Virus's Trojans and Worms oh my!

[WebmasterAlex]

Colin...NEVER use an unsubscribe, you are correct they will only increase spam
Boroth-there are pretty much step by step instructions on the site, if you uncomfortable with those you might want to consider getting some help
Jenn lynn, try running it in safe mode

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

I very recently downloaded Lavasoft's Ad-Aware and wanted to ask current users: When new objects are located, do you just keep them quarantined or delete them completely? And, what would be your reasons for doing one vs. the other? Please have patience with me -- I'm just about as computer illiterate as they come!

Thanks

 

[Uncleromulus]

I had the exact same question when I installed AD-Aware. From their forum, I got the answer-- to first quarrentine. IF that particular file/registry won't harm your computer by being quarrentined (which means it's not "runnng") it can be deleted. They recommend delting quarrentined files etc after about a week of quarrentine. IF putting a file etc in quarrentine causes problems, that file (albeit infected) can be restored. Sounds pretty simple, but just go to the Lavasoft web/forum and see all the kinds of problems folks have with it!!!

THis all sort of seems to me to appear like killing the patient to cure the disease. I always thought that theseSpyware progams just "killed" the infections. But it appears that they must often kill the entire file as well.
That's what happened to me with Pest Patrol. I did not quarrentine and deleted an infected file (not justthe infection) which goverened control of Internet access. And Pest Patrol was more than happy to let me do that---. And once deleted no way to get it back.

 

[Christine]

I just got a new computer with XP. I just ditched my AOL dial up in favor of Comcast Cable. Having one HECK of a time. Pop-ups galore. Computer came with Norton Anti-Virus. I went out and bought the Norton Internet Security. When I install it, I cannot access the internet anymore. So, I unistalled it and now I can get on the internet. But I now have no more virus protection. I'm about ready to cry. Have tried various stuff like Zonelabs but the *warnings* were continous. Just tried Ad-aware but my computer shuts down in the middle of scan. Saw the tip for safe mode and will try that.

What can I do about my virus protection. The limited Norton that came with my computer worked however it was removed when I removed the Norton Internet Security Package. Don't want to put Norton back on until I know I can get it to work with my internet.

Also, now when I log into my user profile and load my personal settings I get this message: WJView Error. Error: Could not create Main: ....

I really need some help. About ready to call in a professional. My friend has Cox Cable and has no problems. All he has is a basic Norton Virus Program and no firewall.

 

[DennisP]

I feel your pain. About 6 months ago, I upgraded the operating system on my desktop and laptop computers to Windows XP. The moment I went on-line using AOL dial-up, I started to get these pop-ups almost constantly on both computers. I finally went into the Windows XP advanced system settings and turned something off. The pop-ups stopped immediately.

Before I wrote this reply, I was trying to remember which setting I turned off and unfortunately, I could not remember. But I do know it was an operating system change and had nothing to do with anti-virus software or even the internet software (AOL, Comcast, etc.)

I think I remember now. In Internet Explorer, I turned off some ActiveX controls to stop the pop-ups. To get to these controls, right click on the IE icon on your desktop, choose "properties", click on the "security" tab and then click on "custom level". The first 5 items are your ActiveX controls. Mine are set for prompt, disable, disable, enabled, enabled.

I believe the latest version of Internet Explorer has a built-in pop-up blocker. According to the instructions from Microsoft, the pop-up blocker can be turned on by
1. start Internet Explorer
2. On the Tools menu, point to Pop-up Blocker and then click Turn On Pop-up Blocker.

