The General "Computer Issues" Thread

[hezzy]

What version macbook? The New december one? Or The Older One

 

[En Sabah Nur]

En Sabah Nur, what do you think of the program they recommend on that page? The free portable version of Superantispyware? Seems like it might be useful because it has a random filename, can run from a thumb drive and has other features designed to keep malware from turning it off or making it crash like they sometimes do with the more popular anti-malware programs.

I never used that one, I use Spyware Doctor one, also the Malwarebytes works very well. Superantispyware has a good reputation, but i never tested it out to see how well it performs in the field.

 

[staticblue]

What version macbook? The New december one? Or The Older One

its an older macbook. about 3 years old

 

[Captain Highwind]

Well, my computer is now a rock, partly from my doing, but there was nothing left to do other than wipe it clean. I found out that my os never came with a disc, but I researched that you can activate the startup disc from a file in the c drive (DON'T EVER DO THIS!!), and I even pulled up my activation code to start it...and it did, but when I came back to it from class, it just kept cycling through a black empty screen and never installed.

So I will be buying a new pc friday, and as punishment for its betrayal, this rock will be the pc that I perform experiments on until I become proficient at pc installation.

My only regret, and I won't really know until I hook my new pc to my external hardrive: if I accidentily had my external hooked up to the pc during the wiping clean phase, would it have wiped the external drive too? That's where all my backed up files are...

 

[En Sabah Nur]

Well, my computer is now a rock, partly from my doing, but there was nothing left to do other than wipe it clean. I found out that my os never came with a disc, but I researched that you can activate the startup disc from a file in the c drive (DON'T EVER DO THIS!!), and I even pulled up my activation code to start it...and it did, but when I came back to it from class, it just kept cycling through a black empty screen and never installed.

So I will be buying a new pc friday, and as punishment for its betrayal, this rock will be the pc that I perform experiments on until I become proficient at pc installation.

My only regret, and I won't really know until I hook my new pc to my external hardrive: if I accidentily had my external hooked up to the pc during the wiping clean phase, would it have wiped the external drive too? That's where all my backed up files are...

Your PC was cleanable, you didnt have to wipe it thus creating a Brick.

 

[Shawn Hopkins]

Yeah, I have to say, reformatting your PC just to clear some malware seem like cutting off your arm to fix a hangnail to me. I'm not exactly an IT guy, but I've got computers running again after such infections including an Internet Security 2010 on my work computer that was so aggressive about directing me to porn sites I thought it was going to get me fired. There are tools and Web sites to get advice on what to do.

 

[Captain Highwind]

I figured as such, and I will take the idiot award for this. I've had the PC for 4-5 years, so I was going to be buying a new one anyway and refurbish this one later. The past few years it really needed to be cleaned out too, because I'm sure it's chuck full of silicut dust with the fan being so dramatic every five minutes.

There's nothing really on there that's worth saving, other than colored artwork that I still have the original sketches of packed away, with the colored versions uploaded to either photobucket or here. The rest is just old avatars and old programs that I still have the discs to. So if I can recover the exernal eventually, great. If not, oh well. If it was super important business files that I needed next week, then that would be a problem.

(When all is said and done, eventually I will have two working PCs in which I will have the knowledge to create a massive super computer by combining them. I know that's possible.)

 

[Shawn Hopkins]

Let En Sabah Nur give you a second opinion on this, but I've read that jump drives and such can also become infected with Malware and viruses. You may need to use some malware detection tools on any of your external stuff just to be sure you're not infecting your new computer. Oh, and I would recommend using Firefox and installing Adblock Plus. A lot of times the malware comes in through the ads. Someone was able to place a fake ad that contained malicious software on Gawker media sites recently and a lot of people got infected.

 

[Captain Highwind]

There is an ad out there that won't let you close the window until you click "OK," so that was probably it because I was sick of ctrl alt dlting my screen to get out of it. Plus my Norton expired.

And definately, that external hard drive is going nowhere near my new pc.

 

[Shawn Hopkins]

There is an ad out there that won't let you click the window until you click "OK," so that was probably it because I was sick of ctrl alt dlting my screen to get out of it. Plus my Norton expired.

