAOL.. is NOT a concern.. even if I have to waste the disk space forever.. I don't think it's installed.. (I even tried to install it, to then uninstall it, and it wouldn't run, it's not now in Add/Del program list). And I did disable WAOL.exe in start-up and saw no changes on how the machine ran. But that's just it, since I got it, it's only been run in bypass boot mode!

Many thanks again! Jerry in Indiana

 

Hello again,
A quick update. McAfee expired today, with a invite to renew, so I clicked on it, and managed to get it reloaded under my name and (active) account. It seems to be installed OK, and says it's protecting (as it's done for several years previous).

And yet I have not run CCleaner, yet, or opted to reset start-up to normal. But, I don't feel so bad now, 100 people have read this, and no one has volunteered to answer that question.. of which to do first. So I may experiment with CCleaner and see if I can get it back into normal boot mode. From there the rest will be straight forward. I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks.. and BTW, input is more than welcome here!! Jerry

 

g'day again jerry sorry been out and about.what i suggest you do is run cleaner before you reset normal startup just do the registry scan you may have to do this several times to remove all errors.once there are no more issues be sure to save all backups when prompted.once completed restart the computer to ensure all is good then reset to normal,restart again and see how things go. you can trust ccleaner set to its default setting as it is when you installed it you wont damage the registry it will only remove what needs to be removed.good luck

 

Iwunder,
Thanks for the help. Registry check/fix was amazingly easy, but with huge numbers of items to be fixed. Now cleaned, defraged, Java updated, and McAfee is running. The WAOL reference in Win INI was only directory path. It would be nice to have the disk space available consumed by AOL 9.0 and AOL companion. Maybe I could just archive those two file folders and watch for errors? There is no uninstall program. I may later post that question as a separate thread. This one is running pretty well, but now I have to burn the exe downloads onto a cd and work on the tower. Not too optimistic there. Thanks again for the help, and g'day, Jerry

 

good to see you have things sorted hope your tower works out well also.if you are going to post in the malware section follow the guide in the malware removal and post when completed.be patient and the experts there will get to your post as they are fairly busy best of luck and have a good one

 

sorry, need to post this to malware

 

whew by the looks of that sass log you got some work ahead of you.the guys in the malware forum will help you good luck

 

Revo uninstaller
If you are still interested in uninstalling AOL try this program, maybe it can locate it and uninstall it for you.

 

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?p=1266812
you can also check out this thread they have some other suggestions on removing aol..