First things first, if you haven't already, choose and install an Anti-Virus software. If you're not sure which Anti-Virus to go for, here are 2 small lists, (free software & paid software).

Note: Do not have more than one Anti-Virus installed on your computer!

Freeware:
- Avira
- AVG
- Avast

Paid Software:
- Kaspersky
- ESET Smart Security
- Norton
- McAfee

(I use AVG and it has been excellent).


Once you have installed your chosen Anti-Virus, run a full system scan and remove any files that have been detected as being malicious.

If you still believe you're computer may be infected, click the below spoiler for futher advice.

Hope this information is useful.

Thanks, Jack.

Edited at 18:23 Tue 16/11/10 (GMT)

I've got full AVG (not the free version) and never had any problem. Does the trick.

Ye, as a basic Anti-Virus, the full version and the free version do the same thing. But if people want more security options then the full version is great.

also use piriform c cleaner

Tu'shay!

Doesn't prevent greatest posting however, shame.

You obviously haven't found that box then to tick in the options Derry?

Haha!

Only if Carlsberg did anti-virus

Always had Norton, might not be the cheapest, but you know what they say, pay more for better things...

I run a full system scan every month and all I ever get is a tracking cookie from an email, other than that, Norton's firewall is brilliant and well worth the money

I find Norton a nightmare.

@greatest

I mentioned CCleaner in the spoiler.

I don't use a anti virus as I think I can do the exact same job with removing them myself but the best one on the market for me is

Obviously AVG its good its always updating and it's free for aslong as you want it (Definatly best to have)

Norton do not buy it's definatly not the best on the market I found out you dont achive the same standard as some others

Kaspersky is most proberbly the best you can buy from the list you mentioned as this is pretty much on top of everything you need

Also for ESET I would go for ESET NOD32 it is cheaper to buy for the year and most proberbly does the same quality job as ESET Smart Security

3 years of computer security/netowring and programming you can pretty much keep your own computer safe and you never need to have a anti virus or a firewall on so it's much easier and cheaper

NOTE: Here a good program every computer should have:

SpyBot Search and Destroy (Keeps your computer free of mailware/spyware and this really doesa good job)

Edited at 14:49 Wed 17/11/10 (GMT)

Yeh I've actually never had a virus before because I'm careful with what I do online, but I do have the software needed just in case.

I have used CCleaner / Norton / AVG & Spybot and none of them worked!

CCleaner did the equivelent job as going to internet options and deleting history and cookies.

Norton & AVG searched and searched for viruses when I knew they were there but they never found them, only found tracking cookies and a few trojans. Never fixed the problem though.

Search and destroy was actually fairly good, it removed some stuff before for me and made my computer usable again but i was still infected afterwards and had to have my whole harddisk wiped to fixed the problem.

What was the problem in the end?

Every time I was on the computer about 50 tabs would open with all different sites. Didnt matter if I was online or not internet windows would constantly open.

A friend of mine wiped the harddisk completely and reinstalled everything from scratch for me and havnt had a problem since.

Right lads i want some help with this.

i want to basically get my laptop running the best it can.

ive uninstalled a few things, norton and mcafee, what should i do next!!

Download and run CCleaner. This will get rid of a lot of unwanted stuff and free up some space.
Once on CCleaner, you can also uninstall programs. Get rid of the programs you don't need or want.

Defrag your hard drive..

- Click Start
- Run
- Type: Dfrg.msc and click ok.
- Select your main Drive or "Volume" (usually C)
- Click Defragment

This can take a while so you might want to leave it overnight.

Finally you can reduce the number of start-up programs you have.

You cant artificially make it quicker by removing programs, unless you're thinking of a clean installation of an operating system.

Stuff like disk defragmenting are a temporary fix- hence why you need to keep doing it (depending on how much you use your computer).

Else its time to upgrade hardware.

Why isnt there a mention of Windows defender in this thread?

Kaspersky ftw my dad gets a discount

Absolutely. I regularly use AVG free at work to clean up computers supposedly "protected" by Norton.

I use AVG and nothing else. Don't forget the impact all these programs have on performance. Making sure your updates run regularly so each months malware removal tool runs while avoiding the likes of firefox should be enough to keep any system clean, but of course it always depends on what you're doing with it.