Anybody good @ fixin computers?

[Asian Knight]

Since this is a computer help thread, mind if I post my prob here. Currently I'm using IE with my hi-speed net. I got Mozilla Firefox installed so how do I permanently switch my browser to Mozilla Firefox?

Someone told me that the Win Fixer ad. That's actually a spyware prog. And since I had it DLd, that I shold reinstall windows, is this true? Because when I had it installed but unregistered, I kept getting pop ups. Mostly win fixer or those party poker sites.

 

[bodie54]

Good luck to the OP. Aces&Jacks sounds like he might have a pretty good line on what's up.

I find that whatever the problem, a little 'Percussive Maintenance' always does the trick.

LOL @ percussive maintenance, Tunsty ;-)

And that's a mighty nice Macy Sky sig I see up there a little ways *swoon*

 

[Deeeze]

Formatting is a last resort, it erases your hard drive. You don't want to format anything unless you know what you are doing. And if you format the Windows partition (assuming you've divided your hard drive into more than one partition), you are erasing your primary partition including the operating system and all of your main programs. So unless you know how and want to reinstall the operating system, don't format anything.

What you have to do is determine the virus you have and then how to get rid of it. If you are unfamiliar with some of the advanced tools, such as Hijack, that are used to help try to determine problems with your system, the most straight-forward way is to list all the programs that are active in memory. You can do this by opening Task Manager [ctrl-alt-del] and writing down what processes are running.

Also, a list of commands in your startup sequence will be helpful. To get this list goto [start - run] and type [msconfig]. In the System Configuration Utility goto the Startup tab and list all the commands there.

If you can show these two things then I can probably tell you what virus you have and then try to determine how to get rid of it.

I'll do that,but the msconfig won't open either I tried that a couple of weeks ago

 

[Aces&Jacks]

I'll do that,but the msconfig won't open either I tried that a couple of weeks ago

This behavior is a common symptom of more than one virus/worm, the
three below being the most common:

W32.Klez

W32.Yaha

W32.Spybot.Worm
http://securityresponse.symantec.co...pybot.worm.html

 

[Deeeze]

This behavior is a common symptom of more than one virus/worm, the
three below being the most common:

W32.Klez

W32.Yaha

W32.Spybot.Worm
http://securityresponse.symantec.co...pybot.worm.html

Aw man I am scewed.Ctrl,Alt,Delete doesn't even work.
Any other suggestions?

 

[Aces&Jacks]

First, Boot into safe mode and run whatever antivirus and/or spyware programs you have and see if this will help any.

 

[Deeeze]

First, Boot into safe mode and run whatever antivirus and/or spyware programs you have and see if this will help any.

Its been a while but I tried that too.I just can't remember if Norton's still wouldn't open or if Norton's scaned and couldn't find anything

 

[Aces&Jacks]

You can't do anything until you find out what's actually infecting your system. A trick that sometimes helps to overcome this kind of problem is to make a copy of the programs that won't work (msconfig.exe, regedit.exe, etc.) and GIVE THE COPY A NEW NAME. For example, change the EXE extension to COM or rename msconig.exe anything.exe. If there is a virus that is watching for these files, the virus might miss them if they have a new name. This technique worked for me when I had to fix the spybot trojan on another computer

This won't help you get rid of the virus, but it might at least give you access to regedit, taskmgr, msconfig, etc. to help figure out what the problem is. After you rename it run the file to see if it works.

 

[Deeeze]

You can't do anything until you find out what's actually infecting your system. A trick that sometimes helps to overcome this kind of problem is to make a copy of the programs that won't work (msconfig.exe, regedit.exe, etc.) and GIVE THE COPY A NEW NAME. For example, change the EXE extension to COM or rename msconig.exe anything.exe. If there is a virus that is watching for these files, the virus might miss them if they have a new name. This technique worked for me when I had to fix the spybot trojan on another computer

This won't help you get rid of the virus, but it might at least give you access to regedit, taskmgr, msconfig, etc. to help figure out what the problem is. After you rename it run the file to see if it works.

ah I new @ this how do you do that?I know how to rename but how do you change the extension

 

[Aces&Jacks]

ah I new @ this how do you do that?I know how to rename but how do you change the extension

If you are a such novice at computing that you don't know how to change the extension of a file, then maybe you should leave resolving such a complicated and complex problem as manually removing viruses from your computer to someone more experienced. My suggestion would be to have someone else repair it for you. The reason being is that it's only going to get more complicated.

