DESPERATE Q. for COMPUTER GEEKS, Part 1--PLEASE ONLY ANSWER IF YOU CAN DO SO WITH VIRTUAL COMPLETE CERTAINTY!!

Question

OK, here's the deal:

I'm using an aging computer left by a relative at an elderly friend's home (they've no major computer interest).

I'm doing so because I'm DESPERATELY trying to GET A JOB!

But :( this thing's SICK SICK SICK! :P

So, I'm going to ask a multi-parter re. total probs.

If you can answer one part WITH VIRTUALLY ABSOLUTE CERTIANTY, PLEASE DO SO!

If you can answer more with virtually absolute certainty, all the better! :D

Question 1:

For some reason this thing got hooked up on Comcast cable internet.

Elder believes they're *protected* due to something Comcast said regarding virus stuff, etc.

Yet their email's totally compromised (THOUSANDS each time they visit it), & computer's running at least TWO virus-protection systems (Symantec/Norton Antivirus 2003/Windows Firewall??), with BOTH asserting they're in disarray in pop-up windows appearing EACH sign-on.

How do you know if you ARE protected, & how to determine/delete extinct *protection* SW?

Answer 1

Windows Firewall and Norton antivirus are two separate and distinct things. They can run together at the same time, because they protect against different problems



Hackers are writing new virus code all the time, so Antivirus software is of limited use unless you get the latest software definitions.



If I were in your situation, the first thing I would do is open the Norton software and click on "live update". If the update subscription is current, this will get you the latest definitions and software updates.



Once that is done, run a complete scan. It should be obvious from the Norton screen what to click on. This should pick up most viruses. Also, be sure that auto-protect is turned "on".



There are also a lot of spyware programs floating around that will seriously slow down the machine. If someone put Yahoo Toolbar on the machine, that will let all sorts of garbage in.



A good anti-spyware program can clear up a lot of this. I use Lavasoft's Ad-aware. Its free and you can download it from the link below.



This may or may not help. No spyware, firewall, or antivirus catches EVERYTHING, and nothing can protect against the random clicks of the clueless. Throw in aging eyesight, and you may have a hopeless case on your hands. Periodically I have to spend a couple days cleaning up my wife's computer, even though its "fully protected".



Good luck.

Answer 2

Do you have a Windows installation disk or recovery disk?

Personally I would format the hard drive and do a fresh installation. What Operating System is it - Windows XP, Windows 2000? XP is the easiest to work with.



If you don't have a Windows disk, delete all the third-party programs except for the software for your graphics card and sound card. But before you do that, download these:

Zonelabs Zone Alarm Firewall

Grisoft AVG Antivirus

Ad-Aware 2007

C Cleaner

You'll find them here and they are all free:

http://100-downloads.com/



Uninstall all the old security software and get rid of it. Then replace it with the free software (it will work fine and should be less of a drain on your computer than Norton). C Cleaner is not a security program but it will do a good job of finding errors in your computer and fixing them for you.



Do you have an internet connection? In My Network Places, delete the connection for Comcast and run the Internet Connection Wizard to set up a new one. When you have set up your connection, update Windows (that's a priority) and after that you can download non-essential software as you need it.

Answer 3

For a start these are NOT both anti-virus. Norton is, Windows firewall is not. If Windows security is monitoring them, it will pop warnings if they are inactive, or out-of-date. An ISP can not protect you. As for the number of emails, the machine has probably visited a rogue site, or someone has innocently filled in details which have been passed to spam companies. I would suggest dumping the existing email account. It is easy to create a new one. Download and update AVG free anti-spyware from http://free.grisoft.com.

Scan the machine and when finished tell it to delete everything, regardless of threat level. I would advise downloading the AVG free anti-virus from the same site and uninstall Norton. Since the state of Norton is uncertain this is a good option. Go to control panel and security center to check and turn on Windows firewall. Go to Internet Explorer tools/internet options/security and default each site type, then in advanced set defaults. Download the google toolbar for it's popup blocker. You should really uninstall any toolbars other than google, yahoo and msn. See how this runs and note any further error messages. Contact me with any further problems.

Answer 4

The best way to deal with a computer like that is to wipe out the hard drive and reinstall everything. There are a lot of reasons why, and instability is one of them.



Easiest quick remedy: go to the start menu and click run...