 

[jann1033]

hoping someone can help me with this....i had a trojan...backdoor.xebiz, think i got it removed via symantec's instructions (which i can barely figure out..).at least it's not in the virus/spy ware scans now. however when i try to start in safe mode the dell support page comes up and the mouse won't work so i have to close down. also when i connect normally, pages or boxes open, instead of going away when i click the x, they hang around for a while or cause everything to freeze up or leave a whited out blank space on my view . we have horrendously slow dial up ( due to the area we live in) so do not know if that could have something to do with the even slow for us page closeing but wonder if something is messed up due to the trojan, just our generally lousy internt service or what. i can not get my mail at all via outlook express( if just freezes and disconnects me) but can through my webmodus isp home page. Dell has been no help my isp has been no help and even though the phone company says there is no static on the line that would cause it to throw me off( yeah there is , ican hear it) they are no help either. i don't know if this is all one problem or acombo of many but any ideas of what to do would be appreciated ( unfortuantely my computer savey bil is out of town)

 

[Dan Murphy]

Christine, review and do this page to eliminate Messenger from XP. http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=302089 Then try your other programs and see how they do. Let's hear back from you.



Jan, what exactly is your problem, I got lost? Are you saying the Net is slow? If you are only on the DIS, it is excruciatingly slow at times, something has been wrong with it for a few months I think. Seems like it hit a brick wall one night and not the same since. Are other sites slow too?

 

[Christine]

Dan,
Thank you for the response. Can you tell me why Windows Messenger is a bad thing? Is there a reason one would want to delete it? I haven't done this yet as I managed to spend about 4 hours on my computer last night and got everything working.

I installed Ad-Aware and Spybot. Ran them in Safe Mode and seemed to really get a lot cleaned up. I reinstalled Norton and figured out what the problem was (why I could not access the internet). It seems that every time a file or application was trying to access the internet, Norton was giving me a warning. I was following Norton's *recommendations* of not allowing this particular thing to access. Whenever I agreed with Norton, I could not function on the internet. When I started allowing some traffic it works. So, so far I'm humming along nicely. No pop-ups, very little adware, etc. This is a GREAT thread.

So, Dan, can you give me the low-down on Windows Messenger. It seems I've vaguely heard someting about it. Something that I should turn off? Also, my DD is running AOL Instant Messenger.
Thanks.

 

[Dan Murphy]

It is not AOL or MSN, it is a network thing that Microssoft put in for corporate networking and it backfired with spammers using it.........

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/10/29/microsoft_shoots_the_windows_messenger/

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-043.mspx

http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/575892

Good to hear you are making progress. A little time, a few bucks, diligent updating and you can have mostly trouble free computing.

 

[jann1033]

sorry, everything is slow but that is a problem i have been having forever and no one says they can figure out or fix( the isp-dell-phone co shuffle... with a 56 dial up modem i get on a good day at 3 am maybe 26-28, & can't get dsl cause we live a1/2 mile ..basically our driveway... to far away)

however now it is not only slow, it is throwing me off when i connect via the isp home page and i can not open outlook explorer at all without it throwing me off then freezing. after about 6 times of trying i usually can stay connected and get my email via the isp homepage. once connected, when i change or close a page it either disconnects me or freezes and we start the whole lovely try to connect process all over or the page closes a min or 2 after i hit the "X" or closes but leaves a white/blank space where it was. i installed spy bot, had adaware & norton pro anti virus 2004 already and it has found a few things but i don't know if the trojan i had could have permanently damaged something or not...also under internet options/connections/lan settings it keeps "magically" rechecking the proxy server box which is not supposed to be checked and i was told could have something to do with me not being able to stay connected. however right now it is checked and i am connected so we'll see if i get tossed off when i submit this since i just unchecked it again( maybe 10 time tonight)

 

[WebmasterAlex]

I think part of the issue is a mix up in names.
Windows Messenger is what causes the little green guy in the tray by the clock that let's you talk to other people. Messenger service is something built in that is used by network administrators to "pop up" messages on workstation computers. They are NOT the same thing and not even really related..

 

[tink2dw]

Ok for all who's computers hang and freeze,and your ad-aware hangs and your anti-virus hang...

