Virus? Worm? Trojan?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Keith
  • Start date Start date
K

Keith

Hi,

I am having an interesting problem(s). The other night I went to write
an email, (Outlook Express), and suddenly letters started just appearing. I
backspaced several times, and they still popped up, but not very fast. I
closed and saved it as a draft, closed Outlook, and then restarted Outlook.
I opened the draft and soon, it happened again. I was finally able to finish
the email and sent it right away, before more letters could pop up.

The next day, I opened Ms Word to a template, and started to input
information. Suddenly, in the field I was working on, a bunch of ........'s
popped in and then slowly changed to words. They didn't make a lot of sense
at first, but as I backspaced, the dots came back then formed more of a
sentence. One sentence had something to do with Iran. Sorry, but I don't
remember the actual sentence, I just remember it talking about some guy and
Iran. (Something like, "He would that he blah blah Iran blah blah") I was
too shocked to pay any real attention to what it actually said.

K, I know this is getting long, but I know how much you like detail,
soooo....
I have cable broadband, use a d-link router with built in firewall. Lately I
have noticed that my computer light on the router blinks about every 15
seconds, with nothing internet related running. This is new, as before, if
nothing was open, the router light that represents the computer would stay
steady. I have watched packet activity on both the router, and network
connection properties, and both confirm packets going in and out at about a
15 sec interval.

So, I have updated and run Ad-Aware, Spybot, and just purchased a new
copy, of Norton's 2004(To replace my 2002 copy). The only one that has
caught anything is Ad-Aware, and that was only tracking cookies. That's it,
so I'm wondering what possible stealthy POS has invaded my computer!

We do practice safe internet procedures, and only go to reputable
places, and are very careful about email, etc.

Thanks in advance for any help!

idaspud
 
"Keith" said:
Hi,

I am having an interesting problem(s). The other night I went to write
an email, (Outlook Express), and suddenly letters started just appearing. I
backspaced several times, and they still popped up, but not very fast. I
closed and saved it as a draft, closed Outlook, and then restarted Outlook.
I opened the draft and soon, it happened again. I was finally able to finish
the email and sent it right away, before more letters could pop up.

The next day, I opened Ms Word to a template, and started to input
information. Suddenly, in the field I was working on, a bunch of ........'s
popped in and then slowly changed to words. They didn't make a lot of sense
at first, but as I backspaced, the dots came back then formed more of a
sentence. One sentence had something to do with Iran. Sorry, but I don't
remember the actual sentence, I just remember it talking about some guy and
Iran. (Something like, "He would that he blah blah Iran blah blah") I was
too shocked to pay any real attention to what it actually said.

K, I know this is getting long, but I know how much you like detail,
soooo....
I have cable broadband, use a d-link router with built in firewall. Lately I
have noticed that my computer light on the router blinks about every 15
seconds, with nothing internet related running. This is new, as before, if
nothing was open, the router light that represents the computer would stay
steady. I have watched packet activity on both the router, and network
connection properties, and both confirm packets going in and out at about a
15 sec interval.

So, I have updated and run Ad-Aware, Spybot, and just purchased a new
copy, of Norton's 2004(To replace my 2002 copy). The only one that has
caught anything is Ad-Aware, and that was only tracking cookies. That's it,
so I'm wondering what possible stealthy POS has invaded my computer!

We do practice safe internet procedures, and only go to reputable
places, and are very careful about email, etc.

Thanks in advance for any help!

idaspud

The problem could be that speech recognition is turned on, the
computer is hearing random room noises through a microphone, and it's
trying to recognize them as English words.
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
 
Steve Winograd said:
The problem could be that speech recognition is turned on, the
computer is hearing random room noises through a microphone, and it's
trying to recognize them as English words.
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

Hehe, well the thought had crossed my mind, and you are right, somehow
some way, the speech recognition did get turned on. Man! I hate it when I
look dumb! As far as the activity light goes, I suppose it could be the
several programs on here with auto update turned on, constantly looking for
updates. Thanks for your prompt response, and advise.

Keith
 
"Keith" said:
I am having an interesting problem(s). The other night I went to write
an email, (Outlook Express), and suddenly letters started just appearing. I
backspaced several times, and they still popped up, but not very fast. I
closed and saved it as a draft, closed Outlook, and then restarted Outlook.
I opened the draft and soon, it happened again. I was finally able to finish
the email and sent it right away, before more letters could pop up.
[snip]
I have cable broadband, use a d-link router with built in firewall. Lately I
have noticed that my computer light on the router blinks about every 15
seconds, with nothing internet related running. This is new, as before, if
nothing was open, the router light that represents the computer would stay
steady. I have watched packet activity on both the router, and network
connection properties, and both confirm packets going in and out at about a
15 sec interval. [remainder snipped]
The problem could be that speech recognition is turned on, the
computer is hearing random room noises through a microphone, and it's
trying to recognize them as English words.

Hehe, well the thought had crossed my mind, and you are right, somehow
some way, the speech recognition did get turned on. Man! I hate it when I
look dumb! As far as the activity light goes, I suppose it could be the
several programs on here with auto update turned on, constantly looking for
updates. Thanks for your prompt response, and advise.

Keith

You're welcome, Keith. For a definite answer about the network
traffic, install Ethereal, capture packets for a couple of minutes,
and see what's in them:

http://www.ethereal.com
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
 

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