Windows Xp Help Needed
- Thread starter GMK
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Help Support Australia & New Zealand Homebrewing Forum:
It is odd behaviour, if you want we could try a remote session to your computer, but all I would do is fire up msconfig looking for odd entries check running processes and other settings etc... Grasping at staws 
And remote sessions are a last resort over the internet.
And remote sessions are a last resort over the internet.
chiller
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nonicman said:
You can have a dual boot system where you just don't let something as dangerous as windows see the light of day.
Share a fat 32 partition and finally dispense with all the headaches associated with the Swiss cheese of operating systems.
If you have bussiness data on that computer that will involve days to rebuild ask yourself if you would leave that machine sitting out in the middle of the road at peak hour unprotected?
Linux is a much safer option for internet -- for mail and for ----- well just about everything. I have a Windows machine that is not connected to the net. I is purely a video editing console. It has valuable business data I'm not prepared to loose due to spyware,crapware and every other "ware" there is.
Did I mention that Linux is free and constantly monitor by a worldwide network of programmers? Anyone in Adelaide who wants to set themselves up on Linux will get loads of help if they are genuinely after a better alternative.
Wortgames
'Draught' is not a beer style - it's a lifestyle
Some people seem to be missing the point here. Spyware and viruses are NOT a minor inconvenience that simply need 'fixing', they can cost you very very dear, especially if you do any online banking etc.
GMK - your computer is riddled with the pox, and it needs a clean install of the OS, and soon. Forget 'cleanup' tools, your pox is too nasty.
DO NOT try to enter passwords ANYWHERE!
Backup everything you can onto CD or a separate drive NOW.
You really should do a reformat and a clean install of XP. Create a partition (or get a separate drive) for your personal stuff. Let windows have a space to itself.
Once you've done that, the first thing is to get a good firewall and antivirus (I like Norton, loads of people don't, but if you let it do what it needs to do it does it well. Alternatively you can trawl through a million pages of geek opinion).
Also get hold of a copy of Norton Ghost. Once you've got XP and your security loaded, and all your drivers are configured, let Ghost take a snapshot of the clean windows drive. This way, no matter what happens in the future, it's a relatively quick task to revert to your clean starting point.
The next things to load should be spywareblaster, lavasoft's ad-aware and spybot S&D. Between these three and Norton you will be very well protected even if you use IE and don't program space shuttles for a living.
After a couple of weeks when you've got all your apps installed and configured windows how you like it, make another Ghost copy. Then no matter what you do to your system, you can painlessly revert to a good (and pox-free) configuration. Ghost will copy and overwrite an entire partition, so this is a good reason to have your system stuff separate to your personal stuff.
Most viruses are amateur schoolboy pranks, but many are big trouble.
Call me paranoid, but there are a lot of nasties on the net and I wouldn't want them infesting my nice clean box.
GMK - your computer is riddled with the pox, and it needs a clean install of the OS, and soon. Forget 'cleanup' tools, your pox is too nasty.
DO NOT try to enter passwords ANYWHERE!
Backup everything you can onto CD or a separate drive NOW.
You really should do a reformat and a clean install of XP. Create a partition (or get a separate drive) for your personal stuff. Let windows have a space to itself.
Once you've done that, the first thing is to get a good firewall and antivirus (I like Norton, loads of people don't, but if you let it do what it needs to do it does it well. Alternatively you can trawl through a million pages of geek opinion).
Also get hold of a copy of Norton Ghost. Once you've got XP and your security loaded, and all your drivers are configured, let Ghost take a snapshot of the clean windows drive. This way, no matter what happens in the future, it's a relatively quick task to revert to your clean starting point.
The next things to load should be spywareblaster, lavasoft's ad-aware and spybot S&D. Between these three and Norton you will be very well protected even if you use IE and don't program space shuttles for a living.
After a couple of weeks when you've got all your apps installed and configured windows how you like it, make another Ghost copy. Then no matter what you do to your system, you can painlessly revert to a good (and pox-free) configuration. Ghost will copy and overwrite an entire partition, so this is a good reason to have your system stuff separate to your personal stuff.
Most viruses are amateur schoolboy pranks, but many are big trouble.
Call me paranoid, but there are a lot of nasties on the net and I wouldn't want them infesting my nice clean box.
delboy
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wortgames here here this is what i have said all along but i think ken wanted to try and do some fixes first .but as you said they dont work .
his system is riddeled with pox yes and no matter what he dose there will be some little lurking unwanted guest he will miss .
i have offered to re format and do a fresh install for him and load up all this protection as well you have mentioned .
no your are not paraniod at all this is serious i do what you say every 3-6 months and my system runs relitivly virus free no os is not vunrable even linex linlix whatever it is .
the only way to help ken is to reformat and install and start clean .
to be sure .
even though the help offered is all in good faith it is not always the best option in his situation i belive .
his system is sick and needs that overhaul resistance to that would be futile.
ken do not use your system on line until you bring it to me and we will have a few beers and fix it properly you can stay over and we will do a partial as well sit in the bar eat bluey"s make beer let the computer do it thing .
i think that's the best advice on offer here do you agree everyone :blink:
delboy :chug:
his system is riddeled with pox yes and no matter what he dose there will be some little lurking unwanted guest he will miss .
