If your computer used to be fast, but now just crawls, especially online, you most likely have picked up some JUNKWARE. Junkware is a program or process or toolbar that attaches itself to your browser, often to redirect you or filter your searching and surfing, usually for the purposes of marketing (advertising popups)....trying to sell you stuff. Q. Where does it come from? A. You updated a current program (like Java or Adobe) or downloaded something for free, like a PDF writer, or computer cleaner, or a media player so you could watch a certain video. Q. How does it get into my computer? A. You "ACCEPTED" IT. When you downloaded the program you wanted and were installing it, there were several pages during the installation process of you accepting the software. Each page was a different program you accepted. There was likely a box that was checked that said "and include this junk program too". Good Rule of Thumb: When you download something for free, you will probably get more than your money's worth. Q. How to I get it out? A. You disable and uninstall it. It takes a little time, and hunting, and restarting the computer. But most of the time it can be removed safely and your speed comes right back. Uninstalling programs are pretty easy to do, even for a novice or new user. In the Control Panel, go to "Add/Remove Programs" (in Windows XP) or "Programs and Features" (in Vista or Windows 7) and select the programs to uninstall. Removal takes from a few seconds to a minute or two. Some require restating the computer. Q. Which ones are JUNKWARE? A. Just about anything with the words Search or Toolbar or Shopping or Savings in the name. But there are many. Here's a list to start with: 24x7 Help Babylon Conduit Deal Runner, Deal Ply, etc Delta Search Default Tab Desktop Weather Alerts DNS Basic DomaIQ Driver Detective Driver Finder Facemoods Flashplayer Pro Get Savin Inbox Toolbar Incredimail ILivid Info Atoms Lyrics Tube Mixi DJ MPlayer MindSpark Mobogenie My PC Backup PC Dr PC Optimizer Pro Price Gong RegPro Rabbit TV Rage TV Savings App Serchnu Search Protect Selection Links Shopper Reports SmileBox Software Version Updater SweetIM Sweetpacks The Weather Channel Tivoli Tuguu Unity Web Player Yontoo WhiteSmoke Translator W3i There are easy to follow videos on Youtube for removing these things from your browsers, like Chrome, and Internet Explorer, and Firefox. In short, you are looking to adjust your "Settings" or "Tools" and to "Manage Add-Ons" and remove "Extensions" The different browsers have similar ways to do this, but they may use different words. You can reset Internet Explorer back to original settings and remove all the attached junkware like this. Tools, Internet Options, Advanced Tab, Reset Internet Explorer, Check the Box "Delete Personal Settings", then Reset. You'll need to reset your homepage after this but all the junk attached to IE will be gone. I'll post links to some of these videos soon. But just uninstalling the Junkware listed above will get you back a lot of your speed. |
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