To answer your question. You change an extention just by renaming it to whatever you want it to be. Your problem probably is that your directory listing is not showing the file extension. To see the file extension so that you can rename them, in Windows Explorer (the file/directory program not the Internet program) go to the [tools] menu and click [folder options]. Go to the [view] tab and uncheck [hide extensions to known file types]. You should now be able to see the extensions of the files and you can change them to any extension you want.

 

[Deeeze]

If you are a such novice at computing that you don't know how to change the extension of a file, then maybe you should leave resolving such a complicated and complex problem as manually removing viruses from your computer to someone more experienced. My suggestion would be to have someone else repair it for you. The reason being is that it's only going to get more complicated.

To answer your question. You change an extention just by renaming it to whatever you want it to be. Your problem probably is that your directory listing is not showing the file extension. To see the file extension so that you can rename them, in Windows Explorer (the file/directory program not the Internet program) go to the [tools] menu and click [folder options]. Go to the [view] tab and uncheck [hide extensions to known file types]. You should now be able to see the extensions of the files and you can change them to any extension you want.

I know how to change them thru a window, but what I am trying to change won't get a window or at least I can't find one.Like msconfig,I click on it nothing happens.But anyway I changed the extension so now Msconfig works.What next can I change Nortons exetension and maybe that'll work?

 

[Deeeze]

Well what I meant was I don't know which file exetension to change in order to get nortons running.Is it just one file,is it muliple files, do you know?

 

[Aces&Jacks]

You're not going to get Norton running using this method. The purpose of doing this was to get msconfig and task manager running, so that you could see what processes were running on your system to determine what virus was causing the problems on your computer.

To go further you need to list the running processes (task manager) and list the commands in your startup sequence (msconfig).

 

[Deeeze]

Well so far this is what I got from msconfig

igfxtray hkcmd Intelmem Pcmservice Tfswctrl
Sgtray ccapp urlstck MM_tray Sndmon Admillserv
Lxbumon fm303Z ezprint Viewmgr Mediaacck
Rundll32 MMtask TSL Wip32 Juschep WMccfg
Ituneshelper Qttask Msmsgs AOL Adobe

See anything unusual?

 

[Aces&Jacks]

Admillserv is spyware.
fm3037 is completely unknown so it probably should be removed.
MediaAcck is adware.
Wip32.sober is a virus so i'm not sure about the Wip32 entry.
Jushep another command I can't find anything on.
TSL is the traveling salesman spyware.

 

[Deeeze]

Admillserv is spyware.
fm3037 is completely unknown so it should be removed.
MediaAcck is adware.
Wip32.sober is a virus so i'm not sure about the Wip32 entry.
Jushep another command I can't find anything on.

so what do I go into the hard drive and delete them, do I unistall them in they are there under programs?Never mind that was probably a dumb question.But what else do I have to do to get rid of them?

 

[Aces&Jacks]

so what do I go into the hard drive and delete them, do I unistall them in they are there under programs?Never mind that was probably a dumb question.But what else do I have to do to get rid of them?

Your best bet if, you are going to try and remove them yourself, is to get specific instructions on how to remove them from sources on the internet. I could try to explain removing them, but it involves editing the registry, which you should be absolutely sure about what you are doing before attempting it.

You have several problems that may not be caused by what's listed in the processes. So you also need to find out what's in your startup sequence (msconfig) or the running processes from task manager, whichever you didn't list.

 

[tunsty]

so what do I go into the hard drive and delete them, do I unistall them in they are there under programs?Never mind that was probably a dumb question.But what else do I have to do to get rid of them?

Have you tried 'Hijack this'?
It's a program that lists the running processes on your pc.
You can just tick the ones that you know are causing the problem.

 

[Deeeze]

Your best bet if, you are going to try and remove them yourself, is to get specific instructions on how to remove them from sources on the internet. I could try to explain removing them, but it involves editing the registry, which you should be absolutely sure about what you are doing before attempting it.

You have several problems that may not be caused by what's listed in the processes. So you also need to find out what's in your startup sequence (msconfig) or the running processes from task manager, whichever you didn't list.

Those programs I listed were from the start up sequence.I have also edited the registry before but that was from nortons removal instructions.

 

[9inch]

editing the registery and deleting the file on your local drive maybe not enough spywares can remember your ip and never stop sending attack to you...
a clean format and a good firewall is the best advice I can tell to you :2 cents:

try to install softs like adaware, it worked fine with my own comp when it was sick.