Disclaimers:
I. I've done myself an injustice as an amateur Computer Technician, and have trusted in situations that may not have, in hindsight, warranted it. So, please forgive me if, despite my background, I - or my laptop - disclose absurdly foolish behavior or activity.
II. I have had someone close to me purchase software using "Promo Codes" and "club affiliations", so that I can purchase software CHEAPLY, but still legally. However, in lieu of recent issues, I've begun to question their " sources".
III. I'm willing to remove any/all questionable software. My fiancée, whom I share the laptop with, has given me leave to do the same with regards to programs installed or attained before I used the laptop, and anything done under Guest Accounts (before I discovered, and disabled them).
IV. I'm not sure what kind of logging software I need, but if someone will be patient and indulge me, I'll follow steps given so that we can fix these PC issues
- - - -
That said, I recently bought (see #II) an ISO image of Dragonball Xenoverse for PC. After all was said and done, it would NOT work. In addition, every time I attempted to run it, my start menu told me that I needed to restart my computer for updates.
To top it off, after asking my acquaintance about the issue, he's dropped contact with me, and won't answer my questions.
I removed the ISO IMAGE software (SmartDisc, or something like that), and uninstalled Xenoverse, after my PC greeted me at each login with the "Hard Drive Error, back up your files" notification, which recent Google searches have me thinking this is Malware at work.
Of late, my PC freezes every 5-20 seconds (for about 5-10 seconds each time) , whether I'm in Minecraft, watching Anime in Firefox, or just drawing in Photoshop. This started BEFORE the Hard Drive "errors", and even though I finally disabled the error notices, nothing else (minus the freezing spells) seems amiss with my PC.
I use Avast Antivirus, and am operating Windows 7 on a Toshiba Satellite laptop.
If logs are needed, I just ask that I'm directed to how I can attain them, and I will comply with my Helper's suggestions wherein concerns any questionable or sketchy software he or she may find in the logs (that I'm not likely to be aware of).
Thank you in advance!
~R D