Posted on 08/19/2008 9:44:48 AM PDT by devane617
I have been hijacked by an adserver/virus. I am running AdAware, but does not fix problem. I consider myself tech-savvy, but this is ridiculous. Problem started this morninng, and occurs on FR, and any other website I visit. Any suggestions, or ideas? Thanks.
Ping for later. (My wife described symptoms like this.)
I've never had any of these problems UNTIL I got Vista. I wish it had never been created. My Internet Explorer browser is so riddled with worms that I can't use it. I had to switch to Firefox just to use the internet.
One thing I don't do that some do, is use Norton security. It sucks! That's the best way to put it. It has never worked for me, and it appears to screw up most Windows products. I personally think it's a worm in and of it's self.
How you were infected with this sort of worm with VISTA security set to recommended levels and updates to auto, is beyond me. VISTA will auto download removal tools and you never know it unless you want to see the history file.
I've had it since day one, and it get's better all the time. Very pleased.....
You really can't win for losing with some, but I find VISTA to be a huge improvement over XP. once you get used to the interface, it is much better and it really manages resources well.
There are many IE add ons that do not work well with VISTA, yet work with XP. VISTA IDs them, and gives you the option to remove them. You can also simply set it to not load them or run them or disable them or change them.
I don't know what benefit fire fox has, as it seems to just be a different interface. perhaps it's default security is set higher. I dunno, cuz I don't use it.
Thanks for all your input. When I start Explorer it opens two browsers, one is a gateway site that is really weird. When I try to use the other site it usually takes me somewhere I don’t want to go or it just freezes up if I go to other sites. Only a few addresses will open. And I was getting hyper links embedded in all of my internet content.
Give in to the Force, Luke! Try Linux. Seriously though, I have used Microsnot operating systems since DOS 2.11 and I have been involved with antiviral security at the workplace since 1988. The security threats are increasing. First viruses and worms, then adware, spyware, etc. Adding all the necessary security software on top of Windows adds a lot of overhead that really drags the computer performance down. Were it not for faster hardware, the problem would become unmanageable. There are a number of ways to set up a dual boot PC that has both Linux and Windows on it. Linux is not a total solution by any means, but for web access, it has worked great for me.
I would then go and get the removal tools that will go deep into the system and clean that crap out or disable it. Your system restore data is probably bad as it the registry. None of this stuff is dangerous enough to lose data and do a re-install, unless absolutely necessary. That was the old fix for 98 and others.
Someone up thread posted a link to the MS tools. I would also make sure it's up to date. If it is not, the tools will run automatically or on restart after the download and pre-install of the updates.
VISTA also has a nifty security program that is supposed to be running in the background called malware protection. It is accessible from the security center link in the control panel. Check to make sure it is active and turned on. Also updated.
Thanks. I’ll get started on it now.
VISTA is designed to run almost continuously. I have a laptop that I only turn on once and a while now. I leave it running every now and then for a day or so in order for VISTA to do all the things it does automatically and these things take time.
The Norton protection programs turn all this stuff off, and then it fails to protect you. I dumped it and won't ever use it again.
I have Norton and something called symantec antivirus.
Get a Mac!
I don't know why, but it's almost as if Norton was made to make Windows look like it's the problem.
MS has taken a lot of grief for this, and has responded with what I believe to be a great security built right in. I no longer need firewall protection, malware protection and registry stuff. I just need a good AV.
The damn thing even has voice activated controls so I can tell it what to do from the other side of the room. I have dongles for bluetooth that operate with my phone headset and I am wanting for nothing, yet Mac heads and others treat this like a piece of crap.
Let me know where you are with your clean up, and I can take this private if you wish. I am not a IT pro, but just a satisfied user of VISTA, and I do really like it and have worked with it for a couple years or more.
This thing you have obviously runs without permission, there is a screen for that too, or it may be active X, and you should be able to pick it out as it will have a strange ID. There are a number of different lists you can view on the dropdown.
Holy sh.... I just opened IE and the thing went nuts. Multiple browsers kept opening. I couldn’t stop it.
I think I may have solved the problem. It was a Google toolbar that was gumming up the works. thanks for your help.
I've had Yahoo bars gum up, but I find that you can't blame Yahoo necessarily. It appears that the hacker uses the Yahoo code as a base and then adds their desired affects. That's the first time I've seen a Google with additional fun code....:-)
I have a short fuse when that happens and I have lost too much to reformatting.
You will pick those things up on free this and that sites. That's how they set you up. I simply stopped looking for free stuff....
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