Chat rooms cause reboots!

[Zeretul]

This is the third or fourth time I have posted this
problem, and though many people have answered with
advice, nothing so-far has fixed it. I will continue to
re-post until I get this problem solved.

When using chat rooms, any chat rooms, my system either
freezes or completely reboots itself at random times.

I have checked as instructed, and have the lastest
versions of my chat site software, the latest jave
version, and my computer is NOT set to reboot on system
failure.

There are no error logs made on my event viewer, and no
other indication it ever happened.

As always, your help would be greatly appreciated. Feel
free to e-mail me.

 

[Jon]

Don't know what you've been advised previously but the sort of things I
would start by looking at would include...

1. Check for any Spyware / Adware using Spybot or Adaware (free downloads)
2. Run a full virus check
3. Check your firewall configuration isn't set to block access to the sites
4. Try turning off other potentially conflicting software running at the
same time (eg virus scanner) and see if that makes a difference.
5. Make sure your browser is clean of Browser Helper Objects etc
6. Check your startup lists (and all registry locations where startup
programs hide) for programs running in the background

Jon

 

[David]

This is the third or fourth time I have posted this
problem, and though many people have answered with
advice, nothing so-far has fixed it. I will continue to
re-post until I get this problem solved.

When using chat rooms, any chat rooms, my system either
freezes or completely reboots itself at random times.

I have checked as instructed, and have the lastest
versions of my chat site software, the latest jave
version, and my computer is NOT set to reboot on system
failure.

There are no error logs made on my event viewer, and no
other indication it ever happened.

As always, your help would be greatly appreciated. Feel
free to e-mail me.

What chat service and what client? I know with Yahoo chat using the
Yahoo Java Client or Yahoo Messanger, It's possable ( and very common )
for a-holes to do hit & run boots. This is were people that know how to
use "Boot Codes" will move from room to room, Run the code, thus booting
unsuspecting poople from chat, Then leaving before anyone can I.D. them.
"Boot Codes" are exploits found that crash the client or, sometimes, even
the computer of the poeple affected. The exploit is usually some kind of
Buffer-overrun. More data then the client can handle.

Check with the people in the computer themed chat rooms on how to best
protect yourself.

David

 

[Zeretul]

1. I use Ad-Aware 6.0 regularly
2. I use McAfee VirusScan 7.0 24/7 with weekly full drive
scans
3. My access is not blocked to these or any sites. This
is a recent problem with no software or hardware causes
that I am aware of.
4. I have attempted this without my viruscan and firewall
on.
5. What do you mean by "Browser Help Objects?"
6. What type of program show I be looking for?

Thanks for the input.

 

[Zeretul]

As I said, this happens in any chat room. I primarily use
Yahoo Java Client, but have used MSN and others. It
always freezes up or reboots, and none of the other
chatters are affected. My system is pretty up-to-date, so
I don't think that it's my system itself. This is pretty
recent, and only occurs in chat rooms.

 

[Jon]

Hi - a few more suggestions

1. I would still recommend doing a full scan of your system using the free
Spybot, since it picks up on things which Adaware doesn't, especially in the
registry. Download from here

http://spybot.eon.net.au/

2. Check your Java settings in Internet Explorer (Tools > Internet Options

Security > (Click on Internet Globe ) > Custom Level ). I have my Java

Permissions set to "High Safety". You may want to try changing a few other
settings there while you're at it eg temporarily disabling all settings
relating to ActiveX, to see if this makes a difference.

3. Get hold of a program like startuplist.exe and see what programs are
perhaps running on your machine, perhaps without your knowledge. It also
identifies "Browser Helper Objects" which I suggested earlier. Do Google
searches on process names it you're not sure which applications they relate
too. Download startuplist from here

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

Do a Google Advanced Search on "Browser Helper Objects" to find out more
about these too.

4 Go Start > Run > sfc /scannow > ok to run the System File Checker to
repair damaged Internet Explorer files.

Hope one of these suggestions helps

Jon

 

[Zeretul]

I ran the spykiller program and haven't been rebooted
since. I guess it's been a party crasher the whole time.
Thanks for the advise.