HELP!

me ^ | now | big guy and rusty 99

[Big Guy and Rusty 99]

Ok. I am in a major catastrophe right now. My Microsift explorer was riddled with viruses and other bad things. I tried to repair it. I fiddled with it for hours until all I could see was red.

I stopped using explorer and started using netscape. It still caused me problems even though I wasn't even using it anymore. Apperently, it is embeded into the windows program. Yeah, bill Gates. I removed explorer from my machine using add/remove programs. It still was giving me problems. I went and removed explorer compnents by hand.

Now, everything is messed up. I am having all kinds of strange errors. I can not read the windows disc anymore. I can not seem to download explorer from microsoft's site and i can't network my computers in the house anymore.

[Echo Talon]

Gotta hand it to you, a good format every now and then does wonders for the soul.

I love the level of peace and serenity that a good low level format brings me, I know for sure that nothing is lurking amongst the code. ;)

[Next_Time_NJ]

Ignore most.. refer to post 34 and contact me via Private message.. ill get your system running.

[isom35]

fire up the atari 2600 and play some tank battle, or tank command or whatever its called

[KoRn]

After thinking for a sec, neither of our suggestions would likely solve this.

2 steps to do here:

Back up data.

Reformat your hard disk and reinstall Windows. To prevent future occurrences don't reinstall Windows and start using Mandrake Linux 10.1. It's as easy as Windows for novice users and still yet very powerful like the other Linux flavors.

[Born to Conserve]

By reinstall the old disk, I mean you should add it back in as a second disk.

[cleo1939]

Format your computer and the install your needed software.

Put any files that you wish to maintain on drive "D" or CD.

It takes about two hours but it sounds like you already
have more time than that in it.

[Drango]

start using Mandrake Linux 10.1. It's as easy as Windows for novice

Are you on crack? LOL... Linux is fun and KEWL with but in no way should a novice who was just uninstalling explorer play around with it.

[scoastie]

it IS a solution, if drastic, after all....

[wolicy_ponk]

Use system restore if you have it turned on, restore to before you decided to "fix" your problem with explorer...

Then, download and run these programs...

Download AVG Antivirus FREE Edition www.grisoft.com

Download AD-Aware SE www.download.com

Download Spybot Search and Destroy

You can find it at download.com as well
(the safer networking site sometimes gets overloaded)

Use the "immunization" feature and "teatimer" registry protector in spybot search and destroy.

Run Ad Aware first, though, it has a better scanning engine.

You may also want to run the free version of the tweaknow registry cleaner

http://tweaknow.fileburst.com/New/RegCleaner.exe

Lastly, don't ever ever ever manually remove any programs.
Especially Windows components
You can really hose your system that way.

And of course, use firefox and thunderbird...

[KoRn]

The new version(10.1) is unlike any other out there. I've tested it with total n00bs, and they took right to it! I would recommend it to anyone. Maybe in some cases it would be better for the user to 'get their feet wet' and dual boot between MDK and Windows for a bit.

[easonc52]

HELP!

I imagine the first thing on your mind is not to lose all the things you have on your hard drive.

I hope you don't listen to some of the responses you got (I don't know how computer literate you are (no offense intended)).

First, you seem to be getting a lot of partisan responses (people who use things they believe in, and hate others). I imagine that some are trying to be helpful, but there's too much of the other mixed in to make proper sense.

Go to a place like www.dslreports.com, open a free account, go to forums, microsoft help, and post a 'New Topic'. Title like 'Help, suspect virus in explorer'.

There are many qualified professionals there who may feel they can assist.

To get assistance, you need to provide several items of information. The system you are using. The operating system you are using (ie. windows 98/2000/xp home or pro, etc.).

Explain to the best of your ability exactly any changes you've recently made ie. removing and/or deleting software, or even hardware additions or changes.

The above suggestions are probably necessary for anyone to assist you at freerepublic and/or www.dslreports.com.

Good luck regardless of any path you pursue!

[KoRn]

PS: What I love so much about Mandrake 10.1 is while it's ultra slick, fast, and easy to use you can still pull up a shell and do all the traditional 'under the hood' power tools that we all know and love!

[Drango]

Dual boot? what's that? ( I use Partition Magic 'cause thats what my A+ prof said to use and what we practiced on in class...Are you using anything else?)

[null and void]

Firefox

[KoRn]

I'm a little lost on your comment. I use Partition magic for some advanced hard disk management, but if you are going to use Linux and Windows on the same box you have to dual boot. Part magic can help you get there though. /shrug

[Musket]

Well you should've never deleted IE but what's done is done. You should've paid closer attention to the FR tech threads. Here's where you can go to get fixed.

Good luck.

[Drango]

I left out the boot magic part so, yeah, duh... it was a confusing post on my part....here's what I'm yammering about...http://www.mozillaquest.com/stories_01/DualBoot_PqMagic-01/MQ-Mag_01_DualBoot_Story-01_01.html

[KoRn]

I see. Still, you can use LILO(boot loader from Linux) that accomplishes the same things and you don't have to purchase(or steal) expensive software.

