Computer is driving me nuts

[Ekirh]

I don't know what I d/l.. but I keep getting a windows security pop up telling me someone is trying to mess with my comp . . so of course I'm doing all the scans and stuff... the message keeps popping up every five minutes..so of course I got paranoid and took off the ethernet cable.. and I unplugged the lappy all together... and the message kept popping up regardless. and it wants to direct me to go to a webiste to fix that problem.

So right now I'm running the Adware the Spyware.. and of course the virus scanner trying to find what the hell I have on my comp

Other than that messasing popping up every few minutes.. everything else is running fine... but it's just giving me a headache.

Just had to give a quick vent while I try to figure out how the hell I got this

[qdemn7]

1. Download Spybot

http://www.safer-networking.org/

Also Spywareblaster. http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html

[Ekirh]

3. Well I went to check what damn website it keeps recommending

It takes me to AdwareRemover2007

Everything works fine.. except those warnings contiously popping up.. making me decide no one's attacking me.. I jsut some how downloaded the most annoying spywa..

Wait.. umm I have a Red circle with a white x now.. never saw that before

god I'm extremely careful on the net.. what the hell did I d/l to annoy m e so much.

Edit; I have Spybot and ran it.. it found a few things.. but apparently not what's causing this.

[Breeze54]

4. AdwareRemover2007 is a scam and

a pain in the ass! :grr:

Do you still have that page open? If so, close it!

They are an obnoxious co.; imho!

You need a pop up blocker!

[Ekirh]

5. Page is clsoed

But eveyr two or so minutes something keeps popping up saying

blah blah blah someone is trying to attack.. blah blah blah.. go to recommended software

and I have a red circle with a white x on the task bar bleeping

Virus scanner still running

thanks for putting up with me.. I just hope this is something simple and I'll be back to non hysterics soon.

Okay here is now what it's saying

Worm.Winx32 or something like that

ummm errr... Virusscanner still running.

[Breeze54]

6. Yeah because that Co. is trying to sell that SW to you.

They suck!


Clear your cache!

Using Disk Cleanup

Disk Cleanup helps free up space on your hard drive.

Disk Cleanup searches your drive, and then shows you temporary files,
Internet cache files, and unnecessary program files that you can safely delete.
You can direct Disk Cleanup to delete some or all of those files.

To open Disk Cleanup,

click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories,

point to System Tools, and then click Disk Cleanup.

[Ekirh]

7. Will do. .

So your saying such and such is more than likley not infecting my comp (I know i'm sounding completely clueless... like I said though.. I never had these before)

[Breeze54]

9. It's a persistant ad

and it probably installed a cookie on your computer.

Use the disk clean up and then reboot (re-start) your computer.

That should get rid of it.

Do you have a pop up blocker installed?

Make sure you have it turned on.

How to configure the Pop-up Blocker on a computer that is running Windows XP Service Pack 2
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/843016

[Ekirh]

11. I'm doing virus scanner

And disck clean up right ntow.. once both finish I'll reboot and see what happens.

[Breeze54]

12. You might want to do one at a time though.

;)

[Ekirh]

13. Yah

I'm letting virus scanner finish up . . . It's working so har dI hate to tell it.. okay you have to wait and do it all over again.

I'm no loner panicking hoping that soon.. this will all be figured out.

[Breeze54]

16. You should be able to pause the AV scan.

:shrug:

What OS (operating system) are you running, btw?

Do you use internet Explorer?

If so, you might consider switching to Firefox.

The Firefox Web Browser is the faster, more secure, and fully customizable way to surf the web.
http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/

It's free and protects you much more than Internet Explorer!

[Ekirh]

17. Windows XP

And I umm use Opera actually.

[Breeze54]

19. Opera features 'Refuse Pop-ups'

Refuse Pop-ups

http://www.opera.com/products/desktop/popups/

[Ekirh]

20. Yah that's on .

But these are web pop ups from the net

Like I said even offline it kept popping up . .

