This how to guide is not designed to fix every problem you might have.

A professional can solve problems that arise when simple tools fail.

 I am not responsible for anything that happens to you computer.

This will be a quick step by step how to guide to cleaning off your Windows XP computer.  While I cannot guarantee this procedure will fix your computer problems, I can tell you these are general steps most computer people will take when facing a slow machine with lots of Pop-Ups.  So, lets get going:

NOTE: Free tools start at step 7

  1)On the keyboard press CTRl + ALT + Delete at the same time, it will bring up windows taskmanager. 

  2)Now that you are in Windows Taskmanager, there will be several tabs with the following names: Applications, Processes,     Performance, Networking, Users.  Use the mouse to select the Processes Tab.

  3)Next you will see under the processes tab, Image Name, User Name, CPU, Mem Usage.  Select User Name.  You should         recognize the name you type when you get onto the computer.  In my case it says Rob.

4) OK, So what you are looking at now are the majority of the programs that are running on your computer.  Some of them are needed while others are not wanted at all.  In this particular case we are going to keep it easy for you and we are only going to look at the programs running under your name.  So, to the left of your name will be the name of the program running and on the right of it will be some numbers that will probably change occasionally.  If the numbers immediately to the right of your name are over 80 consistently then you will want to select them.  This will select the entire row, including the name of the program.  At the bottom of the window there will be a button that says End Process.  Select that now.

5) Alright, now we have either gotten rid of programs that were taking up excessive thinking time or we haven't found a problem yet.  So the next step is to look at the column called Image Name.  Only look at the Name that are next to your known login name.  If you recognize these programs and would not like them to be running, select them and then click end process.

6) Moving on, we can probably say that you didn't do anything on the last two steps because you were just not comfortable with doing it or there wasn't anything for you to do.  However, if you did notice a process taking up a lot of cpu time, your machine is probably running much faster already.  Next we are going to use a couple of FREE TOOLS to help with removal.

-------------FREE TOOLS to Clean Your Computer-------------

7)  One of my favorite tools is online at www.trendmicro.com.  There you will need to look around for a link called Free Online Services.  The last time I looked the link was under the category For Home.  Anyway, click on the link and you should see several options, you are looking for the one called HOUSECALL free scan.  Click the Housecall free scan link.

8)  Now you will see another page, there will be a button named Launch Housecall free scan.  Click on the Launch Housecall free scan now.  Follow the next directions provided from Housecall.  NOTE:  You can use either JAVA or ActiveX to run the scan, however one of them must be installed.. If you click housecall and nothing happens loock for a little bar saying you must install this first towards the top of the browser.  There are links to install Java, or to apply active X on the page you clicked Launch Housecall.  Follow those directions if you are stuck.

 9)  Housecall will take a bit to run, after it is finished there will be a page that allows you to pick and chose what to get rid, I recommend removing all.

 
10)  So you still have problems and now you even know what the problem is, perhaps a virus that Trend Micro cannot remove because it keeps being active.  The next free tool I like to use is Security Taskmanager.  Security Taskmanager is available for download at http://www.neuber.com/taskmanager.  So , download and install this program now.

11)Open Security taskmanager, you will see a a continue button; click it.  Now you should see a window open showing a lot of processes. At this point you should look for a button towards the top of the window called rating.  Click on rating to view what the Security Task manager views as as higher risk.

12) In general risk of 60 and below can be ignored, while higher risk must be assessed by you to determine whether or not it should be removed.  For instance, I have a program with a rating of 67 but it is something I know and do not want to lose because I use it all the time... I would not delete this program.  However, another program with a listing of 93 and I have absolutely no idea what it is for after I do a quick Google on it is going to be removed.

13) So, moving on to removal of the said program.  Simply highlight the program line by clicking on it, then either hit delete or right click and select remove.  Usually, I quarantine the program so it also doesn't start up again when I start Windows.

14) Congratulations, you have just completed 90% of what a professional would do to clean you computer on your own.