Your post was a valid option, I just didn't get what you were saying.

[benjaminjjones]

First off, get some professional computer help, and I don't mean the kid next door.

I you have any data, such as financial records, important documents, family pictures, etc., and don't have a current backup, then stop mucking around.

If you don't have any data you want to save, then buy a new machine, it might be cheaper than the service hours involved in fixing your current one.

If you were a client (well, one that I wanted to keep, LOL), the first thing I would do is boot off a clean, write-protected, floppy disk (or a CD) and make an image (backup) of your hard drive, infected or not.

The easiest way would be to bring a spare hard drive, hook it up to your computer, and "ghost" your existing drive to the spare drive. Any infection can be dealt with later. The tech can pull the documents or data off the "ghost" image, onto a protected machine, without bringing the infection along.

You could then safely clean the machine of any infection or adware. If that worked, fine, you should be up and running, unless any data was infected, which you could get off the backup.

If not, you could try re-installing the operating system to replace the Internet Explorer components that got whacked. If that works, then you could apply all the latest MS updates, make sure your antivirus and anti-adware software is up to date and copy any missing data back to the original locations.

By the way, the me^ link at the top of the post tried to dump a bunch of cookies on me and a few popups too. Never a good sign when your web hosting page does that.

Next by the way, "I removed explorer from my machine" and "Iwent and removed explorer compnents by hand" was like, a rully, rullly BAD idear.

I have no idea what removing explorer components by hand means, and I don't want to know, but it sounds like randomly whacking directories and files.

Internet Explorer is so far deep into the the Windows operating system, that if you don't like it, just don't use it. Install another browser, make it your default browser, and use that. Never try to get rid of Internet Explorer, it'll just bite you in the ass.

There are fairly new services out there that use remote control technology to fix problems without a site visit.

I've spent many hours fixing my Cinci brother's computer that way, so it is possible. The final fix however, happened over a Thanksgiving visit, when I could see and hear what the machine was doing. Yes, those blinking lights and whiring noises do mean something, if you know what to watch and listen for.

These "remote control" services have started advertising on talk radio recently, but I don't remember the brand names. I also don't know if they offer a backup before they start messing around.

For these services to work, I'm guessing you probably need a high speed internet connection and an operating system that allows you to boot into "Safe Mode with Networking".

If you had a high speed connection and one of those operating systems, I could fix it remotely, but at my regular rates it would cost more than a new computer.

The main thing is the importance of you data. Whatever happens, make sure whoever does the work gets a good backup (or image) of the hard drive first. In the corporate world, data and documents represent man-hours of billable work which plain english means lost money if you can't get it back.

Actually the first question they ask you is "Do you have a backup". The next question is do you have any important data or documents on this machine. If you get those questions, then you might be in good hands.

I can't recommend Linux for the average computer user, there's a steep learning curve. I've played with it, but have more than enough on my plate supporting current with Win clients and servers.

I don't usually respond to these posts, because I know they'll always be follow ups. Since Thanksgiving, I been to 6 family members homes and have done some kind of computer work in all of them. Family members are free, clients pay my rent. FR is family, but they're not blood family.

Crap! It 2:30 am! Now I really know why I don't respond to these posts.

[backhoe]

 

Things you need--(all FREE)
Anti-Virus
AVG Anti-Virus version 7 (free) release available...

 Avast
Firewall
Kerio(Direct Download) Zone Alarm

 If are using zone alarm it may slow your PC. Try Outpost Firewall http://www.agnitum.com/products/outpost or Sygate Firewall http://www.sygate.com/ both have FREE and Pro versions and are heads above ZA.
Misc.
IE Spyads SpywareBlaster Spyware Guard
Windows Update- you must keep updated, it is the start of a secure system-
get all CRITICAL Updates

Things you want(Still Free)
 

  I use Firefox PR1 and IMHO, beats the sox off MS Explorer. Life is good with tabs. Click the link and give it a try.

Ad-Aware
Spybot S&D

SpywareBlaster
MS MVP Hosts file

Mike Lin's Homepage and get the Startup Control Panel and Startup Monitor tools.

 

The best forum for malware removal:

-SWI Forums-

 

 
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1315720/posts

 Microsoft Releases Anti-Spyware Beta 1 To Public Today.
Microsoft.com ^

 

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Browser Wars, take two various FR links | 12-22-04 | The Heavy Equipment Guy http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1306815/posts ...and let your compiler of links drop out of Lurk & Link mode for comment and advice: Ditch IE. Honest to God, almost anything else will give you fewer problems. Try and compare- use IE, then run Ad-Aware and Spybot Search & Destroy... then try another browser and repeat. You will be stunned at the garbage IE attracts. Keep your OS updated & patched. Run a hardware firewall-- with today's LAN's, it's easy. You need a hardware firewall. Use a software firewall, too-- if you don't, you'll never know how many times your PC is trying to "phone home" and send your info across the web.