Possible Virus or Cookie Problem

[Quichi]

Im not sure if I have one problem or two. or more. Firstly, I have run virus software which has told me I have all sorts of possible spyware and at least one trojan, but since it's Free software, it won't fix it for me. I need to know if it sounds like I should pay someone to fix my computer or if there's something I haven't tried yet.

I have a very old PC, which I recently updated to Windows XP. I left my computer off for all of winter break, and when I came back, the problems started up.

First, it freezes constantly. It freezes as much as five times in a row when visiting certain websites. The characteristics of those sites seem to be lots of pop-ups, ads and cookies. When it freezes I can do nothing except turn the computer off manually. Ctrl-alt-delete does not work.

When I first noticed this, I tried system restore, which usually fixes my pc. It failed. Possibly because it was trying to restore to a date three weeks ago.

Secondly, after I restarted at one point, I noticed odd files here and there. There is at least one in every folder and one on the desktop. It has an unfamiliar icon, which is oddly faded, and is labeled 'desktop'. When I try to delete it, I get a message saying that this is a system file and deleting it could crash the pc.
In one folder used for music share, there is a large group of image files, jpegs and the like, which I deleted a long time ago. They are back in that folder, but faded, and I get the same 'system file' message when I go to delete them.

The third problem is what made me think that part of this has to do with internet cookies. I am unable to access my online class's website at all. and the support there said to change the cookie settings. After I did, I could still not access to site, but whenever I reboot, after every freeze, the system check says I have an invalid temporary internet file.

I have no idea whats going on, I'm going to have to drop my internet class, and the freezing is really annoying, but I need some advice because it would be really expensive for me to have it fixed.

Thanks for your time.

[GX1_Man]

Probably the best way would be to format the hard drive and reinstall the operating system.

BUT, we can try to get it fixed to a working state. First you do need to remove all of the spyware/adware/viruses. Whatever is trying to sell you it's service is not needed. Delete that from Add and Remove Prgrams in Control Panel.

AdAware

http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-SE-Personal-Edition/3000-8022_4-10045910.html?part=dl-ad-aware&subj=dl&tag=top5

Spybot

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download2471.html

AVG Free Antivirus (You do not need this if you have an antivirus installed already.)

http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1


All of these free prgrams should be installed and updated. Then you need to turn off system restore, boot to Safe Mode (F8 when the computer starts, before the Windows logo) and run the scans in Safe Mode.

Let's make sure the system is clean and then we will solve the other problems. By using system restore, you can just reinfect yourself.

Let us know what you find.

[Quichi]

I ran all three suggested programs, and cleared out alot of bad files, but my computer is still freezing on certain websites, and also when I try to do too many things at once. It wouldn't run both Spybot and Adobe at the same time, for example. Sometimes it's worse than others, while I was trying to check me email, It froze 6 times within 5 minutes. I've had other people tell me to just give up and hire someone, but I need to know that there's nothing else I can do.
Thanks

[GX1_Man]

Do you have a Windows CD if needed to reinstall? This will not solve hardware problems, but it could possibly fix the situation, if not.


What about the info offered here:

http://www.computerhope.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?num=1133458168