Content Advisor Prompting For Nonexistent Password???

[Guest]

This concerns a friend's computer, not my own. She's runnning XP Pro and
she's not very computer literate at all. I am trying to help her and the
problem has me baffled.

First of all, she has NO virus protection. The trial version that was
bundled with her PC expired and she never subscribed for the updates. I
suspect that she might have a virus, but cannot confirm it. I also suspect
that her machine *might* have crashed at some point and damaged some files.
All the above may be causing or contributing to the problem.

She uses AOL. I can get online, on the AOL Welcome Screen, but that's as far
as I can go. I can't access ANY website, or even use most of the features on
AOL. Every time I try to access a website, the page loads about 1/4 of the
way up, then a message pops up, stating that Content Advisor has blocked
access to this page. It prompts for an administrator password, but there is
no password set at all, to my knowlege. I click "Manage Passwords" under the
Users tab in Control Panel and it shows up totally blank. She told me she has
set no password, since she's not on a network and is the machine's sole user.
I tried to disable the Content Advisor and it prompts me for a supervisor
password, which also does not exist. It's acting like a workstation computer
in an office network, but there is no network. I told her (jokingly) that I
think it's lost its little electronic mind and has gone psychotic.

Will IE block access like this if there's no virus protection?? Or is
something else wrong here? Any enlightenment anyne can throw my way will be
greatly appreciated.

 

[Nepatsfan]

(e-mail address removed),

This concerns a friend's computer, not my own. She's
runnning XP Pro and she's not very computer literate at all.
I am trying to help her and the problem has me baffled.

First of all, she has NO virus protection. The trial version
that was bundled with her PC expired and she never
subscribed for the updates. I suspect that she might have a
virus, but cannot confirm it. I also suspect that her
machine *might* have crashed at some point and damaged some
files. All the above may be causing or contributing to the
problem.

She uses AOL. I can get online, on the AOL Welcome Screen,
but that's as far as I can go. I can't access ANY website,
or even use most of the features on AOL. Every time I try to
access a website, the page loads about 1/4 of the way up,
then a message pops up, stating that Content Advisor has
blocked access to this page. It prompts for an administrator
password, but there is no password set at all, to my
knowlege. I click "Manage Passwords" under the Users tab in
Control Panel and it shows up totally blank. She told me she
has set no password, since she's not on a network and is the
machine's sole user. I tried to disable the Content Advisor
and it prompts me for a supervisor password, which also does
not exist. It's acting like a workstation computer in an
office network, but there is no network. I told her
(jokingly) that I think it's lost its little electronic mind
and has gone psychotic.

Will IE block access like this if there's no virus
protection?? Or is something else wrong here? Any
enlightenment anyne can throw my way will be greatly
appreciated.

For the problem with Content Advisor, take a look at this
article:

How to Remove Content Advisor Password in Internet Explorer
http://www.pchell.com/support/contentadvisor.shtml

Personally, I think this issue may be just the tip of the
iceberg. If I was asked to help this person, here's the least I
would do:

1. Backup as much of her data as possible and reinstall Windows
and all her programs on a clean partition.

2. Install an antivirus program. Install at least two
antispyware programs. Install a firewall program or enable the
one built into Windows.

3. Ditch AOL.

Good luck

Nepatsfan