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

[Michael Meltzer]

you got hit by a porn dialer(that what they call it, they started the trick), what is does is highjack your modem line and call
1-900 number or a oversea call, it is called fraud.

1)call the phone company, they will take it off the bill, you might have to ask to speck to a supervisor, SOP is they will let you
off the hook for the first time(check the current bill while you at it), if nice is not working get pushy, you might have to remind
them that this is a fraud, from other complaints they should have know it was a fraud, you did not knowingly make the call, by them
billing you they are a party to the fraud, willing to go to the state attorney general. ask them to place the "blocks" on your line.
If you need help with the scream job, I do it for a living, conference call :-)

2)now for the computer, the problem you have is that any Microsoft product that is not absolutely current is not fit to be connected
to the internet, frankly I think bill gates should loss a class action law suit, their is really no reason for it.

Hopefully http://www.safer-networking.org has removed the dialer by now.

the problem you have window98Se, is End of life, MS is no longer suporting it, then next step for you is upgrading to windows98me,
but ms is going to EOL that soon also, you could upgrade to windowsXP but most like any computer that started out with windows SE
does not have the power to run XP (skip win2000 in your case), for about 400$ you can upgrade to alot better assuming you can reuse
the monitor, witch will include 100$ your would have to pay to upgrade the OS, might want to think about it.

For DSL or Cable modem you beed a hardware firewall, they will also allow you to share the line with outer computers in the house,
linksys, dlink, smc, etc, thay cost about 100-150$, look for the words "statefull packet filtering fallwall", zone-alarm will alway
be second best to a real firewall(the virus disable zone-alarm but donot touch the hardware firewall)

zone is ok for dialup, if no other resion that thier is nothing else.

I like Mcaffe for my anit-virus on the decktop pc, Norton has been slipping over the years(my option).

bottom line, must be always up to date on the OS, must be running antivirus, have a firewall. should be sueing MS or get linux :-)

MJM






----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Todd Tavares" <sprocket80 at mail.com>
To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
Sent: Wednesday, November 26, 2003 2:39 PM
Subject: [ham] [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 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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