Bad problems with online service

silenthunterstudios

silenthunterstudios

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Feb 2, 2005
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My family just went online at home on Labor Day, and starting about five days ago, the computer has been acting haywire. I thought I knew enough to fix it, I know enough to diagnose the problem, but apparently, I'm not the IT wizard I thought I was. Our provider is Verizon, but their Service department told my sister that we should have had a firewall, which the internet startup cd was supposed to have, and basically told her to eff off.

I guess I should start off with the problems first. At first, the service was super fast, I had about five windows open at once and everything worked great. My sister, while doing some college reports, had the computer freeze up on her, and she restarted. She is not a computer savvy person. Then the pages started loading slowly, every time a new page opened, I would receive numerous pop ups, while the service has supposed pop up blocker. Now, on the family puter, porn pop ups are coming up. No, I haven't surfed for any on here, like I said, this is the family puter, and I'm getting my MAC powerbook hooked up next week. Now, I can't access my Hotmail account. I have barely used this puter, it appears to be working fine right now, and Verizon is sending a new install cd. When I asked my sister what kind of firewall she had installed, she asked me what a firewall was.

I should have taken care of this, compared to a lot of members here, I don't know my butt from a hole in the ground about puters, but I think I would have been able to maybe at least do a checklist or something.


I'm used to the IT staff at work taking care of internet problems, I have no idea where to start to check for viruses and spyware etc. Any help or guidance is appreciated, I know a lot about Macintosh computers, but not too much about Windows.
 
The combination of strange internet behavior and unexpected popups sounds like spyware/adware. Do you get popups even when you aren't surfing the web or on sites that do not normally have them? If so it's almost certainly adware.

If you don't have an up-to-date virus scanner already, you really need one. AVG Free Edition is a good one. If you already have a virus scanner, make sure the subscription hasn't expired and it is still being updated.

Install any Windows security updates.

For spyware removal, you may wish to install Microsoft AntiSpyware. This will eventually become commercial software though. Lavasoft Ad-Aware Personal (free) is worth getting, as are their commercial versions.

I also strongly suggest that you browse the web with Firefox or another alternative browser. It does not have as many exploited security issues. You still have to worry about what you download.
 
I see several have posted a few items I use so sorry for the redundancy. Here is what I recommend.

1. Update Windows.

2. Install firewall if you don't have one. I use ZoneAlarm.

3. Install software to scan with: Ad-Aware, Spybot S&D, MS Windows Anti-Spyware Beta

4. Download newest virus definitions for above software.

5. Scan your computer with above software.

The first three could be done in a different order, I suppose, but I believe this is best. I do not use any type of virus scanner. I have used ZoneAlarm, Ad-Aware, and Spybot S&D and haven't had any problems. But, then again I try to be very careful not to open any questionable email attachments or visit questionable websites. Also, don't download any Spyware removal tools that show up in a pop-up. They are trying to sell a product with the very thing it would try to remove...:rolleyes: Hmm.
 
Go and get this: http://www.my-etrust.com/microsoft/
Get the security suite, and poof- no problems. It is fast and uses less system resources than alot of other crap.
I have it and it is excellent (AV and Firewall, Pest Patrol)- I used to have norton and before that mcaffee, they suck and are a ripoff. I also use adaware and spybot S&D, and they are ok, but slow scans. The Pest Patrol program that comes with this package is super fast, and has realtime protection as well. My computer has been totally free of pests for going on two years now.

I have no affiliation with Computer Associates, beyond being a completely satisfied customer.
 
 
silenthunterstudios said:
every time a new page opened, I would receive numerous pop ups, while the service has supposed pop up blocker. Now, on the family puter, porn pop ups are coming up.
Click to expand...

My guess is that something like the OfferOptimizer "feature" has been installed on the machine. That particular problem causes various popup ads to appear whenever you open a new page in IE, regardless of what site and whether or not you are using a popup blocker.

I had to remove this from my roommate's computer, the only thing that worked was running HijackThis, examining the log, and removing the files and associated registry entries. I don't remember what the specifics were, but if you post the log to a tech support forum someone should be able to help you out.
 
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