Now it's my turn to ask for computer help!

Sally'sConcerns | 12/05/04 | Sally'sConcerns

[Sally'sConcerns]

Before anyone asks I have AVG, Spybot, Ad-Aware, SpySweeper (paid for) and TrojanHunter. SpySweeper runs nightly as does AVG. I run Spybot every couple of weeks as back-up for SpySweeper. I'm on cable modem and the only protection I don't have is a firewall. I plan on securing that when my computer whiz son visits at Christmas. (I'm an almost computer idiot)

So my computer's been acting hinky and I don't know why. I decide to go to http://www.pcpitstop.com to check my computer. For some strange reason I click on the free scan from Stop-Sign. Stop-Sign finds stuff and the only way I can get them to "correct/fix" it is to purchase their program. Is it worth the money to buy their program? They did find several things such as the remains of IWon and AllAdvantage which none of the other programs found.

[konaice]

LoL... You must be keying it and then pressing search rather than ENTER, I did that at first too with Mozilla.


Or you are keying it into the google tool bar? (hint: dont key it there).

As we say in the computer industry... The first hundred years are the hardest ! ;-)

[since1868]

thanks I am pressing search, however there is no enter button

[konaice]

Yes there is. Its on your keyboard! ;-)

[since1868]

thanks for all your help

[Sally'sConcerns]

Do I have to do that F8 stuff? I've run Disk Defrag and Disc Clean Up after regular start-up.

I am a computer weenie and F8 scares me. Can I use System Tools instead and get to defrag and clean up from there?

To everyone else (including you, Americanchild)

So, if I delete all cookies, download Mozilla and use it, continue to use Google Toolbar(?), defrag (if I can do it at regular start up...also see scan disk) then will my computer quit freezing up and threatening me with the blue screens of death?

I don't want sympathy but I'm disabled and can't look down or look up. I'm really worried about my computer because my modem is in the perfect position where I can read. That's why I'm kind of panicky. In the olden days my main hobby was reading and I'd go on book runs. Unfortunately I can't do that anymore. Other than my son loving computers, the main reason I sent him to college was for him to get his degree in computers. :)

[Americanchild]

You can run defrag and disk scan ( make it thorough, and check the box to automatically fix errors) in regular mode if your computer will cooperate. Some of the earlier Windows versions will hang on these tasks and never really finish them. I've never had the pleasure(?) of ME so don't know.

Your computer should work better after this maintainance. It will work even faster if you clear out unnecessary programs in your start-up folder. ( First be sure they are unnecssary!) Spybot has a nice start-up manager in "tools" ( advanced mode)Do you know how much RAM you have? It should show you if you double click "My Computer"

[Americanchild]

put FR in Favorites! Better yet, put a short cut on your desktop!

The truely addicted can't wait around for search engines...

[Americanchild]

The XP firewall is adequate for dial-up. Broadband should have something a bit more aggressive.

[Sally'sConcerns]

256 RAM is what I have. The computer came with less but when I bought it I added the max it could handle.

Thanks for letting me know I can run defrag and disk scan in regular mode. I was comtemplating calling the tech to have him handle F8. Yes, I'm that afraid I'll make such a mess trying to fix my computer that I'll end up having to buy a new one.

As far as unnecesary programs at start up, there are only a few I recognize as being those that I want. Some have strange names that I can't exactly associate with any given program.

Of course, I'm hoping that once son comes and deletes some of the programs I don't use anymore that my computer will be happier. Yeah, I still have AOL 5.0, AOL 6.0, AOL 6.0A and AOL 6.B. (hangs head in shame) In my defense though I haven't used AOL in 3 years. When I try to uninstall these (and other) programs my computer asks me what program I want to use to unzip with. Sigh! I don't want to unzip, I want to uninstall.

[dumpdaschle]

Your problem might not be a virus or adware. I like jonny's post #27. I don't use Win ME so don't know how that works. But I have reinstalled Win 98 a couple times without problems. Make sure you have all the disks though. Wait for your son to help. And the suggestion to uninstall unused programs sounds like a good idea too. Try that idea first along with scan disk. You may have to disable all backgound applications like your virus software for the scan disk to work.

[nw_arizona_granny]

Bookmark link

[JoJo Gunn]

I'll be blunt here - I'd take your computer advice with extra grains of salt. How can you say that '98 is safe to use without a firewall? I'm running ME, still 9x. Even though I run Firefox 99 percent of the time, (and sometimes 1.7.3 suite), would you still like for me to post my firewall log?

You said this on another thread:

"It may well be a firewall issue or a virus scanner issue, where it unzips things, scans them, and re-zips them. It may be makeing them into gz format to protect you."

What I want to know is - why would an anti-virus program change a zip file into a Linux extension, considering the chance of dual-boot systems out there? Why not make it into a proprietary file that Norton or McAfee, et al, could quarantine and/or unlock?

Now if I'm wrong, then I'll apologize. But please tell me what brand of AV it is so I'll run like hell from it.

[1L]

Avast anti-virus is better than AVG and still free. There's also a free program called CleanCache that will clean out completely the termporary internet folder that can't be accessed from Windows Explorer.

Using FF will eliminate almost everything. I ran Adaware SE tonight and it only found cookies.

