Computer problems!?....Help

[RobiLee]

I've mentioned before that I have been having computer problems. Now I have noticed that when I am at a site or reading a thread here at pet talk that sometimes a word will be highlighted and underlined. I know it should not be this way. For example I was reading a post and it had the word car in it. I could put my mouse on it and it would take me to a place for car insurance, in one post the word lonely was in it and I could click on it and go to a dating service, one had the word "house" so it was for a mortgage place. Theyare all leading to some type of advertisment. What is this? Do I have a virus or something? I am such a computer idiot and have no idea what is going on. Also, sometimes my screen flashes like someone else is opeing a a new page or something. I don't know I can't explain it very well. If it wasn't for me wanting to be on Pet Talk I think I would have thrown this thing away a long time ago...lol ;)

Thanks for any advise.....Robin :)

[Kfamr]

LOL.. the computer in my room has this....

I have no clue how to get rid of it, but I rarely use that computer so it doesn't bother me much.

I only *really* use that computer when my parents tell me to go to bed on school nights. ;) :p

[RobiLee]

Originally posted by Kfamr
LOL.. the computer in my room has this....

I have no clue how to get rid of it, but I rarely use that computer so it doesn't bother me much.

I only *really* use that computer when my parents tell me to go to bed on school nights. ;) :p


Well, you are no help, Kay Ann!!! You are supposed to help me solve the problem ;) :p

[micki76]

Could it be spyware? It certainly sounds like it. Run Spybot and Ad-aware. Yes, I use both. :)

[RobiLee]

Originally posted by micki76
Could it be spyware? It certainly sounds like it. Run Spybot and Ad-aware. Yes, I use both. :)

Thanks, Micki. I'll check into that!

Robin :)

[dukedogsmom]

I think it's something from Internet Exploder. There's a way to get that turned off but I can't remember how! I'll try and find out.

[Paul]

   From your description, your computer is infected with one or more evil programs. You should run one or more programs designed to remove adware and spyware. Otherwise, it may become worse and your computer could join the zombie army.

   Ordinary virus checkers will not protect you.

   Spybot - Search & Destroy 1.3 (http://www.download.com/3000-8022-10122137.html)
   Ad-aware 6.0 (http://www.download.com/Ad-aware/3000-8022-10214379.html?tag=lst-0-2)

   I need to write a description of how the zombie army has been attacking Pet of the Day.

      Paul

[RobiLee]

My computer is a mess now. I downloaded something called spykiller :rolleyes: and ran it and now i can't get get on the internet at all. It is acting really crazy. I don't know what I have done and couldn't even begin to describe it.

The spyware program said I had all kinds of junk on there. I did what it said to do and "cleaned it" now when I open internet explorer nothing comes up and it is not even trying to open up my homepage it is trying to open up something called incredifind. I can't even type anything in the location bar. I'm at a loss.

My son is looking at it right now and I am on his computer. His computer is so fast and makes me sooooo mad. Mine use to be just like his. FAST!! I want my computer back :(

Robin :( :(

[Paul]

   It sounds like it was just a coincidence that when you tried to clean your machine it got worse. There is no one program that cleans everything. Usually it takes a couple of programs.

      Paul

[micki76]

You downloaded a virus with "spykiller". My husband did the same thing last month on our desktop. He downloaded something that I would swear was called "spykiller" or "spynuker", and it nuked it all right. It nuked the computer! Now why he did this, when I told him to NEVER EVER download anything, I don't know. I'd already installed and ran Ad Aware and Spybot S & D, but he didn't know that cause I don't allow him to do anything but surf on it. I was very :mad:, and he got a lot of crap for weeks about it.

Sorry you're still having problems. Hope you get it fixed soon. :(

If you can go to www.trendmicro.com and run Housecall. It will scan for viruses and allow you to delete or clean them. The virus has probably disabled your current virus protection. That's usually one of the 1st things they do.

[Cinder & Smoke]

Originally posted by micki76

If you can go to www.trendmicro.com and run Housecall.
It will scan for viruses and allow you to delete or clean them.

But...

You HAVE to be running Internet Explorer as your Browser >>>

"What are the system requirements?
One of the following operating systems and browsers
is needed to run Trend Micro / HouseCall properly.

