Bad Network Connection - only works after 'Repair...' for a short

[Guest]

After being targeted by an adware virus that caused lots of adware toolbars
and exe's to be downloaded on to my computer, I upgraded to Service Pack 2
and expanded my virus protection to Norton Internet Security. I've completed
a full scan, cleaned or isolated several adware components, and my computer
now seems free of malicious code. As a result, however, my internet
connection is no longer working. Basically these are the symptoms:

- whether I connect via dialup, wireless or ethernet, I can establish a
working network connection without a problem. When I launch IE, it takes a
very long time to load its homepage. Once the page is loaded, I can navigate
at normal speeds for a short while. Then the connection is apparently dropped
(particularly if I am idle for a few second) even though the network
indicators in my systray show a healthy connection. Any page I try to connect
to gets me the a standard error message. If I right-click on the network
connection in the systray, and perform a repair, I am back in business for a
short while... until the same thing happens. I have noticed that as long as I
sustain some network traffic (like downloading a large file), the connection
will remain. But as soon as I idle (even less than 1 minute), I run into the
same problem again.

This is very strange to me - does it ring a bell with anyone??

 

[Chuck]

After being targeted by an adware virus that caused lots of adware toolbars
and exe's to be downloaded on to my computer, I upgraded to Service Pack 2
and expanded my virus protection to Norton Internet Security. I've completed
a full scan, cleaned or isolated several adware components, and my computer
now seems free of malicious code. As a result, however, my internet
connection is no longer working. Basically these are the symptoms:

- whether I connect via dialup, wireless or ethernet, I can establish a
working network connection without a problem. When I launch IE, it takes a
very long time to load its homepage. Once the page is loaded, I can navigate
at normal speeds for a short while. Then the connection is apparently dropped
(particularly if I am idle for a few second) even though the network
indicators in my systray show a healthy connection. Any page I try to connect
to gets me the a standard error message. If I right-click on the network
connection in the systray, and perform a repair, I am back in business for a
short while... until the same thing happens. I have noticed that as long as I
sustain some network traffic (like downloading a large file), the connection
will remain. But as soon as I idle (even less than 1 minute), I run into the
same problem again.

This is very strange to me - does it ring a bell with anyone??

Taj,

This sounds like a persistent malware problem. The final diagnostic for
problems like this is HijackThis, and expert advice. Symantec, though it is a
good single layer of protection, doesn't detect all malware equally well.

Start by downloading each of the following additional free tools:
HijackThis <http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=3155>
LSP-Fix <http://www.cexx.org/lspfix.htm>
WinsockXPFix <http://www.spychecker.com/program/winsockxpfix.html>

Create a separate folder for HijackThis, such as C:\HijackThis - copy the
downloaded file there.

Then, run HijackThis ("Scan"). Do NOT make any changes immediately. Save the
HJT Log.
<http://forums.spywareinfo.com/index.php?showtopic=227>

Finally, have your HJT log interpreted by experts at one or more of the
following security forums (and please post a link to your forum posts, here):
Aumha: <http://forum.aumha.org/index.php>
Net-Integration: <http://forums.net-integration.net/>
Spyware Info: <http://forums.spywareinfo.com/>
Spyware Warrior: <http://spywarewarrior.com/index.php>
Tom Coyote: <http://forums.tomcoyote.org/>

If removal of any spyware affects your ability to access the internet (some
spyware builds itself into the network software, and its removal may damage your
network), run LSP-Fix and / or WinsockXPFIx.

--
Cheers,
Chuck
Paranoia comes from experience - and is not necessarily a bad thing.
My email is AT DOT
actual address pchuck sonic net.

 

[Interrogative]

After being targeted by an adware virus that caused lots of adware
toolbars
and exe's to be downloaded on to my computer, I upgraded to Service Pack 2
and expanded my virus protection to Norton Internet Security. I've
completed
a full scan, cleaned or isolated several adware components, and my
computer
now seems free of malicious code. As a result, however, my internet
connection is no longer working. Basically these are the symptoms:

If you ONLY used Nortons after such a bad infection of spyware, then you
arent clean. While it does find some, it misses most. It really isnt up to
anywhere near acceptable so far as spyware is concerned. You need to run
Adaware from www.lavasoft.de and spybot from security.kolla.de over your
machine and once they have finished removing everything they can, you then
need to have HiJackThis and go over possible stuff still running. MS
Antispyware finds 1 thing the other 2 dont but misses a hell of a lot and
really isnt worth the money (and yes I know it's free!).

- whether I connect via dialup, wireless or ethernet, I can establish a
working network connection without a problem. When I launch IE, it takes a
very long time to load its homepage. Once the page is loaded, I can
navigate
at normal speeds for a short while. Then the connection is apparently
dropped
(particularly if I am idle for a few second) even though the network
indicators in my systray show a healthy connection. Any page I try to
connect
to gets me the a standard error message. If I right-click on the network
connection in the systray, and perform a repair, I am back in business for
a
short while... until the same thing happens. I have noticed that as long
as I
sustain some network traffic (like downloading a large file), the
connection
will remain. But as soon as I idle (even less than 1 minute), I run into
the
same problem again.

I'd run those spyware progs on the computer and delete the internet
connection and reinstall it afterwards. Oh, also run sfc /scannow.

This is very strange to me - does it ring a bell with anyone??

Yes there is also one other possibility. Your Norton firewall could be
causing it. Try disabling it and enabling the XP one and going around the
net to see if you have the same results.

 

[Steve Winograd [MVP]]

After being targeted by an adware virus that caused lots of adware toolbars
and exe's to be downloaded on to my computer, I upgraded to Service Pack 2
and expanded my virus protection to Norton Internet Security. I've completed
a full scan, cleaned or isolated several adware components, and my computer
now seems free of malicious code. As a result, however, my internet
connection is no longer working. Basically these are the symptoms:

- whether I connect via dialup, wireless or ethernet, I can establish a
working network connection without a problem. When I launch IE, it takes a
very long time to load its homepage. Once the page is loaded, I can navigate
at normal speeds for a short while. Then the connection is apparently dropped
(particularly if I am idle for a few second) even though the network
indicators in my systray show a healthy connection. Any page I try to connect
to gets me the a standard error message. If I right-click on the network
connection in the systray, and perform a repair, I am back in business for a
short while... until the same thing happens. I have noticed that as long as I
sustain some network traffic (like downloading a large file), the connection
will remain. But as soon as I idle (even less than 1 minute), I run into the
same problem again.

This is very strange to me - does it ring a bell with anyone??

After cleaning up viruses and spyware, it's possible that the TCP/IP
stack is damaged. Use this command (new in SP2) to reset it:

netsh winsock reset catalog
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
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