91zxtt

I have discovered a new hatred for computer hackers and computer viruses. Since the time that we move, I haven't stayed on top of things with my cpmuter at home. My girlfriend is the one that uses it. Back in May, she called to tell me that this weird error popped up when she was on line, then the computer shut off. Joy, it was Sasser. Well, I got the newest Norton Version and was able to get rid of Sasser, but the computer was still not right. I couldn't download live updates and the internet just wasn't working right. We thought it was a problem with our ISP. I spoke with at least a half-dozen different idiots at SBC who couldn't find their asses with a search party. I don't how many different departments I was transferred. Hell, I'm surprised I didn't wind up in the janitorial department. Anyways, I finally spoke to someone whho seemed to know something. He said I have a major virus problem. I spoke with someone at Microsoft who guided me through a few things. I was able to download Spybot S&D and Adaware. Spybot isolated 1900 at risk files (not a typo). Adaware picked up another 50. After that, I was finally able to get a Norton update. Norton picked up another 35 problems (27 viruses). I'm down to one issue, and that is the Spybot worm. I have step-by-step removal procedures, so that's what I'm doing tonight. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, I think. It could be a train though.

Anyways, these little bastards that design these worms and viruses deserve to kicked in the nuts repeatedly, then buried with Jimmy Hoffa in the end-zone at Giant's Stadium. I've wasted at least 12 hours so far cleaning up my hard drive. I'll be happy if I can get through it without having to reformat the hard drive. I know that's what I should do, but I really don't want to.

CanyonCarver

i KINDA HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM ....... I got a virus on my computer from an email that my kid sent me. I cleaned and scanned and downloaded and scanned and cleaned and downloaded and cleaned and scanned an so forth. I was in the thousands of infected files too. My kid's computer had like over 15,000 (not a typo) infected files. (found out he likes the **** sites.... hmmm).

Anyway, for me the bitch is, is that I have two yahoo mail accounts, a hotmail account and a work mail account. One damn yahoo mail account, which is my main account that I use, won't open up on my home computer. I can access this account from the other two computers in my house or anywhere else, just not on mine. The other three accounts work fine too.

I'm hoping that if I upgrade my DOS from win98 to XP, that will fix the problem. I should just reformat the damn hard drive while I'm at it. Guaranteed to be virus free after that.

lightspeed

Finally I find a conversation in which I can hold my own!

Indeed the thrill of hacking is indeed intoxicating, and there are many that can't deny themselves the thrill of hearing conversations just like this one. In each of your comments I hear you falling into common pitfalls. Here are a couple of thoughts for you to consider. (I am rather ambivilant regarding the OS that I use - Windows 2000, XP, Mac OS, many varients of Unix - they all have their strengths and weaknesses. )

Here are my basic "minimums" for Windows users:

1. Run Win2k or WinXP - Don't care which version of either you run, just dump Wintendo (Win9x) like a hot rock.
2. Antivirus - I am a staunch believer in Symantec AntiVirus though there are others I hear... SAV works on an Annual license. Buy it, use it, keep it current. Cost? about $40/year.
3. Firewall - I am a fan of the ZoneAlarm Pro. Works very well when you get it going. Cost? about $40/year.
4. Disk Defragger - the primary reason computers "slow down" . Executive Software's Diskeeper Pro is the king of the hill.
5. PopUp blocker - Google's pop tool bar for IE is pretty good. Free too.
6. Ad remover - actually don't use one because #5 gets most of the trash out of the way. With more than a dialup the difference is not hugh in my experience.
7. Spyware/AdWare removal - don't use one, since I don't let anything install on my machine that I don't know about. Spybot and Adaware seems to work well.
8. Burn your DATA to a CD once a month. Don't have a burner, get one. You can rebuild everything except your data, and that is was is MOST valuable. Protect it religiously.

