bellringr Posted May 13, 2004 Posted May 13, 2004 Last Friday night I visited a site that automatically downloaded adware and download.trojan on my machine. I spent four hours on Saturday getting rid of everything. I ran Adware, Spybot, and Norton Antivirus. I am glad I haven't paid for Norton - dumb program can never delete anything. Anyway, I got every bad file deleted, went to websites about 2nd-thought.com and what I need to get rid of in my registry (spybot took care of all but one), and my system came out clean. I was popup-free and fine until today after I installed the latest Windows updates. Now I'm getting popup pages from all sites including this one that aren't being stopped by Popup Stopper, all my cookies are gone (had to re-sign in to every site), and I can't find where this is coming from! Not only am I getting ads, but my browser is crashing every few minutes. What is going on???? Is there somewhere else I should be looking? All three programs still say my puter is clean. Mad!!! I am an unhappy camper right now Quote
borfast Posted May 13, 2004 Posted May 13, 2004 Well, assuming you're not willing to switch to a non-MS Operating System, I'd advise you to at least switch to another browser. I suggest Mozilla "goodbye pop-ups" Firefox (http://mozilla.org/products/firefox/) If you use Outlook / Outlook Express, I would also advise you to switch to another mail client, such as Mozilla Thunderbird (http://mozilla.org/products/thunderbird/) That way, you will also get rid of most of those pesky viruses that are messing up every windows computer on earth Finally, check the list of running processes and see if there's anything strange. Try another virus scanner. Install a firewall. While I used Windows, apart from not using the MS-lame-excuse-for-a-browser and MS-lame-excuse-for-a-mail-client (aka Internet Explorer and Outlook Express ), I always kept an anti-virus and a firewall running and I never had a single problem with pop-ups, ads or viruses. Quote
Madmanmcp Posted May 13, 2004 Posted May 13, 2004 bellringr, sorry to say that most of the computers I fix for friends, I end up returning to fix later...its a no-win world now-adays . I even find crap on my sons computers and I clean them once a week. If you haven't tried yet reboot the computer into safe mode and run all those programs. Sometimes things are not removed or detected because they are hidden or in use. Quote
bellringr Posted May 13, 2004 Author Posted May 13, 2004 Well, assuming you're not willing to switch to a non-MS Operating System, If you use Outlook / Outlook Express, I would also advise you to switch to another mail client, such as Mozilla Thunderbird (http://mozilla.org/products/thunderbird/) Finally, check the list of running processes and see if there's anything strange. Try another virus scanner. Install a firewall. Raul - even if I wanted to switch to a non-MS OS, I cannot because of some of the games I use. As for Outlook and IE, I'm seriously starting to think about changing. However, I already have an antivirus running AND a firewall, and I did look at what things were running in the background but didn't find anything out of the ordinary. Had hubby take a look as well. Madman - I will try the Safe Mode route this weekend. It just seems like more than a coincidence that I was fine for 4 days until I did the Windows XP udates. Thanks everyone for your input. One of these days I'm going to do a complete reformatting again just to make sure things get cleaned up. I dread having to reload everything though - takes a day to get back up and running again. Quote
basementwaste Posted May 13, 2004 Posted May 13, 2004 After teh windows update, you probably had to reboot. Alot of times, if you dont have it completely removed, spyware reinstalls its self when you restart your computer. As far as losing your cookies - usually for me at least anyway, most of what adaware removes is cookies. Main thing you need to do, in my opinion, is find out exactly what you have. For instance if you have coolwwwsearch or one of its variants you can get cwshredder to remove it. Also some aspects of spyware need to be removed in safe mode. I always remove serious spyware in safe mode. Then reboot a couple of times and make sure it doesnt get reinstalled. If you really cant get rid of it, check out "hijack this" at (link) Its will create a log that you can post on their message boards (forums) and someone will look at it, and tell you what the problem is. Dont remove anything hijack this finds without knowing what it is though because most of it, you need for your compter to work properly. I would try running adaware first. (make sure you update it everytime you run it) Then run cwshredder (available at same place as hijack this) because it or one of its variants is the main thing that adaware doesnt completely get rid of. Its the problem with 90% of the peoples computers that i fix because they had spyware. Even if you dont have cws related spyware, it cant hurt to run it. Remember to run it in safe mode if it finds anything to be sure to remove it all. I also highly recoment firefox and thunderbird. I switched to both a couple of months ago beacuse i couldnt find a way to make internet explorer secure. I do use IE for times when firefox is having trouble with a particular site, but its good with 98% of the sites i go to. Spyware is too easy to get in IE these days without you even clicking yes on a security warning. I actually have tried to get spyware with firefox and was not able to. Its alot like internet explorer, more than any other alternative browser, and has popup blocking included. Between doing the above, being careful what programs you run, and being careful what you click yes on, you should be able to avoid spyware for the most part. Good luck, -Dave Quote
bellringr Posted May 13, 2004 Author Posted May 13, 2004 Thanks Dave! I had download.trojan, alexis, and the spyware from 2nd-thought.com. This came from clicking on a 2nd-thought.com site that had meta tags to make it look like a Sims site. I didn't click yes on anything - it downloaded it immediately even though I have security in place (yeah, security with MS IE. Right). I ran AdAware, Spybot, and Norton yesterday after I started getting the popups and nothing came up, plus none of the suspect files were back, but as I said, I'll do it in safe mode and also try the sites you recommended to see if I can root it out. Are there any downsides I should be aware of to using Firefox? I, too, would probably keep both for web design purposes, but I'd love to not have to worry about spyware anymore. Quote
