Amy said:
Hi guys,
There seems to be a pretty widespread problem with IE6 being denied
access
to secure sites. After trying about a dozen prospective fixes, I have
discovered that I can work around this problem be creating a new user
account whenever I need to access a secure site (like now).
The problem is that my new account soon becomes contaminated by
whatever is
causing the problem. I suspect that spyware is somehow interfering
with the permissions associated with a user account.
I have McAfee virus protection and firewall running at all times. And
I
sweep with Spybot S&D. My Win XP Pro OS is up to date; and I have
tried what seems to be every possible combination of Settings for IE6.
Is there some way I counteract what the Spyware is doing so I do not
have to create new accounts whenever I need to do something?
The way to counteract spyware is to thoroughly remove it, which you
probably haven't done. Spybot S&D is great, but you need more than one
spyware removal tool. Here are some general removal steps. Since you
have av protection, you can ignore #1 unless your version is not
current and you haven't scanned in Safe Mode. Links follow the steps.
1) Scan in Safe Mode with current version (not earlier than 2003)
antivirus using updated definitions.
2) Remove spyware with Spybot Search & Destroy and Ad-aware. These
programs are free, so use them both since they complement each other.
There is a new version of CWShredder from Intermute. I would not
install the other Intermute programs, however. Alternately, there are
CoolWebSearch malware removal steps at SilentRunners.
Be sure to update these programs before running, and it is a good idea
to do virus/spyware scans in Safe Mode. Make sure you are able to see
all hidden files and extensions (View tab in Folder Options).
HijackThis is an excellent tool to discover and disable hijackers, but
it requires expert skill. See below for HijackThis links. A combination
of HijackThis and About:Buster works well in removing the About:Blank
homepage hijacker. Again, this is an expert tool and novices should get
help with it.
3) If you are running Windows ME or XP, you should disable/enable System
Restore because malware will be in the Restore Points. With ME, you
must disable System Restore completely. With XP, you can delete all but
the most recent (presumably clean) System Restore point from the More
Options section of Disk Cleanup (Run>cleanmgr).
4) Make sure you've visited Windows Update and applied all security
patches. Do not install driver updates from Windows Update.
5) Run a firewall.
Links to help with malware:
Software/Methods:
http://www.safer-networking.org - Spybot Search & Destroy
http://www.lavasoftusa.com - Ad-aware
http://www.majorgeeks.com - good download site
http://www.intermute.com/spysubtract/cwshredder_download.html
http://www.silentrunners.org/sr_cwsremoval.html. - SilentRunners
HijackThis:
http://www.aumha.org/a/hjttutor.htm - HijackThis tutorial by Jim
Eshelman
http://spywarewarrior.com/viewforum.php?f=5 - Spyware Warrior HijackThis
forum
http://www.lavasoftsupport.com/index.php?showforum=44
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/
http://forums.tomcoyote.org/
http://www.spywareinfo.com/forums/
General:
http://www.doxdesk.com/parasite/
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
http://forum.aumha.org/ - look under "Security" for various forums
http://www.pchell.com/
http://www.spywareguide.com/index.php
http://scumware.com/
http://www.aumha.org/a/parasite.htm - The Parasite Fight
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm
http://rgharper.mvps.org/cleanit.htm
Malke
