completely remove 'your computer might be at risk' message ?

[vhelp]

how !!

this thing pops up all the time, ever since chrome installed one of its updates a few months ago just before i stopped using it.

f'ing chrome keeps changing my system w/out my concent. it does it in the background at certain times. even though i haven't used it in months, it keeps adding itself to the taskmgr and installs updates w/out informing me. i only happen to catch it doing that when i see opera slowing to a crawl and i investigate and find it in taskmgr running a couple of background tasks. i know i said no to updates before i stopped using it. but its intrusive. i only keep it around in case i have a website that might require it.

syvania netbook, model meso, intel atom cpu, 500mb ram, 800x600 resolution
windows xp home, sp2

thank you.

[NoBuddy]

Maybe it isn't Chrome? But even so, you can try SRWare Iron, based on the free Sourcecode "Chromium" - without any problems at privacy and security. I use the portable version, works like Chrome - but no Google crap included.

You can also check out CCleaner, the portable version is fine. Check your Autorun/ Startup stuff. Delete (or first disable) anything you don't wanna run.
Also Sysinternals' Autorun is great for that. No need to install, just run the exe.

If the message is caused by Windows (Security Center, Defender etc - which you don't need if you're running an alternative AV) - disable the service.

[Hoser Rob]

I'd definitely run a couple of thorough AV scans, and uninstall chrome (or whatever that is) and then reinstall. A program changing things when you haven't run it in a while is not good. Or normal.

[vhelp]

no, no antirus runing on this netbook, it is too slow as it is, an antirus suite slows it down too much. i just restore a fresh image whenever i feel things are running slower than usual. the chome issue was installed (it seems) in several older images that i can't restore to at this time. i don't want to install any more utility software, i just want to desable these pesky windows xp popups!!

[aedipuss]

control panel/action center

[vhelp]

doesn't exist in xp home.

[sanlyn]

No antivirus? Running XP with 512MB (no wonder it's slow). That might have worked a few years back, but not with newer bloatware or the way the internet has changed. You mentioned an "antivirus suite". Ever heard of plain old antivirus? Those suites are a waste of money and resources. Try something that won't devour your system, like Kaspersky or Malwarebytes retail. On the other hand, restoring system images can be amusing but most people get a little tired of that after a while. You could try running a free scan with Malarebytes which usually gets rid of lots of bad guys.

[vhelp]

i had kaspersky installed once, for the duration of its licience, then, they disable it completely if you don't give them a yearly update fee. you would think it still continue to function though w/out updates, but no, they shut it down too, just like my other iolo antivirous suite did on my home pc. robbery. anyway, kaspersky had a bug, it leaked. and when i reported it to them, they said they would not look into it because my system (netbook) did not meet their requirements, so they left me in the dust. all they said was that i should upgrade my computer and then their software to their latest. what nonsense. after those two i gave up on the suites. i just image and restore. all i need is a faster means to restore an image and i'll be fine. but for now, on this netbook, i restore (ghost) through usb 1 because no one here wanted to get me up to speed with usb 2, back when i asked for help. i'm ok with that. i moved on and use usb 1 when i need to restore an image. that is a seldom process. so, i'm not complaining. i only want to remove that annoying popup. still hoping.. thanks ayway.

[sanlyn]

You wasted your money on "suites". If you can find an antivirus product that doesn't require subscription updates or that lets you keep the same version forever (and which will actually work, given all that), you're in luck. I think you'll find that many av products are removing support for XP home and SP2.

Your system restore is on a USB stick? Some people just like to live on the edge, I guess, even if dear old Symantec sez you can do it.

Well, okay. Good luck.

[vhelp]

scanning is a waste of time. all it does is ware you hdd faster. the hdd is fragmented. it always is, and never will be perfect. m$ designed the os to be that way. dll's and other such files scattered everywhere. no consistancy and no logical order of how things to load and then unload, into memory and hdd, etc. in the old dos days, there was a dos program called Optune. the best hdd defragger on the planet! but then again, that was back in the days of win 3.1 and that os files (to run windows) were in few folders and handful of files. the hdd almost never fragmented once ran under Optune. todays defagers are just as much a waste as those virus scanning tools. the os is a mess and files are scattered all over the place. the hdd will always fragment, it was designed to be that way.

[vhelp]

no, i have a 320 gig external. i plug it in only when i'm ready to image or restore. restoring takes only 20 to 30 minutes over usb 1 i'm sure if it were running usb 2 it would be twice that fast.

[aedipuss]

the action center is in winXP if you have sp2 or better. if not it's part of windows security center for older winxp.

[sanlyn]

With the proper av product, scanning is rarely necessary. Scanners are for poor antivirus protection to begin with. So apparently you used a resource hog of a suite, then then didn't turn of the auto scanner. For defrag you can try the free defraggler, very popular and faster that the junk that came with Windows.

[NoBuddy]

If you don't have an AV installed, then maybe Windows Security Center is moaning...
Just search the web for "your comuter might be at risk".
And as previously said, check your startup and services additionally.

[El Heggunte]

"Windows Key" + R, type "services.msc", press ENTER, then stop and then disable the Security Center service.

I don't use any antivirus, a lightweight firewall is all I have needed thus far.
My Vista and my Win7 machines have the PC Tools Firewall,
whereas my XP Pro rig has Filseclab. I would keep using the old Kerio if possible,
but apparently Kerio is compatible only with XP Home, not with XP Pro.

[deadrats]

i would think the simple thing to do is just uninstall chrome. if you happen to really like chrome use the portable version which doesn't require it be installed:

http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/google_chrome_portable

i happen to agree with you about a/v products, many are resource hogs, avg free comes to mind, the last version i tried would actually bring an i5 2400 to its knees as it scanned.

[racer-x]

I also agree that Antivirus s/w is a waste of time and resources. I too am a firm believer in imaging and restoring for problem fixing. As an added bonus, restoring a saved image results in zero fragmentation as all bytes are written tight together, so no need to defragment HDD...............

Anyone that feels they need antivirus, go ahead and use it. I haven't used it in at least 10 years and don't need or want it.

[vhelp]

yea, i lost trust in them a long time ago. i mean, scanning files. wow. see how fast they scan a file, even if its just a byte or two, which i don't fully believe, since there's hundreds-of-thousands of all kinds of viruses and at different (and multiple positions) in files. i used to wonder about this all the time..how it scans so fast like that. sooner or later you start to wonder about it and realize, the same thing. its nonsense. they have you under some spell with the mysterious super fast scanning. go ahead, just look at the next scan of your hdd and see how fast those files fly across the make-believe scanning, hehe whippy, looket me, i'm scanning