Computer Help Please? >>>Credit<<<

so you clicked on "credit" and it directed you to another site? can you close internet explorer (or whatever you use)? or, at the very least, can you shut off your computer and close your browser that way?

You've been hijacked.

There are two free applications that should be able to fix your problem. Go to the following site

http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/

and download Ad-aware

Then go to Spybot Search and Destroy

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html

and download there application, Spybot Search & Destroy 1.3. Pick one and run it. It will find all the crap on your computer that is considered spyware, adware and hijacking programs like you have. It will give you the option to delete it. Once the first one is done then run the other and do the same. Between the two programs you should be able to get your computer back to normal.

Good Luck

I can not shut down the internet explorer. It says error and I have to restart the computer. When I try to reconnect it puts me to www.incredifind.com . I have never been to this site directly before in my life but it may be the one I got spammed to. Thanks for any help that brings me back to letsrun at home site.

Thanks but I can not get my home computer to any new site other than that one. It says something about connecting to site 127.00.01.0something or other. But I am long in just can't get anywhere.

Try downloading the applications on the computer you're using now and then save them to a disc and then run them on your home computer. That should work.

i take it you don't have those programs (ad-aware, spyware blaster, etc.) on your computer already. this should be a lesson to anyone who's reading this thread: install them now. windows has so many holes for people to exploit and you need to protect yourself. an ounce of prevention is well worth it.

you're in some deep shit if you can't access those sites for download. i think you'll have to bring your computer to a specialist because i can't think of much to do without being there at your computer. there are computer shops all over the place that make their living off the holes in windows security. head over to one of those. it's gonna cost you a bit of money, though.

Prata wrote:

Try downloading the applications on the computer you're using now and then save them to a disc and then run them on your home computer. That should work.

the problem with that solution, though, could be that this is a new sort of attack. thus, it wouldn't have been included in the regular download but one of the later updates, which have to be downloaded via the internet. depending on what sort of high-jacking occurred he may not be able to access the updates. worth a try, though.

1) Hit ctrl + alt + Delete. This will prompt your Windows Task Manager. Click the Processes Tab and try to figure out which one is active. If your IE Browswer keeps popping up, you can kill the process. Sometimes it jumps around the tree and you have to hunt it down. Once you do that...

2) Go to your Internet Options. You can do this by going to your Start tab (bottom lefthand of the screen...most likely). Settings-->Control Panel-->Internet Options. Type in the home page you would like.

3) If you are comfortable enough rifling through your application files you can delete all the things you're going to find, but this takes time and energy. Many spyware removers will do it for you for a fee...but you can do it yourself for free if you've got the time.

chuck d wrote:

Prata wrote:

Try downloading the applications on the computer you're using now and then save them to a disc and then run them on your home computer. That should work.

the problem with that solution, though, could be that this is a new sort of attack. thus, it wouldn't have been included in the regular download but one of the later updates, which have to be downloaded via the internet. depending on what sort of high-jacking occurred he may not be able to access the updates. worth a try, though.

I'm assuming he can get to the internet to get the most updated versions of the programs via the computer he's on right now.

I usually download the most updated versions 2 or 3 times a year and run them whether or not I'm having computer problems.

for ad-aware, for example, even if you download the most recent version, you still have to download the intermittent updates separately from the program. thus, you still need an internet connection to get the most up to date protection.

will's advice is pretty solid so hopefully that will clear things up for him.

Will,

That won't always work. In fact, I doubt it will work this time. He can change his homepage and it will probably revert back to this hijacked one. He can look for the program on the task manager and IE will be there but not the program thats causing the change to the home page. He can delete every program on his computer and still not fix the problem. The problem is most likely a change to the registry and he will need the help of another program to fix it. Unless he tries to edit the registry, which I highly suggest you don't do because one error will bring down your whole machine.

me

Go Start >> Settings >> Control Panel >> Add or Remove Programs. In that list you should see some type of ad program that installed itself on your machine. You should recognize it based on what's happening with your computer. Highlight it by clicking on it once, then click the Remove button.

Prata wrote:

Will,

That won't always work. In fact, I doubt it will work this time. He can change his homepage and it will probably revert back to this hijacked one. He can look for the program on the task manager and IE will be there but not the program thats causing the change to the home page. He can delete every program on his computer and still not fix the problem. The problem is most likely a change to the registry and he will need the help of another program to fix it. Unless he tries to edit the registry, which I highly suggest you don't do because one error will bring down your whole machine.

I know it won't necessarily remove the spyware...which will reinstall itself. However, if he is going to either remove it right then or go in and individually remove the bugs from the registry manually, it will save him the trouble of having to backtrack and do it later. Assuming he would do this all as a continuous process this is something that would/could happen at any time. He did ask, however, about the home page issue. It was just good info for him to use.

The point was simply assuming he'd have someone else or the software pear out the nasties from the registry. We could discuss that too if needs be.

Switch to Mozilla Firefox:

http://www.mozilla.org/download.html

No more pop ups, no more gaping IE security holes.

...but you can't view some sites. a trade-off many are willing to make, though.

chuck d wrote:

...but you can't view some sites. a trade-off many are willing to make, though.

Really? I've never had a problem. Unless you mean sites that are primarily pop-up based, in which case you can easily add that site to your "pop-ups allowed" list.

I have been using Mozilla for a long time now and find it wwwwaaaayyyyyy better than IE. I cant remember any sites that are worth viewing that I haven't been able to access.

chuck d wrote:

...but you can't view some sites. a trade-off many are willing to make, though.

really? some examples?

been using firefox for months now....and never a problem with viewing sites...(maybe only the ones i go to)