O.T. Can't connect to the Internet:

[John Doe]

I have a Dell XPS 8500, with Windows 7 Professional, SP1,
with Spywareblaster, SuperAntiSpware, Malwarebytes, Avast,
Windows Defender and Windows firewall.

(1) TB HD
Intel (R) Core (TM) i7-33-3770 CPU @ 3.40 GHz 3.40 GHz
Ram 12.0 GB
System type : 64-bit operating system

I also have a Dell Dimension 8200(Seagate Barracuda 7200 HD 160Gb)
with XP, SP3, with Avast and Windows firewall.

I use to have Spywareblaster, SuperAntiSpyware and Malwarebytes but
they ceased to function as well as my single click for desktop icons etc
because I contracted Adware/malware. I tried to remove it following
instructions from malwarebytes forum:

https://forums.malwarebytes.org/index.php?showtopic=143808

Unfortunately we were unable to correct the damage caused so it was
decided to re-install XP which I did but now I cannot connect to the
internet to finish the installation by SP1a and SP3. I've called my
ISP and they said the connection was good and that it should be a
plug-n-play procedure since my 8500 is connected and the 8200 was
just a couple of days ago.

I've checked the LAN settings to make sure the 'Automatically Detect
Settings' box was checked and tried switching the Ethernet cable on
the router just to make sure.

Thoughts/suggestions?
Robert

 

[Paul]

I have a Dell XPS 8500, with Windows 7 Professional, SP1,
with Spywareblaster, SuperAntiSpware, Malwarebytes, Avast,
Windows Defender and Windows firewall.

(1) TB HD
Intel (R) Core (TM) i7-33-3770 CPU @ 3.40 GHz 3.40 GHz
Ram 12.0 GB
System type : 64-bit operating system

I also have a Dell Dimension 8200(Seagate Barracuda 7200 HD 160Gb)
with XP, SP3, with Avast and Windows firewall.

I use to have Spywareblaster, SuperAntiSpyware and Malwarebytes but
they ceased to function as well as my single click for desktop icons etc
because I contracted Adware/malware. I tried to remove it following
instructions from malwarebytes forum:

https://forums.malwarebytes.org/index.php?showtopic=143808

Unfortunately we were unable to correct the damage caused so it was
decided to re-install XP which I did but now I cannot connect to the
internet to finish the installation by SP1a and SP3. I've called my
ISP and they said the connection was good and that it should be a
plug-n-play procedure since my 8500 is connected and the 8200 was
just a couple of days ago.

I've checked the LAN settings to make sure the 'Automatically Detect
Settings' box was checked and tried switching the Ethernet cable on
the router just to make sure.

Thoughts/suggestions?
Robert

Just a small suggestion.

Could you pick another screen name besides John Doe ? It's
taken already, by someone else.

You were using magineer02 before or Robert would
do, cook up something like you had before so we
can spot you easier.

Paul

 

[QuestionQuigley]

I have a Dell XPS 8500, with Windows 7 Professional, SP1,
with Spywareblaster, SuperAntiSpware, Malwarebytes, Avast,
Windows Defender and Windows firewall.

(1) TB HD
Intel (R) Core (TM) i7-33-3770 CPU @ 3.40 GHz 3.40 GHz
Ram 12.0 GB
System type : 64-bit operating system

I also have a Dell Dimension 8200(Seagate Barracuda 7200 HD 160Gb)
with XP, SP3, with Avast and Windows firewall.

I use to have Spywareblaster, SuperAntiSpyware and Malwarebytes but
they ceased to function as well as my single click for desktop icons etc
because I contracted Adware/malware. I tried to remove it following
instructions from malwarebytes forum:

https://forums.malwarebytes.org/index.php?showtopic=143808

Unfortunately we were unable to correct the damage caused so it was
decided to re-install XP which I did but now I cannot connect to the
internet to finish the installation by SP1a and SP3. I've called my
ISP and they said the connection was good and that it should be a
plug-n-play procedure since my 8500 is connected and the 8200 was
just a couple of days ago.

I've checked the LAN settings to make sure the 'Automatically Detect
Settings' box was checked and tried switching the Ethernet cable on
the router just to make sure.

Thoughts/suggestions?
Robert

Your probably need to install drivers for your ether net card or chip.
Open device manager in the control panel and see if your Ethernet
adapter is working. I just did two re-installs of XP in advance of
April 8 and in both cases I had to enable the Ethernet card/chip.

