Talk about a stress inducer...

JayC · May 25, 2004

Yep - the computer. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif It has been an interesting day and a half. Well, I better start from the very beginning. A long, long time ago; in a galaxy far, far away...

Ok, maybe not that far back. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

A few days ago I decided to reinstall my old copy of Norton AntiVirus. It was Version 4.0. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif I wanted to because it would no longer update. I thought if I reinstalled it may update again. Nope. So I downloaded and installed the AVG AntiVirus I seen on this board. Well, I was browsing the net. everything seemed normal until I opened IE again. My homepage was changed, and there were a whole bunch of **** links in my Favorites! /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif I had no idea what to do, next. I could not open Spybot. I turned to my friends at another forum. They were a lifesaver. With their help I was able to semi-fix the problem. They showed me a program called HijackThis, but when I clicked the link, my browser windows had closed. How clever. The idiotic creators of the hijacker files were prepared. So, I pressed Ctrl Alt Delete and End Tasked two programs that I was unfamiliar with. I was then able to download the program. It found a TON of stuff. I deleted it. Now there is another quirk - some websites will not open in a new window unless I right clicked the Taskbar program button. The little menu would pop-up. I would then close it and the window will open. Also, some websites will not load unless I do that little procedure. Very annoying. So, today I ran the complete check with AVG. It found a virus! A trojan to be exact. It found two places where it was located. The virus was called Dialer.8.U. AVG is a good program, but if I still had the old Norton, it would have detected the file trying to get through and prevent it. It slipped right by AVG. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif So, needless to say I will be getting Norton AntiVirus 2004. I am also glad I have Zone Alarm. If I try to open Windows Media Player, WMPlader.exe wants to access the Internet. If I allow it, it downloads a file called svchost. That, in turn, adds a whole bunch of stuff. There was also another file that I was suspicious about - winproc32 (or something like that). So, with that HijackThis program I deleted a whole bunch of files. Now, I have to figure out how to uninstall Media Player. I don't see a listing in the Add/Remove Programs list in Control Panel. So, I am hoping Norton AntiVirus 2004 will fix some of those problems or find something AVG didn't. If not, I will have to reinstall Windows. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif I have already began listing things I need to backup and reinstall if I reinstall Windows. Phew... Talk about being longwinded. If I ever get this settled, I'm taking a vacation!

Henro · May 25, 2004

May the Force be with you... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

At times like you describe I hate computers!

Otherwise, they are pretty nice... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Junkman · May 25, 2004

When you get the new copy of Norton, make sure that you have deleted all of the old anti virus programs. I made this mistake once and it has been a problem ever since. If you have windows ME or XP (don't know about other versions) you can use restore to go back to an earlier date on your computer and then fix the problems. I have found this a good solution sometimes. I run Spybot, Pest Patrol, Ad-aware, and Spy Sweeper on my computer. I have found that none of these programs find everything, but with the combination of the 4, I believe that they find most, if not all of the problem programs that invade the computer. I also have Norton scanning all incoming and outgoing e mail. If there are other programs out there that can help with these problems, I would like to know about them.

GerardC · May 25, 2004

I use McAfee. It's downloaded right of the net.
It's a yearly purchase (to keep you up to date, or a money maker?) but they are always downloading updates as a new virus is found/reported. I have had McAfee for 3 years now and find that it works.

mikim · May 26, 2004

you don't want to hear this .... but I find that "Format C:" fixes a whole lot of stuff. Over time things can just get really "dirty" - I do 2 things as common practice.
1. All really important files (pictures, taxes, etc) are always backed up on a CD
2. I keep security at maximum and access to minimum
#2 means I have a hardware and software firewall, I only go to sites I have a purpose for going to ... no surfing "just to see what's out there" (quote from a daughter that was quickly and harshly set right) and I use the !@#$% thing as a tool - not a toy - no games - this site is the only "entertainment" site I go to.

When even keeping that attitude fails - and for whatever reason things get infected, corrupted, and otherwise "dirty" -- then "format c:" fixes it all and everything I care about is on CD.

