Computer Problems :(

[Lila64]

This computer has been acting really weird the last couple of days. The family generally uses this one more than me, and basically uses it to go online. Well, today, we get random pop-ups, even though the pop-up blocker on the toolbar shows as being on (blocking). I don't know if someone went to a website, and now they randomly show up. Also, out of the blue the computer keeps opening tab after tab after tab.... of new web pages (we use Internet Explorer) and can't be stopped. I immediately hit control+alt+delete and close all out all the windows. I ran a scan earlier today, and apparently all was fine (NOD32 installed). Really freaky. And one of the pop-ups that showed up was saying that we had various viruses and to click to download something to "fix it", but of course I did not & closed it out. Any ideas what's happening or how to go about fixing this? It gets quite annoying

I just previewed this post before starting this thread, and got a pop-up for Blender

 

[Galeongirl]

Sounds like spyware. I suggest downloading ad-aware and run a scan.

 

[adrball]

Try downloading Malwarebytes. It's free and the best, imo.

Malwarebytes.org

 

[manicmarc]

Sounds like spyware. I suggest downloading ad-aware and run a scan.

Yes this is some sort of spyware/adware. Make sure you have all the latest updates from Microsoft by visiting Windows Update

I suggest then running Microsoft's Malicious Software removal tool. Click start > run > and enter mrt.exe, click OK and do a full scan (this can take hours).

Also I recommend installing Windows Defender. (or ad-aware, whatever you choose there's no need for both)
NOD32 is usually pretty good, make sure you're keeping it up to date.

 

[MooMoo!]

Also try SpyBot search and destroy. Its free and its awesome.

The home of Spybot-S&D!

 

[throng]

Also try SpyBot search and destroy. Its free and its awesome.

The home of Spybot-S&D!

I second that.

Also... Maybe in the future you may want to start using a firewall, the reason given that several people use that pc and there's not much control over what's happening there. I recommend ZoneAlarm firewall, There's a free version and a pro version. Obviously the pro version is going to work better but you may try with the free one.

 

[Lila64]

I believe I have Ad Aware and SpyBot on that computer. I haven't updated them because I thought NOD32 was supposed to take care of that type of issue, no? I can run those 2 later when no one is on the computer. NOD32 automatically updates, and I did run a scan on it yesterday, and all seemed fine.

I'm not sure if there's a firewall on that computer or not

Thanks for all the advice!

 

[MooMoo!]

Yeah be sure to update spybot. You can use it to "immunise" against spyware too.

 

[Lila64]

I ran the AdAware, but when I opened Spybot, no files showed in the window, and it wouldn't do anything. I'll see how the computer is running for now after that first scan.

 

[throng]

I believe I have Ad Aware and SpyBot on that computer. I haven't updated them because I thought NOD32 was supposed to take care of that type of issue, no? I can run those 2 later when no one is on the computer. NOD32 automatically updates, and I did run a scan on it yesterday, and all seemed fine.

I'm not sure if there's a firewall on that computer or not

Thanks for all the advice!

NOD32 is an anti-virus, that takes care of the viruses and trojans. But you still need some other software to take care of spyware and adware, Spybot can do that for you. And the firewall it's to block other people (hackers) from accessing to your computer.

It's tedious and it would be great a program that could take care of everything, but oh well...

Good luck.

 

[Lila64]

I ran Spyware yesterday, but the computer is still acting weird, and we still get pop-ups. I think I updated something with Java recently & I don't know if that could be a problem. My husband thought maybe it could have something to do with Google My daughter was somehow logged into Google (could see her email address on the screen). So we just logged her out and we'll see if that helps. It's just slow & can't open much simultaneously. We could have a Word document open, and one tab in IE Windows, and can go to the Start menu and try & click on something, and nothing happens. Or trying to save the Word document, etc. The computer has a lot on it, but still shows about 9GB empty space (75+ being used). I've tried deleting some stuff, but would have to go thru files one at a time to see what more could be deleted, and don't know if that's really an issue overall.

We just reboot a lot

 

[RedRocksU2]

I know how to fix it;


















buy a Mac.

 

[ntalwar]

Try deleting temp files (in the browser etc). Percentage-wise 9GB free out of 85GB or so is not much. The disk is cluttered, especially since the programs and data reside on the same physical disk.

 

[Lila64]

Buy me a Mac Carlos

ntalwar - do I need to have Windows Defender on this computer along with NOD32, and using AdAware & Spybot? This computer seems to be really f**ked up and strange things keep happening.

P.S. - I already deleted Temp Files by going into the Control Panel, clicking Internet Options, and then deleted only the Temp files

 

[Galeongirl]

Ok, that's odd then. Perhaps you accidentally installed a program that's doing this, like with google toolbar and such. Go to control panel > software
is there anything in that list that is totally unfamiliar to everyone who's been at the pc? If so, that might be the problem.

 

[Lila64]

I think there could be an issue/issues with Microsoft and updating the security. I've tried a few things this morning, and still wonky. I went into the control panel and checked Security settings, and Automatic Updates was turned off. Turned it back on, and tried updating, and I kept getting errors. Followed the instructions about start>run>services.msc and then checking the Automatic Updates section, Background Utilities, and Event Log, and changed/made sure settings were as indicated by Microsoft, and tried updating. I could get to a screen where I could choose Express or Custom install, and then I'd get error messages. I'd go back to the services.msc area again, and one of the settings (Automatic instead of Disabled) wasn't as I had just previously set it to be. And I tried browsing the Microsoft site, but it's overload for my pea-sized brain, and I still get error messages. And I'm still getting random pop-ups and who knows what else. So after all that, I rebooted, checked the Security section of the Control panel again, and Automatic Updates said it was off I have put a call in to my fave computer store/people/repair place, and I'll see what they say. I just hate to have to bring it in and be without it, especially if Maddy has homework to do on it later

 

[ntalwar]

Sometimes one antivirus program will miss something, so you need to try another one. Try a free one like from free-av.com.