You may need to use another machine to download the drivers/software and
put that on a flash drive. I did that with all of the XP and net
framework service packs because I had a hard time installing them from
the internet.

Let us know how you make out.

 

[Mark Twain]

Hello Paul,

Hope you like the new name:

Hello Kevin,

I'm unable to go to the link. Internet Explorer
keeps closing on me and when I try checking
for updates and it keeps giving me :

Windows Update does not start in Windows XP,
Windows Server 2003 or Windows 2000

then it lists how to obtain Service Paks but
doesn't have SP1a., only SP2 and SP3. However,
by going to SP2 they had links to SP1 which I
followed. When trying to install SP1 it says:

The version of Windows you have installed does
not match the update you are trying to install.

I also tried to install Explorer 8

andthis:

iesetup.exe -Entry Point Not Found

The procedure entry point SHRegGetValueW could
not be located in the dynamic link library SHLWAPI.dll

I then tried to install SP1a vis USB stick and it gave me:

Service Pack 1 Setup Error:

The following error occurred while Service Pack
1 Setup attempted to download the Service Pack 1
files from the Internet:

The server did not respond.

Robert

 

[Mark Twain]

p.s. the device manager is clean.

Robert

 

[Paul]

Hello Paul,

Hope you like the new name:

Hello Kevin,

I'm unable to go to the link. Internet Explorer
keeps closing on me and when I try checking
for updates and it keeps giving me :

Windows Update does not start in Windows XP,
Windows Server 2003 or Windows 2000

then it lists how to obtain Service Paks but
doesn't have SP1a., only SP2 and SP3. However,
by going to SP2 they had links to SP1 which I
followed. When trying to install SP1 it says:

The version of Windows you have installed does
not match the update you are trying to install.

I also tried to install Explorer 8

andthis:

iesetup.exe -Entry Point Not Found

The procedure entry point SHRegGetValueW could
not be located in the dynamic link library SHLWAPI.dll

I then tried to install SP1a vis USB stick and it gave me:

Service Pack 1 Setup Error:

The following error occurred while Service Pack
1 Setup attempted to download the Service Pack 1
files from the Internet:

The server did not respond.

Robert

OK, there's two ways to get SP1 that I know of.
One way, is a tiny file, and it looks like a stub installer.
It will start to download the file from Microsoft. I think
that's what happened to you, is it attempted to reach
Microsoft, after you ran it from the USB key.

This one, on the other hand, is redistributable. It's
131,170,400 bytes (my copy is) and should be complete and
ready to go. No further Internet needed. Do this download on
your working computer, transfer to the USB key, and bring it to the
machine needing an update from WinXP Gold (shows no version).
The difference between SP1 and SP1a, is SP1a had Microsoft Java
removed from it for legal reasons (part of court case settlement).

https://web.archive.org/web/2006041...bb4d-4613-8ee7-db69d01735ed/xpsp1a_en_x86.exe

To make Windows Update work, there is a package I listed
in my other posting. Personally, I'd do them "install OS",
"install drivers", "install SP1a", "install SP3", "install
this package", "test Windows Update". I'm sure all the
installers are clever enough to complain if the order
is wrong (that's what I liked about some of the old
video drivers, very clever setup to enforce install order).

http://download.windowsupdate.com/w...one/7.4.7600.226/WindowsUpdateAgent30-x86.exe

Paul

 

[Mark Twain]

Hello Paul,

I downloaded your second link to the 8200
which was successful and it did update a file
but still unable to install Windows 8 and gave
me the same errors.

I tried the first link and it gave me this:

and when I clicked on the link it gave me this:

Robert

 

[Mark Twain]

Perhaps I can try downloading IE6 or IE7 and see
if that works? Where would I get a known reliable
link that works? I searched but how is one to know?

Robert

 

[Paul]

Hello Paul,

I downloaded your second link to the 8200
which was successful and it did update a file
but still unable to install Windows 8 and gave
me the same errors.

I tried the first link and it gave me this:

and when I clicked on the link it gave me this:

Robert

I thought you were installing WinXP on the 8200 ?

You were trying to bring the 8200 up to date.

You installed WinXP Gold.

Then, the next step was supposed to be SP1A for WinXP.

Followed by SP3 for WinXP.