Ozarker · May 26, 2004

The best $150 I ever spent was on an external HD that hooks to the computer through a USB port. I use it for ALL data files from my computer and my wife's computer. She has access to it through my little home network.

All program files are on the C drive and all data files are on the X drive. I did this after a failed hard drive cause me to lose a lot if important data including some pictures of grandkids that had not been transfered to CD's yet.

Now, if I get a HD failure or a particularly nasty virus, all I have to do is Format C:, reinstall the programs and plug my external drive back in. All data is just like I left it.

A recent lightening strike allowed me to test my backup solution and it worked flawlessly.

Bird · May 26, 2004

Yep, Jay, I'm convinced these computers are going to drive us all nuts. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif For reasons unknown, my "high speed broadband" Internet service became slow speed about the middle of yesterday; too slow to even keep up with the posts on TBN. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif It's about what I had with dial-up service out in the country. So I tried everything I could think of this morning, then this afternoon, I called Comcast and the young lady tried everything she could think of, and finally decided to turn it over to a technician who is supposed to review the results of the tests she ran, then contact me within 3 days to see if they can get it corrected. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

JayC · May 27, 2004

( Yep, Jay, I'm convinced these computers are going to drive us all nuts. )

After last night and today, I think it drove me past that point! /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

What an interesting time. I was going to reinstall IE. I clicked uninstall in the Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel. Chose to uninstall it. An error message comes up saying that it cannot uninstall. Great. So, I reopen Control Panel and nothing shows up! No files, no nothing! I check My Computer\C Drive. Nothing! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif That is the last straw, I think to myself. I'm reinstalling Windows. I also formatted the harddrive. Luckily, I had backed up everything I needed in case. Everything seems to be going fine. The harddrive gets reformatted and Windows installed. I go to open it and it doesn't display right. No biggie I thought. I had installed a new video card and I knew it would probably do that anyway without the drivers. What I hadn't anticipated, though, is how it would affect the set-up/registration process of Windows. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif Uh oh. I get to the point where I have to accept the dumb license agreements yada yada. Oh no!! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif The screen isn't displaying the fields correctly to say I accept the agreement! I start to panic wondering what to do. In the meantime, that irritating little HP "Tour Guide" with his robotic voice mumbles on and on. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif "To continue with the set-up you need to accept the license agreements" etc. Shut up already! /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif I was mad enough to want to strangle that dumb little guide. At first I pushed Tab. I didn't see anything where it indicates I have selected that field. I push the power button. Try running in sade mode. It bypasses the set-up and I can enter Windows. I try to remove the Standard PCI device thing in the Device Manager. Turn off the computer and try to plug the monitor into the old chipset. Doesn't work. Now what? I start to wonder what next to do. So far I have a computer that is nothing more than a large paperweight. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif I try a few more things that don't work. Eventually I came to my last resort - physically yanking the video card in hopes the computer would recognize the old chipset long enough for me to finish the set-up process and install the drivers. But, before I did that I once again thought about going back to the set-up process and maybe doing something I didn't before (albeit I didn't know what it was /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif ). So, I press Tab once more. Nothing. Press it a couple more times. Could it be? Yes! It finally selected the field I couldn't get too. I could finish the set-up! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif Lousy license agreements! /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif Once I enter Windows, the first thing I did was install the drivers. Then, I checked to make sure my sound scheme was the same. That's odd. Some sounds aren't there. Hmmm... Thinking I again messed it up by turning it on and off, I formatted the harddrive and installed Windows a second time! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif This is getting old. But, when it came to the set-up process I was prepared... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif So, now I am up and running, although I still have a list a mile long of things to do to it. I haven't installed barely anything yet, except the drivers for the video card, modem, and ISP software. Right now I am running without Norton or Zone Alarm. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif I am only going to this site though and another one I trust.

So, yes, computers can drive one past the breaking point! /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

fivestring · May 27, 2004

"the young lady tried everything she could think of, and finally decided to turn it over to a technician who is supposed to review the results of the tests she ran, then contact me within 3 days to see if they can get it corrected." 

