Does this sound like a virus

[Birdbrain]

One day. I tried to download something. Walked away from my computer. And when I came back, realized it had downloaded something else...at first. My ability to download stuff when down the drain. Then, my computer had to do a start up fix every time I wanted to log onto it. And now, it won't do it at all and I'm having to fix my computer through the dell data safe backup.

In the area were you can select the files to save. There are ones with a bunch of random letters and numbers. Then when I click on those, there's a bunch of ones that say 1025, 1028, and other crap like that. And when I click on those. It has eula.rtf and localizeddata.xml. Should I delete those? Or should I leave them? I'm not a computer expert

[Juggalonoke]

If it keeps persisting its probibly a virus and you should just clean swipe your computer (delete everything even the operating system) and reinstall windows if that's an option for you

[Birdbrain]

If it keeps persisting its probibly a virus and you should just clean swipe your computer (delete everything even the operating system) and reinstall windows if that's an option for you

and put all the stuff I want to save like stories I've written onto a flash drive

[Birdbrain]

I just have too much stuff on here to do that...

[Gorzo]

Are you running windows or Mac? If windows, google the following programs for your safety and run them - they are all you really need to keep a home pc clean.

{Microsoft Security Essentials} (the link will be Microsoft.com - don't go anywhere but Microsoft to get this)

{CCleaner} - yes, 2 C's. This program cleans up lots of junk that slows pcs down, from registry errors to old cache and purges temp folders and other places that cause slow-downs and where bugs sometimes hide. Website is piriform.com

Both of these are free and do a great job, been using them for years.

Also if you use google chrome as your Internet browser, get the {AdBlock} plugin. Not only does it stop annoying ads, but it stops the ad servers that have been infected from dropping that virus on you.

[Birdbrain]

Are you running windows or Mac? If windows, google the following programs for your safety and run them - they are all you really need to keep a home pc clean.

{Microsoft Security Essentials} (the link will be Microsoft.com - don't go anywhere but Microsoft to get this)

{CCleaner} - yes, 2 C's. This program cleans up lots of junk that slows pcs down, from registry errors to old cache and purges temp folders and other places that cause slow-downs and where bugs sometimes hide. Website is piriform.com

Both of these are free and do a great job, been using them for years.

Also if you use google chrome as your Internet browser, get the {AdBlock} plugin. Not only does it stop annoying ads, but it stops the ad servers that have been infected from dropping that virus on you.

thanks a lot. I'll give you plus one when I can again

[Gorzo]

Any time, hopefully your problem gets fixed with no issues. Security essentials should take care of it. Let me know if the problem persists even after running both.

Just a heads up on a ccleaner - it will wipe temporary data, including Internet history, recently used programs, etc, unless you run through the programs list and uncheck what to keep manually.  No saved data or bookmarks will be lost or anything, just make sure everything is saved/backed up first.

[Birdbrain]

I essentially backed up my files and restarted. It works now, but the Internet is slow as heck now. And I can't really get to any sites. So I'm going to look into what you recommended

[Bozo_Law]

I essentially backed up my files and restarted. It works now, but the Internet is slow as heck now. And I can't really get to any sites. So I'm going to look into what you recommended

Because your cache is cleared.

[Birdbrain]

Why would that slow down my Internet speed?

[Keyeto]

Why would that slow down my Internet speed?

The cache basically stores the information of the websites you've visited, so it doesn't have to load all the information everytime. Deleting your cache could potentially slow down how fast website load, as long as they're websites you've visited before. On the other hand, it's good to delete your cache every once in a while, since all that stored data can start taking up space and slow things down. It's kind of a picky thing, really.

[Birdbrain]

Why would that slow down my Internet speed?

The cache basically stores the information of the websites you've visited, so it doesn't have to load all the information everytime. Deleting your cache could potentially slow down how fast website load, as long as they're websites you've visited before. On the other hand, it's good to delete your cache every once in a while, since all that stored data can start taking up space and slow things down. It's kind of a picky thing, really.

well if not having the cache slows it down how do I get it back?

Edit: if its slowing it down on the websites I've visited then obviously it's still stored somewhere on my computer

[Xaol]

Why would that slow down my Internet speed?

The cache basically stores the information of the websites you've visited, so it doesn't have to load all the information everytime. Deleting your cache could potentially slow down how fast website load, as long as they're websites you've visited before. On the other hand, it's good to delete your cache every once in a while, since all that stored data can start taking up space and slow things down. It's kind of a picky thing, really.

well if not having the cache slows it down how do I get it back?

Edit: if its slowing it down on the websites I've visited then obviously it's still stored somewhere on my computer

What? You can't just get the cache back. You'll have to revisit those websites in order to do so.
If it's slowing down on websites you've visited, that indicates moreso that your cache has been cleared.

[Birdbrain]

Why would it only slow down website I've visited and not websites I haven't visited if the cache wasn't stored somewhere? How does it slow down only websites I've visited?

[Xaol]

Why would it only slow down website I've visited and not websites I haven't visited if the cache wasn't stored somewhere? How does it slow down only websites I've visited?

Cache doesn't slow down the sites you've visited. It speeds up the time it takes for those sites to load, because it saves data on those sites for next time. When the cache is cleared, it deletes that saved data.