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There are a few things you can try to get Google working again. The success to each fix is related to the cause of the failure, which is most likely a virus or Trojan on your system. The first thing to do is to run a good malware program to remove any viruses or problems that have been introduced to your machine. Use more than one antivirus program because no program can get everything - you need the back up. Try Antivirus Plus, Ad-Aware and Spybot as a start.

Delete Hosts

Once your computer is free of viruses and malware, the first thing you should try is deleting the hosts file on your C drive. Go to Start and then to My Computer and choose the C: drive. On the top, click on the Search tab and type in ‘host’ (without the quotes). Delete anything that comes up for host file and restart your machine. Many times this will solve Google search problems.

Clean Cache and Cookies

Sometimes, cleaning your cache and deleting your cookies will allow Google to start working again. The instructions depend on which browser you are using - here are the directions for Internet Explorer and Firefox:

• IE: First, clean the cache. When you are in Internet Explorer, go to Tools and then Internet Options. Go to the General tab. Choose Delete. In Temporary Internet Files click on Delete Files. Click Ok and close Internet Options. To delete cookies, follow the same directions, but in General tab, you’re going to click Delete and then to the Cookies section. Delete Cookies, click Ok and close Internet Options.
• Firefox: To clean the cache, go to Tools, Options and Advanced. Choose the Network tab in Offline Storage and click Clear Now. Close Options. To delete the cookies, got to Tools, Options and Privacy. In the Cookies section, choose Show Cookies and then choose Remove all cookies. Close the dialog box and options.

Getting rid of viruses and deleting the hosts should get Google back up and running. If these fixes don’t work for you, let us know if you are getting an error message when you try to use Google.

Are Free Anti-Virus Programs Good Enough?

Depending on how you use your computer, many of the free antivirus programs are indeed decent choices. We recently reviewed about 20 of the latest and most popular 2009 antivirus programs on the market and I was impressed with quite a few of the free offerings.

In the past, free anti-virus programs were fairly limited in their abilities, requiring a great deal of user interaction. For example, automatic updates and real-time blocking were virtually unheard of with free protection. If you had a free antivirus program on your computer, viruses could come in at will and you would have to manually update the program and then scan the entire system in order to find and remove infections. The problem with this is that between scans, viruses could get in and do their damage.

Today’s Free Anti-Virus Programs have Grown Up

Many of the free antivirus programs on the market today have grown up and now offer real-time protection and automatic updates. This stops viruses from ever arriving in the first place. Many offer more sophisticated options such as root kit detection and spyware protections. Keep in mind that some of the freebies are still barebones programs, so read the features and make an informed decision.

Filetonic’s Antivirus Reviews

Read our recent reviews and look for a free anti-virus program that best meets your needs. One of the best free ones in the list is Avast which provides both virus and spyware protection as well as real time blocking. It is available for free to home users for personal use only. It should do an adequate job of securing your computer. It may lack the more advanced features that you’re accustomed to with Norton, so weigh your options.

Antivirus Resource Usage

Another trend that I noticed is that the newest antivirus programs are emphasizing smaller footprints and lower resource usage requirements. These programs must run at all times in order to be effective so this is a good move in the right direction.

A Word of Warning

When searching for free antivirus programs, beware of imposters. We’ve had many visitors to our site tell us of horror stories related to clicking a pop-up ad for a free antivirus program - then the free program turned out to be a spyware program or virus which then wreaked havoc on the user’s system. Look for products from reputable developers or recommended from sites that you trust. Download the program that you want before Norton expires as added protection. Norton should be able to detect the imposters.

Okay, I am going to suggest a few different strategies and suggestions to follow. First, let’s get you into the desktop so you can work through this. I want you to try and start the computer in safe mode and follow the additional suggestions afterward.