Kinda like waitin' on lab results, ain't it? /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Bird · Jun 15, 2004

I debated whether I should post an update to this thread, and show my ignorance, or not, but on the assumption that I may not be the only computer dummy on the forum . . . . well, here goes:

Ever since my last post in this thread (almost 3 weeks now) I have fought this darned computer in all my spare time. In addition to the extremely slow Internet service, it also developed another problem in that I could not access any secure site; i.e., credit cards, bank, etc. Comcast technicians finally decided that my problem was a corrupted Internet Explorer file and they couldn't help me. So I took the computer to Fry's Electronics, along with my software disks and they said they had it fixed. I brought it home and found I could not get on the Internet at all, but I got that figured out myself (Fry's technician used their own ISP to test it and forgot to remove that). So I found that he fixed it so I could get through to the secure sites, but extremely slow response on everything. And some things did not display as they had in the past.

Now since some of my software was a little old, the Windows XP CD was one that came from Dell when XP first came out, had been "updated" goodness knows how many times, etc. So I splurged; went back to Fry's and bought Windows XP, Microsoft Works Suite 2004, Quicken Basic 2004, and Norton SystemWorks 2004 with Norton's Personal Firewall. I had asked lots of questions of the "experts" at Fry's and told them I wanted to format the hard drives, wipe out everything, and start over fresh. I was told I didn't need to format the drive first; just insert the disk and it would ask if I wanted to format the hard drive. Well, that formatted the wrong hard drive, so I got to start over again. I also told them that I had been using an earlier version of Quicken Deluxe that had features I no longer need and asked whether I could go to Quicken Basic 2004 and still convert my old files. I was assured I could. Yeah, except Quicken Basic won't handle the home inventory. So I got to go back and buy Quicken Deluxe 2004 and start over with that. So I finally got everything installed.

Now I did remember to make copies of my data files before starting and I decided to make them on both CDs and on Zip disks; thank goodness, because the CD files were corrupted. Why? I don't know, but some of the Quicken files only copied about half the files. Fortunately, the Zip disks were good copies. But, like the dummy I am, I forgot to save my e-mail address files, so lost that and had to rebuild those later.

I thought I had everything working well, but then my Comcast home page suddenly quit displaying correctly. You have to download Macromedia Flash to make it work. Easy to do, right? It showed to be downloaded and installed, and it worked on other sites, but not the Comcast home page, which also meant the links to maps, white and yellow pages, TV listings, etc. wouldn't work. I called Microsoft, told the nice young lady everything I had loaded on the computer, using the defaults for all of them. After trying a variety of things, she decided the only thing to do was format the hard drive and start over again, so I did.

Now awhile back, some of our forum members recommended SpyBot (SwankSoft SpyKiller) and I had bought and downloaded it, as well as Panicware's Pop-Up Stopper Basic. I now believe that was my major problem all along.

Since the new version of Norton's Personal Firewall includes an ad blocker and pop-up blocker, I didn't re-install SpyKiller and Pop-Up Stopper the second time. Once again, I thought I had everything going OK for a half a day, then the Comcast home page problem reappeared. So, I read everything I could find on Microsoft's web site, everything I could find on Symantec's web site, and read the manuals for SystemWorks and Personal Firewall. I must have thought I'd found the problem 25 times in the past couple of weeks, but nothing I did fixed it.

I became convinced that Norton SystemWorks or Personal Firewall had to be the problem, but even after I uninstalled the Personal Firewall, still had the same problem.

Then this afternoon, instead of talking to Comcast or Microsoft on the phone or chat line, I just sent an e-mail to Comcast's support group, and promptly got an e-mail back that they knew of the problem with the ad blocker in Norton's Personal Firewall, referring me to a web site with detailed instructions, including pictures, to fix it in about 2 minutes.

So . . ., once again, I think I have it fixed, and if you've had the patience to read all this saga, then let this be a warning about using pop-up and ad blocking software unless you have read and understand how to customize it.