Windows 8 is not likely to install on the 8200,
as it only has a P4 or so, and would lack some of
the necessary processor support features. I have P4s
here that won't run Windows 8. Only my two Core2 machines
are eligible for Windows 8 (and one machine needs a new
video card for that). That leaves just one computer I
have, that can run Windows 8. (Your 8500 might be
a candidate for Windows 8, but the 8200 is a little
too old I would guess.)

Paul

 

[Paul]

Hello Paul,

I downloaded your second link to the 8200
which was successful and it did update a file
but still unable to install Windows 8 and gave
me the same errors.

I tried the first link and it gave me this:

and when I clicked on the link it gave me this:

Robert

You want to click the May 9 link on that page
to get the download.

Paul

 

[Mark Twain]

I have been trying to install XP, SP1a, SP3 but
each attempt has failed. From what I see
on my screen my browser is not compatible with
Microsoft downloads.

This is what I've done:

I logged onto the 8200 again to see if I could
try Windows Update again but gave the same results.

However moments later the download icon appeared
on the system tray saying updates ready to download
so I clicked it and 15 downloads appeared and were
ready to be downloaded/installed so I went ahead and
let it run. Several times it gave me a pop-up saying
basically I had a security problem with the current
software which seems reasonable since allot of the
updates were security oriented.

I had to restart my computer and when I logged back
in I tried Windows Update again with the same results
but updates for SP2 appeared on the system tray ready
to be installed. So I clicked to download/install SP2.
The initialization finished ok but hung up during the
installation.

It started at 4:15pm and is still going at 7pm there
are (3) green bars in the overall progress but they
haven't moved in all this time. Just to check if it
was running I did an Ctrl-Alt-Delete to bring up the
task manager and it shows automatic updates running
but I've never seen it take this long.


Robert


the Microsoft downloads.

This is what I've done:

 

[Mark Twain]

I have been trying to install XP, SP1a, SP3 but
each attempt has failed. From what I see
on my screen my browser is not compatible with
Microsoft downloads.

This is what I've done:

I logged onto the 8200 again to see if I could
try Windows Update again but gave the same results.

However moments later the download icon appeared
on the system tray saying updates ready to download
so I clicked it and 15 downloads appeared and were
ready to be downloaded/installed so I went ahead and
let it run. Several times it gave me a pop-up saying
basically I had a security problem with the current
software which seems reasonable since allot of the
updates were security oriented.

I had to restart my computer and when I logged back
in I tried Windows Update again with the same results
but updates for SP2 appeared on the system tray ready
to be installed. So I clicked to download/install SP2.
The initialization finished ok but hung up during the
installation.

It started at 4:15pm and is still going at 7pm there
are (3) green bars in the overall progress but they
haven't moved in all this time. Just to check if it
was running I did an Ctrl-Alt-Delete to bring up the
task manager and it shows automatic updates running
but I've never seen it take this long.

Should I cancel this and go to your SP1a link and
click May 9?


Robert

 

[Paul]

I have been trying to install XP, SP1a, SP3 but
each attempt has failed. From what I see
on my screen my browser is not compatible with
Microsoft downloads.

This is what I've done:

I logged onto the 8200 again to see if I could
try Windows Update again but gave the same results.

However moments later the download icon appeared
on the system tray saying updates ready to download
so I clicked it and 15 downloads appeared and were
ready to be downloaded/installed so I went ahead and
let it run. Several times it gave me a pop-up saying
basically I had a security problem with the current
software which seems reasonable since allot of the
updates were security oriented.

I had to restart my computer and when I logged back
in I tried Windows Update again with the same results
but updates for SP2 appeared on the system tray ready
to be installed. So I clicked to download/install SP2.
The initialization finished ok but hung up during the
installation.

It started at 4:15pm and is still going at 7pm there
are (3) green bars in the overall progress but they
haven't moved in all this time. Just to check if it
was running I did an Ctrl-Alt-Delete to bring up the
task manager and it shows automatic updates running
but I've never seen it take this long.

Should I cancel this and go to your SP1a link and
click May 9?


Robert

If the 8500 is working, you could download both Sp1a
and SP3 on the 8500. Then find a way to bring the files
over to the 8200.

As for canceling on the 8200, at this point I can't
really be sure what is downloading and installing.

You could try cancel, then use System Restore to go back
to a point in time slightly before 4:15pm. The System Restore
calendar should show up here.

