AVG Anti-virus is a home computer security solution produced by Grisoft. It can be downloaded and used in a trial version for free and has commercial options available. Sometimes you may find a need to uninstall AVG if its not working right and needs to be re-installed, has become corrupted due to virus attack, you’ve upgraded your email client program, or you just want to get rid of the program due to purchasing another anti-virus product.

AVG Removal Steps

The easiest way to remove AVG is through the Add/Remove programs feature in your computer’s Control Panel.
1 – Select Start -> Settings -> Control Panel (This will slightly vary between XP, Vista, and Windows 7)
2 – Open the “Add/Remove Programs” menu option.
3 – Single left click the AVG icon.
4 – Choose the “Remove” menu button and acknowledge the subsequent prompts.
5 – Restart your computer and AVG will be removed.

Automatic Removal of AVG

At the time of this writing, there was not an automatic removal tool produced for AVG. You can do an automatic removal, however, with the following steps.

1 – Download AVG to your computer
2 – Run the AVG install file
3 – Choose the “Uninstall Option” on the first menu of the AVG installation program.
4 – Restart your computer and AVG will be removed.

A common problem that arises for computer users is how to remove McAfee antivirus or associated McAfee security products from their computer. This is likely due to the free trial versions that are bundled with various laptop and desktop manufacturer software bundles. Once the trial runs out, many users will want to use a different variant of the software or that of another antivirus company.

I’ve found that computer users normally hold religious views on their antivirus product of choice, so do not read anything into this article on my like or dislike of the McAfee product. The company has been around for a while, so many users lilke using a product with the reputation that a McAfee product brings to the table. If, however, you need to remove McAfee the following instructions will help you do so:

1 – Open your computer’s Control panel by choosing the Start menu and selecting Control Panel.
2 – Open the Add or Remove Programs menu option and then click on the McAfee or Network Associates product on your computer’s list of applications.
3 – Select the “Add/Remove” or “Change/Remove” menu option depending on your computer’s version of Windows.
4 – Left click once putting a check mark beside each McAfee product you desire to remove from your computer. Then, acknowledge the subsequent warning and choose the “Remove” button.
5. – You will see the software removal process on Windows step through the process of removing the McAfee application(s) from your computer. When it is complete it will ask you to restart your computer to complete the application removal. After you reboot the computer, McAfee Antivirus should be removed.

Automatic McAfee Product Removal

If your computer does not allow you to remove the McAfee product for some reason, the company also produces an automatic software removal tool that you can download and run on your computer for free. It will only work on Windows versions that are newer than Windows ME, but will remove the following McAfee products from your computer:
-McAfee Security Center
-McAfee VirusScan
-McAfee Personal Firewall Plus
-McAfee Privacy Service
-McAfee SpamKiller
-McAfee Wireless Network Security
-McAfee SiteAdvisor
-McAfee Data Backup
-McAfee Network Manager
-McAfee Easy Network
-McAfee AntiSpyware

Steps to Automatically Remove McAfee Antivirus from Your Computer

1 – Download the McAfee removal tool from:
http://download.mcafee.com/products/licensed/cust_support_patches/MCPR.exe

2 – Save the program to your computer’s desktop.
3 – Close all of the McAfee program windows that you have open on your computer. Then, double click the removal program to start the tool.
4 – You will then be prompted to restart your computer after the tool runs.
5 – After rebooting your computer, McAfee will be removed.

That’s a common question that arises more than you would think. The primary source that many computer users believe is causing their computer to run slow is computer spyware or computer adware. That’s not necessarily the case though. If you have run a complete scan of your computer’s local drives and your antivirus software is telling you there are no infections, there are still several tasks that you can undertake before having to call in a professional or that “Power” computer user friend that you might not want to spend too much quality time with…

Actions to Take to Speed Up Your Computer:

Remove Temporary Files and Unnecessary Backups of Files

Take a look at your available hard drive space by right clicking the local drive label (normally the “c” drive on a Windows computer) and left clicking the “properties” menu option. If the available space is less than half of your total hard drive size, then your computer’s performance will be taking a hit from a reduction in hard drive space available to use as a resource for Virtual RAM. If that’s too much techno speak for you, the more full your hard drive is, the slower your computer will run. When your right click your hard drive, and left click the properties menu option, there’s another option available to you labeled “disk cleanup”. Go ahead and left click that button and follow the instructions for removing “temporary Internet files”. Then, go through your hard drive files and see what pictures or movies that you can delete or burn to DVD or CD to make more space on your computer’s hard drive.

Set the Disk Defragmenter Up to Run When You’re Asleep

A lot of people ignore the Windows Disk Defragmenter application or don’t set it up to run ever. When you do this, the organization of programs on your hard drive becomes very disjointed with pieces of programs being forced to be saved at widely disparate locations on your hard drive. The longer that time goes by that you don’t defragment the hard drive, the less continuous memory locations there are on the drive for programs to be saved to…end result is your computer will start to slow down over time. The Defragmenter application will allow you to setup a set time per day or week to run the tool. I prefer to leave my computer on when I go to bed one night a week and let the tool run while I’m asleep once a month. If you run the defrag tool at least bi-monthly, your computer’s performance will be improved.