i have offered to re format and do a fresh install for him and load up all this protection as well you have mentioned .
no your are not paraniod at all this is serious i do what you say every 3-6 months and my system runs relitivly virus free no os is not vunrable even linex linlix whatever it is .
the only way to help ken is to reformat and install and start clean .
to be sure .
even though the help offered is all in good faith it is not always the best option in his situation i belive .
his system is sick and needs that overhaul resistance to that would be futile.
ken do not use your system on line until you bring it to me and we will have a few beers and fix it properly you can stay over and we will do a partial as well sit in the bar eat bluey"s make beer let the computer do it thing .
i think that's the best advice on offer here do you agree everyone :blink:
delboy :chug:
Always worth trying to fix something before trashing it and starting from scratch, reinstalling at the first sign of trouble is not always the best option. However it is clear GMK has a badly infected computer. If this was at work, a fresh image would have been applied within a few minutes of looking at it, but this is not work.
Delboy's offer and Wortgame's advice are the best options at the moment, shame you don't live down the road. Though you could still browse the web if you install Zonealarm or a similar personal firewall.
Hopefully a lesson has been learnt and GMK will secure his computer (anti-spyware, good AV, and a personal firewall) or run a more robust OS like Linux (though not in root mode).
Make sure you run a good anti-virus scanner on any files that are backed up from the infected build. Whoever built your computer should give themselves an uppercut, as should Bill Gates.
Good luck GMK.
Delboy's offer and Wortgame's advice are the best options at the moment, shame you don't live down the road. Though you could still browse the web if you install Zonealarm or a similar personal firewall.
Hopefully a lesson has been learnt and GMK will secure his computer (anti-spyware, good AV, and a personal firewall) or run a more robust OS like Linux (though not in root mode).
Make sure you run a good anti-virus scanner on any files that are backed up from the infected build. Whoever built your computer should give themselves an uppercut, as should Bill Gates.
Good luck GMK.
GMK
BrewInn Barossa:~ Home to GMKenterprises ~
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OK - seem to have it sorted...
Problem was in the lmhosts file - deleted the corruptions - restarted and the file ahas not been corrupted since.
the 7054 fixes on the first run by spybot was for registry fixes.
i cant do any re-imaging for a few weeks.
Changed passwords from work on internet banking sites etc
i am out of trouble at the moment....
getting a copy of zone alarm....
Problem was in the lmhosts file - deleted the corruptions - restarted and the file ahas not been corrupted since.
the 7054 fixes on the first run by spybot was for registry fixes.
i cant do any re-imaging for a few weeks.
Changed passwords from work on internet banking sites etc
i am out of trouble at the moment....
getting a copy of zone alarm....
FNQ Bunyip
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This has been an interestin topic....
I run 2 machines .
1 runs xp never conects to the net and has all our photos ,music ect on it .
the other runs 98 that machine is just for the net , the geeks stoped writing viruses for 98 so it is safe on the net and if an old virus comes along it is reconised and deleted by norton... Any music we download is cheked then burnt on to a disk then transferd to the xp machine...
I went this way after 3 yes 3 total system atacks on the xp machine conecting to the net....
would like to give linux a go just scared of the unknown.
Cheers fnqbunyip
I run 2 machines .
1 runs xp never conects to the net and has all our photos ,music ect on it .
the other runs 98 that machine is just for the net , the geeks stoped writing viruses for 98 so it is safe on the net and if an old virus comes along it is reconised and deleted by norton... Any music we download is cheked then burnt on to a disk then transferd to the xp machine...
I went this way after 3 yes 3 total system atacks on the xp machine conecting to the net....
would like to give linux a go just scared of the unknown.
Cheers fnqbunyip
chiller
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FNQ Bunyip said:This has been an interestin topic....
I run 2 machines .
1 runs xp never conects to the net and has all our photos ,music ect on it .
the other runs 98 that machine is just for the net , the geeks stoped writing viruses for 98 so it is safe on the net and if an old virus comes along it is reconised and deleted by norton... Any music we download is cheked then burnt on to a disk then transferd to the xp machine...
I went this way after 3 yes 3 total system atacks on the xp machine conecting to the net....
would like to give linux a go just scared of the unknown.
Cheers fnqbunyip
[post="88220"][/post]
Just think of it like a wonderful Belgian beer. Initially it is not quite as familiar as a VB but within a short space of time everything other than the Belgian is very much a VB [with infection]
Steve
Give it a go, I run Gentoo which I built from scatch (following the instructions on the Gentoo site to the t) whilst taking a number of days to complete (most of that time was letting the machine compile the different parts of the OS and applications) you will gain a full understanding of what you are running. It's like comparing an AG brew to a standard commerical brew, the AG is more satisfying.
You can setup and run a duel boot system (so you can choose whichever OS you want to use when you want), and some distributions only take around 20 minutes to install, another 20 or so minutes to configure and you're on the net. These may be a good starting place.
You may find that Linux is a lot more logical than Windows, plain text files for configuration are a lot simpler than the mess that is the Windows registry. With Linux they aren't trying to hide things from you.
Each to there own, but no harm in giving it a go. Support on the internet from the linux community is vast and google has it's own linux search engine google.com.au/linux which is very helpfull.