Update these items once a week (SAV will update daily when you start your computer.) DO and BE this list and you will eliminate 99.99% of the problems that plague "mere mortal" computer users. DON'T play around with this stuff, the "bad guys" are out there TRYING to hurt you. Yes, twisted as it seems, they like to inflict pain, they think it is fun.

b300z

canyoncarver, if you do upgrade to xp, get everything backed up on a cd or somewhere else other than that hard drive. sometimes some of the files or programs do not work with xp or xp does not install correctly.
i try to play it safe, ive got one hard drive for games and the sort, and another for using the internet.
spyware is the biggest problem right now, i think its even worse than viruses, because they just get on your computer all the time, and completely unnoticed. they arent considered viruses so they arent picked up and just keep multiplying, blocking web pages, slowing the computer, ruining some programs.

CanyonCarver

Yeah, I backup monthly, all files that mean anything. My CAD files are burnt to cd as soon as I'm done with them. (I can't afford to lose up to 40 hours or so of work) At home I'm on dial-up and run spybot / adaware weekly. At work (dsl) we have a firewall to keep most of the crap out, but still run scans weekly.

One thing that keeps me from upgrading my OS software, is that I don't think my pentium I w/mmx technology will work too well.

I'd tried a number of virus programs, to no avail, in trying to get my one email account working again. Any ideas? reformat?

Hacking - My kid got an A in one of his college classes by hacking into the instructors computer and the school's server while the instructor was talking about how secure the computers were.

b300z

haha
what did you do to him after that????
yea your running a bit behind on the processors
i bought and built my whole computer so that i would be able to run anything i want and to know what i have in it and learn what everything does. plus its an easy way to save lots of $$, and its unique

CanyonCarver

I said "cool". He's hacked into other computers and had his friends hack into his server/network that's at my place of business. The school has actually offered him a job, but he passed it up because that would interfere with his wannabe music career. Junior #1's gotta Toshiba laptop & #2's got a new gateway POS. I just do my big downloads at work anyway.

Sorry to get off subject.........

lightspeed

Old computers are like old mattresses - get rid of them before the become health hazards!

91zxtt

Lightspeed, or anyone for that matter----

What do you think of this?....

I have gone onto the Symantec site and ran their full system scan. There were no viruses or trojans detected, so I think I've been able to remove the viruses, but I'm still having probelms.

The 1st problem is this, and it happened 4 times yesterday and once this morning. I get an error on Norton saying that it has suffered a program error and must be uninstalled, then reinstalled. I did that. I went onto the Symantec site and followed thhe step-by-step procedures for unistalling an reinstalling. So, I reinstalled it, ran live update, then restarted in Safe Mode to so a virus scan. When I went to do the scan, the same error popped up. It's not the un-installing and re-installing that pisses me off. It's the live update that takes so much time (downloadinig 9megs on 28.8 dial-up). I did this 4 times last night and the error popped up again this morning. When I pull up Norton, it says that there is a problem witht my license. Such as? I'll call Symantec and see what's going on. Maybe since I've un-installed it and re-installed it so many times, Symantec thinks I'm putting it on multiple computers. What do you think?

I also had something pop up today whehn I restarted in safe mode. It said I needed to reactive Windows because the hardware had changed so much from when I 1st bought the computer. Why? It really hasn't. I've added RAM and installed a DSL modem when we had DSL; which is still in there. That could explain why I've been unable to download windows updates. Any ideas.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks
'91

lightspeed

Sorry, but Wintendo is not my forte. But here is a few thoughts...

(First, I'll pass on the obvious comments about dial up...)

WinXP is sensitive to hardware changes, so if you change the HD to another computer, it may trigger a "reactivate" complaint. You can change about 3 or 4 of the major components (motherboard, CPU, etc...) before this gets triggered. Adding memory should NOT affect that, and DSL definately would not. You on the other hand have Win9x. Hmmm...

Has the clock every lost track of time? You may have lost your BIOS settings, and the boot may reset it fast enough that you are unaware of it. If so, I would check the battery - your machine IS old.

