[Rhodes22-list] Dummy with computer needs help--badly

[Todd Tavares]

HELP MJM, Mark, Will, Steve, Rik, or any of you smart computer guys, HELP!

   I am ready to trash my computer and start over and do not want this particular problem to reoccur with a new computer.

I have been having problems with my computer for about a month now.  I use win98SE and have slow dial-up service.

   About a month ago I started getting pop-up ads trying to connect to the internet, even when I was sitting down watching TV and not near the computer.  I had no idea where they were coming from. Deleting the history, cookies, changing my security settings didn't stop them.  I brought the task window and viewed the properties for the files running, but when I did a search in the directies named...these files did not exist...not hidden, archive..nothing. 

   I have a Norton 2000 maintenance software package (Norton Works 2000?) that monitors, cleans, defrags etc.  Half or more of the Norton items wouldn't run. 

   I deleted all unfamiliar downloaded programs and items.....still the pop-ups came.   They only stopped after I went through windows explorer and deleted or uninstalled unfamiliar files/directories.

   I thought I was a genius until I opened my telephone bill and today found a $398.00 internet charge.  It seems that I had picked some sort of downloaded software that dialed up and connected to the internet at 2:00 AM while I was sleeping and went to a pay site somewhere in the Camoros Islands off the coast of West Africa.  I know it wasn't wifey or the kids.

   This charge was an add on from ATT.  I do not use ATT.  ATT CSR said this is happening with increasing frequency, but refused to remove the charges from my bill.

   So my questions are  (yes there is a question in here somewhere) what can I do to stop this from happening again?  How can I be sure this software is not still in my computer hiding? Is there software that I can buy to prevent this?  Can my McAfee Virus or Norton firewall software be configured to catch it?   Short of trashing the computer and getting a non-telephone internet service...what should I do.  

    And a second subject,  my windows defrag keeps restarting because a file is trying to write to disk.  How can I stop this?  Are these two problems related? (hopefully this is an easy fix)


Todd





  
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