Start : Programs : Accessories : System Tools : System Restore

https://www.smithmicro.com:4333/sup...l_-_System_Restore/media_1265143947222_lg.png

That's to attempt to remove the effects of whatever was
happening since 4:15pm.

Paul

 

[Mark Twain]

Hello Paul,

This is what has been downloading all night
and it hasn't moved an inch in 4 hours!

The Updates are being installed
installation staus:
Initializing installation ...done!
Installing Windows XP Service Pack2 (update 1 of 1)...

and then below that
Overall Progress showing (3) green bars

I'm wondering if I should just cancel this and go
back to your instructions to download SP1a?

Robert

 

[Paul]

Hello Paul,

This is what has been downloading all night
and it hasn't moved an inch in 4 hours!

The Updates are being installed
installation staus:
Initializing installation ...done!
Installing Windows XP Service Pack2 (update 1 of 1)...

and then below that
Overall Progress showing (3) green bars

I'm wondering if I should just cancel this and go
back to your instructions to download SP1a?

Robert

As I understand it, and I could be wrong...

WinXP Gold - Install SP1a, then SP3
WinXP SP1/SP1A/Sp2 - Install SP3

The difference between SP1 and SP1a is tiny, just
the removal of Java files from SP1a. It might be
harder to find a copy of SP1 (traceable to official source).

You should be able to look at the System control panel,
and see a Service Pack designation in the main part of
the Windows. For example, mine right now says

System
Microsoft Windows XP <--- 32 bit, since it doesn't say "64"
Professional <--- WinXP Pro
Version 2002
Service Pack 3 <--- If nothing here, it would be Gold

Once you have some idea what Service Pack is already there,
that tells you what to install next.

*******

Yes, I'd cancel if you can.

If you've been waiting this long, something is obviously stuck.
Maybe your broadband modem stopped, but other than that, it's probably
the update that is waiting for something. Like maybe a dialog box
is hiding somewhere. Or the CPU is pegged in Task Manager.

Paul

 

[Mark Twain]

Hello Paul,

This is what I did:

I downloaded SP1A from the link you gave. I
selected not to archive the files (I couldn't
imagine why I would want to uninstall SP1A) and
it completed successfully. It also installed SP2
successfully.

I restarted the computer and when it came back up
it had a screen to select automatic updates, then
my Security Center opened up showing that I had no
virus protection. (yet)

I'm now connected to the Internet; in fact I'm
typing this on the 8200. Windows Update is now
working as it should as well as my single click
and my MSN icon is active again.

I've downloaded and installed SP3 as well as (156)
updates. I've also installed Firefox, Avast,
malwarebytes, Spywareblaster and SuperAntspyware
and ran scans with all of them. I uninstalled
Google Chrome and Google Toolbar however.

SuperAntiSpyware found (25) Adware Tracking Cookies:

Should I be concerned about this?

At this point, I plan to leave the 8200 as is except
for updates etc. So that I have a 'clean' backup
computer should I ever need it.

I want to thank you for all your good help, patience
and links.

I do have other questions regarding the 8500 but I
will leave that for another post.

Thanks again,
Robert

 

[Paul]

Hello Paul,

This is what I did:

I downloaded SP1A from the link you gave. I
selected not to archive the files (I couldn't
imagine why I would want to uninstall SP1A) and
it completed successfully. It also installed SP2
successfully.

I restarted the computer and when it came back up
it had a screen to select automatic updates, then
my Security Center opened up showing that I had no
virus protection. (yet)

I'm now connected to the Internet; in fact I'm
typing this on the 8200. Windows Update is now
working as it should as well as my single click
and my MSN icon is active again.

I've downloaded and installed SP3 as well as (156)
updates. I've also installed Firefox, Avast,
malwarebytes, Spywareblaster and SuperAntspyware
and ran scans with all of them. I uninstalled
Google Chrome and Google Toolbar however.

SuperAntiSpyware found (25) Adware Tracking Cookies:

Should I be concerned about this?

At this point, I plan to leave the 8200 as is except
for updates etc. So that I have a 'clean' backup
computer should I ever need it.

I want to thank you for all your good help, patience
and links.

I do have other questions regarding the 8500 but I
will leave that for another post.

Thanks again,
Robert

Cookies are a form of local storage, to hold information
from a web page session. Originally, there was just
one place in the browser set of files, to store cookies,
and clearing them was relatively easy.

