Does anyone else have problems with their computer in Spain?

Our son collected a brand new one from PC World in England, used it for a couple of months and then we used it for the seven weeks while we were in the UK. No problems, just fine.

We bring it back to Spain and it has ALL sorts wrong with it. The start page won't load up properly, (we have to do System Restore to get the Icons back), it is soo sloooow, every so often it says it has to close down and the amount of viruses the virus killer has reported is unbelievable. Every so often the screen goes dark and a Spanish advert will attempt to load itself.

How can just bringing it to Spain make all this difference? Could it be anything to do with our Telefonica dial-up internet? This is the only thing that has changed since England where it worked fine on my son's wireless network .Our old computer had similar problems, which is why we bought the new one!

Is it just co-incidence or is it to do with Telefonica's line and what I call 'Spanish Tat' (like the paint that falls off the walls and the extension lead that you can't fit the plugs into the sockets).

Not happy.

If anyone can shed any light on the subject I will be delighted.

If you're using a dial-up modem, then your computer won't be as well protected as it was in the UK.

Even so, with the right anti-virus software, firewall correctly configured, and care taken when surfing - there shouldn't be a problem. Your computer is connected to every other computer on the Internet wherever you surf from, so the fact that you are in the UK or Spain makes no difference.

The fact that your old computer 'had similar problems' suggests that you're simply experiencing the same virus / trojan / malware problems with the new computer. The infection may even have started in the UK - but went un-noticed until you started using a much slower Internet connection.

How to fix it... I'm afraid, with lots of viruses on the machine, it is likely that you'll need to back up all the data that you can and wipe the machine completely - restoring from scratch using the System CDs provided when you bought the PC. THEN - do NOT attempt to connect to the Internet or restore any data until you have installed a good anti-virus product.

Soooo many things could be the problem, but the major one is going from Wifi Broad Band to dialup.
People will need to know the errors you get when you switch on, operating system XP or Vista, etc.
When you say start page do you mean the page you have on your browser or the windows startup screen ?
What virus program do you have ? I bet it was pre loaded with Norton trial.

Hi scampicat,

Good advice from above, you need an up to date anti virus and firewall program…

First though, you have to get rid of the Virus/spyware…

If you do a search on google for “prevx” (I don’t think I can post the URL due to site rules) and download Prevx CSI… You can scan your pc for free but you will need to purchase the software to git rid of the virus/spyware. It’s around £10. There are free spyware/virus removers on the web, but none as effective at this little beauty… I use it all the time… It will clear everything…

Once that is done and your system is clean, you need to buy a good antivirus and firewall programme. There are a few about for home users such as Norton, MacAfee etc… There are some free ones also, I’m sure someone will recommend one for you…

You also need to keep your Windows updates up to date, very very important… If you click start, all programmes you will see the link for windows update. If you are using a dial up modem though, it will take you days to update due to the speed of the connection…

You will never be 100% safe from Virus and spyware, even if the best AV system is installed…

I hope that helps you, if you do the above all will be fine…

Cheers

Don`t buy anything yet and give us a bit more info, don`t put Norton on as that will really slow it down.

Thanks all SO much for your replies.

It already has Norton on, it came with it.

It's Windows XP, which is why it was such a good bargain for a new machine, it was reduced because all the other new ones had Vista.

The opening page seems to have 'fixed' itself now, the icons have come back!

Looks like we'll have to spend money and time on the virus killers etc then.

I still don't understand why it was fine in England or is that because it wwas on the wi-fi? Can't have ADSL here I'm afraid - Telefonica say our line is 'not suitable'.

Thanks all for your help and I'll print out this thread when it is finished.

Do you know anybody that is on Broad Band. ?
As this would take ages on dialup.

Personally I would ask them to download AVG8 free, then download Norton Removal Tool and burn it onto a cd for you.
Then while you are not logged on the net, run the Norton removal tool, then install AVG8, you will find that alone will speed up your PC.

