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

[Mark Kaynor]

Todd,

Could be a worm, could be spyware/trackware. Some of those tracking things
take over your IE and send out all kinds of stuff.

Sounds like  trackware - check out Ad-Aware - http://www.lavasoftusa.com/ -
it will scan for and remove a lot of the nasty, intrusive, #%^&#%^&*$&*
"Trackware" scum. Some of these things can be difficult to remove, and often
it's very difficult to do w/o breaking something else.

Many of the newer virii/Trojans/worms seek out and attempt to disable virus
scanners. Many are "polymorphic" (meaning they can mutate over time, making
it more difficult to identify them), and many are "stealthy" (meaning
they're configured to hide themselves from the user).

They can "phone home" to an IRC chat group or web address and download
updates, new "tools", and send info from your computer to the bad guys.

One of the most effective preventatives is an educated user - make sure you
practice "safe hex":
http://www.sophos.com/virusinfo/articles/safehex.html

A couple of excellent (free) personal firewalls:

Sygate Personal Firewall
http://smb.sygate.com/products/spf_standard.htm

ZoneAlarm
http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload.js
p?lid=zadb_zadown

Hope this all helps,

Mark



-----Original Message-----
From: rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org
[mailto:rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org]On Behalf Of Todd Tavares
Sent: Wednesday, November 26, 2003 2:40 PM
To: The Rhodes 22 mail list
Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Dummy with computer needs help--badly


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 sett
ings 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 Vi
rus 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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