With the addition of new standards to browsers, and also
with add-ons like Adobe Flash or Microsoft Silverlight,
there are now more places to store cookie-like information.
If you really wanted to remove every cookie, you would
need something more than is provided in the browser GUI
interface.

These two links, shows what lengths advertisers will go
to, to store information locally on your computer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evercookie

http://www.samy.pl/evercookie/

This is probably overkill, but you could study what
this does (look at its configuration files), to figure
out what it is cleaning up.

http://bleachbit.sourceforge.net/

This is another example. I don't use this one, but lots
of people do. I would avoid the registry cleaning option,
but removing cookies would be OK.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ccleaner

If you want to handle cookies at the browser level,
there are always things like this. Disable the GhostRank.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghostery

We remove cookies mainly as a way of avoiding
being tracked, so say, a web search engine doesn't
try to "out-guess" what you're looking for. Cookies
are used for targeted advertising, so if you were
to search for articles on how they make eye glasses,
for the next month your browser would be filled with
cheap eyeglass advertisements. That's why we try
to clean cookies, so the advertising is more random
and unfocused.

Paul

 

[Mark Twain]

Hello Paul,


I'm intrigued by Bleachbit but I wouldn't
know which files to clean. I'd probably
select all of them which may not be the
best thing to do.

I've used CcCleaner before and never went
into the registry. So maybe I should use
that?

Robert

 

[Mark Twain]

Hello Paul,

I ran a full system scan with
SuperAntiSpyware on the 8500
and it found this:

I would like to remove the
programs above but I can't
find them?

As you can see after I ran
the scan it found (100)
Adware Tracking Cookies which
I then removed.

Robert

 

[Paul]

Hello Paul,

I ran a full system scan with
SuperAntiSpyware on the 8500
and it found this:

I would like to remove the
programs above but I can't
find them?

As you can see after I ran
the scan it found (100)
Adware Tracking Cookies which
I then removed.

Robert

There is actually a web site with Severe Weather Alerts as a software o.O

http://severeweatheralerts.net/pricing/

This is a picture of what the tool is supposed to do, if bad weather is
coming.

http://severeweatheralerts.net/wp-c...t-2013-06-02-at-2.21.57-AM-e1370347619993.png

They have the usual baloney about how easy it is to remove.

https://severeweatheralerts.zendesk.com/hc/en-us

I scanned the "freeware" version "swa1_23.exe" 463,880 bytes
and at least MalwareBytes recognizes it.

https://www.virustotal.com/en/file/...8b87fe320797d626f47041af8feec31d91a/analysis/

*******

GreatArcadeHits also has a baloney removal page,
where it claims their product can easily be removed.
That it will be in Add/Remove Programs (WinXP) or
Programs and Features (later Oses).

http://www.greatarcadehits.com/deactivate

In the thread here, Great Arcade Hits was a Chrome extension.
(Look near the bottom of the page.) In addition, there is code
running somewhere else, and MalwareBytes can find that.

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/t/515428/great-arcade-hits-adware-malware-infection/

MalwareBytes removed it here too.

https://community.norton.com/t5/Malware-Discussion/greatarcadehits/td-p/1034035

It's really too bad I can't find a web page with the actual
names of the files it installs. Then you could go looking,
to see if it is partially removed or not.

SuperAntiSpyware calls it a browser extension, implying
using the controls in the browser program would be enough
to remove it. But the question then is, whether there is
additional code outside the browser, that causes re-infection
on every reboot. That's what MBAM would be for.

*******

It's pretty comical, when DefaultTab is offered by a
download site that likes to install its own toolbars.
No, don't bother clicking this

http://download.cnet.com/DefaultTab/3000-2379_4-75910409.html

I found some suggestions here.

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...ublisher/942e8307-5811-4cc6-ae3d-b8d8aa23a14c

C:\DefaultTab
DefaultTabUninstall file

C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\DefaultTab

One poster claims it is a product of Conduit, which
has also done adware with their own name associated
with it.

Sites like this, tend to offer "generic" information.
This description hits the thing, with every tool in
the arsenal. While it's nice to know that each browser
has some removal options (for removing the side effects),
I wouldn't go through all of this myself. Because
I don't get the impression the person who wrote this page,
ever dealt with it.

http://malwaretips.com/blogs/default-tab-search-bar-removal/

*******

I could probably manage to infect a virtual machine with
all of these, but I'm not "good enough" to find
all the places it could be hiding. Good luck.

Paul