You can try Trend Micro's HouseCall:

http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

If I recall correctly it doesn't install anything, pulls down temp files maybe, but basically runs 'live' from the net. Worth running to see if it reports anything.

Another thing you can try is a system restore, I think you did that recently. You could try picking a restore point that is a bit further back.

Bizi if it's connecting like that and kinda 'freezes' your computer it sounds like something (a program) might be messing with your connection.

Really, the best thing would be to power off the machine completely, and don't use it until your friend can have a look see.

A genuine network problem could cause the green thing to go round and round, BUT, given you have all the problems with ads popping up left and right, and spam links, I'd have to suspect some sort of malware instead.

Best thing is to turn off the machine. Some malware will try to transfer data from your machine to a remote host; other types of malwarel act as a bridge to download more malware onto your machine. If you have a real nasty, it may be able to get online even with your router off, by piggy backing other wifi networks in your area that either have no password or an easy password.

So your safest bet right now is really to power the machine down.

Use a different computer if you can.

Good luck with this!

waves

Bizi,

I wish you luck. I hope that the guy can get it resolved to your liking.:hug::hug::hug:

M

I will be off line for an undetermined amount of time. see when things get fixed.
will miss you may try to go to the library if need to
bizi

Yes, I'd shut it off now, and use something else , it sounds like a lot of junk has gotten on to it somehow..
No way to know if it is secretly sending files to some other computer somewhere..It could be or maybe not..

Or if you don't have anything too special on the computer you can format the hard drive and reinstall a fresh operating system if you have the CD to do it....

But there is some malware of some sort making the pop ups and weird things happen...

Bizi,


I hope that your hiatus is short.


Come back soon. :):):)


Mari

Will miss you while your gone.

Donna :hug::grouphug:

I am on my phone this is weird computer may be back tomorrow

I weighed 140 this morning!
it is 118 day Alcohol free
I lost 3 inches all over when I measured this morning.
3 weeks ago I had a hip injury.
I backed off of jogging and was really bummed out because of my progress that I was making.
Jogged some last night so that was good and the hip felt fine.
so that is good.
My computer is giving me fits the last 3 days. It has malware. And we can't seem to get rid of it.
Have run different programs and still continue to get the high lighted words with spam pop ups. even audial pop ups. the server can't seem to connect, Fire fox keeps crashing on me.
very frustrating.
better sign off or it will crash again.
bizi

Hi, Bizi,

I am happy that your hip had some rest time so you could do your gym work.

Big congrats on your AF-free days and inches lost.:):):)

Mari

Bizi,

Have you tried using Internet Explorer? It would be interesting to know if you have the same sorts of problems. If Explorer does not show the same problems, your copy of Firefox is probably infected.

Doing a clean Firefox install might help:

1. Download a fresh copy of Firefox
2. Export your bookmarks!
3. Uninstall Firefox, using the Windows control panel.
4. Install your fresh copy of Firefox.
5. Import your bookmarks.

Note: the bookmark steps have nothing to do with security -- just necessary when doing so you don't lose them! ;)

You will lose plugins, but pages that need them will prompt for installation and that is usually painless.

If you want, I can walk you through the process in detail, interactively (we can go into chat), but I need to go out very soon, so it would have to be tonight.

Hang in there.

===========

:circlelove:
Congratulations on your 118 day AF achievement, and on your weight loss results! :)
:circlelove:
===========

waves

Thank you waves jeff has a couple of other programs to run. thank you for the suggestion to down load fire fox jeff said that was a good idea and will do that if the other programs fail. thank you for your offer to help. He said he knew how to do that.
bizi

tomorrow I think jeff will reinstall the operating system. wipe it clean.
he has been in touch with kaspersky people and what they have him do doesn't seem to do anything. a friend suggested contacting the internet provider LUS fiber our local people, they may have ideas.
just had an audio pop up....
sigh
bizi

Hi, Bizi,

Good luck with this stuff. We need our computers to work!

M

Bizi,

Well that would work .... I take it then, he tried the browser reinstall, and that did not help?

Has he identified any of the malware? He could attempt cleaning by hand, but he'd have to know what animal he's dealing with. There are probably a few piddly ones, and perhaps one or two causing dynamic reinfection.

-------

Several years ago my computer was infected badly by malware. I had to clean it manually. The removal programs didn't work -- I don't remember why. I had a bridge-type malware, and other things, but the bridge was the big problem as it kept bringing down crap I'd just cleaned, and reinstalling it, and replicating itself under different file names also! I had to comb the registry, by hand, and delete 'bad' classes one at a time, while offline so more wouldn't come down .... with periodic reboots to check that I hadn't trashed my system :o.

