Posted on 11/19/2008 6:34:04 AM PST by TheBattman
OK... I will make this as brief as I can:
My Step-Father is a Real Estate agent just outside of Houston, TX (Tomball and the Woodlands area). He uses Windows XP, and has a history of computer troubles, mostly related to scripts and worms that for some reason every Anti-Virus he has ever used just won't seem to keep out.
I have jokingly told him to buy a Macintosh next time around... but he has held to his Realtor-related business requires Windows. Fine...
Well, about every two weeks, his Internet Explorer (latest version) will not work at all - it just loads then trying to get to any web site - comes up with an error. Firefox works just fine. Whatever the problem is also appears to affect his Outlook as well.
He just got his PC back from a shop that had to clean it out and get it back up - at the cost of just over $200. It came back working fine.
He is following the security/anti-virus guidelines of my mother's employer, Lonestar College district) which suggest Avast Antivirus, SpamBot, and AVG. He has the latest versions of these, and keeps them updated (Avast and AVG via their built-in auto-update). And scans daily in addition to auto protection.
The fact that the recurring issue always starts with IE and then Outlook, I have little doubts that it is a worm/virus of some form. He would just as soon dump IE as anyone... BUT
Remember, he is a Realtor. The Houston Area Realtor's Association (and the nationwide organization they are part of) use TEMPO MLS. TEMPO MLS requires the use of Internet Explorer. There is no workaround to this requirement that he or I have been able to track down. Opera and Safari both have User Agent switching to appear as IE. While you can login, the MLS search that is the core of functionality will not work. He and I have both tried every browser we can find on both Windows and Mac OSX.
He is rather frustrated. When he called this morning, I could hear emotion in his voice when he asked if you can run IE on Apple machines. I told him you can, under Windows. He then asked if they are affected by the same viruses and such... I said the Windows side - yes. But it shouldn't bring the whole computer down.
I am fairly confident that the TEMPO MLS issue is related to Active X. Without it, you cannot use the basically mandated software for searching, adding, and generally doing anything with listings with this organization. Active X is the portal by which so many problems enter a PC - turning it off is a good idea... unless you need it as he does for TEMPO MLS.
He has been unable to find any significant help with this problem. I have run out of suggestions.
I am open to any thoughts, common experiences, help, etc. He just cannot afford to keep throwing money at his PC. His business is WAY down anyway - the market is at a snail's pace in his area too.
Oh - and this is on the heels of a major crash that resulted in some serious data loss several months back...
I know - I have already scolded him about doing regular back-ups - to an EXTERNAL drive...
I really want to help him.
Techlist PING!
Is he having any conflict with the port IE uses via his router?
In other words, if he’s connecting via a router or a switch, have him try to connect directly, bypassing the pass-thru device.
Have him make a backup of anything he needs to save in case he needs to do a full OS reinstall, which is albiet a pain but should fix.
Check for conflicting TSRs (Terminate and Stay residents) by closing out all unneeded running applications and processes. See if that helps.
Good for you for helping your friend.
If he’s not using the computer to surf to suspect sites and not opening up and running .exe progrmas from emails sent frompeople he doesn’t know, then he shouldn’t be having the problems he’s having. Thus, someone is using his computer to go to places they shouldn’t be going or downloading suspect programs.
I have heard that this is the most comprehensive virus software on the market
He needs to stop opening email attachments without first scanning them.
http://www.tatanka.com.br/ies4linux/page/Main_Page explains how to install IE6 on Linux (pick your flavor, but Ubuntu seems most XP like for my family, yours might be different...) Use their script to install it, and use it for the IE required sites; everything else you can use Firefox for.
Avast! and AVG are two separate anti-virus programs. He should NOT be running both. The can, and will, conflict with one another. His first decision is which one he wants to retain, then uninstall the other.
His culprit may be ad-ware and spyware, which aren’t classified as “viruses”, although I think they should be. Have him download a free version of STOPZILLA. If that works, buy the full version.
Is Outlook absolutely necessary for what he does?
That would be the first thing I dumped...
I update my security every 3 hours to stay ahead of the virus curve.
unhackme
http://greatis.com/unhackme/download.htm
30 day free trial is fine.
Uninstall all anti virus.
run it in safe mode. run it as boot scan. run it as virus attack clean up. once clean install avg from grisoft.com
Has the machine ever been reformatted? If not, he should most definitely reformat. We have had XP on about 6 machines ever since XP came out, x number of years ago, and we never have problems. We use SuperAntiSpyware and AVG, both free editions. We don’t accept automatic updates — just pick and choose updates. We stick with older versions of IE and Win Media Player, as I have found we like the feature set much better on the older versions.
I’m sure some of the IT guys here on FR can provide some more specific tips for your situation. Good luck!
I think this is the best solution also for a couple of reasons.
The first is that Linux is inherently a bad host to Windows infections. Most of the things that the infection is trying to get hold don’t exist in this environment.
The other is that he can choose OTHER email agents that won’t get infected and run them under linux.
Summary - run IE6.0 under Wine on Linux for th MLS and run a native email client like Evolution or Thunderbird.
You’ve done all you can at that point to minimize the susceptibility to Windows infectious agents.
Click on the "Internet" icon, then click on "custom level..." At the bottom, use the pull down box to select "high" in the reset custom settings box, then click "reset..."
He is surfing to nasty websites that are running ActiveX scripts and installing crap.
Second, have him use Firefox for everything except his one Real Estate site that demands IE. Use Firefox to surf the rest of the web.
I have downloaded and installed the free home version of Avast for years ( www.avast.com ) and have NEVER gotten a virus
I highly recommend it for home and purchase for business- if he is using it on his work computer he really should by the business license
Long Term: Other Realtors must be having similar problems. Have him seek them out, band together and raise Holy Hell with the twits that wrote the IE/ActiveX only software.
Tell him and all his employees - no web surfing. These computers help him make his living. They are not toys. If you surf the net - you will get viruses etc. Open up any questionable software - viruses. Use the home machine for play.
Is there a reason he’s running Outlook other than it comes with Microsoft Office? Or is he using it for his scheduling? He may want to look at OpenOffice as a replacement for Microsoft Office. It will load/save documents, spreadsheets, etc. in Microsoft Office format.
As for Outlook as a scheduling agent, Mozilla Thunderbird with the Mozilla Lightning extension installed is essentially the same. An email client that handles schedules and tasks. It doesn’t have the Journal feature Outlook has, and it won’t sync schedules and tasks with a PDA (Palm). But it is a very good replacement for Outlook if simply maintaining a schedule on a PC.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.