Type msconfig in the box and enter. Go to the startup tab, and remove anything you can recognize as antivirus or such. If you turn off something you shouldn't, you can always turn it back on. This is the best way to initially free up resources, and stop misbehaving programs.

Restart your computer, and tell it in the pop up box, not to bother you again.

Run scandisk, cleanup, and defrag in that order. go to www.pcpitstop.com and run their free tests, then note the recommendations. Regarding your other question 2, after doing this maintenance and you are still not able to open the files, go to windows explorer-->navigate to My Documents and look for your file there. If you find it, double click.

Answer 5

That kind of computer is totally messed up, yes, you can run two av softwares but they might lock-up the computer. Actually, they're not protected. Reformat and install, or get a mac.

Answer 6

The report generic message exhibits which you're saving over a report template as a exchange of as a classic rfile. next time you're in there, as a exchange of saving the report, bypass to report -> shop as be sure the selector under the place you form your report call refers to a rfile and not a template (.rfile as against .dot). in case you have misplaced records, they could be there, in simple terms saved as a template fairly than a nicely-known rfile report.

Answer 7

bet they errrr,"forgot" to pay for that prot4ection. usually good for no more than 90 days,free. after that,it's pay up time. sides,i wouldn't have that memory hog,norton if you gave it to me free!

VIRUS REMOVAL:



this is a realll P.I.A. !!!

AND IF YOU think THERE IS SOME MAGIC "silver bullet" TO DO IT ALL IN 1 SEEP,WELL,YOU'RE ON DRUGS!





THE 1ST PART YOU NEED TO DO offline:

run anti-virus program

run anti spyware program

shut down System Restore

clear cookies

clear temp files

clear history

clear pre-fetch folder

clear out ALL emails starting at 2-3 days ago or when you 1st knew you were infected in:

ALL folders

sent

trash

junk



bookmarks or favorites folder in I.E. or Firefox



as you can see,there's QUITE a bit of work ahead of you.



shut down System Restore:

virus/spyware can hide in your system restore points so we shall delete all previous restore links hiding places by turning system restore OFF.

later,when we finish,we'll turn it back on,set up a new [ CLEAN ] restore to work from in the future.

hopefully,lol,you'll never need it !



XP Home:



start

all programs

accessories

system tools

system restore

settings

drive [c]

settings

check the OFF link



VISTA:



start

control panel

performance and information tools

open disk clean up

select o.s. [c]

select more options

select system restore and shadow copies

select clean up



XP Home & Vista:

start

control panel

internet options

general

clear cookies

clear temp files

clear history

and set history days to keep to 0



clear temp files

not all your temp files will be removed so easily,so we need to do this manually as well.

start

my computer [ or just computer in Vista ]

windows

temp

file

click view

select all

press delete key on keyboard to delete all



Vista:

in those 2 folders,click name,that selects all files

press delete key to delete



Clear Pre-Fetch Files

start

my computer [ or just computer in Vista ]

windows

prefetch

file

select all

press delete key on keyboard



Vista:

check name to highlight all files

press delete key on keyboard to delete all



empty recycle bin



run anti-virus and anti-spyware programs again

Spybot

AVG anti-virus

AVG anti-rootkit

Rootkit Revealer

http://browseraddons.friendpages.com



when your protection programs find any pirates,DELETE them,do NOT quarantine !!



should you NOT have ANY protection programs installed:

Avast--anti-virus

AD Aware--anti-spyware

Spyware Blaster--anti-spyware blocker

Rootkit Revealer--anti-rootkit

Arovax

PC Tools Firewall--firewall to replace MS's deficient firewall [ turn that sucker OFF ! ] and replace with above.



replace windows firewall with PC Tools firewall

install Arovax protection and choose protection for internet explorer if you use it,firefox if you use that or opera if you use that

install spyware blaster and set for internet explorer and/or firefox protection



should you choose to install Firefox web browser [ and you SHOULD ]

here are some Firefox Security Extensions to install

CallingID Link Advisor

Finjan Secure Web Browsing

No Script

Dr. Web

SafeDownloads

http://browseraddons.friendpages.com



now it's time to set up your new [ clean ] restore point



XP Home:



start

all programs

accessories

system tools

system restore

settings

drive [c]

settings

check the ON link



Vista:

start

control panel

back up and restore center

create restore point

create restore points on selected disks

select drive

click create

apply and ok



FINALLY....



