Hello and welcome to
Computer Hope Forum. My name is Dave. I will be helping you out with your particular problem on your computer.
1. I will be working on your
Malware issues. This
may or may not solve other issues you have with your machine.
2. The fixes are specific to your problem and should only be used for this issue on this machine.
3. If you don't know or understand something, please don't hesitate to ask.
4. Please
DO NOT run any other tools or scans while I am helping you.
5. It is important that you reply to this thread. Do not start a new topic.
6. Your security programs may give warnings for some of the tools I will ask you to use. Be assured, any links I give are safe.
7. Absence of symptoms does not mean that everything is clear.
If you can't access the internet with your infected computer you will have to download and transfer any programs to the computer you're using now and transfer them to the infected computer with a CD-RW or a USB storage device. I prefer a CD because a storage device can get infected. If you use a storage device hold the
shift key down while inserting the USB storage device for about
10 secs. You will also have to transfer the logs you receive back to the good computer using the same method until we can get the computer back on-line.
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If you wiped it and did a re-install there should not be any infections on the computer. You mentioned a PC and then later on you mentioned a laptop. Is this about two computers were dealing with?Registry cleaners are extremely powerful applications and their potential for harming your OS far outweighs any small potential for improving your computer's performance.
There are a number of them available and some are more safe than others. Keep in mind that no two registry cleaners work entirely the same way. Each vendor uses different criteria as to what constitutes a "bad" entry. One cleaner may find entries on your system that will not cause a problem when removed, another may not find the same entries, and still another may want to remove entries required for a program to work. Without research into what the registry entry selected for deletion is, a registry cleaner can end up being an automated method to cause problems with the registry.
For routine use by those not familiar with the registry, the benefits to your computer are negligible while the potential risks are great.
Further reading:
XP Fixes Myth #1: Registry Cleaners