It took me 2 days of work, between looking stuff up and then doing the manual clean. I never like to wipe as I usually have lots of settings that get lost. I realize Jeff might prefer to that over manual, and at least a clean wipe is a sure bet.

---------

he has been in touch with kaspersky people and what they have him do doesn't seem to do anything. [/QUOTE]
Switch to a different antivirus program! :o

good bye until clean
bizi

Ugh, I missed you Bizi.

Good luck fixing the problems.

Donna :hug::grouphug:

Hi, Bizi,

What's up? :hug::hug::hug:

M

This post will be moderated so it will post when ever they approve of it being safe. We are waiting to hear from kerpasky, our anti virus protection service.
I am really needing support.
My friend susan is really doing poorly.
She had to resign from her position from the hobby lobby framing department. she just could not do what they wanted her to do.
She is a raw shell of a woman.......I feel so badly for her. They are traveling wed. to see family then her husband leaves her alone with her daughter for 5 weeks.
Ijust don't know how she is going to dothat.
She is so dysfunctional right now.
heavy sigh
I can only do so much.
bizi

I'm sorry your computer is still out of whack, bizi.
What a pain for you. I was hoping it would all be fixed by now.
This post was fine just so you know. :hug:

I'm sorry your friend is having such a difficult time. It sounds serious and I'm hoping that she has been receiving professional care. When you're a caring person and see someone in need it's very easy to get very involved but please make sure you look after yourself too.

Dear Bizi,

I'm really sorry to hear that Susan is struggling so much. I am glad she has dropped one of the jobs, though. I don't know the place but just the idea of juggling three jobs sounded awful. I hope this will give her enough breathing room that she can start to feel better. I like Mari's ideas about the trees and the water.

It's true, you can only do so much. Do take care of yourself, please.

I was confused about the post being moderated but I guess nothing was changed. (Thanks, Lara. :))

Sorry about your computer. Did Jeff not do the clean install? Let me know if there's anything I can help you with, or might be able to help you with. We can talk through the chat system or a different messaging app if you want.

waves

I'm guessing she had them check for viruses.

Bizi

Sorry to hear its still going so bad for the computer. And we all are praying for Susan.

Donna :hug::grouphug:

jeff is stubborn, I want him to get an external hard drive and back up all of the programs. he won't do that, he doesn't know where the viruses are so he will reinstall the operating system then reinstall all of his 16 programs. I think that is a big major waste of time. Oh well he said he would do it that I should not be concerned.

Susan is down to just her symphony job and other gigs that come up. so she ha lot of time on her hands. She saw her new pdoc this morning. hope that went well. She was complaining about the xanax causing withdrawl symptoms after 5 hours, shakes and such. I asked her ask for ativan instead I believe it has a longer more sustained release of a benzo. maybe longer half life is what I mean, am not sure.

You are right about the Xanax. Ask her to take you with her to the next appt.

Re the computer: That is a guy thing -- work on a problem until past any chance of a good outcome
. .. there is some machismo involved unfortunately

Just let the the guy stuff run its course.
Eventually he will figure out that you are right. :D

I feel for you. Try to be patient.

M

benzos for Susan
 

Bizi.

Ativan (lorazepam) and Xanax (alprazolam) are both short acting, on the order of 10-12 hours average. Xanax is very slightly faster acting than Ativan, but the difference is not significant. Both are considered very short-acting benzos, and they are prescribed in similar ways. As such, both can cause dependence and withdrawal symptoms with frequent use.

Klonopin might be appropriate for her, if she has a chronic need for anxiety medication. It has a significantly longer half-life (~35 hours).

I use lorazapam, but only very seldom. When I need something more often than once every 10 days, I take my other benzo instead, which has a very long half-life (~80 hours). What I take is not available over there, but Klonopin is prescribable for the same purposes.

Malware -- Reinstall the OS
 

I don't know what to say about your computer.... that you'd want to hear.

I do think it makes sense to reinstall the OS, if Jeff doesn't know how to clean it (and it may not be cleanable!) by hand.

Backing up programs to an external drive doesn't make any sense to me at all. Either you have the installation files or you don't. A copy of the installed program won't do anything for you. Moreover, in trying to copy programs you are likely to copy the malware.

========
Back up just your data to a jump drive, then reinstall the OS. Then install a new antivirus, update its defs, and run a deep scan on the jump drive before opening or copying any files or directories on it.