SECURE COMPUTER:



NEVER !! :



open an email from:

anyone you do NOT know/trust

anyone purporting to be/from:



Microsoft

your bank

your creditors

your government

your financial company/ies

even your lawyer/s or church UNLESS you have a prior agreement with them

online petition

contains attachment/s



Spy Sites



Stop Web Sites from installing Spyware, Sleazeware and Cookies on your PC



SpySites includes a database of over 4,600

known Spy/Sleaze sites and guides you

through the simple process of including them in

Internet Explorer's Restricted Zone and setting policies

to prevent them from performing intrusive acts on your PC.

By setting the policies for the Restricted

sites zone to a very high level of security,

you can be assured that any web sites added

to the Restricted sites zone cannot do

certain things which could compromise your privacy

and security such as installing and/or running:

Spysites

http://camtech2000.net/pages/spysites_pr...



Pre-Fetch File Cleaning



pre-fetch files are "cached" or stored copies of files/websites you visit each session

after a period of time,these files hog up a LOT of disk space

for this reason,i advocate the deletion weekly of those space hogs

some claim that windows will automatically remove files older than 7 days

I have found MY pc does NOT perform this task so I do it manually

what happens is,when you go to a website,your pc looks into your pre-fetch file/folder

to see if that website is "cached",stored there FIRST

this gives you a faster website load,BUT,you get the "cached" version and NOT the NEWEST version

unless you have "check for newest version" checked in internet options

it may take that website 1/2 a second longer to load

but,you'll get the newest version loading each time



as added security,spyware removers often miss these files,so delete them manually.



My Computer,disk drive [c],windows,pre-fetch,view,select... all,select delete



same situation with Temp files:

Temp File Folder



i use Disk Clean to clean up extraneous files i no longer need

however,every time i use Disk Clean,it DOESN'T clean out c:\windows\Temp Files!

solution?

My Computer,local disk drive [c],windows,temp

you can safely delete each temp file there.

i leave the most current [that day] alone.

also,do not delete any FOLDER there

folders have a folder icon,leave alone

[ Vista,it's Computer ]



Firefox Web Browser:

tools

options

content

check block pop ups



load images automatically:

exceptions:

enter those websites addresses that show up on pop ups that appear AFTER you close a browser window

also add those same urls to

Privacy

Cookies

Exceptions



there are a number of kewl Security add on firefox extensions i use and they are:

CallingID link advisor

Dr. Web [ link checker ]

Finjan Secure Web Browsing

No Script

SafeDownload

http://browseraddons.friendpages.com



Step #1: Remove spyware with Windows Add/Remove Programs utility.



Sometimes all it takes to get rid of spyware say like AntiVirGear, is to remove the program using the Add/Remove Programs control panel in Windows.



In Windows XP Professional, click on Start > Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs

In Windows 2000 Professional / Windows ME / Windows 98, click on Start > Settings > Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs.

In the list of programs, search for the software you want to remove. If you see a program you don’t recognize or don’t recall installing, look it up in Google to learn what it is.

Select the questionable program and remove it with the Remove button.



Step #2: Kill spyware using the Windows Task Manager



To kill any spyware process that has infected your computer, you will need to use the Windows Task Manager to check by process, highlight the process in question, and then end the task. To do this:



Press CTRL+ALT+DEL or CTRL+SHIFT+ESC on the keyboard.

Click on Processes Tab to see all active tasks. For easier detection, left click the process under the heading Image Name.

Find and kill all spyware processes:





Once you’ve identified the spyware process, press DEL on your keyboard or click End Process to kill it from your system.

Step #3: Use PsKill to Kill a Process



Sometimes a parasite can disable your Windows Task Manager so you can use pslist and pskill (a third party application by Mark Russinovich) to list and kill the unwanted processes.



Download PsKill or PsList.

Extract the program from the .Zip archive.

Move pskill.exe to your C: drive.

Open a command window and click Start > Run.

Type cmd and click the OK button.

In the command window, type C:pskill.exe and the name of the process you wish to kill, then press Enter. For example, if you wanted to kill the process for AntiVirGear, you would type: C:pskill.exe AntiVirGear.exe.

If the file was successfully removed, PsKill will say “process spyware.exe killed”.





IF you follow all the above suggestions,you'll not have the Fort Knox of computers,but Dammed close !