[Americanchild]

Good, you have plenty of RAM then. You should be able to run a number of simultaneous programs along with the Windows background software.

In start-up there are a lot of programs associated with Windows that you need. These usually have a 32 somewhere in the name. Is there anyway you can send me a list of what's in there? Things that are safe to turn off are Office programs, real player, Quicktime, etc. You can turn them on when you need them.

Yeah the evil AOL! That will mess up a computer faster than anything! (MSN is a close second!)Are you trying to uninstall in control panel? It's possible the silly thing has to unzip before it uninstalls. I was successful in purging AOL from my dad's computer a while back, but it sure is a process!

[Sally'sConcerns]

Yep,I've been trying to remove AOL using the Add/Remove in Control Panel.

Here's the list of start up programs:

Outlook Express
Explorer
System Properties
Avgemc (that's AVG the virus protector)
THGuard (that's the trojan horse protector)
Webshotstray (yeah, I know but I enjoy the program)
Em_exec
Wkcalrem
MK9805
Loadqm
systray
Qttask

And that's all of the start up programs. Do you see any I don't need?

Again, thanks for your help!

I don't know if this means anything but I have a cordless logitech mouse and a logitech keyboard. I bring them up because there are icons for them on the right side of my system tray.

[konaice]

Now if I'm wrong, then I'll apologize. But please tell me what brand of AV it is so I'll run like hell from it.

I run Linux. Any other dumb questions?

[JoJo Gunn]

Okay, so you run Linux. Your point is?

[konaice]

My point is I don't NEED an antivirus.

[JoJo Gunn]

Okay, fine, you run Linux and "don't need" an anti-virus, but what has that got to do with your saying an AV might convert something on a Windows machine into a Linux extension? Why not an .xpi or a .jar (zipped Mozilla extensions, by the way)?

Either there's an AV out there I want to avoid, or you're just throwing guesses out.

You wrote a mind boggling piece of advice on firewalls, and that's I'm calling you on your "expertise". Make no mistake, I'm no IT whiz, and am what the ham radio guys would call an "appliance operator", but I do try to keep up with the basics. 9x users are not quite safe when a Denial Of Service bot is quite small in size and very easy to sneak on an unprotected machine, especially ones connected to full-time modems like cable and DSL. And those DoS bots and keyloggers can take advantage of even the slowest of dialups.

[konaice]

a Denial Of Service bot is quite small in size and very easy to sneak on an unprotected machine, especially ones connected to full-time modems like cable and DSL.

That's not true.

Some people think a computer connected to the net is automatically at risk. It's not.

The risk is when you have ports open listening for connections, with software doing the listening that has serious bugs.

With windows, avoiding Outlook, (OL_ Internet Explorer, (MSIE) and windows networking (shareing your disk or printer) means you cut the risk by 98%. Shutting down un-needed services (windows pop-up messages) and instant chat-ware of various types takes care of another 1.5% of all risks.

With those things shut down, and using alternative browsers, email, you can run a windows machine quite safely on the net without a firewall. You should apply all the microsoft patches as they come out.

As I've said, I have another machine that is windows 98, on which all I do is read mail, newsgroups, all with non-microsoft packages, (opera, Mozilla, pegasus, etc). That machine has been on the air for 5 years without a firewall and without a virus scanner. (I occasionally scan it with on of the free on-line scanners (which usually forces me to run MSIE for the duration) just to prove to myself that it has not become infected. Its directly attached to the cable modem and has a public IP. 5 years clean.

Do I recommend Ma and Pa Polyester run this way? Or course not. I just put it out there because someone said its impossible to live without a firewall.

Now as to your assertion that I said something might convert an extension on download....

First, as a point of reference, an extension is not a linux thing necessarily. Nor is it a Mac thing. Windows is about the only OS that uses extensions to indicate what a file is. Mac used to use something called a resource fork, a part of the directory services that specified how to open a given file. Linux does it by inspection to some extent, but even then, if you send me a Linux executable file its still not executable when I place it on my disk till I delibertly make it executable.

Second, most AV programs that scan zips must unpack the zip first. Then they scan the content, and zip it back up again. (Not all AVs are capable of this, and even the best of them is stimied by a password protected zip).

Since the Original Poster (OP) said any attempt to download a zip resulted in a zip.gz file appearing, I suggested they check for some kind of AV F.U. of the extension upon scanning.

There is no other known cause of altering extensions merely by downloading a file, other than a virus or a virus checker (baring the user doing something silly like setting some kind of default behaviour in the download software).

Also, I suggested that the source of these files may be suspect and SHOULD be scanned, because lots of the current crop of viruses and worms send double extensioned files (file.doc.zip).

Lastly, XP is unsafe on the net even for 5 minutes until its been patched with microsoft patches. (catch 22: How to get the patches). Unless of course the user knows in advance to shut off a specific service. Win98, and even 95, on the otherhand are basically so dumb that a clean install will be fairly safe unless you use MSIE or OL. They don't have any other risky ports open by default for which there are common exploits.

Can the National Security Agency break into Win98? Sure. (They don't have to "break in", MS has provided them a back door). Will a firewall stop them? No. But every virus and hacker can be stimied by just not having software listening on any ports, and avoiding crap-ware like MSIE. And I have the machine to prove it.

But I gotta say, I'm tired of this thread.