I've got a Dell computer that is less than a year old and it's running like shit. It's running XP and I use aol dialup to connect to the internet. First of all it runs real slow and sometimes locks up. Second I get a million pop ups. Also I don't really like the aol browser so I just connect with it and then open up IE. Well I know I've got several virus because one of them is changing my home page from msn to some search engine that doesn't work. I've switched it back to msn on the tools menu but after a little surfing it will revert back to a shitty search engine homepage. Also aol comes with Mcafee. It is always running while I'm online and it lets you know when it catches something. For some reason it doesn't seem to catch them all and some get by. I do virus scans at least weekly if not more. I've tried some other free av software but nothing seems to help. A friend of mine let me use a copy of Norton AV and internet securities but my computer will not let it load. It does a prescan of the system and doesn't find anything then it will precede with the install and after maybe a minute or 2 I will get an error message saying something like "MSI needs to run". After I press ok the program stops loading and if I try to run it again I get another message that says I need to reboot before it will let me. Does anybody have any clue what is going on? Any tips on what I can do next. I will not reformat the computer. There has to be a way of fixing these problems with out losing all my data. Thanks for any help guys.
Help!!!!! Computer problems....
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You're a dirty, dirty bird.
As you use IE, you're bound to be ridden with spyware, adware, and other malware. You already know you have virus infections, so there are likely other virus infections you don't know about.
As you use IE, you're bound to be ridden with spyware, adware, and other malware. You already know you have virus infections, so there are likely other virus infections you don't know about.
You're probably way past that point.
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Wow. Firstly, I guess you can try some online virus scanning utilities...It's been a while, but I think Trend PC-Cillin offers something to that effect....Try searching for something, anyway. Your problems are big, though. AOL is a POS. It will take over your computer if you give it an inch. You also should have proper virus software installed BEFORE these things happen, but my strongest suggestion would be a freeware firewall--I personally use Kerio Personal Firewall...It's downloadable, and makes sure that you're aware of all program changes, and incoming/outgoing connections. Frankly, at this point, you're probably looking at reformatting...Deal with it. Had you bought local, I'm sure whomever you bought it from would have been willing to look at it for you (EXACTLY why I buy local) and maybe sort things out...But that's the wonder of buying online, isn't it?
Good Luck.
Good Luck.
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1,148 Posts
Do have a computer savy friend? If so see if he or she would be able to take your hard drive out, install in their computer and run Nortons over it. Then run adaware, that should pretty much clean it up. When thats done install it back in your computer and update your AV software and such..
goto start menu, than run and type msconfig, goto the startup tab and make sure only the necessities are going to be started
download adaware or similar spyware utility and clean off all the crap
goto http://housecall.antivirus.com and scan for virus'
download adaware or similar spyware utility and clean off all the crap
goto http://housecall.antivirus.com and scan for virus'
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4,927 Posts
Download this program. I just used it and it found 4 malware programs that Norton 2004 and Search and Destroy didn't find. I knew I had something but I could not find it and I know PC's inside out. It's a trial program but you can get rid of the trojans/malware on your PC.
http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/download/
http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/download/
I'm almost certain the culprit is spyware in your case.
Go download a program called Adaware and/or Spybot.
Beware it will catch about 95% of spyware but some is really well made and won't be caught.
If you know something about using regedit to remove the registry keys associated with the spyware then by all means do so.
Warning: Messing around with regedit can result in windows becoming perma-fucked.
Go download a program called Adaware and/or Spybot.
Beware it will catch about 95% of spyware but some is really well made and won't be caught.
If you know something about using regedit to remove the registry keys associated with the spyware then by all means do so.
Warning: Messing around with regedit can result in windows becoming perma-fucked.
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If you are going to install in another comp Put it in as a slave
then have Norton scan the HD NOTE you run the risk of
infecting your other computer
then have Norton scan the HD NOTE you run the risk of
infecting your other computer
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1,148 Posts
Pretty low risk of it infecting your Master drive if you dont go accessing programs and stuff on it. Just install it, set the jumper to cable select or slave. Boot the computer and run Nortons on it. Scan every file and folder and delete any virus crap you find. Run adaware on it and delete the crap as well. Take it back out and re-set the jumper to Master or Cable Select where ever it was before and put it back in you other computer. I've done this a few times with friends FUBAR appearing computers and got them back up going again...
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317 Posts
Deputy's advice about sums up what I was going to say. Also want to add, check your hard drive and make sure you have plenty of free disk space and once you get rid of the spyware/malware problems - run defrag twice. You'll find this helps a lot with the speed of your computer. Also, stop using IE and use mozilla firefox w/ a built in popup blocker. Works great.
Thanks guys. I swapped the drive into my other computer as a slave. I started Norton about a 1/2 hour before I left for work. I check it just before I left and it already had about 250 suspcious files. Once it is done scanning I'll check out the links you guys post and try them. Hopefully I get it back up. If not I'll just reformat! :hshot
Yep tried system restore several times. It would not work. I swapped the "clean" drive back into it's case and booted up. It runs a lot better but I still think I've got a couple of bugs. Nothing as bad as what I had before though. One problem though. I can't load Norton AV. When I try to install it begins and then an error message pops up saying "MSI must be launch through setup" When I click ok to get rid of the message I get another message that says installation failed. Anybody have a clue?
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3,050 Posts
Don't blame Dell or Microsoft. Blame the bastards that make spyware and the fact that you can't stay away from the porn sites. Most spyware comes from porn sites and file-sharing software. Looks like your heading for a format...and you should not put off backing up your data until you have a problem. At that point, it is usually too late. Just go buy another hard drive and install it in the system as the primary drive. Load WinXP on that drive. When you boot into Windows, go to My Computer and browse the old drive for all your old data. Drag the data over to the new drive. Format the old drive. Copy all your data to the old drive. Keep copies of all your important files on both drives. If one drive dies, you still have the other with all your data intact.Jack0ff said:
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