Old Hippie Posted November 3, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2005 Basically, the reason for the change is...Earthlink kept disconnecting me in the middle of my service calls...the cost is more than double, their techs blow, and no matter what the connection problem is, they say it isn't their responsibility. So more an issue of principle than performance. If Yahoo/SBC pisses me off, I'll dump them as well...other than 1-2 important emails, and this websight, I don't need the internet at all. Just for the sake of discussion, what is a decent ISP to deal with?: I like Earthlink for the spam blocker and pop up blocker, but as I stated, the service went down, and the price up...which brings me to another rant, if they move the work to india, and the cost of their business goes down to "...compeate..." why did their prices go up? $65 a month is to fucking much to pay for internet...I'll be paying $14.95 for Yahoo... As for spyware, etc...not sure that is the problem, my neighbor and the Dell phone tech went through it all, and can't find any spyware that is hijacking the browser, he thinks it is a software conflict. Hence, switching to Yahoo and their security, allows me to dump Earthlinks software and Norton...so well, we will see...as I said, if I hate it, I'll dump them as well. ANyway, Thanks for all the help, pop ups seem to have stopped... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liquidflux Posted November 3, 2005 Report Share Posted November 3, 2005 Are you on dial-up? Sounds like you are if you're getting disconnected during calls. If you are in fact on 56k, why? You can get DSL for about 25 bucks a month from SBC. Personally I wouldnt use any anti-virus, pop up blocker etc. that is included in an ISP software package. Like I mentioned in another post, those packages also contain programs which monitor your usage and send statistics back to the ISP, their own versions of spyware. Have you downloaded all the current security updates for XP? How about your hardware drivers, are they all updated? I'm also not exactly sure what you mean when you say your browser is being hijacked. What exactly happens? The problems you've been describing don't sound like software conflicts to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Hippie Posted November 3, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2005 I have DSL. The Browser hijack is simple, I requested Earthlink as my home page, and browser, for what ever reason, is MSN, I had the tech on the phone who had me change settings, check for Spyware, scan this and that etc...still comes up as MSN's home page...Additionally, I cannot access Yahoo unless the fire wall is off, I access, then can turn it on again...I may well end up reinstalling XP anyway...this is seriously pissing me off though... I think a few guys suggested I get SVG or something as my anti virus, what about a fire wall? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lusty Posted November 4, 2005 Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 Fuck it.Get LouHuli to sort it via remote help. Dont for get to tip him enough for a Kymer s/t though ! I've had no grief whatsoever since he sorted me out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Hippie Posted November 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 LHL!!!! HELP!!!!!!!!! how much is a Khmer S/T anyway, I paid $30 and $40 in a MP and then $12 in a Karaoke near the land mine museum... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keekwai Posted November 4, 2005 Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 "........I may well end up reinstalling XP anyway...this is seriously pissing me off though..." In that case may I suggest: Download ZoneAlarm firewall free version, save it to a cd or thumb drive. You may want to install it just to get a feel for it before the next steps. Physically disconnect your computer from the Internet. Reinstall Windows, being sure to format the partitions (to remove all traces of old files, viruses, spyware) Install ZoneAlarm from your cd or thumb drive. Now establish your Internet connection. (If you can avoid it don't install the bullshit software that isp/dsl internet providers supply. It is possible to login and establish your account without their software/bloatware. You need to research how to do this depending on who your ISP is. It should be quite simple.) Download AVG antivirus free version. Install and update it. Visit Windows update site for your updates. Create a Restore Point (ask if you don't know how) At this point there should not be any trace of malware on your computer. Download and install the newest versions of any other products you want, Spybot, Adaware, Yahoo messenger for example. Try each one out before installing the next. Have fun! One other step that I would do for myself is install HijackThis before ZoneAlarm and begin logging the changes installing different programs do on your system. You can easily skip this step. I prefer Sygate for a firewall to ZoneAlarm but it is a bit more advanced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Hippie Posted November 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 Basically did all this already...but used Norton anti virus and spyware... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keekwai Posted November 4, 2005 Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 "Basically did all this already...but used Norton anti virus and spyware..." Well if you do all those things exactly and in that order there won't be any malware and your computer should haul ass. Definetly dump Norton and be sure to follow the step of not connecting to Internet before you have a good firewall (ZoneAlarm, Sygate) up and running. This is very important. And as Lusty pointed out you could send out a request for Remote Assistance to a trusted, comp savy person and allow them to sniff around your hard drive if you continue to have problems. Remote Assistance allows someone to take over your computer, they see your desktop and control your mouse. They can transfer and install programs. Very cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Hippie Posted November 5, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2005 This is sort of my point with the Dell/Earthlink techs, I am not sure it was possible for Malware to get in as they claim, all the scans come up negative...and the computer runs fine...the only thing wrong is the browser will not stay at earthlink's start page, no matter what I set it to, the pop ups have stopped, but signing into Yahoo, I still need to turn the fire wall off, sign in, then I can turn it on...soI and a tech here think it is a conflict of some sort, or a gonfiguration problem...I hate like hell to keep reinstalling XP and having to waste time, if it won't work... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damen Posted November 5, 2005 Report Share Posted November 5, 2005 Try switching to Firefox for your browser. It is much less susceptible to adware than the browsers based on I.E. code (IE, MSN, AOL, etc). Firefox is a better browser IMHO and provides tabbed browsing, RSS feeds with less vulnerability than I.E. You may face a few problems with Firefox on Microsoft sites (imagine that ) and may have to install some additional plugins such as quicktime (for viewing your internet porn movies ) but other than that, it should help. Also, you may want to check task manager, (crtl-alt-delete) and select task manager and note what is running in the background. You can then google each of the services to see what you need and take steps to kill the rest. This will also help. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.