O/T My PC gone t!ts up again!!

[BrianHorn]

Hello chaps and chapesses, as it says above. I managed to get rid of the spyware (although not all obviously) using AdAware and Spyware Doctor.

 

My Homepage is no longer 'Blatchat' but 'Windows Center Security Alert' ie 'click here to remove spyware' etc, etc. I've just run AdAware and Spyware Doctor again but can't get rid of this. Any ideas?

 

I also get a window titled 'Project1' 'Run-time error 13' 'Type Mismatch' and then the 'OK' box. What ever I click it won't go away. Again, any suggestions for removing this?

 

Brian

 

Common sense is in spite of, not the result of, education.

 

--Victor Hugo

 

[John Ryan]

I presume you have tried to change your homepage in the normal way?

 

Right click on the blue internet icon, go to properties, type in the homepage you want, and click apply?

 

 

[Mr Locust]

As John said, you might have to reinstate your preferred homepage.

 

A recent 'visitor' on my pc which was trying to sell anti virus software also dropped something in which kept diverting away from the homepage. Look under tools, manage add-ons and see if ther is anything odd at work in that list.

 

Ian

 

Green and Silver Roadsport 😬

[John Ryan]

Another tip, if you have a late version of windows, is to press alt/ctrl/delete

 

This gives you task manager, which tells you which programmes are running at the time

 

By the way, are you running good anti virus? This is really vital if you are on broadband, and like me, have kids surfing. They caused me lots of problems with adware etc. Since I got McAfee I have had no issues.

 

Edited by - John Ryan on 7 Aug 2006 19:01:00

[BrianHorn]

Thanks guys. Unfortunately though it's getting worse.

 

My fully paid up Spyware Doctor can't shift it. It finds them, deletes them and 2 mins later they're all back again!

 

Free version of AdAware finds them, deletes them and then within 2 mins.........

 

It seems that every two mins now they all pop up and redirect me to 'safe and trusted' anti spyware packages!

 

I'm getting a pissed off now. not to mention a bit desperate!! I can't get any work done.

 

Has this type of behaviour got anything to do with a 'firewall' or lack of it?

 

HELP!!

[peterg]

Try downloading Spybot ver 1.4 from here and run it, it picks up stuff some others (Ad-Aware for example) don't and thst includes the 'Windows Center Security' type invaders.....

 

If you haven't got a firewall (not even the MS Windows one) then download and setup ZoneAlarm (it's free) ASAP - I use ver 5.5.094 as there are/were issues with later releases, I'm sure they've probably been resolved now but this is a 'bullet proof' version to get you startedhere

[BrianHorn]

Peter, thanks for that. I've tried to download both those items but my 'security settings won't allow me to download'. I've tried to change the settings from 'high' but it appears to be 'locked'?!

[peterg]

OK Brian, what version of Windows are you using, is it XP? and if so Home or Professional?

 

Oh, and where are you trying to change your security setting?

 

Edited by - peterg on 8 Aug 2006 15:37:14

[Tom_C]

Brian, you need to start your pc in "safe mode" then run the anti-spy and anti-virus stuff. Reboot it and press f8 before the boot-up starts, then select safe mode from the menu. If that still doesn't fix it then it may be time to format the thing and start again. 🙆🏻

 

 

Cheers

 

Tom

 

FH54WLX - only the car supports ManU, honest!

 

see here - UPDATED

[BrianHorn]

Peter, I'm using XP Professional, Version 2002, Service Pack 2.

 

I'm trying to change the security settings under Tools, Internet Options, Security but the slider won't move.

 

Tom, your suggested route may be beyond my capabilities! Ie, how do you start in safe mode? SWIM??

[peterg]

OK, I'm running XP Home but I guess they're similar at this stage, is it displaying 'Internet' as the area that you're changing the security setting to? - do you have the 'custom level' button on that screen or is it just a slider?

[BrianHorn]

Peter, there is a 'Custom Level' button but again it appears to be locked!

[Tom_C]

Start => Shutdown => restart computer. As it restarts keep tapping the f8 key and you should get a menu of startup options. one will be "safe mode". Highlight that and press enter. computer will then boot without any of the startup programs, net drivers etc. Then run your anti virus and anti spy again.

 

The software can't remove anything that is running, but safe mode will hopefully load a clean-ish version of the operating system to allow you to flush out the rest of the rubbish.

 

 

Cheers

 

Tom

 

FH54WLX - only the car supports ManU, honest!

 

see here - UPDATED

[Tom_C]

If it's xp pro you need to be logged on as Administrator to make some changes to the internet setup.

 

 

Cheers

 

Tom

 

FH54WLX - only the car supports ManU, honest!

 

see here - UPDATED

[BrianHorn]

Thanks Tom, I am the administrator! (AFAIK)!!

 

I'll try your suggestion!

[peterg]

and once you've got rid of the rubbish, get Spybot and ZoneAlarm running

[lrem]

Might also be worth trying Ewido's freebie anti-malware application: here

 

(from the same company that produces AVG)

[BrianHorn]

Hi Tom, done as you suggested and haven't had any pop up ads but as to doin.....STOP PRESS, it's all back again!!!!!!!!!!! Bollocks!!!!

 

I'm going home......................................

[peterg]

Brian, you most probably need to run a prog called "HiJackThis" - here look down the page and click on the HiJackThis button with the green light flashing next to it. Click on 'Open' and then unzip it (ie extract) the file to somewhere you can remember

 

Now, through either My Computer or by right clicking on Start then Explore, go into the folder where you put the HiJackThis.exe file and double click on it, when the programme starts up, click on the 'Do a system scan and save a logfile' button, this produces a screen showing lots of stuff which you probably won't understand (I don't understand all of it) BUT it also save it to a logfile called "hijackthis.log" and if you email it to me at "petergwestie AT hotmail DOT com" as an attachment, I'll have a look and let you know if there some things you can do to to help stop this happening - basically you'll just need to run HiJackThis again but then you select things to delete from the logfile list and it gets rid of them completely whereas what you've tried gets rid of some of the problem but they are recreated by another programme which is well hidden 🙆🏻

[BrianHorn]

Good morning Peter, I'm feeling a bit more chilled this morning!

 

I've tried doing what you suggested with the 'HiJackThis' programme but as I said yesterday, I can't change the 'High' security settings in the 'Internet Options' window under 'Tools'. In fact that whole section is blocked/frozen.

[BrianHorn]

Sorry Lionel, I missed your post.

 

As I said in my reply to Peter, I can't anything to download due to the security settings which I can't change.

[peterg]

Oh dear, I think you may need to get this looked at by someone over there..... do you have all your data backed up?

[Pierson]

This appears to be a particularly nasty piece of Malware - but there also seems to be a cure - have a look here

 

Given that you're struggling to download anything due to what may be a highjack of your security override settings, perhaps you could download the suggested SmitfraudFix package onto a.n.other PC (a friend's/other family member/office machine?) and transfer the Zip file using a USB key, disk or even e-Mail the attached file to yourself to be read on your troubled PC. Copy it to your desktop as stated on the CastleCops site and try Unzipping, etc.

 

Good luck!

 

Pierson

 

Edited by - Pierson on 9 Aug 2006 09:39:23