My computer is so screwed up..

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AngelofHarlem01

AngelofHarlem01

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There's spyware and weird things stored in the memory of my computer and i can't get rid of them:sigh: Search programs I've never installed have made their way to my display tray and my computer won't let me uninstall them! Random pop up's from Internet Explorer with my IP address on them keep popping up every half hour! I tried to run ScanDisk and it won't work cos it says something else is writing from the C: drive. I did a search with SpyBot earlier and removed like 20 problems, I just scanned it again and it says there are 325 new problems! I don't know what to do:sad: Anyone know? :(
 
http://www.webroot.com/

Download the trial of SpySweeper and run the full scan. You may have to reboot into safe mode (hit F8 right before the windows logo is supposed to appear when your computer boots up, you can just keep hitting F8 from when it starts booting until a menu pops up if that'll make it easier for you. Then choose "Safe Mode" from the menu) to get through a full scan and remove everything.
 
I did the free scan on the site first and it found the worst possible viruses. There's one that's a monitor that has access to all your credit card numbers, passwords, online conversations and so on. God this sucks:sigh: I'm downloading that free trial now. Do you all think it'd be best if i changed my passwords for my email etc?
 
Sorry to hear about your computer dramas, sounds pretty serious.

Yeah change passwords after you've gone through the process of cleaning off the viruses etc. If it's still cactus, and you're brave enough, go with unosdostres14's advice and do a completely clean reinstall of Windows, including a format. Gotta nuke it, it's the only way to be sure.

It's a bit of a hassle though because as unosdostres14 mentioned you have to burn or otherwise make backups of all your stuff beforehand. And then begins the long rebuild..

Good luck, I hope it doesn't have to come to that. Viruses suck..
 
And after you did that, install Mozilla Firefox as a web browser. No pop-ups and virtually no spyware!
Internet explorer sucks.
 
the soul waits said:
And after you did that, install Mozilla Firefox as a web browser. No pop-ups and virtually no spyware!
Internet explorer sucks.
Click to expand...

i get some pop ups with mozilla but not nearly as many as i used to with internet explorer. is this something i should be concerned about too? i only get one every once in a while.
 
I had all that as well, updated and everything, ran the whole shabang at least once a week, and still my pc got infected :(

Once I installed Mozilla, I never had those problems again.
 
The most important thing you can do for your computer to protect it is simply keep it up-to-date. If you're not installing Windows Updates, you're missing a good many security patches that block viruses on their own, without an anti-virus software.

I work as a computer tech and we deal with these issues on a daily basis. Our standard procedure goes like this:

- run a scan using Webroot Spysweeper in Safe Mode
- restart the computer
- run the Spysweeper scan again in Safe Mode.....restart and continue scanning until a scan does not find any more instances of spyware
- sometimes I will also install and run and Adaware scan just to be safe
- restart and boot Windows normally
- check the Add/Remove programs list and make sure all the spyware programs are gone
- check the Program Files and delete and leftover folders associated with spyware
- clear the history, cookies, cache, etc files for all of the internet browsers on the computer
- run Windows Updates and install all of the critical updates
- run ONE MORE spysweeper or adaware scan for good measure
- of none of this helps, we get into registry edits or just reformat the machine

Reinstalling the OS on the hard drive is a good idea if you can, BUT remember if you don't run Windows Updates, all of the same viruses and spyware will come right back on the machine b/c even though you're starting over, your making the machine in a sense older and more vulnerable.
 
Thanks so much you guys:hug: Spy Sweeper worked wonders. I have to install some Window's updates and probably some more Virus protection and I'll be good to go. I can't believe how much crap was on my system, unbelievable. It's running like a dream now. Thanks again for all the help everyone:heart:
 
LivLuvAndBootlegMusic said:
Reinstalling the OS on the hard drive is a good idea if you can, BUT remember if you don't run Windows Updates, all of the same viruses and spyware will come right back on the machine b/c even though you're starting over, your making the machine in a sense older and more vulnerable.
Click to expand...

Yeah true, forgot to mention that little catch. You gotta make a beeline for the updates and get the ship in order before even thinking of using any apps.

And add another vote for Firefox, it's great. Rarely will you have to go back to using IE for a site that doesn't work in Firefox.
 
Zihua said:


Yeah true, forgot to mention that little catch. You gotta make a beeline for the updates and get the ship in order before even thinking of using any apps.

And add another vote for Firefox, it's great. Rarely will you have to go back to using IE for a site that doesn't work in Firefox.
Click to expand...

Add another vote!

And if you do go the OS reinstall route, I suggest using a DSL or cable connection behind a router to install the updates. Routers are pretty good at blocking viruses. If you use dial-up, not only will it be too slow, but you'll be toast before the first update installs.
 
can someone recomend a good virus blocker? pop-up catcher too perhaps? i'm still being invaded by pc bugs i fear.:( Spyware Sweeper's great at informing about ad-ware and viruses but if it's possible i'd like to completley block them out so they can't get at my computer to begin with..
 
I recommend Norton/Symantec product for an anti-virus. That includes realtime protection which will detect a virus without having to run scans. Nothing can "block" a virus besides a firewall, router, or security patches (Windows Update). For spyware, I suggest switching to Mozilla/FireFox and running a SpySweeper scan once a week.
 
Computer's got trojan's again:sigh: I delete them and they don't go away. I think I'm going to wipe my computer tonight. I've never done it before so got any advice? It currently has Window's 98 on it. My dad's pc has XP, if i'm able to find his XP disc i may upgrade to that..will it work?:uhoh:
 
AngelofHarlem01 said:
Computer's got trojan's again:sigh: I delete them and they don't go away. I think I'm going to wipe my computer tonight. I've never done it before so got any advice? It currently has Window's 98 on it. My dad's pc has XP, if i'm able to find his XP disc i may upgrade to that..will it work?:uhoh:
Click to expand...

I wouldn't go from 98 to XP unless the computer has at least a 5GB hard drive, 192 MB RAM, and ~600Mhz processor. With those specs, you'll be able to install XP, but it's not going to run well unless you have more like a 1000Mhz processor and 256 MB RAM.
 
if you have windows 98 and you've compressed your files to fat 32s you won't be able to reinstall windows, which blows because it needs to be done on my old computer and now i can't. Don't worry if you don't know whether you've done this because it will tell you that you have when you try to do it :grumpy:
 
ILuvLarryMullen said:
if you have windows 98 and you've compressed your files to fat 32s you won't be able to reinstall windows, which blows because it needs to be done on my old computer and now i can't. Don't worry if you don't know whether you've done this because it will tell you that you have when you try to do it :grumpy:
Click to expand...

If you install XP by booting off the CD, you should be able to select the Windows 98 FAT 32 partition and delete it. Then start from scratch and install Windows XP as NTFS on the unparitioned space.
 
I'm thinking of starting a campaign to introduce the death penalty for spyware creators.

Whose with me?
 
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