The Official Computer Technical Help Thread

i also recommend taking those items listed by moosemousse and running them in safe mode. since a number of malware and virii run at startup or as processes, booting into safe mode usually circumvents that as it tries not to load most items except for the bare essentials.

 

I'd agree with going with the Ad-Aware and Spybot Search & Destroy. HijackThis is probably good if you're very PC-aware but personally I'd be afraid to go digging in the registry. There are tech websites that let you post the HijackThis log and folks there will interpret it for you - you might want to Google around.

Before doing anything I recommend doing a system backup if you can. It will hopefully give you a known point to come back to if something does go wrong. (Go to Start>>Accessories>>System Tools>>System Restore to do this). Then do the Spybot and AdAware runs (you might want to back up in between those as well if you do any cleanup.)

 

The thing is though that I've run adware and spybot in safe mode, and it got rid of a lot. I still had to go back in and remove things manually. My father is finally beginning to realize that there is something wrong there.

I ran Hijackthis because I've run out of ideas.

 

Some of the really nice badware gets backed up as critical system files and Windows backs it up and restores it

One possible way around that is to turn off System Restore so it deletes all those backups, then turn it back on. The problem with that is that you have no restore points if you need them.

 

The idea of doing the backup is that she has a known point (even if bad) to try to return to. If she accidentally deletes or alters a system file, hopefully she'd be able to get back to that point to try the cleanup again.

 

I was just pointing that out, in case nothing else works

 

Ad-Aware is good in that it not only scans your hard drives but it also scans your running processes as well. If there's any kind of malware running at the time of the scan Ad-Aware will detect it and remove it. There's no need to run Windows in safemode.

 

I would like advice on something strange that happened to my computer last night. When I closed Internet Explorer (I had either been on CNN or Yahoo mail), it began opening tons of new IE windows. They weren't really popups - there weren't any ads on them, it was blank - but at one point there were 60 windows open. I tried closing them all and finally pulled the internet cord out and kept closing the windows until they were all gone. I ran McAfee virus scan and Adaware and they didn't find anything, and I was able to open and close IE normally. Does this sound like a fluke in IE (it's not the newest browser version, I think it's 6; and I have XP) or some kind of spyware or virus I need to get rid of? I also have Mozilla Firefox, and that wasn't affected.

The only other thing was at the time I closed IE I also pressed the volume button on my keyboard (I have a Dell laptop but I have an external keyboard attached). I haven't used those buttons before (well, I had used them to turn the volume up earlier, but that was the only time). Could that have caused IE to do that?

 

You might want to consider downloading and running Spybot Search and Destroy as well. It's free. It picks up stuff that Adaware doesnt (and Adaware picks up stuff it doesn't). If it doesn't find anything then you're probably OK. I assume your Adaware and McAfee are up to date or fairly recent. If not you might want to update and run those scans again to be on the safe side.

 

I've written some malicious code to take control of poorly defended computers running windows operating systems and am planning to create a large network of zombies in order to carry out massive DDOS attacks on any and all websites featuring animals, unless said animals are fully clothed (i.e. top and bottom - not just a tie, collar and hat like Yogi Bear).

Obviously, this is quite an undertaking for which I'll need literally hundreds of thousands of machines at my disposal. My question is, what is the best way to use the easter holiday to dupe unsuspecting fools into executing my code on their machines? An .exe hidden in an e-egg? Or maybe in a flash video of jesus rising from the dead? As you can see, I'm having trouble with the psychological element of my crazed and frankly bizarre moral crusade.

Best answer in the next 24 hours wins a tartan dog jumpsuit.

[image=http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_TrALK2n1LBo/SZCsCVc0RzI/AAAAAAAAC0Y/9fqqYDnYdPA/s200/tartan_dog.jpg]

 

I can't log on now, so I have the penultimate solution: I have just bought a new copy of XP though I did have to buy a stick of RAM to get it. (BTW, anyone want a stick of RAM? I don't want it)

Hopefully by the weekend I'll have a workable computer, if but a very bare one. What do guys you recommend I do after a re-format? I do have my CDs for MS Office and the virus protection that I am convinced stuffed more things up than the Malware did.

 

Upgrade to Service Pack 2 first and then grab an anti-virus program. I'd recommend Avast! Home (Free) Edition (Anti-Virus), Ad-Aware (Adware Cleaner), Spybot S&D (Spyware Cleaner) and CCleaner (Registry Cleaner). Google those and install them right after Service Pack 2 and then install your MS Office and anything else you want and you are set! Also all of the programs I mentioned are FREE!

 

I'd recommend you just go ahead and install linux. If it's a desktop and you choose a n00b-friendly distro, chances are the install will be as easy as XP.

Easter is almost upon us and I still have no help with my question...

 

Make sure Windows is fully up to date, with Service Pack 3 and everything. Just keep going to Microsoft Update until it says there are no more updates.

I recommend the following:
Spybot S&D
Ad-Aware
Avast

I go with Avast as the free version has more protection than AVG Free.

Installing it might be easy but using it isn't. I know this from experience.

 

It's not that hard. If you pick a distro like Ubuntu you can get by without even touching a command line.

 

My computer has been running unbearably slow for the past month or so. I've tried spyware scans, virus scans, defragmenting, closing unneeded programs from the msconfig menu, and nothing seems to work.

Is there anything I can do to get it to speed up? Or should I bear through a reformat?

 

If you've done all that, sounds like a time for a reformat

You can try Scandisk, right click on your drive -> Tools -> Error Checking. Check both boxes, let it run overnight

Check your Windows/Fonts. If you have 1000's its time to delete some.

 

I don't know nearly enough about computers to get Linux, I have seen one of their programs and I was .

And it's the full security suite, with scanner, firewall and everything.

 

I have two questions. The first one I already asked on the Games forum but I'd like to ask it here anyway, since I figure the more opinions I get the better.

The first is whether or not it is safe to play games on my new laptop. I ask this because a friend had his laptop's graphics card die, possibly due to playing a lot of games. The laptop I have is a Dell Inspiron 15225, with 32-bit Windows Vista Home Premium, Intel Core 2 Duo CPU, 4 gigs of RAM, 320 gig hard drive, and anIntel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 graphics card. I don't play any recent games on it, just Doom, Jedi Outcast, Jedi Academy, Empire Earth, and a MUD or two. Is this OK, or could it put too much stress on the computer.

The second question I have is about security. Currently I have Avast, Malwarebyte's Anti-Malware, Spybot S&D, ZoneAlarm firewall, and CCleaner on my computer. Is there anything else I should look into, or am I alright?

Sorry if either of my questions seem silly, I'm not very knowledgeable about computers. Thanks for your time.

 

You are safe indeed.

And since those games are older they will be fine, even on the integrated graphics.

 

Yeah, you'll be fine. Zonealarms is probably the best software firewall choice for windows.

In terms of gaming, the problems tend to happen when people play recent games for hours on end. This makes the gpu hot, and simple thermodynamics tells you that a laptop with little space between components and no big vents for fans is not going to allow the same kind of cooling as a desktop. With the games you listed, you won't have a problem. If you're really concerned about it, just pause and take a break every hour or so (good for your eyes to focus on something that's not immediately in front of you, too) but it really won't be a problem with that machine and those games.

 

take a look in the task manager and see if there's anything that is taxing the cpu.

 

Thanks for the advice.

 

Thanks. I think I'll try this tonight.


Surprisingly, it's not running so bad today. Usually what happens is that Firefox will suddenly freeze up sometimes, and then the entire computer goes to hell because it won't let me close Firefox (neither by closing the window nor by using the task manager menu).