[TheBattman]

I heard a tinge of desperation in his voice this morning - something I am not use to hearing.

[CedarDave]

Techlist PING!

[Ueriah]

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.

[MAD-AS-HELL]

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

http://www.eset.com/

[Kirkwood]

He needs to stop opening email attachments without first scanning them.

[kingu]

Odds are the vector of entry is Outlook, and he's playing catch with other people via email, passing around worms.

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.

[greedo]

Have you tried Windows Defender

[bcsco]

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.

[prismsinc]

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.

[astyanax]

Is Outlook absolutely necessary for what he does?
That would be the first thing I dumped...

[SonOfDarkSkies]

I recommend that you check out Kaspersky for security. I have used it for several years and find it to be very effective.

I update my security every 3 hours to stay ahead of the virus curve.

[LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget]

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

[webschooner]

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!

[Yo-Yo]

First of all, I would recommend that he tighten down the Internet Explorer security features. Go to the Tools>Internet Options menu, then click the security tab.

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.

[AFreeBird]

Short term: Wipe the system and re-install (the only way to be really sure you've purge all bots, viruses, spamware etc.). Load on all the latest patches, and AV stuff. Blacklist ActiveX/Javascript/Java for everything except the MLS. ONLY USE IE FOR THAT SITE!! Use Firefox (with something like "NoScript") for everything else.

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.

[bcsco]

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.

[Leo Farnsworth]

Some thoughts:
I use Avast! and I like it. It catches most stuff but occasionally things get through. I seriously doubt your Step Father runs a complete check everyday. I ran a full scan in Avast! yesterday and it took five hours. He's NOT doing that everyday. A full system scan should be conducted every month or so and he should expect it to take some time.

I also use Trend Housecall - it's free and online (just do a Google search). You MUST turn off the other virus checkers (AVG and Avast!) for it to work properly. Housecall finds other things that are missed by other virus programs. Once again this check will take several hours.

The backup is important. It's good he does it.

My wife is a Broker/Owner and I keep her computer up and running. Most MLS software (like Paragon and others) need IE 6.0 or later to function properly. Macs just are not proper computers for Real Estate.

Lastly, I would recommend that your Step-Father find another computer fix-it shop. How can it hurt? Remember: Norton and McAffe do nothing and should be removed from your Step-Fathers computer if they have not already been. Good Luck!

[Yo-Yo]

Oh, and as someone else here said, tell him to never, never, NEVER click a link in an email. If friends and family insist on sending him 'virtural greeting cards' then have him email back saying he appreciates the gesture but won't click on any links.

There's also settings in Outlook Express for security. Click on Tools>Options... the click on the security tab. Then checkmark all of the following:

* Restricted Sites Zone
* Warn me when other applications try to send mail as me
* Do not allow attachments to be saved or opened that could potentially be a virus
* Block images and other external content.

The cute emails won't be cute anymore, but it should block most scripts and such.

[TomGuy]

Avast and AVG via their built-in auto-update

That may be part of the problem -- "too much of a good thing".

Running both Avast and AVG could be causing conflicts and slowing the system down.

The new AVG (version 8) has allot of built-in stuff that run in the background. They slow systems significantly. If you don't really need them, turn them off.

Does anyone else access the machine?

If he is running the latest IE (7?), he might try downgrading to the version 6. It is relatively stable.

[daniel1212]

I suspect something in addition to using IE is the problem. But he is not alone in his angst over being tied to IE, which is #4 on my list after FF, Opera, Maxathon a http://tempomls.wordpress.com/

But this uwe says Safari 3 successfully runs MarketLinx/Tempo MLS system. http://www.bloodhoundrealty.com/BloodhoundBlog/?p=1525

[LeGrande]

Have him get a Mac. Keep the PC solely to run the Realtor program, don't use the PC for anything else. Do everything else on the Mac, email and browsing especially. Time Machine will automatically back up everything to an external drive.

I had to do the same thing with my parents. It wasn't viruses or trojans so much as they were just messing up the settings somehow. It took me about 2 days to teach them how to use the Mac, but now all I get is Emails thanking me. I think it has been over a year and I haven't gotten a single, it won't work call.