If you have a virus, you should try to run a scan with your existing virus scanner. If it is unable
to remove the virus, give Malwarebytes Anti-Malware a try. It's the best virus removal tool I've ever seen. Make sure to update Malwarebytes before you run the "Full Scan". This can take a long time on a large drive. If you still can't get rid of it, contact Fred's PC Help for more advanced virus removal methods.

There could be a number of things wrong with your Internet. The best place to start
is to contact your Internet Service Provider. They will walk you through some diagnostics. If it is a problem with them, they should send someone out or do whatever needs to be done to fix it. If it's not a problem with them, they should at least be able to give you an idea of what the problem is being caused by. If you get to this point, call Fred's PC Help and I'll help you determine the cause further and offer a solution.

• Keep Windows up to date- either turn on Automatic Updating, or set updates to Download Automatically and then install them as they come in.
• Get a good antivirus program. I recommend Avast Antivirus. It is very good at watching for viruses as they come in, and stopping them. It also doesn't slow down your computer or cause errors of its own like many of the other antivirus programs on the market. The have a free version for Home use.
• Make sure your antivirus program is updating. If your antivirus cannot receive updates, it won't do you much good.
• Use a firewall- even if it is just the Windows Firewall, this will help block inbound attacks against your machine. Do not turn it off to try to speed your connection or the like, that doesn't work and you are leaving yourself vulnerable.
• Watch for the Windows "Red X"- If you see a shield with a red "X" on it in your taskbar, it is trying to tell you something about your computer's security. It will be there to notify you that one of the above mentioned problems is surfacing (No antivirus, Windows is out of date, antivirus is out of date, Windows Firewall is off).
• Leave Internet Explorer's security and privacy settings alone! Many people will lower the security or privacy ratings in the "Internet Options" section of Internet Explorer in an attempt to get a web page to work properly. Don't do it! There's a reason for these defualt settings. An easy way to check if you are safe is to go to Internet Options from the Tools menu of Internet Explorer. Once there, click on the Security tab, and look for the button labeled "Default Level". If this button is grayed out, your Security settings are secure, if it is not, click it. Then click your Privacy tab and look for the button labeled "Default". If it is grayed out, your Privacy settings are safe, if not, click it. When you are finished with both, click "OK".
• Don't open email attachments from people you don't know.
• Watch what you are installing on your computer. If you are on a website, and all of a sudden, you get a popup saying that you have a virus, make sure that it is your installed antivirus that is telling you about it. A common trick is to pretend a virus is actually an antivirus program.
• Be careful about what websites you visit. If a website looks shady, exit the site and find another site for your purpose.

In order to create a good backup
of your important documents, you need a medium to store the backup on. Get an external hard drive or a flash drive depending on how much stuff you want to back up. Once you have your medium plugged into the computer, simply copy your "Documents" folder (or whichever folder that has all the files you want saved) onto the drive. Right click on the folder you want to copy, and left click "Copy", then right click in the space on the external or flash drive and left click "paste". Give it time to finish copying. The drives will show in your My Computer or simply "Computer" in Windows Vista and Windows 7. For most people they will be either "E:" or "F:"

• Installing too many programs that load on startup.
• The hard drive on your computer has become severely fragmented.
• Your computer got infected with (a) virus(es) or some other form of malware.
• A hardware component, such as memory fails, although this is rare and will probably be worse than just slowing you down, but it is possible.
• Two or more processes, such as two real-time antivirus programs by conflicting with each other.
• If you have more programs open in general than you used to, this can definitely slow you down too.

• Uninstall any programs you are not using. You can get to the Windows
• Clear out junk files on your computer to conserve hard drive space, best to do this before defragging. Download CCleaner for an awesome junk file cleaner program. Before you use the "Run Cleaner" function of it, you might want to uncheck "Cookies" so that you do not get logged out of your websites. Uncheck "History" if you want to keep your browsing history. Then click "Run Cleaner" and it will clean temp files, temporary internet files, log files, etc., all in one fell swoop.
• Run disk defragmenter at least once a month. Click your Start Menu>Accessories>System Tools>Disk Defragmenter. Once you you are in the defrag utility, click "Defragment" to start the process. Wait for it to finish before doing anything else. This can take an hour or more
• If you have programs that launch at startup for no reason, disable them. Many programs have a menu to disable them from running at startup. Windows Messenger is one of them. If you have Messenger start when Windows starts, but don't need it, Right Click it in the taskbar in the bottom right hand corner of your screen. Left click "Open". Then press the "Alt" key on your keyboard and click the "Tools" menu. From "Tools" , click "Options". From the "Options" box, click the "Preferences" Tab. Uncheck "Run Windows Messenger when Windows starts and click "OK". Many programs will be able to be disabled by using a similar method.

Note: You must be careful about static electricity when handling RAM,
if you gather static electricity and discharge it onto the RAM, it will be destroyed. In order to upgrade your RAM, you'll need to know what type of RAM your computer takes. I recommend using Crucial's Memory Scanner to determine what type and how much RAM you should get. Once you are ready to install the RAM, check out this PC World video, for details on how to remove the old RAM and how to install the new RAM: How to Upgrade Your RAM

• Desktops- This question is answered differently depending on whether you have a desktop or a notebook/laptop. If you have a desktop, this is one of 3 things most likely:
  1. Your monitor is bad. If you have a different monitor, perhaps one you can borrow from another computer in the house, you can test it. If you plug in another monitor and it works, you have a monitor problem. You will probably have to get a new one. If you plug the monitor in
  2. Your video card is bad. If your monitor plugs into a horizontal slot on the back of your PC, near the bottom, you have a video card that probably needs replacing.
  3. Your motherboard is faulty. If your monitor plugs into a vertical slot on the back of your PC, closer to the top, you have a bad motherboard In many cases, it's actually cheaper to get a new computer than it is to try to replace or repair the motherboard.
• Laptops- With a laptop, make sure that your screen has gone completely out. If you can still barely see images on your screen, your backlight or inverter is probably the culprit. If not, your screen probably needs to be replaced. Don't attempt changing a screen, inverter, or backlight unless you are a trained professional, you could damage your laptop if you don't know what you are doing.