Member Avatar for valerie_parker

Hi there all,

I'm having some issues with my laptop. My boyfriend had my laptop (while I was not there) and decided to try to fix my problematic MSN messenger (i could sign in and see my contacts online, but not talk with them, this happens when using a wireless connection in school, and only to me! none of friends have this problem!) He decided to uninstall Windows Messenger because he thought that it might be conflicting or something. So he went on "add/remove windows components" and tried to remove the Windows Messenger.

What he told me later on, was that somehow he got rid of everything else besides the Windows Messenger, ans had to reinstall it.

Also, he downloaded the program Limewire which he said needed the firewall disabled to work!

Well, after everything happened, the laptop was running very very very slowly. All the icons in the system tray were not coming up and everything kept freezing up.

Problem is I have no idea what exactly he did, and, sweet guy that he is, neither does he!

So I got rid of the Limewire and out of desperation, also a couple of other programs (games) that i dont use often. then I defragmented the C drive. It's working slightly faster. But still not like before. Some icons are not coming up still in the tray, and different ones are disappearing each time. Some programs are still freezing up where they would not have done so before.

How can I get my (practically new!) laptop back in proper working order?

Thanks!

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by dcc
Member Avatar for dcc

Have you scanned it with your AV, it sounds like you may have been infected.

Not knowing what you have for a firewall and AV, I can only suggest that if you don't have the following, you might want to download and use these porgrams, they are freeware, and have very good reputations, they don't eat much, and play well with others. :cheesy:

Spybot Search and Destroy

http://www.download.com/3000-2144-10122137.html


Ad-Aware

http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/

Ewido Security Suite

http://www.download.com/Ewido-Security-Suite/3000-8022_4-10326287.html


Before you run these, clear your cookies, otherwise they will show up as mild threats.

You could also do a system restore if your boyfriend deleted anything important, like anything from the refistry.

I hope this helps, please let us know what you find.

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