Also I would do a surface check on the disk. When you boot up in DOS mode you can run scandisk.exe /f (I think that is the switch to FIX errors) just to make sure that you don't need to look at drive probs.

Keep us posted...more comments are typically good...sometime they can rattle cobwebs in the ol' grey matter.

91zxtt

I have XP, not 9x. I've run scandisk. I emptied temp folders. I've defrag'd. Hmmm, I had a problem with my cd drive a few years ago and it was replaced. My cd burner has been removed and reinstalled (we thought it was defective, but it was a program flaw). Obviously we have a printer hooked up to it. I've added a steering wheel for my driving games. Could any of thhese reasons be why it's saying I need to reactivate? The hard drive is original. The system is a Compaq. It's a little over 3 years old. I know it's out of date, but it's still a good computer. I'll make a couple calls tonight and see what happens.

b300z

the steering wheel might need to be realligned
crap just happens to computers, some stuff you can fix, other stuff you cant.

lightspeed

Sorry I thought you were Win9x. Hence my pithy comments about being "old"... No, the changes you made should NOT have tiggered the reactivation request.

Did you install any software between when SAV worked and when it didn't? Keep that in mind if it happens again. I have seen an installation konk SAV. Bizarre but true.

What is curious is the restarting in Safe mode to do a scan...didn't know that was necessary. Did symantec tell you to do that? That mode disables many of the services, it at wouldn't surprise me that the SAV service didn't start, hence the complaints. The comments about Window needing to reactive may be an effect of a virus, maybe? (never heard of that, though).

SAV has had problems on WinXP needing to be reinstalled. I have worked on ONE computer that has happened three times in the last year. Saw a KB artical from Symantec that acknologed that it was a problem. NEVER seen it on any other computers. You seem to have been lucky enough to be the second one.

Some advice you are NOT going to like.

1. Buy the CD. or call Symantec and get them to send you a CD. For the time being, reinstallation is going to a way of life for you.
2. Tell Symantec tech support you have a " constant reinstall problem" and see if they ever plan on fixing it.

Yes I still like SAV. It is better than the other options on the market for most mere mortals.

tnkrstoyco

I got hit with a batch of e-mails all from the NICO forum and they contained viruses, lucky the system caught them. That's all I would need is to get my business system infected.

91zxtt

I have the SAV disk, so the unistalling and reinstalling ins't killing me. It's the Live update afterwards that does. 8-9 megs of live updates on dial up takes forever. I tried to call Symantec last night, but they're only open till 5. I can't do it today, so I'll try it on Monday. i'm hoping it's an issue with the license that can be easily fixed. Since it's been reinstalled so many times, maybe they think I'm trying to put it on multiple computers.

Another thing,...when trying to do the online windows update, I can't get through. I can get to the point where you choose the express install, custom install, etc. After i click on my choice, it'll run for couple seconds, then i get an error saying that windows update experienced some king of error and it can't process my request. I've been trying this for a week, so I doubt it's microsoft's site.

Just a warning to thhose of you who use KaZaa....the virus W32.spybot.worm is transmitted frequently through KaZaa. I'm guessing that's how I got it, but it appears that I have been able to remove it.

If I am running in diagnostic mode or selective mode, it it possible that a virus scan wouldn't pick up all viruses? If not, then I don't have any viruses. My problems are probably being caused by the removal of other viruses.

I'll call microsoft and discuss the problem with Windows update. Hopefully I'm able to get somewhere.

I've also seen that Spybot is associated with the program wuamgrd.exe. I've seen that on my computer. Should I remove it?

Any other ideas?

lightspeed

Still chewing on the wierdness, but that file you indicated is a worm (WORM_AGOBOT.GY). Follow this thread...

http://outpostfirewall.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10387

If you have this worm and SAV didn't catch it, then that would be a significant piece of information to discuss with Symantec. May begin explain why you are struggling so. Ask them if there is a up to day boot scanner that they have the you can use - a disk (CD?) that you can boot up with and scan the disk before the HD's OS is started.