And definately, that external hard drive is going nowhere near my new pc.

When I see ads like that and can do it without losing any data I, no joke, just hold down the power button until the computer goes off. No sense in taking any chances. That's why I started blocking ads, even though I don't want to. I would like to support advertisers but malware producers are ruining things for everyone.

 

[En Sabah Nur]

Let En Sabah Nur give you a second opinion on this, but I've read that jump drives and such can also become infected with Malware and viruses. You may need to use some malware detection tools on any of your external stuff just to be sure you're not infecting your new computer. Oh, and I would recommend using Firefox and installing Adblock Plus. A lot of times the malware comes in through the ads. Someone was able to place a fake ad that contained malicious software on Gawker media sites recently and a lot of people got infected.

Yes, flash drives, external HDDs and even additional internal HDDs can have the infection as well and should be scanned prior to usage. Using Firefox 3.6 with Adblock plus is a great way to start. Getting Norton Internet Security 2010 is a great way to be secure.

Problem is, chances are, you got infected through the fault of Adobe and and not your own. Let me explain. Adobe has been attacked by hackers foe quite a while now. No not Adobe.com, but 2 of their most favorite online products, Adobe Reader and Flash plug-in. As soon as you open an infected site, a flash plug-in/pdf document will activate and install malware/viruses/Trojans onto your PC without any trouble. Adobe for the last year and a half has been fighting to stay half a step behind and to patch up all the vulnerabilities as soon as they are discovered. But, unlike windows patches, Adobe has no way of notifying its users of these new updates. So I recommend is to open Adobe Reader, make sure the version you are using is 9.3. if not, go to Help> Check for updates and download all of the updates that are listed. If you still using Adobe Reader 8, get rid of it and replace it with version 9 ASAP, 8 had a massive security hole.
Updating Flash is a bit easier. You have to do this on every browser you use. Go to this site:
http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/155/tn_15507.html
it will tell you the version number of the Flash plug-in you are using now and if you scroll down a bit, what the current one is today. I Guarantee you, that many of you don't have the latest version, because they are released quite often. So check on the updates every week or so to stay up to date.

Another great tool is Secunia PSI, a free software that will actively scan your computer and tell you if any software is out of date (including Adobe Reader and the Flash plug-in) and provide you with updates and patches.
http://secunia.com/vulnerability_scanning/personal/ <--recommended by Maximum PC staff.

 

[Mynd Hed]

Unfortunately there's still no getting out of using Flash if you want half the Internet to function properly, but if you want to avoid the Adobe Reader issue altogether and don't need to do anything fancier with PDFs than view and print them, I'd use Foxit Reader instead. It's lighter, quicker, less buggy, and less of a security risk (although you should certainly still keep it up-to-date).

 

[Michael24]

Using Firefox 3.6 with Adblock plus is a great way to start.

Oh, wow! I wasn't familiar with Adblock but just tried it, and I can't thank you enough for recommending it. Whenever I'd open my browser, Yahoo would take too long to load because of a Flash-based ad on the side. Now they're blocked, and my browser opens, loads, and is ready to go in just seconds. Finally, no more of that pesky lag time. Thanks.

 

[Shawn Hopkins]

Oh, wow! I wasn't familiar with Adblock but just tried it, and I can't thank you enough for recommending it. Whenever I'd open my browser, Yahoo would take too long to load because of a Flash-based ad on the side. Now they're blocked, and my browser opens, loads, and is ready to go in just seconds. Finally, no more of that pesky lag time. Thanks.

Was it taking just a few more seconds or was it taking a super long time? If it was taking a super long time you might have some malware or another problem.

 

[Michael24]

No, it was just a few extra seconds. I'd always notice that the ads were the last things to load on Yahoo. My brother is pretty tech savy and helps me keep an eye on my system to make sure there are no real bad problems with it. He's helped me out of a few jams over the years that could have left me computerless for who knows how long.

 

[Captain Highwind]

I just recovered everything somehow in Safe Mode. I think it was something as simple as selecting the right OS in the F10 menu.

