I hate my computer
 

I have no idea why it's now allowing me to type ANYTHING.

For most of this evening, my keyboard would not respond to anything. And when I tried to click on an icon, some other stuff would come up.

Finally, I was able to do a system restore, and right now it's working. But it's acting screwey.

so if you guys don't hear from me yet again, know that it's my computer, okay??


bye for now.

Melody

Do you have it working today, Melody?

You sure something wasn't just a little "unplugged" from the back of the hard drive?

Worries me that it's acting up still though. Maybe you restored to a point before some important updates were done or something.

If I can't type then I figure my keyboard is unplugged ever so slightly but when you say it's not working, then that makes me wonder.

I just hope that you can get it sorted fast.

OKAY!

Before it ALLOWED me to do a system restore, it would not let me type ANYTHING. I unplugged the keyboard, and plugged in another keyboard. I got the little message on the bottom right "new hardware found". still didn't work.

I tried to click on Mozilla icon and all I get were little various things on the screen giving me the properties of the icon. Tried that with many of my icons on my desktop. Same thing happened. So I could not go on the internet.

I re-booted and unplugged the keyboard once again, plugged it in. Then my computer allowed me to do the system restore. I restored it to the 22nd of December. Now here is where it gets interesting.

I opened up wordpad (to try and type). It would not let me type. I unplugged the usb keyboard thing YET AGAIN. I kept trying to type.

I banged the keyboard. Guess what? It typed.

I immediately ran a Super Professional sypware (thinking I got that darn XP09 virus. All was negative.

I then ran a Anti-virus thing. All was negative.

So I have no viruses or spyware (according to my computer.)

I think that the virus I had all those months ago, have been sleeping in certain folders of my computer, and they come out to annoy me from time to time.

I can't prove any of this. But just know that if you don't hear from me for a few days that I'm still alive and kicking.

It will mean I threw my computer out the window.

lol

Merry merry

Melody

Isn't that a new keyboard?? {I could be thinking of someone else though}
I'm thinking same as you -a leftover part of that virus popping up at times.

The only real fix I can think of .. is start saving any important files and your bookmarks /favorites to a CD.

When it gets too frustrating wipe the hard drive and do a complete format then reinstall windows - all fresh..

{only if you have a Install disk though -- Oh -did you make your restore disks last month when it was asking you to do it?}

I've started over many times and it isn't as bad as it seems, the worst part is losing things that you didn't have backed up.

that's my exact sentiment, jo...

Mel, I really think it's a left over also...

for one, you only have ONE anti-spy software...not ONE program out there catches them all...

the reason for that is that some mal-ware applications are in the areas of grey between virus and spyware. So virus checkers may not treat them as viruses and spyware checkers may not scan them as spywares...

malware bytes can help try to resolve that. It is a free program

I still think you need to run a hijackthis log and let someone to look over it. I'd be happy to help you (I haven't done it in awhile but I can still try) or you can take it over to Castlecop where they'll help you...

I know you don't like to save files and reformat but I think that would be better than getting more frustrated with each time that your puter is acting up...

the first thing I think you should do is still run a hijackthis scan log...it's free, and it's great...it's just a log...so easy to do...

good luck

in case you're thinking about using hajackthis:

http://www.trendsecure.com/portal/en...kthis/download

[QUOTE=who moi;433838]that's my exact sentiment, jo...

Mel, I really think it's a left over also...
Who Moi!!

Okay, lets say I click on the link and do whatever it says to do. What happens next?

I like to know stuff BEFORE I do it!! I just went to the hijack this site and it give you 3 options to choose from. Oh, I have two anti-spyware programs. One is Super Professional Anti Spyware, and the other is the Verizon Internet Security Suite.

Melody.

P.S. Jo: You are right. I have that new BIG keyboard. Keys U See. (that's the name of the keyboard).

Mel,
on that link is a FAQ - click each one for the answer to appear -
http://www.trendsecure.com/portal/en...hijackthis/faq
and the overview page-
[HijackThis™ is a free utility which quickly scans your Windows computer to find settings that may have been changed by spyware, malware or other unwanted programs. HijackThis creates a report, or log file, with the results of the scan.

IMPORTANT: HijackThis does not determine what is good or bad. Do not make any changes to your computer settings unless you are an expert computer user.

Advanced users can use HijackThis to remove unwanted settings or files.

Not an expert? Just save the HijackThis report and let a friend with more troubleshooting experience take a look. A large community of users participates in online forums, where experts help interpret HijackThis scan results to clean up infected computers.