BTW - I am working on a machine that SAV indicates about ever 30 seconds that another file is infected with a trojan horse virus. First time I have done all of the normal trick and have so far been UNABLE to remove it. Things are getting nastier and nastier by the day.

Riz Z Speed

only two things i can say about this thread.
I'm actually sorta glad i use AOL for email and...
I'm glad I the McAfee disc i bought didn't work on my PC, since then i had to go buy the Norton Internet Security Package.

lightspeed

Rizzspeed - your time is coming!

CanyonCarver

For anybody interested .............. I just bought a full year version of norton anti virus nib for $9.53 total including shipping. I got it via www.pricewatch.com and searched for software.

Riz Z Speed

Don't scare me like that!
you wouldn't want me to not particpate/moderate this forum anymore, would you?

91zxtt

I think that in most cases that as long as you keep your security programs up to date, then you shouldn't have many problems. My problem was that our Norton subscription expired about the same time we moved, so needless to say, Norton was not a priority. I don't really use the computer at home. Most of my stuff at work. My girlfirend uses it, or used to use it all the time. She'd just click ignore when the Norton box would pop up telling her our subscription had expired. She called me one day all pissed off because out computer kept shutting off when she was online. Apparently she wasn't listening to me a few weeks earlier when I told here my work computer was doing the same thing and it was Sasser. Ignorance is bliss. Anyways,...I keep getting the same Norton errors, now the damn thing won't even install anymore. I just get an error saying that Norton install failed. I also talked to Microsoft. The ordinary goons at the 866-PCSAFETY # couldn't help, so they gave me some 425 # to call. Oh well, at least I have free long distance. The real bitch is this...We have dial up and my cell phone doesn't work in our house. That means that I have to call from the land line. We can't diagnose the problems real-time. They tell me whhat to do, we hang up, I try it, then I call back and wait on hold.

I was looking at the Best buy add. I can get a brand new comuter that's 3 times what my system is for $400 (after rebates). That may be the better idea. Best Buy also has thihs 'Geek Squad'. It's a group of comuter guru's that'll come out to your house and fix your computer. They don't leave until it's done. They may want to re-think that policy after they come out and look at my computer.

I'll talk to Microsoft today about that Wuamgrd.exe. I'm thinking that is what preventing me from getting the windows updates. I read something that tied wuamgrd.exe to Windows updates, but they didn't elaborate on it.

lightspeed

No offense intended...actually I enjoyed your comment about McAfee. They do some pretty good marketing for Symantec! (Your's is a case in point.)

Want something to put a chill up your spine? Microsoft announced that is getting into the AntiVirus market, and many insiders think that it is McAffee that will be scooped up and become Microsoft Antivirus. YEECH!

CanyonCarver

I would prefer to purchase Anti-Microsoft......

lightspeed

LOL!! CanyonCarver - thanks for the www.pricewatch.com tip.

lightspeed

Soon after reading this thread, I took an interest in a friends machine with similar symptoms. A Win98SE machine that couldn't connect to the Internet (cable modem) and explorer would crash. Immediatly after regular boot, explorer would crash and the system would lock. Would boot in safe mode, but SAV didn't find anything wrong. Running Adaware 6 found some issues, but still no joy.

Using Add/Remove pgms I removed what I could that I didn't recognize. Still no joy.

I enabled Dr Watson and found that when the system crashed a WIN2BW32.dll was attempting to load. Back in safe mode found the .dll and check the version/manufacturer props. Viola! it was a "mystery" file with no version or mfg info. Renamed it and restarted. Explorer didn't crash that time. Connected to the internet and updated Adaware 6 (the older version was about 6 months old) and found hundreds more files that were killing it. Removed them. System now runs fine.

Lessons learned:
1. Adaware is a pretty slick program. Worth having and keeping current. (I'm a believer...)
2. Dr. Watson is you friend.