Most worms,trojans,and bugs want to restart everytime you restart your Computer. The fix is to turn off the SYSTEM RESTORE.
This releases the worms,trojans,and bugs to be healed.
So,
1. click Start
2. click Control Panal
3. click System
4. click Performance
5. click File System...
6. click Troubleshooting
7. click Disable System Restore

Then
1. Download FREE AVG it is an anti-virus that HEALS files and it updates weekly to keep up with the nasty viruses
http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2/

2. Run AVG.

3. Suspect a file? Right click on it then click SCAN with AVG

I have just downloaded SpywareBlaster- which according to www.Geeks to Go.com- stops spyware, tracking, and automatic downloads of search sites and other junk. And stops some that is already on the computer from working. IT DOES NOT SEARCH AND CLEAN.

I'll be happy if it stops the weird seach siteslike Info Search from trying to become my Only search site. I perfer Goggle!!

HAPPY COMPUTING

 

[eeyoreforever]

I posted this on the CB, but thought I would try over here also.

My computer has gone wacky this morning. I will list several things that I've seen, and please know that I am not real computer literate:

1. My icons on my desktop had weird symbols under them. I tried to go to control panel to see if I could do anything, but it is not loading. I get some junk saying saying "thisdirname" and "thisdirpath" and a link for "windows update" and "technical support"

2. I ran Spybot and deleted a few things it found, but it was all cookies.

3. I tried to open my Norton Antivirus, but it is giving me a message that Internet Explorer needs to be 4.01 or higher. I have always had 6.0 installed.

4. I can't open Outlook Express-I'm getting a message that says "Windows Script Host - Loading your settings failed (The configuration registry database is corrupt)"

I ran Ad Aware, but all it found was tracking cookies. Deleted those.

I can't get Panda to run. When I click on the link, nothing happens.

I tried downloading Spysweeper and got this message "Error creating registry key. HKey_current_user\software\webroot.
RegCreateKeyEx failed; code 1009. The configuration registry database is corrupt."

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[Uncleromulus]

Tink2dw:
Once you turn off sysyem restore, do you have to restart the computer before you run any "fix" programs??

 

[heathrow42]

XP users with Popups can also try this:

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/alerts/popalrt.htm

This should stop the popups that can come without having your web browser open (but while you are connected to the net). The ones that come from your browser (generally IE) can be stopped by using a browser that allows you to shut off popups (Mozilla, Opera) I believe WinXP service pack 2 (not sure it's quite out yet) will have a bit that will update IE to let you turn off popups. WinXP service pack2 is a series of free patches you can download from MS.

Heather

 

[tink2dw]

Uncleromulus, I don't think it asks you to restart, BUT I would as that will start the computer with the new settings aready in place,Leaving no open room for anything to slip in!

 

[jann1033]

once you have installed the Avg do you enable the system restoreagain? evidently it did get rid of something as my pages are opening better.. so thanks for that advice

as for Norton antivirus it rarely finds anything , messes up my system everytime i install it and is a general pain in the neck imo. I foolishly just got the Pro. 2004 version thinking maybe it was the preinstalled version that was the problem and this is even worse plus everytime i do a system restore i have to reinstall the whole thing over...what a pain!

 

[kaylajr]

I hope someone here has an idea on what can fix my computer

i have run adaware spybot and norton all in Safe mode and they found some stuff
Norton says it found 2 virus but can't fix or delete
how do i find them and get rid of them

also my homepage keeps resetting itself to about.blank
and when i try to open my hotmail email it won't it keeps opening this about.blank site

any ideas????

thanks

 

[Dcat2u]

TEST

 

[tink2dw]

jann1033 - I have tryed to turn on Restore System and it works for a while and then another virus lodges into Restore System again. So, I just keep it turned off.

also my homepage keeps resetting itself to about.blank

kaylajr - go to start, click control panel, click Internet Options, check the Home Page box and see if it shows your home page address?? while there click Security and clink Restricted sites,click Sites,then add "about.blank. and click ADD.

If that doesn't help click start and click search and seach for "about.blank site" when you find it Delete the File.