Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss

Virus, or something else?

1 view
Skip to first unread message

ross...@yahoo.com

unread,
Jan 26, 2006, 7:26:04 AM1/26/06
to
Hi,
I recently decided to connect to the internet (ADSL) my son's pc, which
was bought used some time ago. When I connected it for the first time,
I downloaded an antivirus (Avast) and scanned it, finding a lot of
viruses.
I scanned it with other antiviruses and antimalware and I think now
it's clean (at least, 5 antivirus and antimalware programs can't find
anything wrong with it), but surfing the net proved to be impossible
:-(. Only google and few other sites go well (very well and quick
actually), almost any other address causes the pc to wait and wait
until it says the page could not be found :-(.
I thought maybe it was a firewall problem (I installed Zone Alarm and
maybe I didn't set it correctly), but I disabled it and the pc worked
just the same...
I thought maybe it was Explorer that got corrupted somehow, and
installed Firefox, but things didn't change: only Google can be
visualized correctly. The other pages always stop, sometimes the title
is visualized (sometimes not even that)
I specify that I checked the 'Hosts' file and it is OK (it was
scrambled by some hijacked but later repaired and now containd only the
line it should have).
I think strange there is still some virus on the system as 5 different
scanners show no trace of it, but I don't have any more ideas...
Any suggestions?
Thank you for any help
Elena

Elmo

unread,
Jan 26, 2006, 9:19:42 AM1/26/06
to

Does this machine meet the minimum processor speed requirement for the
dsl install?

Google just loads one graphic and a little bit of text, most of which
you've cached to the hd. If you do a Google search, does it complete?
I suspect this older machine can't keep up with the rapid download of
larger sites, causing a buffer, ethernet card, motherboard, whatever to
get overloaded. If that's the case, an external card or other component
might help, but probably not.

Just a thought.. I'm no expert on the subject.

--
Joe =o)

MIJ

unread,
Jan 26, 2006, 11:57:52 AM1/26/06
to

<ross...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1138278364....@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...

Be cautious about disabling Zone Alarm. It's a clever program that watches
out for deliberate attempts to disable it. I think one of its defences is to
slow down all traffic. If you don't want it then uninstal it properly.


ross...@yahoo.com

unread,
Jan 26, 2006, 1:42:03 PM1/26/06
to
Yes, it does... Searches are completed very quickly, I don't think this
is the problem. It's an old pc, but not so old as not to be able to use
broadband. Some of the few sites that can be seen contain lots of
graphics, while others that are invisible are mostly text...
I think it must be something else, but thank you anyway.
Elena

ross...@yahoo.com

unread,
Jan 26, 2006, 1:45:41 PM1/26/06
to
I closed it following its instructions (right click and then choosing
the 'close' option or something like that), I don't know if this can be
interpreted by it in an attempt to disable it by hacking....Antway I'll
do a try by disinstalling it completely (only I hope I won't catch lots
of viruses during the try...)
Thank you
Elena

MIJ

unread,
Jan 26, 2006, 3:00:30 PM1/26/06
to

<ross...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1138301141.5...@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
If it asked for a password to close it down, that should be OK. It is
usually trying to prevent start up that causes problems, disabling the entry
through Msconfig for example.


ross...@yahoo.com

unread,
Jan 26, 2006, 5:53:23 PM1/26/06
to
Well, I uninstalled Zone Alarm but nothing changed :-((...

~Sage

unread,
Jan 26, 2006, 9:11:08 PM1/26/06
to

<ross...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1138316003....@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...

> Well, I uninstalled Zone Alarm but nothing changed :-((...
>

Just curious, along with running your anti-virus programs, have you run any
of the free anti-spyware programs such as Ad-aware, Spybot S&D? There's
also a program called *Hijack This* that you could run and post the results
to a forum for help. If it were me, I'd reinstall Zone Alarm, you need
extra protection with broadband, especially if your machine has been
compromised. You can also check the ZA logs and check Startup in msconfig,
you may find some clues there. Also, check your security and privacy
settings in whichever browser you're using, perhaps you have some set too
high.

~Sage


----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Unrestricted-Secure Usenet News==----
http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups
----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =----

ross...@yahoo.com

unread,
Jan 27, 2006, 4:27:15 AM1/27/06
to
Yes, I've run Spybot S&D (which found some viruses and cleaned them)
and HijackThis (which found a hijacker some days ago and then nothing
more, there is a site that offers an 'on-line' interpretation of its
log and everything is well now..).
And yes, I've reinstalled ZA as soon as I saw that uninstalling it
made no difference.
All my security and privacy settings are either set to 'medium' or
default values, I haven't changed anything.
I'll check Startup in msconfig, but I really don't know whate else to
think of...
Thank you
Elena

Colin

unread,
Jan 27, 2006, 4:35:53 AM1/27/06
to

<ross...@yahoo.com> wrote in message news:1138354035.5...@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

Path:
news.optusnet.com.au!newsfeeder.syd.optusnet.com.au!news.optusnet.com.au!news1.optus.net.au!optus!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.ma
xwell.syr.edu!postnews.google.com!g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com!not-for-mail
From: ross...@yahoo.com
Newsgroups: alt.windows98
Subject: Re: Virus, or something else?
Date: 27 Jan 2006 01:27:15 -0800
Organization: http://groups.google.com
Lines: 13
Message-ID: <1138354035.5...@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>
References: <1138278364....@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com>
<kc7Cf.61179$zt1....@newsfe5-gui.ntli.net>
<1138301141.5...@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com>
<yT9Cf.20090$0N1...@newsfe5-win.ntli.net>
<1138316003....@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com>
<1138327...@sp6iad.superfeed.net>
NNTP-Posting-Host: 84.220.68.28
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
X-Trace: posting.google.com 1138354042 5104 127.0.0.1 (27 Jan 2006 09:27:22 GMT)
X-Complaints-To: groups...@google.com
NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 27 Jan 2006 09:27:22 +0000 (UTC)
In-Reply-To: <1138327...@sp6iad.superfeed.net>
User-Agent: G2/0.2
X-HTTP-UserAgent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1; .NET CLR 1.1.4322),gzip(gfe),gzip(gfe)
Complaints-To: groups...@google.com
Injection-Info: g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com; posting-host=84.220.68.28;
posting-account=BQF8sQwAAABgqF-Pbw5_qEesRnUrZrbs
Xref: news.optusnet.com.au alt.windows98:599095


All this from one post...? :)


ross...@yahoo.com

unread,
Jan 28, 2006, 6:11:23 AM1/28/06
to
Sorry, what does your answer mean?
Regards
Elena

Noel Paton

unread,
Jan 28, 2006, 6:17:35 AM1/28/06
to

<ross...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1138446683....@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

> Sorry, what does your answer mean?
> Regards
> Elena
>
Absolutely nothing, AFAICT!


--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2006, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.crashfixpc.com/millsrpch.htm

http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's


0 new messages