basementwaste Posted May 14, 2004 Posted May 14, 2004 I didnt have to do anything to firefox other than customize the toolbar to be set up more like internet explorer. It comes with a google search bar and popup blocking, so I didnt need anything extra at all. Of course you can turn either one off if you didnt want it. It also feels very similar to IE. I've tried other browsers before, and they all just didnt feel right. I hate to admit it, but i just like the way IE is set up. Firefox has similar features like ctrl-enter opens whatever you type with http:// and .com added, and ctrl-scroll wheel on mouse resizes text. It almost feels like im using IE, except more secure. Another advantage of firefox is that it can use mozilla plugins, so it has full functionality. There is the occasional website that it has problems with it, but you can always use IE if you trust that site. BTW, alexis is a component of either windows or internet explorer. Its included with windows. I forget what it does, but its no big deal, so dont worry about that. You can easily readup on it ig you do a search on google for it and decide for yourself if it bothers you or not. The other 2 will probably be a pain to get rid of, but if you get hijack this and post your log file to here they will let you know what to do, especially if you read the rules and follow them. I highly recomend it when theres something you just cant get rid of. Good luck again. Quote
borfast Posted May 14, 2004 Posted May 14, 2004 Take a look at this page: http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/strangeservice.htm As for Firefox, the only things I change from their default settings are (to access them, go to the "Tools" menu and click on "Options..."): Under privacy, disable the saved passwords and form information and options. I also set the cookies option to enable cookies for the originating We b site only. Under Web Features, I click the Advanced button for JavaScript and disable the first three options (Move or resize existing windows, Raise or lower windows, hide the status bar). Under advanced, I also enable the Use smooth scrolling option. Other than that, I have a few extensions that I find very usefull: JSLib Nuke Anything Live HTTP Headers Magpie UserAgent switcher Tabbrowser Flashblock You can find those on http://extensionroom.mozdev.org/ Quote
annie Posted May 14, 2004 Posted May 14, 2004 I use Firefox also. It doesn't do jailshell, flash and certain games and java out of the box, but it's easy enough to open IE when there is a need. I also recommend Pegasus Mail. One of the safest mail programs on the planet. Quote
bellringr Posted May 14, 2004 Author Posted May 14, 2004 So whenever I want to see Flash or play a game I'll have to switch browsers? Seems like a bit of a pain. Hubby and I used Pegasus mail for years. I don't remember offhand why we stopped - I just know we were having problems for some reason about three years back. <sigh> I'm such a creature of habit. Once I'm comfortable with something, I hate changing! Quote
borfast Posted May 14, 2004 Posted May 14, 2004 (edited) No, you don't need to switch browsers in order to view a flash animation or a Java applet. Those plugins are available for Firefox: Flash: http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer/ Java: http://java.com I can understand that you feel comfortable with Outlook Express and Internet Explorer but... do you feel comfortable with all the pop-ups, spam and viruses too? Give it a try, use Firefox and Thunderbird for a few days. I doubt you'll regret it Edit: Isn't Jailshell a server side program that grants a restricted shell access? What does Firefox (or any other browser) have to do with that? Edited May 14, 2004 by TCH-Raul Quote
Bunni Posted May 14, 2004 Posted May 14, 2004 <sigh> I'm such a creature of habit. Once I'm comfortable with something, I hate changing! Yup, uh-huh, me too. I changed to Firebird a while back and I'm soon going to move on to Firefox. Awesome is all I can say. Quote
annie Posted May 14, 2004 Posted May 14, 2004 Jailshell is something another webhost is using for SSH access. And now that I think about it, I haven't tried Firefox with it, just remember that Mozilla didn't do it. And that MIGHT be because I've blocked pop-ups. And I said OUT OF THE BOX. I prefer to not have everything enabled in Firefox, but it's entirely possible to get more stuff working. Quote
Deverill Posted May 14, 2004 Posted May 14, 2004 True it won't do flash and friends "out of the box" but you see a note that says "click here to install flash", click it, and poof, you got it. It's not hard at all and it is certainly worth not having all the Microsoft exploits available to unfriendly websites. Quote
borfast Posted May 14, 2004 Posted May 14, 2004 I know what Jailshell is but I've never seen it, so I still don't understand how it relates to a web browser. Is it a Java applet? Something like phpShell? Quote
bellringr Posted May 14, 2004 Author Posted May 14, 2004 OK OK - you have all convinced me! I'll get Firefox downloaded this weekend. If I have any trouble I'll just pester Brich. Quote
Bunni Posted May 14, 2004 Posted May 14, 2004 No problem! I'm ready for ya! I updated my Firebird to Firefox this afternoon. Quote
bellringr Posted May 19, 2004 Author Posted May 19, 2004 Well, I did it! I installed Firefox. Pretty slick! I did have some trouble entering information in a form, but I just closed it and reopened, and all was well. I haven't done the e-mail program yet....saving that for another day as I hate messing with e-mail. I always end up losing something. heh Not only does it stop all popups, but I can turn off Popup Stopper so I don't have to control-click to open another window. Sweeeet Oh - as for my IE....a couple days after my last post, MS had another update and funny, I haven't had an unwanted popup since. Hmm...... Microsoft BTW, I tried a bunch of things you all suggested and my system still came out clean, thank goodness! Quote
borfast Posted May 19, 2004 Posted May 19, 2004 (edited) Welcome to the world of Free Software, where things work as you expect them to. Well, at least more often than MS products, anyway... Try hitting CTRL+T to see what happens Or clicking a link with your middle mouse-button (if you don't have a three-button mouse, CTRL+click the link). About the e-mail, you can always try Thunderbird without leaving Outlook Express. Just tell it to import your e-mails from Outlook and not to delete the e-mails from the server when you receive them. That way you'll still be able to use OE as your default mail client but you can try Thunderbird. You just need to be a little carefull so you don't mess up the e-mails by storing a message in one of them and then looking for it on the other Edited May 19, 2004 by TCH-Raul Quote
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