 

[Lila64]

I spoke to my repair guy, and for now, we did a system restore dated back about 2 weeks ago, and we'll see how that goes. It rebooted as 'successful', and now we'll just have to use the computer & see how it's working. Otherwise he said I needed to bring it in because it didn't sound too good. I might have to go thru the computer & try to delete old files to see if I can free up some space or look into an external hard drive. Not that I know how that works and all...

Just did some Automatic Updates (which I couldn't do before) and have to reboot!

Thanks for the help everyone

 

[Liesje]

The system restore would have been my first try, rather than installing multiple AV programs which will eventually bog down if not corrupt the system (2+ programs running real time scans at the same time = baaaaad). Even the best antivirus programs are pretty retroactive, meaning a new virus comes out and they quickly release virus definition updates. The best ones do so daily rather than weekly or bi-weekly, but there's still that chance you run into something not covered, or the virus/malware is running at the time of the scan and the program sees it but can't do a dang thing about it (FWIW, anytime you want to manually run a full scan, do it in Safe Mode).

 

[Lila64]

Yeah, hopefully the restore will do the trick. I couldn't afford the money to have it checked out ($69) and then if it needed the repairs he thought, another couple hundred, all of which I don't have. So for now, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this did the trick.

 

[BoMac]

Lila, the only advice I can give you that is guaranteed to help is for you to get a student loan. That is like the cure-all for all of your problems, computer included. Go for it.

 

[Lila64]

 

[Lila64]

New issue recently...

I go to Google, search for something, and then click on the result. However, it never takes me to that page. For example, I Googled VMA Awards. The top result = MTV Video Music Awards | Show Highlights, Winners, Performers, Hosts and More From Past Video Music Awards | MTV.com . So I click on that, and it takes me to and sometimes it takes me to a whole othersite. I think the address might have had 'overclick' in it. Of course I just tried it again, and it took me to MTV.

 

[Purplereign]

I don't have any help to offer you (useless huh ) . . . but think we must be living in parallel universes cuz my computer is shot as well & am getting some of these update errors you are / were having as well . . . maddening in the extreme . . . got lots of lovely tips from scrolling through the thread though . . .so thanks one and all

ps - hope you get your computer woes sorted quickly and cheaply Lila

 

[Lila64]

Oh, the earlier problems were fixed & dealt with. I just bumped the thread because it was still another 'computer problem'.

 

[Purplereign]

That makes me feel even better though . . . maybe I can fix my own little issues . . . although the fact that my computer won't let me into the 'all programs' menu to hit the system restore rout is somewhat bothersome

*runs away and stops hijacking lila's thread*

 

[Lila64]

Hey, it's for everyone to use, not just me!

And my issue now is like somehow my google searches are being overrun by a redirect monster of some sort

 

[Purplereign]

^ . . . I've caved and called Dr Dave the Mobile Computer bod . . . can't stand not having full functionality and thinking that I have some weird lurgy hijacking my little computer life . . . and I've just been paid so even though its an expense I'd rather not have at least I can pay him and relax

googly redirect thing sounds a bit suspicious - have you tried contacting google help?

ps . . . thanks for sharing

 

[jesseu2]

New issue recently...

I go to Google, search for something, and then click on the result. However, it never takes me to that page. For example, I Googled VMA Awards. The top result = MTV Video Music Awards | Show Highlights, Winners, Performers, Hosts and More From Past Video Music Awards | MTV.com . So I click on that, and it takes me to and sometimes it takes me to a whole othersite. I think the address might have had 'overclick' in it. Of course I just tried it again, and it took me to MTV.

My computer took a shit last night.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH GRRRRRRRRR

I think i got a trojan through the Michael Jackson Memorial Service video i downloaded which Windows Media Player said i needed to download a usage rights thing an to install it. I think that install messed me up an froze my computer up. When i restarted, there was this uninstall thing in my Start Menu an i thought it was related to the install before so i clicked it an holy crap, that did something else. It removed a lot of my file associations including *.lnk and *.exe which i could not open pretty much anything in start menu.. including System Restore... big headache

Lila, i then was trying to get on google to see how to fix these problems an that same problem came up. I had to copy the links from the results to be able to go to those sites without being forwarded to other random sites.

I fixed it by adding the exe an lnk associations... after lotsa searching..

i tried doing a System Restore after that but its not working, i get to the last 'Next' button an i click it an nothing happens...

i then tried to go get malwarebytes an install that an nothing would launch after install, found out on google if i rename mbam.exe to mbam1.exe it would work then, it did but why????????

I scanned my computer an found 7 trojans an like 4 adware, what the hell....

google search is fixed now. Malwarebytes should fix your google redirect problem. close everything including norton, mcaffee, etc. an let malwarebytes run a scan. It is adware that is doing this.

My computer is not back to normal yet, file associations messed up an my display driver crashed... cant get my original display back... its ok for now.

anyone know if there's any way to fix these problems if system restore isn't working? how can i get it working again?? Should i reinstall xp? i'm going to try restore again now..

thank you very much to who uploaded that video on the torrents!!!!!!!!! grrr

so stressed out!

 

[Lila64]

Sorry you are having so many troubles, Jesse
I hope someone on the board reads this and can help you.

I tried running Ad-Aware on this computer, and so far, so good. I Googled two things, and clicked on one of the results, and was taken to the correct page. I felt like my computer had been hijacked!