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Computer Virus (or Spy) knocked out my Phone/Computer

 
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marw



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PostPosted: August 19, 2005 10:41 PM    Post subject: Computer Virus (or Spy) knocked out my Phone/Computer Reply with quote

Hi everyone,

Well, it didn't last long, thank heavens!
Or rather I got it fixed quickly, thanks to a good Security technician for MSN, who walked me through how to clean the computer.

I had been online, then ran the Spyware when I came off line (which said all was well), then downloaded a critical update for Security for Windows 98. Then I went to bed. When I got up the next morning, my phone never rang at all, which is very unusual. Finally I went to make a call, and did not have a dial tone. I drug out the old land line phone, and plugged it in the living room jack and it was fine. THen I took the other phone off my computer and tried it there, too, and it was fine. I still did not suspect the computer; I thought it was the wiring inside my house, and spent all morning moving furniture and checking the wires.

Finally, I tried running my Norton Anti-virus, but it said all was well. (I could not get on-line to download any new definitions, but they were July 31 this year--not too old.) When I got the techinician at MSN (which required some very insistent complaining), he turned out to be a good one. He put me into safe mode on the computer, and cleaned out the Temp Folder, also reset the Internet Explorer to default and some other stuff, and lastly told me to run the Spyware and Norton again twice each, still in safe mode, and if the problem was still there to call back. The problem being that, rather than suspect the hardware (phone jacks in the back of the computer), I figured a virus or Spy had sabotaged a driver that controlled them.

Sure enough, 1 Spy only showed up while in safe mode, that had not shown up before. I deleted it, and the phones were then fine. I later asked the guy who worked on my computer not long ago what he thought, and he said there is a lot of viruses just now, as well as Spies, and that one of them tries to block Networking. Going online resembles Networking, and so the Spy was inadvertently blocking me from going online.

I'm not sure any of this makes sense, but I was so frustrated by this, that I thought I would post it. BTW: I believe the tech said that a Spy cannot block the driver, but it did something, at any rate.

Thanks for listening. And don't shell out any big bucks on getting a computer fixed (what if I had taken it in, or worse yet, had the phone company come out, because I might have thought it was the phone? Yikes!) until you check for viruses and worms.

Computers are wonderful, but they seem to be time-consuming. I spent all day on that little project! Rolling Eyes
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Margaret
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Cowgirl UP!



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PostPosted: August 19, 2005 11:59 PM    Post subject: Reply with quote

I am proud of you for solving the problem, I would have been so lost.
Kay
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kannprint



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PostPosted: August 20, 2005 11:07 AM    Post subject: Reply with quote

WOW, Margaret, you're sure becoming "computer savvy." Some technicians are really nice and helpful. It's great that you found one of them.
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kevin
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PostPosted: August 20, 2005 12:49 PM    Post subject: Reply with quote

margaret, you need "ad-aware" - it's the best anti-spyware program out there, and there's a free version for home use: download it here and install it, then run it regularly; it'll keep your computer free of spyware.
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marw



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PostPosted: August 20, 2005 10:39 PM    Post subject: Reply with quote

Kevin, Ad-Aware is the one I use. (Called Ad-Aware Personal SE) I agree that it is the best Spy-Ware, but in this case, for some reason it missed that spy. I run it regularly, and had just run it that night before I went to bed. I update the definitions about every 2 weeks, but maybe I need to do that more often.

Also, I don't have a firewall, so I probably should get one.

Thanks for help and reassurance.

To Everyone else: you, too will become computer savy when you have as many problems with it as I seem to!! Laughing Laughing And thanks for your support. It helped my ego (always a fragile thing when discussing computers! Laughing )

P.S Kevin, could I download a firewall from the Ad-Aware site, do you think? I just now got the computer lightened up (more free memory) to speed it up, so I hate to download another big space eater. But I will, if I need to do it. The tech thought I should, but didn't recommend anything.
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Seabrez



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PostPosted: August 21, 2005 12:18 AM    Post subject: Reply with quote

Margaret,

ZoneAlarm is a free firewall. This link will take you to the page to download it. It may take awhile on dail-up...it's 8.87 MB.

http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp

You do definitely need a firewall!!!

Hugs
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Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 2 Corn 5:17 NASB
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marw



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PostPosted: August 21, 2005 2:20 AM    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks, Deb. Apreciate that! It sounds very doable. Smile
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Margaret
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kevin
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PostPosted: August 21, 2005 2:01 PM    Post subject: Reply with quote

deb, you beat me to it! margaret, zonealarm is exactly the program i'd recommend. as to ad-aware, there should be a button in the opening screen that says "check for updates" (or words to that effect); you should have the program check for updates every time you run it: since ad-aware is the premiere spyware-killer, the people who write spyware programs devote a fair amount of time to figuring out how to outwit it, and the ad-aware programmers, in turn, make frequent updates.
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marw



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PostPosted: August 21, 2005 9:56 PM    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks, Kevin. I'll get the zonealalarm for sure. Smile
That was interesting that the Spys devote time to Ad-Aware programming! Never thought of that. And I will definitely start doing the updates every time. I just get lazy, and I didn't realize the importance of being that frequent. Guess I know now! Laughing Rolling Eyes
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Barbara K.



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PostPosted: August 23, 2005 1:40 AM    Post subject: Reply with quote

Very Happy Thank Margaret for starting this thread. I am also going to look into downloading zonealarm.

Blessings,
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