Operating Systems:

Microsoft Windows 95, 95 OSR2 2.0, 95 OSR2 2.1, 95 OSR2 2.5
Microsoft Windows 98, 98 SE
Microsoft NT Workstation 4.0 and Service Pack 3 or above
Microsoft NT Server 4.0 and Service Pack 3 or above
Microsoft NT
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional, Server, Advanced Server
Microsoft Windows XP Home, Professional

Browser Types:

Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0, 4.0 SP1, 4.0 SP2 or above.

Note: Macintosh and Netscape browsers are not supported
in the current release of HouseCall."

/s/ Phred

[dukedogsmom]

Incredifind is horrible! It's a browser hijacker. Someone at work had downloaded crap and one computer had that on it. Took me 30 minutes removing the certain hotkeys and such to fix it. Adaware and Spybot search and destroy are two great programs that are free downloads and do a great job of keeping your computer clean. Hope it gets better.
Does your husband know about computers? The way I found out how to remove what was needed was, I went to www.google.com and typed in remove incredifind That will tell you what hotkeys to remove. Good luck!

[Cinder & Smoke]

Originally posted by RobiLee

My computer is a mess now. :(

... now i can't get get on the internet at all.

The spyware program said I had all kinds of junk on there.
I did what it said to do and "cleaned it" -
now when I open Internet Explorer nothing comes up ...

My son is looking at it right now...
:(

Did Brandon get anywhere with your problem???

Sounds like the Program you loaded and ran might have
flagged some NEEDED "Shared Files" as being suspect -
and when you *deleted* them -
Internet Explorer decided it couldn't run without them... :(

Check to see if the Program actually Deleted all the
"bad files" - or just moved them into the Recycle Bin...

IF the "bad files" are still in the Recycle Bin -
you CAN retrieve them and
attempt to restore your Internet Explorer BROWSER.

You might want to consult a Repair Shop -
before you damage the system and "loose" valuable Data Files
and/or things like stored Photos.

GOOD LUCK!

/s/ Phred

[Paul]

   Last week I tried to use a machine that could not display anything other than the background image after startup because spyware programs had taken over the entire machine. I restarted in safe mode and Spybot - Search & Destroy fixed almost all the problems.

      Paul

[tatsxxx11]

Oh Robin, that sounds like one of the many screwy problems I was having with my old computer. Things would highlight themselves, my task bar would disappear, all these unwanted sites would appear as shortcuts on my desktop and I couldn't get rid of them...Dell told me it was probably Sypware:( Anyway, my computer was due for a trade in due to other issues, so that's what I ended up doing, getting a new one. I feel for you! It made working on the computer a misery! Hopefully someone has some helpful suggestions for you!

Just saw Paul already has:)

[Fox-Gal]

Originally posted by dukedogsmom
Adaware and Spybot search and destroy are two great programs that are free downloads and do a great job of keeping your computer clean.

Yeah these two are the only good FREE downloads I've found out there. Some people make the mistake of downloading what says is a spyware removal and in truth it is spyware. Stick with one of these two, it's safer.

Cinder & Smoke right about removing some needed files. Just because something comes up on on spyware removal, doesn't mean you can remove it. Make sure it's not a program that came with your putters set up. My husband made that mistake once and removed everything it had on the list and we needed one to download files off the internet. Now he can only download if he hits save, he can hit open this file and run and there are some other problems he made happen by doing that, I won't get into. :mad:

It sounds to me like this site that I friend of mine did, it makes certain words links to other sites. It was to make things easier to search for info. I wish I could remember the name of it. Sorry. Have you gone into your add and remove programs to see if theres something new in there? I know thats how she removed her problem, if you can figure out what it is. I belive it was connected with hotbar, I think not sure though. Hotbar is the worse, never get it!!!

I hope it all gets working out for you soon. I hate saying this but if all else fails, do a system recovery. start back to square one, when all else fails. :( Your putter will be faster. lol

Good luck to you.

[trayi52]

There was a program, that would do seaches, and it would underline words it thought you would be interested in. I installed something like that a little over a year ago. I didn't like it, so I uninstalled it. It was nothing but a dern spyware.

It would underline certain words, and make them into links. I cannot remember the name of the program, but I was able to uninstall it through the control panel.

I use Spybot and Adaware. I also run Nortons Internet Security. I don't have any pop-up any more either.

Willie:)