*Trend Micro provides HijackThis as a free utility, without technical support. For answers to some common questions about HijackThis please visit the Help/FAQ page. ]http://www.trendsecure.com/portal/en-US/tools/security_tools/hijackthis/overview

those should explain it better than I can & how to use it , then if you have other questions .. we can try to help.

I'm on a laptop now , not my regular computer, I have trouble hitting the right keys on this thing :o

select the first one (the easiest)

and then click on install, follow its course.

You'll see that little red guy on your desktop.

click on it and select the first option. Scan with logfile

the logfile will appear after the scan in the notepad format

copy and paste the entire log and post it here. I'll help you look through it...

don't worry, no personal informations are compromised.

If you'd rather take it to a more professional web forum, CastleCops is a good place to post your log file there.

I'll do what I can to help you have a see. :)

Who Moi!!

I just pm'd you with the log results.

then I went back and it said because I don't know what I'm doing, the best thing is to click on analyze this. So that's what I just did.

It uploaded to the trend thing and now it's analyzing.

I'll let you know if I get any results back. what's going to happen? Am I supposed to get a readout of something?

thanks, Melody

I think you
 

need to keep a log of where you and Alan are going.

You may be picking up some malware from a source, on a regular basis. Whatever, wherever it is, you need to stop going there.

My son's roommate picked up something surfing a couple of weeks ago...it took my son most of a day to fix his unit!

We did a full Avast scan, including my backup the other day. (we don't always scan the backup since we don't find anything typically on the computer scan). It found a Trojan in my backup!!
We have not had a trojan since last Dec when I did a TrendMicro scan. I find that rather confusing! So I don't know if that is a "false positive" or not, but I sequestered it, anyway.

Mrs. D.

Alan is on this computer all the time. I have no idea where he goes. He has an internet business. Since I have no control over what he does or where he goes, the only thing I specifically warned him about is never to download anything or open up any attachments.

Does he listen? I have no idea. Can't tell him a darn thing. He's 61 and stubborn as a mule. He claims it's his OCD.

So all I can do is continue to run spywares, malware scans, virus scans and the lot.

He'll either blow up the computer or I'll blow him up.

lol

I AM learning more every day about computer stuff. So THAT'S A GOOD THING!! lol

Melody

hey Mel,

I am on it...but I have to make sure I say this.

When we use hijackthis, we have to be very very careful. If you accidentally delete something that is vital, you'll have to reformat.

two, you'll have to follow everything I say verbatim and be very careful and I do want to say that I or NT cannot be held responsible if there is a "mal-function"

I don't work for NT and this is voluntary. Just need you to agree to that if that's OK...this is just a suggestion that I will be making and please do these at your own risks or not...

sorry, didn't wanted to turn this into "business tawk" but have been burnt a few times in the past...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

there are a few things that you'll have to do.

1) you need to run a couple of independent anti-spyare mal-wares first.

you can choose to delete them later if you want to

2) you'll need to get a fresh cup of coffee...OK, not really coffee...your "JAVA" is out of date and you have major security issues that are open. It's creating re-directs and the re-directs are coming in and hitting you.

3) after that, we'll run another hijackthis log and see if we need to delete anything that wasn't caught...

4) after all that, you'll need to do a deep cleansing. (I'll show you, no worries. LOL)

5) then, the last step is defrag.

if you can, give Alan a limited account and NOT the admin account...

but don't worry, most of your log looks good...just a few of them....

I am not sure if your keyboard thingy will/is related to this but just based on your log, you really need to run the anti-spywares and the java update and it does look like your residuals are re-creating themselves in your sys32 as new .dll so we'll need to rid of those....

alrighty, headache yet? NO worries, one step at a time...

:)

step 1:

let's run two independent anti-spywares, Mel (not at the same time)

the first one:

Malware Bytes: click here

this one is known to do some really deep registry scanning and gets to the "greywares" that other anti-spy/anti-virus might miss

Double-click mbam-setup.exe and follow the prompts to install the program.
At the end of the install, place a checkmark next to the following two options:
Update Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware make sure you UPDATE!
Launch Malwarebytes' anti-Malware
Click Finish.
MBAM will automatically update and launch, if the above options are checked.

Once the program launches, make sure you click on all your hardrives: C drive and any USB stick, extra memory/storage stuff then
select Perform full scan, then click Scan.
When the scan is complete, click OK -> Show Results to view the scan results.
Pace a checkmark next to all the items found, and then choose the 'Remove Selected' option to move the selected items to the quarantine.
When the scan is finished, a log will open in Notepad with the scan results.
plesae save this log file by cut and pasting it and send it to me and then delete whatever has been quarantined.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

after that, please RESTART your computer and download:

adaware free (click here)

follow the protocols and once it's done, make sure you UPDATE it and after that, run a "FULL/COMPLETE" scan

when it's finished, there will be three tabs. just check whatever is under each tab and hit delete and then finish.

