Error 384

[Stephen]

Usually when Internet connectivity is an issue, doing this
troubleshooting will solve the problem:

1) scan with current antivirus ("current" means a version
not earlier
than 2002 but using updated virus definitions); 2) remove
spyware with
Spybot Search & Destroy (www.safer-networking.org) and Ad-
aware
(www.lavasoftusa.com). These programs are free, so use
them both since
they complement each other. Be sure to update these
programs before
running, and it is a good idea to do virus/spyware scans
in Safe Mode.


I tried going to both these sites, and was told on both
occasions that the sites were no longer available.

Is this a symptom of my problem, or is the message out of
date?

 

[Hilary Karp]

No, those are good addresses. The web sites exist.

 

[Malke]

No, those are good addresses. The web sites exist.

If you can't get to spyware removal sites, then probably you have a
virus and/or spyware that is disabling access. This is a common
problem. You should get the tools from another computer, burn them on a
cd-r, and install them on your infected machine. Take that machine off
the Internet! In addition to my previous advice about getting Spybot
and Ad-aware, you may need CWShredder too, which you can get here:

http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/index.html

Please read the instructions carefully. The forums at Spywareinfo are an
excellent source of information and help about malware. Your hosts file
has probably been hijacked, too. Do a search for "hosts", making sure
that your Search options are set to show hidden files. Unless you have
a connection to the Internet that uses a proxy, special
spyware-stopping software installed, or changed it yourself, the hosts
file should have nothing in it except:

127.0.0.1 localhost

Delete other entries that redirect your browser to their sites.

HTH,

Malke