Q: My sons XP pro is whacko with popup and spyware. I used Search and Destroy, but webrebates and a few others are hanging on, and worse, nothing that uses Explorer (Windows Update only the opening of a smelly folder) causes a crash and a few seconds later, Dr. Watson will send a report to MS and then needs a reboot via ctrlaltdelete (start button will not) Ask 0.
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How can I delete these programs when I can not open a folder? (Like the control panel)?
I thought about reinstalling explorer but I can not install the old version without removing the new and the past experience trying not been good. If I could get to add / remove I think its a repair option to offer.
Re:Sort of a follow up, problem is most "likely" related to a peper infection aka pgate basic shows in add/remove and its the cockroach of all spyware. The paid version of ad-aware removes it, but not the free version, and since its a IE only pest and he only uses Firefox the treatment is worse than the infection. Eventually I will get rid of it, but nothing makes a computer safe that a 14 year old boy uses.
BTW I did give alcohol a try, I needed to make a backup of my Diablo II LOD CD (one of our two cracked), and Alcohol worked fine once I found out the datatype of the copyprotection. I can't say I liked it enough to switch to it.
Thanks for the help
Re:Originally posted by: guy
My son's XP pro system is whacko with popup and spyware. I used search and destroy, but webrebates and a few others are hanging on, and worse anything that uses explorer (windows update to just opening a stinking folder) causes a crash and a few seconds later Dr Watson wants to send in a report to MS and then it needs a reboot via ctrlaltdelete (start button even won't come up).
************************ Question ********************
How can I remove these programs when I can't open a folder? (like the control panel)?
I thought about reinstalling explorer, but I can't install the old version without removing the new, and past experience trying that has not been good. If I could get to add/remove I think it may offer a repair option too.
I suggest booting in safe mode and then using the spyware removal tools then. In normal mode the spyware tools can be running, and so they can be more difficult to delete/remove.
Re:Originally posted by: guy
Alcohol? OK, I'll have a couple beers before I try again.
Oh man, that's rich!!!
LOL
Re:To prevent this from happening again, I would recommend a firewall.
ZoneAlarm is a good program that is very easy to use- even without very much computer knowledge. It allows you to block programs from accessing the internet (the ones you don't want).
It just takes a bit of getting used to. Just like any other application.
Hope this helps.
Re:Reinstall windows…..would have taken much less time!
Re:He meant alcohol 120, it's used to burn images primarily.
Re:Alcohol? OK, I'll have a couple beers before I try again.
Its weird, LOTS of stuff works just fine, but anything that used explorer to open a window would hang and crash. Mozilla OTOH worked just fine. Nothing fixed anything.
Once I uninstalled SP2 explorer worked fine again, and over time I was able to remove all of the "helper" programs. Some of them required entering a "serial" number before they would uninstall, some had stages of arguing with me about if I really wanted to give up the wonderfull whatever they supposedly did. Later I found that even after uninstalling they left full folders of stuff on my drive which I manually deleted. Wow do I hate this can't delete business.
Anyway I am slowly getting this sorted out.
Re:You need to establish user accounts on your computer. If you use the default Admin user, then spyware will be able to install itself. Make a user account with limited access, so you can use it to browse. Also, I suggest you use Spy Sweeper, and Ad-Aware. It is key to use both since the one will detect files that the other won't.
Re:Any reason why you have to install Nero? Try something else like Alcohol.
Btw, if you wanted to launch Add/Remove instead of going thru the Control Panel, type in "appwiz.cpl" at the Run prompt. Though I wouldn't be surprised if that fails as well for you.
Have you considered hooking up this hard drive as a slave to another machine? That way, you should be able to can scan it for spyware without worrying about any of the programs launching on their own.
Re:Answers in two stages;
From the start menu in XP near the top is something about configuration, anyway it includes add/delete programs and more.
My actual problem seems to be some conflict between Nero 6.3.1.20 (latest) and XP SP2, with maybe a bit of windows media player envolved.
Uninstalling SP2 fixed explorer, but messed up nero. Reinstalling SP2 and explorer still fine, add nero and back to zero. I am currenting trying installing nero, then SP2.
Re:Oh, I will also try the F8 during boot idea.
Re:Thanks all, I tried a few things last night, but so far no luck.
Yes I can use the start menu, and ran msconfig to set the xp version of safe mode, but the box for webrebates.com was greyed out and could not be unchecked. Search and Destroy finds the same 7 problems each time I run it and claims to fix it
These nasty spyware things won't delete until all associated programs are deleted, but it doesn't say what those programs are and they don't show up in the start/programs menu either What I need is the darn add/remove program which should list everything. Maybe I can get the full path name from one of my other XP computers, and then "run" it from the start menu run command?
Re:do you have a home network at all???? or can one be set up??
If so you could do all the maintenance that you need to do from a second computer presuming the correct permissions are set up already in windows xp…
Also can you manage to get to the run command in the start menu…..if you can you can type "msconfig" without quotes and choose which items to start at startup!!
Alternatively if you can't get the start menu to open to get to the run command then try holding down the windows key(usually beside the "Alt" and "Alt GR" to the sides of the Space bar) and then press "R" to bring up the run command…. then type "msconfig" and hit return.
from About.com……"There is a hidden boot menu in Windows XP that has an option that can help. When the Operating System first starts (after the power on self test), press the F8 key on your keyboard. This will display a menu on a black background, which has an option called "Safe Mode." Actually there are a couple different Safe Mode options, depending on whether you want to use the network, or just a command prompt. Choosing Safe Mode will allow you to at least boot up, so that you can uninstall a bad driver, or change problematic system settings, etc."
hope this helps……..I am at work at the moment so I will tinker with XP when I get home and see if I can find a solution
Re:hello,
did you try to restart in security mode?
if not, try that…disable system restore and restart in security mode, than run your spyware and anti-virus program. i think it may help…
/guy
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