How to restore system

Download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware on ANOTHER computer.

Suggest use the free version. It's all you need,

http://download.cnet.com/Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware/3000-8022_4-10804572.html

(Click on Download Now in the small green rectangle, to the top left side )

Once downloaded to the alternate computer, burn it to a CD disk.
Turn your laptop on, and open the DVD drive tray. Install the Malwarebytes CD disk, close the tray.

When Malwarebytes is loaded, install it. Then run Malwarebytes.

You may see pop-up, after pop-up, as Malwarebytes is running. So many in fact, that you may not see the Malwarebytes screen, and wonder if it is running.
IT IS. Takes usually around 8 minutes to complete.

The pop-ups may have what looks to be genuine Microsoft icons. (Shield)
Some are real, some are not.
Click on the real ones? Why? Microsoft hasn't done you any good in this matter so far.

It doesn't work, and you are just slowing down Malwarebytes. Do Not touch anything until Malwarebytes is done.

Once done you will have your Administrator privileges back again.
You can access Control Panel, Task Manager, System Restore, etc.

Suggest you go to System Restore, and TURN IT OFF, temporarily.
System Restore restores the laptops files, AND the 'virus'.

Click on Start > Hover your mouse cursor on All Programs > Go up to Accessories, over and down to System Tools, and over and down to System Restore. (Windows XP)

Click on System Restore.

When System Restore has loaded, click on - System Restore Settings - on the left side of the screen.

Click IN the empty box to the left of - Turn off System Restore on all drives
Now go below to the right, and click on Apply.
Go below to the left, and click on OK.

Run Malwarebytes one more time. When finished go back to System Restore > System Restore Settings > and click in the box once more. Empty square box.
Click on Apply, and OK once more.

Also suggest you go back to the main System Restore page, and click on the circle to the left of -
Create a restore point. Then click on Next at the bottom.

You will have a system restore point that you Know is good.
(Be aware that after time the restore point is gone. Windows updates the restore point. You may want to go into system restore once in a while, and ensure you have a vaild good restore point)

The 'Virus' you picked up is no virus at all. It's a sham.
It is a 'Scareware Malware'.

Pretends to be genuine, but is a hoax. Purchasing it does nothing. It does not remove itself.
It is a new version of an old piece of cr@p, MS Antivirus,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Antivirus

For additional questions please post in a Comment.

Regards,
joecoolvette

Hi ladurisjames...

Your computer sounds like it is loaded with "junk"
Lets start by doing a disc cleaning, then a defrag of the hard drive, and then get rid of unwanted pictures, programs, etc.that you never use anymore from your computer.
Last resort will be a System Restore.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1...Disc cleaning...Click on Start>All Programs>Accessories>System Tools> Disc Cleanup
2. Defrag the Hard Drive...Click on Start>All Programs>Accessories>System Tools>Disc Defragmenter.
3...Delete any unused programs,files,pictures...etc.
4. Final resort: System Restore...this will restore your computer to a time when it was operating good, you have to pick the date when it was running good....Click Start>All Programs>Accessories>System Tools>System Restore
After you have completed the above your computer should run faster.
Please take time to rate me

Not sure what you mean by back to zero. If you want to restore it to its factory default condition, then do the following which will not only clear all user data but remove any malware or viruses. Before starting the procedure, make sure the netbook is plugged into its AC adapter to ensure the restore to factory default condition proceeds to completion without being interrupted by low battery.
1. On power-up while the Acer logo is showing...
2. Press and hold down the Alt key then press the F10 key repeatedly
3. Screen should then indicate starting the Acer eRecovery Management environment.
4. Wait until eRecovery has loaded and its menu asks How would you like to restore
5. Click on Restore system to factory default
6. Once retore is complete, the system will restart Windows for setting up its configuration

Wow! 24 hours to run a virus check -- that's a long time. Let's see if we can find out what is causing your laptop to run so slow.

I understand you've doubled the ram ... It is now at least 2gb?

Please look at the following at the event viewer logs to see if anything looks out of the ordinary. (Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Event Viewer ... look at the Application and System Log in particular).

Is there any process in particular sucking up the processor? Press Ctrl-Alt-Del then open up the the task manager. Choose the processes tab, then click on the CPU tab until it is sorted with the highest process on top. What process/processes are taking up the utilization - ideally, system idle process will be in the 90s.

Please report back so we can resolve your issue. Thank you.

Do you have the system restore disks for your tablet? Once you have restored windows then you need to use the second disk to load all the drivers

Your potential problem might be a virus. If you are having an updated anti-virus software and are running regular scans and found nothing, Then this might be the problem, while making the system get restored, the frequent problem is that, xp doesn't load the drivers which you installed for your system and it loads its own drives (which sometimes won't go with your devices). Try installing the drivers (especially display and motherboard drivers). If this doesn't work, I better suggest that you do a complete format of the system and install windows xp afresh.. Then there should be no problem. These're the possible solutions which i can infer from the details you've given..

Regards..

I am guessing from the "clicking" noise that the some sort of anti-virus app trying to scan the HDD and the HDD is virus-infected. If you do not have much stuff on the PC, do you think it is possible to reformat the HDD and re-install the OS? (this is obviously last resort - I am sure expert folks here will come up with better solutions)

Hi run msconfig anything in there that does not start with c\windows or has a .exe file these are normally short lines means there is a bug in your system, and restoring it moves it to your restore point, my advise is to get an external hard drive move all your needed files to it then re format drive and start again. so far i have not found one anti virus or sytem cleaner to remove this bug so have rebooted and re formatted to save me grief.

have a look at the fan on the processor if its running slow it will be making that noise so your processor is over heating and in turn making your pc run slow. replace this fan now. if your processor overheats too much it will burn out.

Yes. With a typical default configuration you should keep an amount of disk space free on the C: drive as this is where your virtual memory or page file sits. When the computers ram fills up, the OS writes some of that memory to disk (virtual memory) so that it can free up real hardware memory (which is fast) for running apps. When disk space is restricted on the C: drive memory management becomes more innefficient as things need to be erased from memory and then reloaded rather than just swapped from the virtual memory on the disk. Worse than slowness if you completely run out of space your system will freeze up.

You should make sure your c: drive does not fill up. Also if you have another drive (such as a d:drive) with more space you can change where the virtual memory resides and place it there so that it can grow as it needs to.