So your machine is still bogged down, even after removing those startup items in Optimize Your PC Part 1?  Maybe you have other problematic symptoms like pop-ups, added “search tool bars” and she is still super sloooow.   Maybe you are experiencing the latest one I just dealt with.  Your computer has bugs crawling and eating away your screen.  Whatever the problem, right now is the time to decide if you want to attempt a fix, or simply backup your files, format the hard drive and reload.   While this sounds like a task, often times cleaning up a severely infected machine can take many hours and cause some serious frustration along the way.  There are times when stubbornness becomes stupidity. Often times a cleaned up machine still won’t run like a freshly loaded machine, and it may have taken five times longer to get it there.  Keep this in mind as we move forward.

If your screen looks like this, then your computer is infected with Trojan W32/Pakes.csg. Do not install any programs (WinFixer) when prompted by what appears to be Windows Security Center.

If you have decided to clean things up yourself, I would suggest you try to download some software on a good running machine before you get started.  This will help save some time. I usually start out with AVG Anti-Virus, the free version for home users.  I also download Spybot Search and Destroy and LavaSoft’s Ad-Aware.  These programs also have free versions for home users.  There are other many good free rpograms that can help in ridding your computer of these pests, but do your homework before installing any.  There are many programs that seem like legitimate solutions, when in fact they only contribute to the problem by installing more malware.  WinFixer, associated with the Trojan listed above, is an example of this type of malware.

Normally I try to boot the computer up and attempt to install AVG Free first.  The new version fails when installing in Safe Mode, as the service is unable to start.  So, boot to your windows desktop and attempt to install AVF Free.  Remember we are assuming you have already downloaded this on a good running computer.  If not, go ahead and try to download it from grisoft.com, then continue with the install.  Once you have AVG Free installed attempt to install any updates for it.  You may be prompted during the program installation.   Once installed, re-boot your computer.

When the machine restarts, AVG will hopefully catch any viruses that are attempting to start with the machine.  Allow AVG run a full scan, quarantine or remove any infected files and reboot your computer.  Hopefully each time you reboot, you will notice it starting and running a little better. 

Next install and update SpyBot Search and Destroy.  Be sure to immunize everything, (which is a matter of prevention) then run a full scan (Check for Problems) and remove any items found.  Restart your machine.  Repeat this process with the Ad-Aware program and restart your machine.  If either program asks if you wish to scan again the next time you reboot, say yes.  This means they found something that could not be removed while logged in on the computer. Running these scans in safe mode is another option which might remove files that are in use while logged into normal mode.

After all of this, many times I use a tool called HiJackThis which allows you to further remove items that may be causing issues.  This tool can cause legitimate programs to malfunction if used improperly.   As another matter of prevention, I also download and install Spyware Blaster, download all of the updates and protect all.  This program does not help remove spyware, but helps block it from being installed.   If this computer had some other anti-virus, you will want to disable or un-install it.  In the case of anti-virus programs, having more than one is not good.  Your computer can bog down just from the scanning process alone.  AVG is a good program for home users, and will not tax your machine’s resources as much as some of the other big name anti-virus programs out there.  

After all of this if your computer is still running poorly, you might want to consider re-loading.  While there are other things you can do such as editing the registry to remove specific keys, shutting down services and so on, if you are not familiar with these procedures a system reload might be your best bet. Good Luck!