PC help

[bhafc99]

I'm normally a Mac person, but we have a PC at home, and wondered if anyone can let me know if this problem might be what I think it is.

Our PC is becoming crap at connecting to the Internet and email. 2 out of 3 attempts just freeze and fall over, and you need to try over and over again to do the simplest things. We've got avast security, and that reports no issues, and I've tried defragmenting disks, clearing up space and all the basics.

One thing I've noticed is that our computer is constantly 'sending' masses of data over its connection. For example, the connection status display shows that I've currently been connected for 58 minutes, during which time I've 'received' 6.5MB of data down the line, and - apparently - 'sent' 43.6MB. But I haven't done anything, beyond browse a few sites and check email.

How come the 'send' figure is so high? Is this normal? Or does it suggest that our PC is being used as some kind of host by a spammer - I don't know what the technical terms is, but basically when someone infiltrates your PC to use it to forward spam.

And if it, how do I go about checking and stopping this?

Any advice appreciated, thanks.

 

[readingstockport]

Have yopu got an anti-spyware program(s). If not then get some, I use spybot and adaware, http://www.safer-networking.org/index2.html and http://www.lavasoft.com/ You may well have been hijacked.

 

[Robot Chicken]

PM hotlips69 as he's an IT specialist.

 

[Moshe Gariani]

And if it, how do I go about checking and stopping this?

Any advice appreciated, thanks.

Have you tried turning it off and then back on again? I know it sounds mad but you'd be surprised at how often it does the trick...

 

[Razi]

Is the board allowed more than one IT specialist? =)

As readingstockport mentions, you might have some kind of spyware installed. Whereas a virus tends to do a bit of damage to your PC by overwriting files and generally causing a nuisance, Spyware can get onto your machine and watch what you're doing, what sites you visit, passwords you enter into websites, or just make your PC a host for more nefarious doings.

So, yeah, download some anti-spyware software like Spybot Search & Destroy, or Lavasoft's AdAware (or both to make extra certain). Make sure you keep them updated and run them regularly.

You might also want to download CCleaner, which is handy little tool to check your PC for various bits and pieces that don't need to be on there (temp files, things that you uninstalled but bits got left behind, etc). That might improve the speed of the PC a little, along with the defragging that you're already doing..

Spybot: http://www.spybotupdates.com/files/spybotsd152.exe
AdAware: http://filehippo.com/download_ad-aware/
CCleaner: http://download.piriform.com/ccsetup204.exe

Between those 3 utilities, the PC should be fairly secure. I also run AVG Anti-Virus, which is free and doesn't tend to slow the PC down too much..

 

[bhafc99]

Thanks guys, will have a go at installing Spybot and AdAware right now...