PLEASE HELP ME

[laase12]

I AM NEW AT POSTING SO PLEASE BARE WITH ME I HAVE WINDOWS 98 ON MY COMP .I RECINTLY HAVE HAD A PROBLEM WITH ABOUT BLANK CONMING UP AS THE WEB ADDRESS, ALSO THE HTTP://IS GONE. I ALSO HAVE A PROBLEM WITH COOLWWW COMING UP. I HAVE TRYED SPYSWEEPER WHICH DOES NOTHING IT DELETES IT FOR ABOUT A HOUR THEN COMES BACK. I HAD A FRIEND LOOK AT IT AND THEY PLAYED AROUND TRYING TO FIGURE IT OUT AND NOW MY INERNET IS TOTALY GONE LIKE I HAD EARTHLINK AND THE FILES ARE NO WHERE TTO BE FOUND. PLEASE SOMEONE HELP I COULD REALLY USE THE INFO.

[rastorize]

You need to use CWSHREDDER to remove Cool Web Search...try here:
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/cwschronicles.html

[Beemer]

First off, restart your machine in MS-DOS Mode and type, scanreg /restore. (don't miss the space)

You will be presented with 4 backup dates and another one hidden at the bottom. Pick a date previous to the problem of no Internet.

Follow the prompts to restart your machine.

Download SpyBot S&D: http://www.download.com/Spybot-Searc...ubj=dl&tag=but and install. Say yes to the Immunization and then when the program is up and running, update and re-immunize.

Restart your machine in Safe Mode by holding your CTRL key down when restarting your machine. When you get to the Start Menu screen, select #3 Safe Mode.

Run SpyBot and check for problems.
Place a checkmark in found problems and hit the Fix button.

Now restart your machine and get back into Windows.

Download Ad-aware 6: http://www.download.com/3000-2144-10...age&tag=button

Install and update the program.

Get back into Safe Mode and run the program configured like so:
Use the following options with Adaware:

Click the gear wheel at the top and check these options:

General> activate these: "Automatically save log-file" and "Automatically quarantine objects prior to removal"

Scanning > activate these: "Scan within archives", "Scan active processes", "Scan registry", "Deep scan registry", "Scan my IE Favorites for banned sites" and "Scan my Hosts file"

Tweaks > Scanning Engine> activate this: "Unload recognized processes during scanning."

Tweaks > Cleaning Engine: activate these: "Automatically try to unregister objects prior to deletion" and "Let Windows remove files in use after reboot."

Click "Proceed" to save your settings, then click "Start", make sure "Activate in-depth scan" is ticked green then scan your system. When the scan is finished, the screen will tell you if anything has been found, click "Next". The bad files will be listed, right click the pane and click "Select all objects" - this will put a check mark in the box at the side, click "Next" again and click "OK" at the prompt "# objects will be removed. Continue?".

(stole this ad-aware configuration text from http://www.security-forums.com/forum...ic.php?p=99110 for ease of posting.)

Oh Ya! Turn off caps. No need to yell.

Cheers!

[Beemer]

For an extra measure of peace of mind, run an online scan at http://trendmicro.com .

Cheers!

[rastorize]

^^^What he said^^^^

[laase12]

thank you for the help i will let you all know if it works well lets hope it does.

[laase12]

WELLL I WENT TO MS-DOS MODE DID THE SCANREG /RESTORE THING CHOSE THE DATE AND IT SAYS SYSTEM RESTORE OPEATION FAILED

[FatalException]

Please don't type in all capitals - it appears as though you are "yelling" and fewer people are likely to help you. It's also harder to read that way.

Anyway, as for your problem - once a computer gets loaded up with too many spyware programs, I've found the best case is to format the drive and reinstall the operating system. People really need to be more careful about the webpages they go to, the links they click and the things they download. When people just start blindly clicking "accept this file" or "Install this browser add-on" or "install kazaa with all the ad stuff possible", problems like this arise.

Make sure you back up your important files before you perform a restore. Doing a restore is probably the easiest option given your circumstances - it will provide a fresh install of Windows free of all this ad stuff.

To restore, on most systems you simply put in the manufacturer's system restore CD and reboot the PC. It will walk you through the restoration steps on the screen. Again, be sure to backup all of your important files and documents before you restore - they will all be erased in the restore process.

[FatalException]

As a follow up to my miniature rant about downloading spyware and advertisements... I think many of these problems would not happen if people would do 2 simple things - stop trying to download cool programs for free that do absolutely (or almost) nothing and READ about the programs you are downloading before you install them. Good examples of "useless" programs are Weatherbug, various screensaver and wallpaper changing programs, add-ons for AIM, etc. Is it really worth the hassle of 10+MB of memory being used just to have the temperature outside down in the task bar?

And as for reading before installing - it's well known that P2P programs like Kazaa, Limewire, etc. contain a large amount of spyware and adware. How else could a company of programmers stay in business (unless they're open source, which they are not), and actually turn a profit on a service provided "free" to its users? Simple - advertisers pay them to host their pop-ups and install their adware on your system along with Kazaa.

Now I know few people will admit to having downloaded these programs simply because they'll look like noobs and realize that they really aren't the computer gurus they thought they were...

But strangely enough, I have never installed a P2P program on either of my computers, I only frequent sites that seem familiar to me online, and I never download things that seem frivolous or useless that companies are "giving away" for free. And you know what? I just ran Spybot and Adaware - aside from tracking cookies, my system is 100% clean.

[laase12]

ok sorry about the all caps i am just use to writting this way . i ll try it and see what happends