There are some free on line safe programs that will scan and remove any nasties for free as it sounds like you have picked one up, such as ....
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/
http://www.kaspersky.com/virusscanner
But I dont know how long these take in dialup times.
Wait for more help though as others that post on here are proffesionals and will probably give better advice when they see this thread. ;-)

The computer is probably going slowly for several reasons, not helped at all by the fact that you are now on Spanish Dial Up Internet!
The internet will be a lot slower than you are used with broadband in the UK, but should be usable for email and general browsing. Sending photos etc via e-mail is going to be a pain.
The computer itself will have been full of useless rubbish normally packaged as a "bonus" by the likes of the company it was bought from.
The Nortons anti virus will have been a trial version, but you still need the removal tool to get rid of it. And boy do you need to get rid of it!
You really have two options.
Either, using whatever discs you were provided with for the operating system, do a complete re-installation of Windows and then immediately uninstall the stuff that you dont need, or, as JDR has said above, get someone to download the tools and programs needed to put it right. As said already, tgrying to do that on dial up will be a nightmare.
If you want to PM me your details, I can make up a disc for you with instructions and the FREE software that you need!
Regards
Tim.

PS, I am sure we advised you before you bought one not to!!!

Think you possibly did Tim but got overruled by husband and son.......

I'll mention that to him about the disc, thanks, speak to you tomorrow.

Hey, would you believe that from the beginning of this week there is free wi-fi in our village which we can pick up on the laptop? (the laptop has never been connected to the Telefonica dialup.)

So it's not quite so urgent now about the PC.

Valenciatim, yes we would like that disc, I will pm you with our address. (Although my husband could now download them himself onto his pen drive using the wi-fi, couldn't he??). So....maybe not yet, thanks all the same!

Thanks to all who replied!

The best free anti virus get it here.............

http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html


Free anti spy here......................

http://lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_free.php


Free firewall here........................


http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/


They will clear any problems for now

Thanks posnbucks and Valencia.

Vista is still not well regarded. You’re better off with XP imho.

What you describe sounds to me like virus/trojan/worm problems. It’s often possible to clean it up, but can take forever and a day to do so. I tend to agree with valenciatim. If you can ‘reset to new’ (with set up CDs that came with it) I’d definitely go that route rather than a clean up. You’ll need to back up your email and data if it’s important to you, and when you’ve reset, install good security first and then, when you put your data back it will be scanned for residual baddies.

If you then for example, plug in a USB key it will also scan for baddies. A lot of these virus/trojan/worms will get everywhere in the system with a view to reinstalling themselves after a clean up which is why you need to be paranoid about 1) reset then 2) security software.

I don’t know anything about Prevx, if it’s a 100% guaranteed clean-up that’s great (and a bargain) but I’ve gone the clean up route many a time, and after many hours of fruitless work had to reset anyway.

I’ve attended a lot of machines where this is either not running (expired sub) or not set up properly and thus useless. It must be up-to-date and at times is disabled by clever worms.

I tend to agree that now, Norton is not the flavour of the month, but it definitely is better than nothing. About two years ago I changed from Norton to Kaspersky (highly recommended in most PC circles) which you can easily google and download. You get a free trial period after downloading, and pay later if you like it. I’ve worked with PCs since they were invented and I have it running on every PC in the family if that’s any help in deciding.

As others have already said, one of your biggest issues will be dial-up times for all the incoming updates following a reset. Could you visit someone with a broadband connection to do that updating? At my 1.8M broadband speed it takes an hour or so to fully update a new PC. Once that’s done, your incremental updates won’t take that much time, although it’ll still be slow on dial-up.

Once you are clear, by whatever means, don’t ever run online without security software.

Thanks for your reply.

It is all sorted out, with the expert and very welcome help of ValenciaTim (Thanks Tim - if we are ever in Valencia we will buy you a slap-up meal).

My husband used the village wi-fi (only arrived in the village last week!) to download the software to his laptop and then onto the pen drive.

After he had taken off Norton and installed all these other protection things onto the PC it is PERFECT!!

We are so pleased. Thanks everyone for your advice and I've printed out the whole thread to keep for future reference (hopefully won't be needed).

We understand we have to keep everything updated.

Thanks once again all and especially Tim, can't say it often enough!

Hi there all again!

We have an Epson printer, its model number is DX5000.

It has suddenly started speaking to us in GERMAN!!

When the screen comes out where you can select what type of printing you want (photograph, text, etc) and what sort of paper you are using, all this is in German. So is anything from the help section.

It's not a huge problem as we know what to select anyway, but it would be nice to put it right if we can.

Any ideas?

(And sorry to be such a pest!).