How to Boot Up in Safe Mode

Turn the power on and immediately begin to press the F8 key on your keyboard. Select “Last known good configuration.” Press enter. Your prompts might vary somewhat, but you should get the idea. Once you are in safe mode, you can select to restore your computer’s operating system. You won’t lose any of your stored data except for any applications that you installed after the “system restore” date that you select. Start→ All Programs→ Accessories→ System Tools→ System Restore. Select “Restore my computer to an earlier time,” and click on next.

Next, delete any unwanted files, folders, and applications. Empty the recycle bin. Defrag your computer. To do so, follow this path: Start→ All Programs→ Accessories→ System Tools→ Disk Cleanup.

If you want to uninstall this application, you should be able to do so now. However, I recommend reading through all of these suggestions before doing so.

Security Applications

Many security applications start up almost as soon as you boot up your computer. In fact, they often attempt to access updates through your Internet connection as soon as they start up. When this occurs, it can easily lead to a problem, especially if you do not have high speed Internet access. Problems will occur.

Norton 360 and Live Update

If you think the problem could be related to the “Live Update” feature, you can disable this at least temporarily to see if that solves the problem. Simply go to the Norton’s control panel and disable the “Live Update” feature.

Norton 360 and Vista

If you are using Windows Vista, that can lead to an incompatibility issue with Norton 360. Sometimes, the system will appear to freeze and in some cases, it might actually do so. Norton 360 takes a long time to install its updates as well, and it uses a great deal of resources when doing so.

Check the Applications Listed to Load at Start Up

Since Norton 360 is such a resources hog, it is best not to have too many applications begin at start up. Check to see which programs are scheduled to load when the computer boots up and switch some of them to not to load. This will conserve resources and minimize the chances that Norton 360 will encounter a problem loading due to lack of resources. For example, if you have instant messenger or Pidgin set to load at install, disable them and see if that helps.

How to Disable Programs from Loading at Start Up

To check and edit the list of programs that load at start up, follow this set of directions:

1. Click Start.
2. Click Run.
3. Type “msconfig” in the box.
4. In the dialog box that opens, click on “start up.” This will show you the programs that are currently loading when your computer starts up.
5. Select the programs that you wish to disable and click on the disable button in the lower right hand corner. If you make a mistake and stop the wrong program, simply select the program and enable it by clicking on the enable button.

I’ve never heard of the toron virus, so I’m guessing that you’re referring to a Trojan and other viruses. In any case, the procedure is basically the same for removing any harmful malware on your computer system.

Defining Malware
It may help here to put up a condensed dictionary for the bad things that can happen to your computer. This isn’t all of them, but these are the things that are most often referred to as “viruses.”

1. Malware - These are files that are made specifically to harm your computer. It is the blanket term for worms, viruses, Trojans and spyware.
2. Backdoor - A backdoor program is one that allows a hacker to access and execute tasks on your computer remotely. It is usually used to spread attacks to other computers.
3. Adware - These generate ads and popups on your computer. Not all adware is considered malware, although most people find them annoying.
4. Trojan - This file looks like something that you innocently download or forward to a friend, but it causes malicious activity to your system.
5. Spyware - This monitors your Internet activity and sends your computer’s information to a remote server.
6. Worm - This is a program that spreads to other computers using your email address book or the Internet.
7. Virus - This program clones itself to infect files and programs on your computer. It is usually localized to one machine. These can be harmless or can crash your entire computer system.

Removing Malware
Because hackers have nothing better to do than sit around thinking up new ways to harm your computer, many companies have come up with programs that are continually updated to protect your system. I’m sure you have an antivirus program and are updating it regularly, right? Right? If, for some reason you have left your system open to hackers, you must download a quality program and start using it right away.

It is a good idea to have several layers of protection such as Spybot, Ad-Aware and ParetoLogic Antivirus Plus so that one can catch what others miss. Check out the Spyware link on the right side of the Filetonic website for several articles on various antispyware programs. We have recently reviewed the latest crop of antivirus applications for 2009. View the reviews here.