(if it asks you to created a restore point, click yes and if something goes wrong, you can go back and restore)

restart your computer again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

now, this is something that I would recommend for everyone, it's one of the best FREE backup tools called ERUNT. It backs up your registry and can save you some headaches down the road. It's a great backup system.

download erunt (click here)

Note: To ensure proper operation of ERUNT, you should be logged in as a system administrator.

Start ERUNT, confirm the Welcome message.

Type in the name of a restore folder where the backed up registry files should be saved, or click "..." to browse your computer's drives and select a folder. You can also simply leave the default, which is afolder named ERDNT inside your Windows folder, the advantage being that you have access to this folder from the Windows Recovery Console in case Windows does not boot anymore.

Note that in the folder edit field, ERUNT by default appends a folder named the current date to the restore folder, which allows you to keep as many registry backups as you wish in the same restore folder, separated into the different creation dates. This feature, as well as the appearance of the date string, can be configured via the ERUNT.INI file, described later in this document. If you want the registry backup to be created directly in the folder you select, you can also simply remove the date from the folder edit field before clicking "OK".

Next, select the backup options:

- System registry: The current system registry, usually consisting of the files DEFAULT, SAM, SECURITY, SOFTWARE, and SYSTEM.

- Current user registy: The registry files for the currently logged-on user, usually NTUSER.DAT and USRCLASS.DAT.

- Other open user registries: Sometimes Windows has a few other user registries in memory. Examples for this are "generic" registries, e.g. for user "EVERYONE", or registries of other users if you use Fast Task Switching in Windows XP. Check this option to backup all these additional user registries (if found) as well.

Click "OK" and wait until the backup process is complete. (Note that depending on your system configuration this may take some time, and
that the first bar is NOT a progress bar, just an indicator that the program is still running.) The ERDNT program for later restoration of the registry is automatically copied to the restore folder.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

after this, please run an update of Sunjava:


download sunjava here

your version is truly outdated and that's where I suspect why you are vulnerable to the security issues. There were a lot of re-directs and your browsers have a lot of open sockets it's like opening your door for the hackers and saying to them, hey, come on in and have some "cookies" and "java" LOL

Updating Java:
Download the latest version of Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 6.0 Update 11
Scroll down to where it says "The J2SE Runtime Environment (JRE) allows end-users to run Java applications".
Click the "Download" button to the right.
Check the box that says: "Accept License Agreement".
The page will refresh.
Click on the link to download Windows Offline Installation with or without Multi-language and save to your desktop.
Close any programs you may have running - especially your web browser.
Go to Start > Control Panel double-click on Add/Remove programs and remove all older versions of Java.
Check any item with Java Runtime Environment (JRE or J2SE) in the name.
Click the Remove or Change/Remove button.
Repeat as many times as necessary to remove each Java versions.
Reboot your computer once all Java components are removed.
Then from your desktop double-click on jre newest exe to install the newest version.

please print this page out so you can view better...

after all these, please run another hijack this log and we'll get rid of the rest of the buggers. :)

My jaw just dropped on the floor.

You do this??? on a regular basis??? I can't do any of this until tomorrow Alan owns the computer in the evenings up until I go to bed. I can try (and I mean try) to do this tomorrow.

One thing I did do today, was the Java update. There was this little message thingee on the bottom right of my desktop telling me my java updates are ready to install.

I clicked on this but I'm not sure if it installed them.

And as far as setting up two separate accounts, well, I don't think Alan would appreciate that. Maybe someday (when I can reason with him).

So I shall try (and again, I say try). I'm going to print out and read and re-read all your instructions. If I think for one minute that this is beyond me, I can't even try.

I don't want to kill this computer.

I wish I were 21 years old again. I wish my son (who is 27 and is computer genius), well I wish he was still here. He would walk me through this.

He has a brain just like you.

A few years ago (when we were on good terms), he once asked me on the phone "do you do your windows updates on a regular basis?" and I said "no the computer does it for me". and he just sighed and said "go over to the computer". I said "are you in front of your?" and he said "No, I'm lying on my bed.

Do you know he walked me through about 30 steps (all from his head), and I did the computer update thing.

I have no idea how a person can do this while he is not in front of his computer. I guess it's like driving a car. You know how to do it and you know what all the dashboard stuff means, and you don't have to be in front of the dashboard to remember what's going on.