Reduce the Number of Programs to Run on Computer Startup

Sometimes computers will be significantly slowed on startup by too many programs being configured to run on computer start. The more programs that you can change the default options to not starting up automatically, the quicker your computer will boot when turning on for the first time that day. You can verify the programs set to start on boot on your computer by opening the MSCONFIG application. To do this, open your computer’s DOS prompt by selecting the “Start” menu and typing “msconfig” followed by the “enter” key. When MSCONFIG launches, choose the “Startup” tab. This will list all of the programs that Windows will start on boot on your computer. If you don’t know what one of the programs does, you can verify this in Google or Bing by typing the name you see listed followed by the “.exe” abbreviation to see what function the program provides before disabling the program on start. Once you make the changes, restart your computer and you will see a pop-up menu that notifies you of the changes made to the computer.

Computer Maintenance Actions to Schedule for Your Computer

Weekly Tasks to Do:

-         Scan Your Computer with your Anti-Virus and AntiSpyware Software after you update them

-         Remove Internet Browser Temporary Files

Monthly Tasks to Do:

-         Run Your Computer’s Defragmenter and Scan Disk

-         Run a Complete AntiVirus and AntiSpyware Scan of Your Computer

-         Empty the contents of your computer’s recycle bin and the Windows Temp Folder

Norton Anti-virus is one of the most popular anti-virus programs for home computers. It is also a popular anti-virus program that is bundled with new computers sold by companies such as HP and Dell computing. Many computer users will want to be able to turn Norton off if they have a preferred anti-virus program or need to conduct computer downloads or game play that are not compatible with running Norton anti-virus. Regardless of the reason that you need to turn Norton on or off, it is relatively straightforward to accomplish once you have done it once.

How to Turn Norton Anti-Virus Off Using the Software Interface

The easiest way to turn Norton Anti-virus off is using the program’s interface to secure the application. In order to so:
1 – Double left click the Anti-virus center icon in the right corner of your toolbar. Then, choose the “status and Settings” toolbar option.
2 – Now, you’ll select the “Security” menu option and select the “off” option on the subsequent menu.

When you restart your computer, Norton Anti-virus will be off.

How to Manually Turn Off Norton Security

Alternatively, you can secure Norton Anti-virus manually through the Windows Task Manager. To secure Norton in this manner:
1 – Open your computer’s task manager by choosing the “Ctrl + Alt + Delete” keys simultaneously.
2 – Choose the “Processes” tab that’s at the top of your computer’s task manager. You can then sort the application names by clicking the “description” program heading.
3 – Find Norton Anti-virus on the program listing. Single left click the program name and choose the “End Process” menu option. Norton will now be manually turned off.

How to Manually Turn On Norton Security

If you need to turn Norton Security back on, you will need to open Norton from your computer’s start menu. Then,
1 – Choose the “Options” menu option in the main Norton window.
2 – Toggle the “Auto-Protect” option in the Norton Options window and check the check box next to the “Enable Auto-Protect” menu choice. Norton will now be enabeld on your computer.

How to Enable Norton LiveUpdate

Norton LiveUpdate can be set to have Norton Anti-Virus to check for software updates automatically on a set schedule. When LiveUpdate is set to automatic, it will check for updates on a four hour frequency. In order to enable LiveUpdate you will need to:

1 – Choose the “Options” menu in the main Norton Anti-virus window.
2 – Click the “Internet” option in the options menu and pick “LiveUpdate”
3 – Then, choose the “Enable Automatic LiveUpdate” check box on the next window.

New computer malware is unleashed on the public every day. As new threats emerge, the danger
posed to your personal information and security can increasingly be put at risk. The following steps are intended to help guide you through removal of malware and computer viruses through use of an anti-virus program on computers using the Windows Operating System. Depending on the specific virus or malware that your computer is infected with, these instructions may not suffice if your antivirus program has been disabled by the attacking program.

Malware Removal Step #.5 – Get an antivirus program if you don’t have one! Malware Bytes and Avast Antivirus programs are two of my current favorites that you can download free trials to use before purchasing, though you lose out on real-time monitoring when you use the free versions of the software. Read my review of 10 of the best 2009 commercial antivirus programs for other ideas.

Malware Removal Step #1 - Turn Off Windows System Restore
The following steps will turn off Windows System Restore in XP. Variations of the directions will be required to turn off System Restore in other variants of Windows.
1 – Click the Start menu button.
2 – Right-click the My Computer icon, and then select the Properties menu option.
3 – Check “Turn Off System Restore” on the System Restore Tab.
4 – Click the “Apply” menu button and choose “Yes” on the confirmation message.
5 – Select the “OK” menu button.
Note that you have to be logged in to your computer with administrator permissions to turn off System Restore.

Malware Removal Step #2 - Update Your Antivirus Definition Files
Open your anti-virus software. There will be a “Update Virus Definitions” menu option or equivalently worded menu choice available for you to choose. Note that you must be connected to the Internet to update the Antivirus definitions.

Malware Removal Step #3 - Restart Your Computer in Safe Mode
To restart your computer in Windows Safe Mode, rapidly depress the “F8″ keyboard function key during the normal rebooting process. Then choose “Save Mode” from the startup menu which appears on your computer screen.

Malware Removal Step #4 - Conduct a Full Anti-Virus Scan of All Local Drives
Select the appropriate menu option in your antivirus program.

Malware Removal Step #5 - Clean or Delete Infected Files
Choose the representative menu option in your antivirus program to remove the malware from your computer.

Malware Removal Step #6 – Restart Your Computer Normally

Malware Removal Step #7 – Turn On Windows System Restore

1 – Click the Start menu button.
2 – Right-click the My Computer icon, and then select the Properties menu option.
3 – Check “Turn On System Restore” on the System Restore Tab.
4 – Click the “Apply” menu button and choose “Yes” on the confirmation message.
5 – Select the “OK” menu button.
Note that you have to be logged in to your computer with administrator permissions to turn off System Restore.