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Technology Services

Fixing Your Computer

Many computer problems can be fixed with a few easy procedures you can perform yourself! If you do all of these things and the problem persists, you may opt to bring your computer to Technology Services for repairs.

What might be wrong? if your computer is running slowly

You may have file-sharing software (Limewire, Frostwire, Morpheus, etc.) installed on your computer, which has installed spyware, or your computer is infected with a virus. See the detailed explanation below for more information.

What to do

  1. Remove any spyware from your computer.
  2. Update your antivirus software and run a complete scan of your computer.
  3. Uninstall any file-sharing software. If you do not want to uninstall this software you should configure it not to start up every time the computer starts and not to distribute files from your computer.

Detailed instructions Removing spyware with Malwarebytes

Malwarebytes is a free utility that can tell you if spyware or adware has been installed on your computer and remove it for you.

  1. Download Malwarebytes from the manufacturer at http://www.malwarebytes.org/
  2. Double-click on the downloaded file and follow the instructions on the screen to install the program.
  3. After the install it will try to update its database
  4. Once the update is done select full scan.
  5. When the program finishes scanning, it will show you the items it found.
  6. Choose to remove items found
  7. Click Yes in the confirmation box.
  8. When the program is finished, you may close the program.

Fixing your Computer Removing File Sharing Software

  1. Go to Start - Settings - Control Panel - Add/Remove Programs.
  2. Find the program (Kazaa, iMesh, etc.) in the list and click once to highlight it, then click the Remove, Add/Remove, or Change/Remove button.
  3. If it says that it can't uninstall it because it's running, then you'll need to stop it first. To do so:
    • Go to your Task Manager/Task List (you may need to press CTRL+ALT+DELETE once to get to this).
    • Find the program (e.g., Kazaa.exe, iMesh.exe,) in the list (you may have to switch to the Processes tab). Click once on it to highlight, then click the End Process/End Task button. You may have to do this more than once.
    • Once the program closes, go back to Add/Remove Programs and try again to remove it.
  4. Repeat for each file-sharing program you have installed.

Updating Antivirus Software and Scanning your Computer

If your computer is acting strangely, it could also be due to a virus infection. You should always keep your anti-virus software and virus definitions up to date. (Anti-virus software is useless if you don't keep it upto- date.)

  1. If you do not currently have antivirus software installed on your computer, you may use TrendMicro’s free online scan at: http://housecall.trendmicro.com/housecall/start_corp.asp or download and install Free AVG from http://free.avg.com/us-en/homepage
  2. If you do have antivirus software installed on your computer, either use your virus software's built-in update feature to update the virus definitions, or go to the manufacturer's web site to download and install the update.
    Norton AntiVirus web site: http://www.symantec.com/
    McAfee VirusScan web site: http://www.mcafee.com/anti-virus/
  3. After installing the update you downloaded, start the antivirus program and run a complete scan of all files on your hard drive(s), including subfolders and compressed files. (For example, McAfee VirusScan is usually found under Start - Programs - Network Associates - McAfee VirusScan.)
  4. If any viruses are found, have the antivirus software clean them, delete them, or at least quarantine them. If the software reports that it cannot clean a file, write down the information on the screen (both the name of the virus and the name of the infected file) and contact Tech Support for further assistance.

If you can't fix it yourselfAssistance and Questions

If you've tried to fix the problems yourself, using the instructions below, and have been unable to resolve the issues, you may need to seek professional assistance.

If you have any questions or need more information, please contact Tech Support via the web at hughettm@lmc.edu or call 828-898-8830 If you would like Instructional Technology to repair your computer, you may drop off your computer at Chaffee, Monday - Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.