So my dear, (and believe me, I thank you from the bottom of my heart)., tomorrow morning will tell the tale.

And I'm glad you think it's not too bad. I shudder to think what might happen if my computer were on fire.

I shall let you know

and once again. Thanks much.

Melody

mel,

one of the things that I enjoy in your posts is your undying learning spirit.

it helps me too to see your attitude. No one will know every single thing not even the so called computer experts. There are so many things out there and it takes someone who's willing to learn and experiement and having the patience and of course, there is the economics of it....

I can't afford to let someone fix my computer so I decided I'd just have to learn it my darned self. I spent countless sleepless days and nights trying to learn the PC and I was a BIG MAC user....

and guess what, just like you, I am still learning...

you can do it...it looks hard but it is just click here and click there as long as we're careful and don't get too clicky happy...LOL

keep up that spirit...:)

And let me know how it goes and KEEP your "coffee" fresh! ;)

You like my undying learning spirit? Thank you my dear.

right now, my spirit isn't cooperating because I cannot walk. For some unknown reason, the right side of my foot is killing me. It doesn't help that it's probably 100 degrees humidity outside. I have degenerative joint disease, but this has nothing to do with my joints. They are killing me too.

I didn't have this in the a.m. This happened later on in the afternoon. I soaked it in epsom salts. Didn't do a thing.

Then I remembered having something similar (it got me into the emergency room once). It was a pain on the left foot (on the top). The pain was horrible. I remember the doctor telling me it was tendonitis. He said "nothing you can do but put compresses and take an anti-inflammatory".

he was right.

This feels exactly like the same pain. But I had to go outside and take in the garbage pails. I put on my crocs. MUCH BETTER. Made it easier to walk. So I said "okayyyyyy, we have walking going on here, that's a start".

It's not arthritis because it's not a joint. I didn't bang it or bump it. All my friends are in pain because of the weather, and I have no idea why I believe it's tendonitis because I've ruled out just about everything else.

So I'm going to go and do some research on tendons in the right side of the right foot.

My computer stuff will have to wait. But I'll get there!!

UPDATE..... I just looked up tendonitis and the various tendons in the foot. There was a photo of the foot and THERE WAS MY TENDON. It's called the peroneus longus tendon. As soon as I saw the yellow arrow pointing to that particular tendon I said "that's my tendon".

Good thing part of the treatment is to wear the correct shoes. Thankfully I have my crocks, until all this nonsense is over.

I need this like a hole in my head.

lol

Thanks so much my dear.

Melody

Who Moi!!!

I just clicked on the first thing. the Malware Bytes.

Now you said to double click mbam-setup.exe and follow the prompts.

Where exactly on the screen is this mbam-setup.exe?

I looked all over and could not find it.

Thanks, Melody

hmmmm...might need to go backdoor...

is your active X turned on? it's a little line on top of your browser, just say yes when it asks you if you trust this site, blah blah blah...

and then just follow it. :)

after you say yes to it, a tiny window will pop up...click on "run" not save it

then follow the rest of the prompts :)

http://www.majorgeeks.com/downloadge...d909666f809b26

[QUOTE=who moi;434586]hmmmm...might need to go backdoor...

is your active X turned on? it's a little line on top of your browser, just say yes when it asks you if you trust this site, blah blah blah...

and then just follow it. :)

after you say yes to it, a tiny window will pop up...click on "run" not save it
----------------------------------------------------------

Right now, there's a window right on my screen (I did what you said by the way). the window says:

You have chosen to open mbam-setup.exe
which is a: Aplication from http://files4.majorgeeks.com

Would you like to save this file. It does not allow me to click on run. Only save or cancel.

so what do I do now!!!

lol

huh??? *scratching moi's head...LOL

I have no idea what happened to your download...:thud: LOL

do NOT save it (you can, but it is more headache..)

OK, try downloading it from the link below:

http://www.download.com/3001-8022_4-...rt=dl-10804572

(you'll get an active X prompt..just click on it and download file. Wait for the window to pop up then hit run, if nothing pops up, see where it says:

"Your download will begin in a moment. If it doesn't, click here to try again."

click THERE, and just click on RUN)

I am not sure why MajorGeek's doing that, maybe they are on vacation...LOL

speaking of which, CastleCop will be closed permanantly...I am very sad about that...I volunteered there and learned a lot from them...it is too bad...*sigh...

Well, Alan just woke up and he'll be on the computer most of the day. So I have to wait to do this.

I shall endeavor to take my FREE coupons, go to Waldbaums and save lots of moolah!!

