The laptop - an update

[gabriella]

Dear all

Rather than add to the previous thread, I thought I would post a new one by way of an update and to seek some further help.

Right.....

I finally got the Tiscali connection to work, however, it is very unstable and I have been lucky to keep it going for more than 15 mins. It's Pay as You Go.
When the connection is made I can neither access the internet or the owner's emails. But here's the strange thing....Norton keeps coming up with high risk warnings about Webrebate (spyware I am almsot certain??).

My guess is that the machine is riddled with spyware/adware.

Today's questions.....

Is this a bit too much for me and should I point the friend in the direction of some little person who fixes PCs/laptops??

Why can I connect to Tiscali but not to the net.

Shall I just abandon this as a bad job??

Many thanks and happy bank holiday!!

Gabs x

 

[Ian]

I think your best bet is to download lots of spyware / antivirus utilities onto a CD and then run them without connecting to the net. There may be a dialer program active on the laptop which might be causing problems, or the spyware might be causing access trouble.

Webrebate is definitely spyware though, so I'd give the laptop a good clean I wouldn't abandon it if you can give the applications a go from a CD, as that would remove them.

 

[Me__2001]

sounds like it may be a rougue dialler, they dial a number connect for about 10 minutes and disconnect, i wouldnt try and connect to the net anymore it could be costing you a lot of money

if you can get the usual programs onto the laptop via a CD then they will sort it out

 

[gabriella]

OK guys, thanks for the helpful advice!!

I'll have a further look later on!

Gabs x

 

[muckshifter]

Ad-Aware will rid you of Webrebate, as will MSAntiSpyware.

Gabriella, I'm a little surprised you don’t have all these nice little programs on a CD ... first job I do on any Computer is to install both of the above, and a few others.


Smack your wrists there Girly

 

[gabriella]

OK Mucks, point taken but the horse has bolted!!!!

Here's what we have:

Adaware Scan:

264 critical objects including 3 hijackers, worms and spyware

Webroot Scan:

37 items including 'CWS about blank hijacker'.

Now,' CWS about blank hijacker' I hear is a very tricky one to zap and I hear from other parts that a Hijack This log is called for.

What do you reckon??

BTW I have now made my CD which I will save!!

Life's a great big learning curve!!

Gabs x

 

[muckshifter]

This will help with CWS's ... and go to HouseCall and do an on-line scan.

Use MSAntiSpyware, if using XP, it can get to the little parts Ad-Aware cannot ... also, try SpySweeper, again it can find bits-n-bobs others miss.

If all that still leaves some residue then by all means, download and run HighJackThis ... but go to their website for expert evaluation.

Good luck.

 

[TriplexDread]

Here's what we have:

Adaware Scan:

264 critical objects including 3 hijackers, worms and spyware

Webroot Scan:

37 items including 'CWS about blank hijacker'.

Now,' CWS about blank hijacker' I hear is a very tricky one to zap and I hear from other parts that a Hijack This log is called for.

What do you reckon??

BTW I have now made my CD which I will save!!

Life's a great big learning curve!!

Gabs x

Wow!!

 

[gabriella]

Hi Mucks

So far I have run: webroot, ms antispy, adaware, spyblaster, cs shredder (as recommended in your post above) and CCleaner.

Each one has found things that the others haven't.

The problem remains: can dial into Tiscali server (dial up connection) but after 5-10 mins I get kicked out. Even when connected to the server I can't access the internet or the owners emails. She has had an internet hijacker on the laptop plus a number of worms, trojans and other 'baddies'.

I am a bit stuck here and I take the point made earlier by Me_2001 as I don't want to be stung for some massive phone bill as there may be a dialler in there.

The question is - do I abandon this?? I have to say that if nothing else, the laptop is alot cleaner than when it arrived at my house so you guys have taught me well!! Hijack This logs are a bit out of my league I have to say.

I am really disappointed as I was confident that having cleaned it so well that the internet/IE/emails would have been more stable/worked!!

Gabs x

 

[Me__2001]

if you've run all of those then you should have killed most of them, is the number your dialling the correct number and are there alternates that shouldn't be there ?

 

[gabriella]

Hi Me_2001

Checked the number on the Tiscali site and it's correct for the dial up/pay as you go option. No, there aren't any other connections or numbers on the laptop.

It's really foxing me as the Tiscali connection does work but won't connect to the internet or emails. But goodness me, were there some 'baddies' on there!! I don't even think a restore point would work as goodness knows when this thing worked properly. The owner's main complaints are: won't connect to the net, won't let Norton update because it says there's no internet connection and won't allow the sending or receivng of emails. I am having exactly the same problems even with the machine hopefully relatively clean.

Clearly I do not want to dabble beyond my capabilities which is why I thought I'd ask for some further advice. I would dearly love to sort it as it has become somewhat of a quest, but if I am defeated by my own abilities then I will call it a day.

What do you reckon??

Gabs x

 

[itsme]

http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/tools.list.html
Try this make sure you turn the RESTORE function off before running them download them save to desktop go of line and run them one after another good luck.
PS turn RESTORE back on when you have finished.

 

[gabriella]

Hi Itsme

How do I disable system retore?

Sorry if that sounds a pathetic question!!

Thanks

Gabs x

 

[itsme]

Not a silly question

The computer icon on your desktop RIGHT CLICK go into properties click that and a box will pop up look at the left hand side you will see RESTORE open that and check the box it will then ask are you sure YES make sure you turn it back on when you have finished BTW it takes quite a time to do so have plenty of

Patience good luck

 

[gabriella]

Thanks Itsme!!

Can I just confirm that you are saying to turn off system restore (have now done this) and then run all the various software/scans etc... and then turn back on??

I might get chance for a long leisurely bath whilst all this lot is happening!!!! (lol!!)

TBH the laptop is now looking quite clean. I wondered about unistalling and then reinstalling the Tiscali?? What do you think to that??

Thanks again for your patience and help!!

Gabs x

 

[itsme]

Have you downloaded all the virus checks from the site I gave you?

answer as I am watching the thread

 

[gabriella]

Hi itsme

I can't do that as I can't connect to the internet (I should say that I am talking to you on my PC and not the laptop!!!!).

Anything else I should do/what about my idea re: unistalling the Tiscali and then reinstalling. I am running the various scans now with the system restore function off and I cannot believe this but there's more that weren't there when I ran the first time and it's not like I have been able to get onto the net!!!!

Gabs x

 

[itsme]

Right

Download all the virus scans from the site I have given you on the site only download the ones on the LEFT COLUMN [using you desktop PC] when you have, copy them to disc, now run them on the Lap top one at a time.

You can bet you have a virus or Trojan of some sort.DONT GO ON THE NET WITH THE LAPTOP you will make it worse.

If you see a number of some sort let me know what it says IE dll32 exettt

 

[gabriella]

Thanks Itsme

BUT that will take forever!!!

I fully take your point that there is something there that I can't shift with the tools I have and TBH I am at the point where I feel a PC expert and poss Hijack This would be good but that is beyond me. So, and with the greatest thanks to yourself and others who have tried to help me, I am going to call this a day, return the laptop with a full note of what I have done and suggest the friend finds someone locally who knows what they are doing.

Perhaps when I have done my Build and Maintain Your Own PC Course I may better equipped to deal with thorny ussues such as these but I need to bow out gracefully and admit this is quite a way out of my league!!

Many thanks again

Gabs x

PS Please do not think that I am not grateful!!

 

[itsme]

Dont worry