The best way to get rid of a virus is to delete any recent Java updates and then run an antivirus and anti-spyware scan. Once the system is clean, you can download a (hopefully) clean version of Java.

Follow these steps to get rid of your Java viruses:

Turn off System Restore:

1. Go to My Computer and right click on it.
2. Choose Properties.
3. Click on the System Restore tab, and then check the box beside Turn off System Restore. Click Apply, then Okay

Uninstall Java Updates

1. Now you need to get rid of the Java updates.
2. Go to Control Panel. Find the Java icon and click on it.
3. Delete any Temporary Internet Files. Click Ok.
4. Get back into Control Panel.
5. Go to Add/Remove Programs.
6. Find any Java updates that are included and uninstall all of them.

Once you’re done, you should then run an antivirus scan along with an anti-spyware scan such as Ad-Aware to help the system find anything that is hidden. There is a good overview of antivirus programs on this site here.

Reinstall Java

Once the viruses have been removed, you can go to the Java website and download the newest updates. You can limit your virus exposure by only downloading from trustworthy websites. You can test to see what version of Java is installed and how it’s running by clicking on the link here. Most of the time, Java downloads are secure, but they have documented instances of Java downloads being infected by Trojans and other viruses. Once you’ve reinstalled Java, don’t forget to turn your System Restore back on by following the steps above.

Once you have a clean version of Java running, make sure that you set a System Restore point so that if you have a problem in the future you can go back to this point in your computer and avoid having to go through too many steps. You should also make sure that your antivirus and spyware programs are running updates regularly to keep your system clean. Good luck, and let us know if we can help further.

You have made a wise decision to remove Antivirus 2009. This particular form of malware application presents such a credible image that many unsuspecting individuals have fallen victim to it.

What is Antivirus 2009?

As you have probably discovered, this annoying application is a rogue form of antispyware.

What is rogue antispyware?

Rogue antispyware pretends to be a legitimate application that will remove all of your unwanted spyware applications if you simply purchase its full version. Unfortunately, it does nothing of the kind.

What are the signs or symptoms that Antivirus 2009 has infected your computer?

One of the first clues that you have Antivirus 2009 on your computer is the presence of pop up windows directing you that you have unwanted spyware applications or viruses on your computer. You receive requests to download and purchase this online security scanner to remove these applications. If this happens without you first visiting a website for Antivirus 2009 or looking for information on it, then you have probably already been infected with the initial hijacker.

How to remove Antivirus 2009

Removing Antivirus 2009 involves the systematic removal of all files, DLLs, and registry keys associated with this application. Typical files and DLLs include av2009.exe, av2009[1].exe, AV2009Install.exe, Antivirus2009.exe, shlwapi.DLL, and wininet.DLL. As you can see, only the first two are easily recognizable as belonging to Antivirus 2009. The registry values that you need to delete include:

• HKEY_CURRENT_USERS\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\”Antivirus”=”%ProgramFIlesx%\Antivirus 2009\Antvrs.exe”
• HKEY_CURRENT_USERS\Software\Antivirus
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Antivirus

If you are comfortable and skilled on the computer, you can take on the task of removing these files yourself. However, it is dangerous to remove files in the computer registry and precautions such as backing up the registry need to be taken. Additionally, the above files might not include all of the associated files of Antivirus 2009 since these depend on the version of the application that has installed on your computer.

The easiest and most reliable method to remove Antivirus 2009 is to install a legitimate antivirus application such as Ad-Aware by Lavasoft, AVG 8.0 by AVG Technologies (formerly Grisoft), or Antivirus Plus by ParetoLogic. You can check out Antivirus Plus at the following link: AntivirusPlus. This application removes both spyware and viruses. In fact, we’ve recently reviewed twenty antivirus applications. View our reviews at this link.

The benefits of removing Antivirus 2009

Once you remove this undesirable application, you should be able to see an immediate improvement in the performance of your computer. Its processing speed should speed up and unwanted freezes or slowing down of certain applications should cease.