I'm want to squeel like a fangirl right now but it would wake everyone up in the house.

EDIT: EXTERNAL HARDDRIVE FILES ARE INTACT

IT'S STILL ALIVE!!!! \O/

RESTORE POINTS ARE AWESOME

EDIT2: Okay, I can go to bed peacefully now. Here's some questions that need answering though:

It seems I can only start up Windows now by going through the F10 menu and selecting my OS. If I don't, the system stays in a cycle of black screens like before. How do I fix this?

Next, the malware's still on there. Restate what I should download on a thumbnail that will eat it please. I also may have a virus on there from downloading "IE8," correct?

First thing tomorrow I'm burning all those external files on disc, of course. And yes, the PC's disconnected from the Internet.

 

[Ren]

Though I've never posted to this thread I've found it very helpful. I'd appreciate some advice about my current situation. If you need to know I have a Gateway PC (a few years old, at least four, but I can't remember exactly when I got it) and I have Windows XP.

Monday I picked up a virus while checking my livejournal. I was unable to use malwarebytes until I had used superantispyware. (I'm pretty sure that's what I used) I wasn't home when all this happened, so I didn't do a full scan with Malwarebytes until I was back home. It turned out to be vundo, which I think I'd dealt with before.Later that day, before I was even sure if vundo was removed, I installed Norton 360. I did a quick scan with that, but it didn't find anything. I figured my pc was ok, but I still got the occasional ad that I'd never gotten before.

It's gotten very frustrating for me, since I now feel compelled to run scans almost every day. Each time the scans seem to take longer than they did the last time. The last time I scanned with Malwarebytes it took two and a half hours when the previous scan took one hour and fortyfive minutes.

Also, since I ran all these scans when I start up my computer it always tells me it can't find a module so it can't start a certain program. I assume this is simply something that was removed with the virus. But I can't find it in my startup menu to turn it off, or get rid of it. If you need more info on what it says, I'll make note of it next time I start up.

While I was out running errands today I stopped and asked a guy who sells computer parts and does repairs if he could remove viruses and how much it would cost. He told me that I'd need to restore my computer, and that since I have music files it could get time consuming and expensive to do so. He essentially told me that it was impossible to get rid of viruses once they were on the computer. Personally, I couldn't tell if he was being overdramatic. I've done business with him before, and he's not the sort who would tell you to buy things you don't need just to make more money.

So, my questions are: Is a restore completely necessary? Are there any ways I can speed up scans? How can I stop the warning message about the failing start up program?
Also, is there anyway of knowing I can get back to my livejournal friends page? I'm paranoid about going through this again, and haven't been back since.

 

[En Sabah Nur]

Though I've never posted to this thread I've found it very helpful. I'd appreciate some advice about my current situation. If you need to know I have a Gateway PC (a few years old, at least four, but I can't remember exactly when I got it) and I have Windows XP.

Monday I picked up a virus while checking my livejournal. I was unable to use malwarebytes until I had used superantispyware. (I'm pretty sure that's what I used) I wasn't home when all this happened, so I didn't do a full scan with Malwarebytes until I was back home. It turned out to be vundo, which I think I'd dealt with before.Later that day, before I was even sure if vundo was removed, I installed Norton 360. I did a quick scan with that, but it didn't find anything. I figured my pc was ok, but I still got the occasional ad that I'd never gotten before.

It's gotten very frustrating for me, since I now feel compelled to run scans almost every day. Each time the scans seem to take longer than they did the last time. The last time I scanned with Malwarebytes it took two and a half hours when the previous scan took one hour and fortyfive minutes.

Also, since I ran all these scans when I start up my computer it always tells me it can't find a module so it can't start a certain program. I assume this is simply something that was removed with the virus. But I can't find it in my startup menu to turn it off, or get rid of it. If you need more info on what it says, I'll make note of it next time I start up.

While I was out running errands today I stopped and asked a guy who sells computer parts and does repairs if he could remove viruses and how much it would cost. He told me that I'd need to restore my computer, and that since I have music files it could get time consuming and expensive to do so. He essentially told me that it was impossible to get rid of viruses once they were on the computer. Personally, I couldn't tell if he was being overdramatic. I've done business with him before, and he's not the sort who would tell you to buy things you don't need just to make more money.