Later my dear!!

Oh, I'm glad you have such confidence in me.

I remember one of my jobs (I was around 22 or so at the time). They took me off the typing pool and put me on the switchboard. I will never forget that day as long as I live.

It was one of those ancient plug switchboards. If a call came in, you said "good day, (you said the name of the company), then the party would say "may I please have Mr. Smith". Then you would take the adjoining plug, and plug into a console, THEN YOU WOULD TAKE THE RINGER, AND PULL BACK ONCE. The phone would ring on the person's desk and that would be it.

You should have seen me the first day on the switchboard. (Now I can remember doing this like it was nothing, and I had jobs after that with DIGITAL switchboards.

But that first day, there I was trying to put this plug into that outlet and pulling back the ringer, etc. Well, I could NOT do it.

I marched into Mr. McCloskey's office (oh my god, I remember the guy's name and it's almost 40 years). I marched into Mr. Mccloskey's office and I said "I can't do this". He said "What ARE you talking about'. I said 'you put me on the switchboard, I want off" he said 'Sorry, we have no one else, you have to do it".

I did it.

After a while, I could do it in my sleep.

God only knows if I can someday do this malware thing in my sleep too!!! Maybe when I'm 80!!

:D:D:D:D

moi, glad you are around to help.. :grouphug:

I'm having to do some similar type stuff to my pc, hubby was searching for some car information and had a pop up down loader activate on his profile.
I logged off his account {limited} and onto mine {admin} so i could run all my AV, spy & malware scanners and clean out various things while I'm at it.
His account was clean but son's account had 2 baddies.

so your info & tips are adding to my knowledge base too.:D

LOL mel,

that's just it..either we do it or we PAY someone to do it...so..."just do it" LOL

good story. :)

~~~~~

jo, glad I could be of help, and glad you are here also sharing your knowledge...

I think it's great that there are a lot of folks here sharing infos...I learn a lot too...

one thing I've learned about this (as in life) is never to think I know everything, and that what works for one doesn't always necessarily work for the next one...

but the most important of all, is to ask questions when confused, admit when I don't know, then, learn all I can,and last, but not least...TRY AND TRY again!!

(that is after moss bandages me up from banging moi head until me bleeds...LMAO....)

:grouphug:

i can also help folks witht hier computer related problems. i do this a lot with the folks who have cognitive issues with thier ms.

most of the time i show them by doing a remote connection to their computers and walk them through things.

i have been doing computer tech support for a long time. and been doing it before we had the internet and were using bbs's.


melody its nice that you wish to learn. sometimes computers are just computers.

had you removed the viri originally and had a complete clean of your system then they wouldnt be coming back over and over again.

many sites we goto will plant cookies on our systems. and those cookies can be recognised by some spyware scanners,


i use the hijack this log all the time with my clients. i am very aware of the computers system registry and where to clean viri from.


with castle cops closing down its sad and now trend is taking over hijack this as the program.

majorgeeks is a great website for technicians to hang out in also.

dont be afraid of your computer and or damaging in. thats the only way to learn. if your husband shares your computer with you then i suggest you get another system or you both come to terms with surfing habbits,


take a step back.... breath. and retrace your steps.

you can after doing a restore point go back to a later restore point as well.


the biggest thing i run into with peoples pcs when i do a job and have to goto thier house and or a remote desktop and folks tell me i idid all my removal tools but the same thing keeps showing up is this,

if you dont turn off a system restore point once in a while then anything that your computer catches will stay in that area even if the virus scan says it cleaned it. you must turn off system rresotre. clean your system, defrag it, and then turn it back on after wards.


i hope that helps.

roger.

Roger:

Explain why a defrag is so important??

Thanks Melody

Melody,

each time we move a file, change a text document, play a game, and do a system restore and the like we are shuffleing the deck of cards.

using a defragmentation program reshuffles the deck.

picture your hard drive as a large round pizza.

now slice the pizza into sixteen slices going from side to side these are sectors

now take that pizza and cut starting in the center using a cookie cutter and using a larger cookie cutter each slick and work up 16 slices. each slice is a track.

now thats a lot of pieces right. yes i thought so.

so now as we use our computers the sectors and trackcks get rearranges based on usage,

the purpose of defraging the hard drive is to manipulte all the data in each sector of each track back into its proper space.

any time i do a major change on a computer be it mine or a clients i always defrag the computer. then reboot the computer to set in stone what i just defragged. then i set a new restore point.

that is why defragging your computer on a regular basis i reccomend oncce a week scheduled while you sleep.


roger.

Thank you my dear Roger!!

:hug: