Comp running slow, TuneUp, AVG

[Silvenon]

Well, this is a pretty common problem, I think. My comp is running about two or three times slower than it did before. It kinda bugs me, because I think I might have viruses. I also probably have a lot of unused data that just takes memory...I sometimes even get "Low RAM" warnings. I have three questions.

Does anyone know how can I make my comp go faster? I tried removing stuff from startup, but nothing improved significantly. I'm a noob at these things.

Is TuneUp a safe program? I think it's quite useful, but I don't want it deleting my files just because he "thinks" they're not necessary. Does anyone have any experience with it? That would improve my comp's performance a lot perhaps.

Is having only AVG ok? Because I'm really tired of downloading antivirus programs, then restarting my comp a dozen of times and stuff like that. There's one thing I hate about antivirus software, you practically have to have more than one (for viruses & spyware, right?), which automatically gives a chance of them conflicting and I never know if they work properly. Downloading antivirus from torrent is also a stupid idea, because I first have to check the downloaded file for viruses, so it's pretty much going in circle. Is there any way to secure my comp so I can say "it's virus-free now"? I suppose I can always go to registry and clean some of them manually, is there any tutorial on doing that?

+rep for useful answers

 

[HellslayerX15]

Does AVG have free active protection? If so it should be enough. Though you would probably find more viruses if you had about 2-3 different programs. But you would only need 1 active protection if you don't know what it is you're downloading. Also you can never be sure that your computer is virus free unless you've reinstalled it or formatted the hard drive.

 

[Silvenon]

Yeah it does. Well, that sucks, I guess I should get linux or something.

 

[The Reborn Devil]

Reformatting your computer would make it a lot faster.
I'm not sure about TuneUp. You shouldn't use it if you got it for free from some random site, unless you are 100% it's harmless.
AVG is probably enough, but I recommend getting a really good Anti-Virus program which costs a little. I'm using Norton Anti-Virus and it works great.

 

[Silvenon]

Yeah...reformatting...that takes a lot of work, but I guess yes. Well, thanks. Still waiting for a TuneUp user...maybe I should find a forum for that.

 

[Kercyn]

Okay, let's see. First of all, a single antivirus program is never enough. You need antivirus, antispyware, antirootkit, firewall and maybe an ip blocker too (if you use P2P or torrent applications). Now, you don't have to format your computer, of course. There are a few steps you can take to improve its performance. First of all, remove every program you don't use. Then, I recommend CCleaner. CCleaner cleans your computer from useless files, such as cookies, unused extensions etc. I've been using it for a long time and I can say that it is reliable. I also advise you to scan your computer for all kinds of malicious software. These programs might help you with that:

• Spyware Terminator
• Spybot: Search and Destroy
• Panda Anti-rootkit
• AVG, which you already have...

You might also consider defragmenting your hard drives. I also recommend System Protect and PeerGuardian to keep you safe. I hope all these help

EDIT: Uhm, why doesn't the list tag work? oO
EDIT 2: Omgz, I forgot a " in an url tag and that's why the list didn't work. Not to mention the parts that weren't displayed. gj -.-

 

[Silvenon]

Well, AVG is both an antivirus and antispyware. I guess it's also a firewall, since a toolbar is installed in my firefox. Now, what is antirootkit and ip blocker? Won't any additional programs conflict with AVG?

For list tag to work, you must put a [list] in the beginning of the text (before the first [*])

 

[Kercyn]

AVG's free version contains an Antivirus only. An antirootkit is a program that finds and eliminates rootkits. Rootkits are malicious programs that are extremely hard to detect and destroy and their job is to take control of your system. Wiki IP blocking. And yes, I used a [list] tag in the beginning.

 

[Gilles]

Kercyn has given good advice, although I generally don't use nearly that many programs to protect my computer. Having AVG, Spybot, and my firewall are enough for me. Besides, I like to reformat every once in a while.

• Testing
• the
• list

Not sure what you did, the list tags work fine for me.