Thank you waves,
don't know when this will be moderated next.
thanks to whom ever has to do that for me.:o

Of course you are right about the computer stuff. and he gets frustrated with me. I will just leave him alone. he is trying to get the 2 year anti virus usage that he will lose once he reinstalls the opperating system.
Susan and family are driving to NC for a wedding and will be gone a week.
I drank too much last night. 8 drinks.
made it 120 days....
I do better if I don't drink.
I missed work this morning and got up around 1130.
sigh
bizi

We approve the posts as soon as we see then, we just want to make sure no odd ball links / underlined stuff comes thru by accident.
:)



If you bought a 2 yr subscription of the AV , you shouldn't lose it...
I had a hard drive go bad once & then a CPU malfunctioned and had to reinstall both times.
I had the Zone Alarm subscription then, and could go online and log in on their website to re download and verify my registration / subscription...

But maybe other AV providers don't do it that way.. but they should...

I would be wary of saving/backing up all files , perhaps some certain specific things, but you may carry the virus or bug onto the back up files and then chance reinfecting the new system..

hi jo,
thanks for all that you do to make this a safe place!
hubby backed up my desktop stuff and he has 2 discs full of files from his music work.
we are using kaspersky anti virus and now have malware bytes to use too. what av program do you reccomend?
bizi

http://usa.kaspersky.com/store/kaspe...045&ksdevice=c

I'm not sure which level of kaspersky you are using?
If you look on the comparison chart on that link , the anti-virus has less check marks for some of the things while the internet security covers them..
If you are using the base version , I'd upgrade to the next higher level to see if it works better for you..

I tested the top 5 about 6 yrs ago, and I just liked the Zone Alarm Extreme the best, the way it was set up, and it didn't bog down the system, but we haven't needed it the last 2 yrs so I can't say how it performs now...., and we used it on multiple pcs for 4 yrs.. returning customers will get or can request discount on renewals..

But since Windows XP got" retired", I went with Linux Mint Mate and don't miss Microsoft Windows a bit..and no AV needed...
Mint Mate comes with WINE and I can still use most windows programs by opening the program using the WINE program...

Best part yet it's all freee...:D


**************You can have more than one AV program installed , but only have the main 1 running full time. Only use the other program for occasional manual scans if you think there might be a problem ***********

Antivirus and general internet security
 

Bizi

I use AVG Free. I've had attempts to infect my machine, and it has intercepted them/prevented infection. I find the interface clean and easy to use ... it mostly does its thing in the background without requiring any input from me, other than in situations where I've set it up to "ask/tell me about it". There were times I suspected infection but turned out the problems were not due infection. (I ran housecall and another to double check, and they found my machine to be clean).

AVG does have a paid offering as well, with more functionality. So far though, I have been satisfied with just the Free version. I've been using it for about 7-8 years now. I have a fairly tame use of the internet. If yours isn't so tame, you might look into the paid offering as well, if you're interested in changing.

I am also fairly careful what I click on. Much of the adware-type malware doesn't come down spontaneously, but fakes out the user to get permission to install. A common scam, for instance, tells you you are running an old version of java, click here to update. If you click... you are giving it permission to install stuff... adware, malware, whatever.... not Java though.

I do also keep Windows User Account Control enabled. It can be bit of a nuisance but it's not too bad, and I like having the extra checkpoint in case I do accidentally click a malicious ad that launches an installer.

Thanks to both Jo*Mar and Waves for the thoughts on Anti Virus,
I'm looking to put one on Derrick's new computer, but leery to
buy in stores. Because they wont load right.

So I'm looking at the online ones.

Waves, I can't seem to get the free ones to work right. I envy you there.

Donna :hug::grouphug:

sharing my post from a computer forum thread -
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/post1143612-12.html


I updated one of the sticky threads on our computer forum too with current info/links about virus/threats & computer/ browsing / security
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/post1144689-11.html

We use AVG (free version) too... for several years now. I think it is very good and easy.

We do a scan with AVG and Malwarebytes (full version pay) every weekend. This has worked for us very well. We do the scans on our backups too.

hubby reinstalled the operating system and we are clean! yeah.
be back posting freely soon I hope!
bizi

my time is off so will have to fix that. it is 9:21 central time here.
bizi

Oh thank goodness!!!

I am so happy and relieved for you!!!! :hug::hug::hug:

It is great to have you back
 

Wow.http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-happy093.gif

He is a hero! http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-happy023.gif


M

thank you!
It is great to be back!
bizi