So, my questions are: Is a restore completely necessary? Are there any ways I can speed up scans? How can I stop the warning message about the failing start up program?
Also, is there anyway of knowing I can get back to my livejournal friends page? I'm paranoid about going through this again, and haven't been back since.

OK ill tackle this one at a time.

Monday I picked up a virus while checking my livejournal. I was unable to use malwarebytes until I had used superantispyware. (I'm pretty sure that's what I used) I wasn't home when all this happened, so I didn't do a full scan with Malwarebytes until I was back home. It turned out to be vundo, which I think I'd dealt with before.Later that day, before I was even sure if vundo was removed, I installed Norton 360. I did a quick scan with that, but it didn't find anything. I figured my pc was ok, but I still got the occasional ad that I'd never gotten before.

Malwarebytes is not a virus scanner, its a "malware scanner. Norton 360 is a virus scanner but not a malware scanner. Depending on what you have, you need the appropriate software.

lso, since I ran all these scans when I start up my computer it always tells me it can't find a module so it can't start a certain program. I assume this is simply something that was removed with the virus. But I can't find it in my startup menu to turn it off, or get rid of it. If you need more info on what it says, I'll make note of it next time I start up.

I would need more info on what it tells you and which software is being affected. Most likely you gonna have to go into System Configuration to turn the program off. I can walk you though this if you follow my instructions to the letter.

While I was out running errands today I stopped and asked a guy who sells computer parts and does repairs if he could remove viruses and how much it would cost. He told me that I'd need to restore my computer, and that since I have music files it could get time consuming and expensive to do so. He essentially told me that it was impossible to get rid of viruses once they were on the computer. Personally, I couldn't tell if he was being overdramatic. I've done business with him before, and he's not the sort who would tell you to buy things you don't need just to make more money

Depending on what he meant by restore. System restore points wont do squat. And Format is unnecessary unless your system is infected beyond repair. Music files are easily backed up on an external hard drive and will not be a problem, and its not very expensive but it might get time consuming depending on how much damage is done with the virus. Its certainly possible to get rid of viruses. Sounds to me like he doesn't know a damn thing/or trying to sucker you into something here. I have fixed countless systems without formatting the PCs and cleaned out a bunch of viruses with success.

 

[En Sabah Nur]

I just recovered everything somehow in Safe Mode. I think it was something as simple as selecting the right OS in the F10 menu.

I'm want to squeel like a fangirl right now but it would wake everyone up in the house.

EDIT: EXTERNAL HARDDRIVE FILES ARE INTACT

IT'S STILL ALIVE!!!! \O/

RESTORE POINTS ARE AWESOME

EDIT2: Okay, I can go to bed peacefully now. Here's some questions that need answering though:

It seems I can only start up Windows now by going through the F10 menu and selecting my OS. If I don't, the system stays in a cycle of black screens like before. How do I fix this?

Next, the malware's still on there. Restate what I should download on a thumbnail that will eat it please. I also may have a virus on there from downloading "IE8," correct?

First thing tomorrow I'm burning all those external files on disc, of course. And yes, the PC's disconnected from the Internet.

F10 means different thing on different computers, what exactly happens when you hit F10? Do you get a boot menu selection? OS choices selection? BIOS setup? If you need to get rid of that malware (and you are sure its malware) try Malwarebytes or Spyware Doctor, those are the most successful ones I tried. You might or might not have "IE8 virus". If you do get rid of the malware (if it was malware) and your PC is functional, I think you are ok, if not, installing a good quality antivirus like Norton or Nod32 might be in order.
And what do you mean by ' all those external files"?

 

[Ren]

All right, the warning that comes up at start up says
Error loading c:\windows\system32\bogerijo.dll
The specified module could not be found.

What is the difference between malware and a virus? The fact that superantispyware and malwarebytes were the two scanners to find vundo would make me believe that I had malware, but I'm unclear as to how it differs from a virus.