Any PC wizards on the forum? Please help!

[dragonboy]

I seem to have a virus of some kind that is giving me all kinds of PC problems.
I updated to Norton2006, which says I'm virus free but that simply can't be true.
It started with a pop-up page (I have a stopper) that said it was a free virus scan of some kind. I get it all the time now & over the last few days things have gotten much worse.
I sometimes can't open new windows on the internet, pages freeze or close themselves, I've lost my address bar & today I can't access my hotmail or yahoo email account.

I'm not too good with PCs & have never had a problem like this. Any help or advice would be much appreciated!
Thanks in advance.

[EC]

What browswer are you using, sweet pea?

Are you IE or mozilla?

[EC]

Just sent you a pm.  Hope it helps.   :-/

[Jellyfish]

Could be spyware...download and run the adware program.

[dragonboy]

Hey EC - Just sent you a PM!

It would seem I have a Trojan (not detected by anti-virus software) & will have to put my PC in for repairs!!!  >:(

[dragonboy]

Could be spyware...download and run the adware program.

Thanks Jellyfish, am downloading Spybot right now.

[EC]

I just sent you another email from something I remembered from before.

Also, and I'm sure spybot is awesome, but I actually downloaded a spyware program, and it totally fucked my computer.  It wasn't until after I installed it that my computer went blank, and I had to have a repairman come and take it off, and then it was smooooth again.

But I don't think it was called spybot.  So maybe that one's okay.

Get thee to the mozilla website immediately!!!

[EC]

Oh crap he's gone.  I wonder if he'll check before taking 'er in...

Anyhow, maybe I should share this.  I had a really bad virus a couple of years ago, and a friend directed me here:
http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm

You press ctrl+alt+delete and hit the processes tab.  Check every process by the alphabetical listing, and it can tell you whether you have a virus (and sometimes how to fix it).  It's long, and fucking annoying, but it's better than spending money if you don't have to.  :)

[dragonboy]

Thanks for all your help!

Went to this forum:
http://www.karlsforums.com/forums/viewthread.php?tid=12362

Downloaded Spybot  http://security.kolla.de which I think took out the trojan.

Have now downloaded Firefox & seem to be OK  ;D  ;D  ;D

[peanut butter puddin surprise]

you may also want to search on symantec's website for the trojan you found and see if there is additional removal instructions.

if you are using windows xp, you need to turn OFF system restore (which will delete ALL previous restore points), reboot the computer in safe mode, and follow any or all removal instructions given by either symantec or your antivirus software's company.  very important-trojans usually just don't go away with a scan and deletion of said files, they tend to burrow into your computer's registry and live there like roaches until you remove them like I described above.

putting the computer in safe mode will allow you to really get rid of it because the files won't be in active memory.  turn ON system restore only after you are sure the virus is gone.

spybot is great for many things, but not trojan removal.  never trust one product to take care of these things, you need a blended approach to detection/removal just like viruses/spyware/trojans are blended threats.

hope that helps....

[peanut butter puddin surprise]

also, not to swim against the current on mozilla, but exploits are written for it as well.  most of the exploits that come about as trojans are written for Windows, regardless of the browser you are using, so don't feel like you've squashed all the bugs by switching browsers.

often, these exploits are written for the media player, toolbars, or other Windows components that have nothing to do with what browser you use.  a fully patched system (via www.windowsupdate.com) will help immensely in the battle against bugs/worms.

[dragonboy]

Thank you much John!  
I'm pretty clueless when it comes to PCs (having mine in Japanese doesn't help!) so everything you wrote is very helpful.
I will get on the case & sort things out...

[Tree]

i have problem with opera!
every time i use opera and visit this forum i can´t see any pics!

help me  ;)

[CC]

i have problem with opera!
every time i use opera and visit this forum i can´t see any pics!

help me  ;)

man, you still haven't fixed it? ;) there's some java goin on here, do you have that plug-in? try that. I think the latest opera version comes with java installed.

[Tree]

man, you still haven't fixed it? ;) there's some java goin on here, do you have that plug-in? try that. I think the latest opera version comes with java installed.

hehe  :)

nah, i didn´t know how to fix that problem!!
i think i have that plug-in!.

[Tree]

hm installed the latest version of opera but it couldn´t be fixed. where can i download this plugin?

[CC]

hm installed the latest version of opera but it couldn´t be fixed. where can i download this plugin?

http://www.opera.com/docs/plugins/index.dml

[Tree]

http://www.opera.com/docs/plugins/index.dml

thx for the link. installed these java plugins but it doesn´t work... ???

[CC]

thx for the link. installed these java plugins but it doesn´t work... ???

do the images show when you hit SHIFT-G?

[Tree]

every time i hit shift + g nothing happens.