Quote:
Originally Posted by DMcCunney
I concur on CCleaner.
It was originally called Crap Cleaner, and did what the name implied - deleted junk files that accumulate in Windows.
Find it at https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner The free version is entirely adequate for what you want to do.
A malware scan is also a good idea. The best of the lot for this is likely Malware Bytes. They have a free scanner app that can find and remove malware. Download and install it, and update its definition file, then run it. It will probably take a while. When done, it will present a list of what it found and let you selectively delete it. For the state of the machine as described, "Nuke it all till it glows, and shoot it in the dark" is probably called for. See https://www.malwarebytes.org/dl-confirm/
Again, the free version is adequate for what you are doing at the moment. They offer a Pro version that acts as a resident malware blocker, but I don't bother with it. Malware gets in through the browser, and the first defense is "Don't run IE."
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Dennis |
Thanks, y'all. I ran Ccleaner and got rid of some stuff (she really rarely used this, so there wasn't a whole lot there) and ran Malware Bytes and got rid of 5-6 PUP files (whatever they may be). Nothing else. I've put a post-it note saying "NO!" over the IE icon and another saying "mail" pointing to the Chrome icon. I also told yahoo mail to revert to the basic display, rather than the newer. *My* mail is at least viewable; we'll have to try hers.
Now that I see that it *is* at 8.1 (dunno if that was true before, or not) I'll google how to put a Start Menu back on. We'll both recognize that, which may help, though it won't fix the slowness.
I'll ask her if she wants me to install the Solitaire programs that were mentioned a month ago, when I first asked (thanks for the pointer to those!) but given the overall slowness, maybe not. Or maybe, if it gets her to actually USE the pc again, she would bother to call her ISP and get the connection fixed? That could help .... Why spend $45/ month for a connection that hasn't worked in over a year .... when she's also using a food pantry??