Bleh. I've got some kind of something on my PC now. Pretty crippling, actually. Won't let me post any messages on BYOND(If I click any post buttons, I get something from Firefox saying it couldn't connect/something from IE saying the page wasn't found). I'm posting now in Safe Mode(which hasn't saved me from seeing these freaking ads every minute). =/
Also quite annoying, it is. Every few minutes it opens up a new browser window to show me some advertisement/s. And I've had several error messages come up about probrams being unable to find files in my registry or some such(probably the malicious software that I'm stuck with). Let's see...I've run both Ad-Aware and Advanced System Optimizer, neither of which have solved it. Every time I run Norton, it closes after a few minutes due to some error.
So I tried to download some Anti-virus stuff from Microsoft. It says it can't verify that I have a legit MicroSoft OS, which is b/s. Then, recently, I got this: http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/4237/sshot4tn.jpg .... which worries me in that it says that Full PC Control has been gained. I downloaded both programs and attempted to run them, but they both said something to the effect of "This service is not available at this time."
[EDIT]
Now, in Safe Mode, I am able to install, and am doing so now, those two programs. I assume this is true for the Anti-Spyware program from Microsoft.com, so I'll get to that next. Second edit: WinAntiSpyware found 25 critical items, but won't delete them until I've registered for $39.95. Go figure.
[/EDIT]
So...now I'm running some system scan in safe mode from http://safety.live.com ....takes forever.... 6% done. Anyways, if this doesn't work, does anyone have any ideas on removing the malicious software that I'm plagued with? I'd take the WinXP Home CD and reboot from that, but apparently my HP computer that I bought from Circuit City didn't happen to come with that. It did, however, come with a CD for Microsoft Works 8 & Microsoft Money....too bad that won't help. So....yeah, any ideas?
Hiead
ID:185657
 Dec 8 2005, 11:08 am (Edited on Dec 8 2005, 11:15 am)
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Try Adaware and SpyBot. Adaware is made by LavaSoft, and Spybot is my by safernetwork. Make sure you get it from them(Or download.com), to be sure that it isn't just spyware posing as anti-spyware("Let my in your house, I am a cop" said the man with the black skimask on). They have always worked for me, and are free! Microsoft's Anti-Spyware has not done me any good, but might in your case. I also suggest installing the SDTimer, or whatever it is when you install Spybot(It comes with it, but not turned on unless you select it during installation), it protects things from modifying startup or regestry without your permision, a pain in the but during normal use, but when removing things like spyware, adware, and viruses, it is the best tool you could have(It can be turned back off once you are finished).
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Heh, didn't I say that Ad-Aware provided no results? I'll look into SpyBot, though. That registry protection sounds good.
[EDIT] Also, safety.live.com's scan told me that there were like 24 viruses found on my computer, and many infected files(and that they were all removed). I'm running the scan again once more for safety-purposes. =D [/EDIT] Hiead | |
Well, AVG has always done a good job at removing viruses for me. As it stands, though, you might not even be able to get it on there. Oh ya, check your hosts file before trying to download anything else that might help, you could be getting redirected to bad sites that look like good sites. C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
Open it with notepad, a few comments and the following line is all that should be in there... "127.0.0.1 localhost" So if there is anything more, delete the extra and save the file. It is something that redirects you to other sites, basicly bypassing any sort of a lookup for addresses and going straight to the IP or address listed with it. (For example, I could put "byond.anything byond.com" and when I typed in byond.anything into any browser, it would redirect to byond.com, and I don't believe it tells you in any way.) | |
Scoobert wrote:
C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts Open it with notepad, a few comments and the following line is all that should be in there... Oh, snap! I went to that hosts file through Firefox(why not, i just had to paste the directory in the location bar), and guess what?! MANY entries. Here's a small chunk I copied from it: 127.0.0.1 ads01.bpath.com 127.0.0.1 ads03.bpath.com 127.0.0.1 ads04.bpath.com 127.0.0.1 ads05.bpath.com Then, in Firefox, I decided to go to the "etc" directory containing the file. It said that hosts was 24kb! I think there's a few extra entries in there, yeah? What's more, I used Firefox's Find to look for localhost, and it wasn't even in the document. =/ I'll be sure to replace it with the one you gave me. Also, there are no comments, just things like what I have up there. Are the comments important? THANKS. Hiead =D | |
Nah, comments arnt important, just delete it, and made a new one(it has no file extention, remember that). Just make a new one and put it over it, with nothing but the localhost line in it.
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Nah, I just used notepad to edit it, and deleted everything and pasted your line. Anyways, it seems all of my troubles have passed. =D
Spybot hasn't bothered me with any registry files changing, save for when I do it myself, and it also removed 50 threats from my computer. After that, and editing the file, I haven't seen an annoying ad or any such thing since. Thanks for the help. <3 Hiead | |
Make sure Adaware and Spybot's definitions are up to date and Adaware is setup for a full system scan. Microsoft AntiSpyware is also a good one to have. Since you can't get it, have a friend with a verified version of windows download the installer and send it to you. I had a similar problem with my legitimate copy of Windows XP, it said it wasn't =\
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I haven't had a virus ever since i got NoScript on FireFox.
EDIT: https://addons.mozilla.org/extensions/ moreinfo.php?id=722&application=firefox