[Breeze54]

26. Free antivirus - avast! 4 Home Edition

Free antivirus - avast! 4 Home Edition

http://www.avast.com/eng/free_software.html

avast! 4 Home Edition is a full-featured antivirus package designed exclusively
for home users and non-commercial use. Both of these conditions should be met!
Our company offers the Home Edition free of charge, since, in our opinion,
it is possible to avoid global virus spreading by efficient prevention; however,
many users are not able to or do not want to pay for antivirus software.
This page will show you the most important features of this program.

CNET Download.com 5 star rating

CNET Download.com has awarded avast! Home Edition the coveted five star rating.

[Ekirh]

14. Delete

DUPE

[Breeze54]

2. My AV

catches crap like that and sounds an alarm! :P

Hope you find the problem soon!

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

8. Download a free utility called SmitFraudFix

http://siri.geekstogo.com/SmitfraudFix.php

Then boot into Safe Mode and run it.

You should also download, install, and update SpyBot Search & Destroy and also run it while in Safe Mode.

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download

When you are done and reboot into normal mode, get rid of whatever "antivirus" program you currently have and switch to McAfee.

Trust me. I clean this crap off of computers for a living. The information I just gave you is worth sixty bucks an hour to me. :toast:

[Breeze54]

10. Avast is better and it's free!

;)

McAfee uses to much disk space and ram.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

15. Not if you have a real computer.

If you're still in the Win98 world and only have 128mb ram and a 10gb drive, then sure. Load any two programs at once and your machine will screech to a halt. If you have anything built within the last three to four years, have XP and at least 512mb ram and an 80gb drive or better, those are non-issues and can be buried in the tarpit next to all the other dinosaurs.

Sorry to sound cynical, but there simply comes a time to put away the Schwinn and hop onto a Harley.

[Breeze54]

18. I have a new computer but I won't pay McAffee or Norton anymore.

Avast works beautiful! ;) And the price is right!

[Capn Sunshine]

32. I didn't see this and posted below-IT'S THE ONLY CURE.

you have to run it about six times, but combined with the other virus scans, that will get it.

[DarkTirade]

21. Sounds more like a browser hijack to me.

Look for an anti-hijacking program, only one I can think of offhand is called HijackThis!. I don't remember how well it works, all I know was that I had a hijacker like that, and now I don't. So I guess it must have worked. :)

[PeaceNikki]

22. It took me a week to get rid of that.

It's ugly and will continue to re-appear. There are registry entries that are masked in HijackThis and .dll's in your system32 folder that will recreate them if you delete.

If you can run a system restore, do it.

I'm fairly sure that you have one or both of these:

Trojan.Vundo
http://securityresponse.symantec.com/security_response/writeup.jsp?docid=2004-112111-3912-99

Trojan.Metajuan
http://securityresponse.symantec.com/security_response/writeup.jsp?docid=2007-030112-0714-99

[Ekirh]

23. So did it have the

exact same things that I'm describing?

[PeaceNikki]

24. Exactly. And, check your hard drive, I bet it's almost full. I bet I can guess how you got it, too.

I know how I did.

[Ekirh]

25. For now .

lets just call it a temporare moment of stupidity . .

I'm going to go through all these steps first. . .

At least I know people have dealt with this and gotten rid of it . .

[PeaceNikki]

28. I sent you a PM.

[Ekirh]

Yah I see it

Going to go read it and such...

Still doing the few other suggestions first..

Just glad to know this is something I can get rid.

[Ekirh]

29. Delete Dupe N/T

[Omphaloskepsis]

27. I can't really help.. But I have a suggestion..

Now is a really good time to make sure you have a up-to date back-up of all your important data. You never know. The next time you turn your computer on it might not start.

[Ekirh]

30. THANK YOU EVERYONE

For helping me through my moments of computer stupidity

and a special thanks to whomever recommended FraudFinder (That's what finally kicked it's ass)

WOOT. . I know what I did stupid.. ain't doing that fucking shit again.

[Capn Sunshine]

31. Dude you've got smitfraud

If you haven't downloaded the fix, someone in the Computer forum can help.

[Ekirh]

33. Thanks for the help . .

Everything got taken care of now :)

But wait.. there's a Computer forum... "smacks forehead".. next time I'll check there first lol.