VIRUS: Multiple Explorer's Pop Up and file tries to download
 

VIRUS Question:

This is the second time this has happened to me so I thought I would ask the board if they have noticed.

When I'm responding from my home computer (not work computer) and hit submit, I sometimes getting multiple occuring explorer windows (they just keep popping up). This has happened for the second time in one week. This time, I noticed that it was trying to download a file to my computer. I shut my computer down to stop it but I'm wondering if anyone else has noticed this.

Background: I keep my computer updated with all DELL updates, all Windows XP updates, and I'm current with McAfee Virus Protection. I'm running a virus scan again on my computer but the last one showed no viruses or spyware. I also have broadband connection with a firewall installed.

Michael

I dont know if thats a virus. that used to happen to me on Rennlist for some reason. It went away about a year ago. same symptoms

http://www.mozilla.org/images/mlogo.gif

Tom

Sounds like you have adware and spyware secretly installed in your computer. Download Adaware and Spybot, install and run them once every couple of weeks to get rid of them. Don't be surprised if it finds like a thousand files in your computer.

http://www.lavasoftusa.com/support/download/

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

I'm not getting multiple pop ups. I'm getting multiple posts!

Great advice here. This will solve 99% of your problem.

You may also have the sasser worm virus
visit microsoft here to find out if you do have it and they have the download tool to remove it.
http://www.microsoft.com/security/incident/sasser.mspx
It is not a bad idea to have the tool on hand in case.
I have had sasser worms on 2 of my 3 laptops!
Adware and spybot were also reccomended to me by microsoft tech support and Dell tech support and my bosses IT guys.
Good luck
Oh and one other friendly reminder- bad up your hard drive!!!!
- Now why didnt some one give me all of this good advice before my hard drive crashed!! :(

Here is a very effective spyware cleaner...

http://www.spywareguide.com/

virus
 

Do yourself a favour and and make sure your exisiting anti-virus solution has the most recent pattern file update.

Then download Spy-bot....which will help in stopping types of activeX type executeables from afftecting your systems. It will effectively stop any changes that will tried to be made by programs to your IE setup. What is probably happening is that your browsers configuration has been changed. Its important that you have a tool to not allow any external program to "hi-jack" your system and do any changes.

Anti-virus solutions are only as good as the manufacturer's ability to keep up their product current to stop viruses that are already in the wild. It is only a reactive approach....best defense is a proactive approach which is practise safe surfing.

Being in the information securityindustry....Spyware and Adware is because the biggest issue.

Andy

Another thing you can do, once you've cleaned up the spy/ad-ware is to download and install the Google Toolbar. It works like a champ.

Randy

I've had both the Google and Yahoo toolbars, and I must say the Yahoo one is better. It prevents pop-ups, but you can over ride it to allow pop-ups on certain websites.

Here's a link that helped me a lot, more info on adware and spyware, and how to get rid of it.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=160938&highlight=spywar e

Google Toolbar...just press the CTRL key to over-ride blocking of pop-ups on a perticular site.

Randy

Guess it helps if you read the instructions :D

The toolbars from Google and Yahoo are nice, but you should really NOT use Internet Explorer at all. It is horrible insecure and most of the attacks that have occured over the last year on the internet are tied to vulnerabilities in IE that Microsoft has known about for over a year without fixing.

Scob Virus This is an article talking about one of the new viruses that is going around that only effects IE. "... [The Scob Trojan works by] logging keystrokes on the infected Windows computer with the aim of collecting passwords and financial data."

For this reason alone you should switch to using one of the Mozilla offerings (Mozilla or Firefox if you want just a browser)

Or,..... you can use a Macintosh. For example, on Windows there have been over 86,000 viruses, on the mac there have been 49. There has not been a single Mac virus realeased since 1998.

As much as we like power and style in our cars, don't you think you should want the same thing in your computer?

neilt

Beware that although most virus attacks hit IE, the reason is that IE is the only browser that will consistently work on all websites. You'll have problems with other browsers not being compatible.
The answer to a flat tire is NOT to replace the car; do your maintenance. Make sure that you have updated your virus software files (without those, no matter what browser you have you are risking major virus damage) and use a spyware removal software. I use Ad-Aware by lavasoft (its free and works great).

Neil,

This would be the perfect solution...in a perfect world. Unfortunaltely, there can be issues that could prevent simply "not using IE". Some web pages simply will not load properly in another browser, since they are written specifically for IE.

Now, before you go flaming me over this, let me add that yes, this isn't the case as often as it used to be, but it still does exist. Also, I know Michael said this is predominately on his home computer, and not his work pc, but that could be an issue as well. Perhaps he uses IE at work, because of company policy or whatever other reason, and he may not want to have to "learn" another browser.

I, for one, have experimented with the likes of Opera and Mozilla and a few others and have had success with them, but I still occasionally come across sites that just don't wanna play. We also have intranet web sites where I work that will not display on anything other than IE. Several less-savvy employees have enough problems with IE, but it's "what they know" so are intimidated by the thought of trying something new.

Newer and less targeted browsers are a great idea, if you're willing (and able) to put some time into learning them. ;)

Randy

edit: You beat me to it, Joe!

Ad-aware is a great tool, however it doesn't catch all ad-bots. I use it in conjunction with Spybot - Search and Destroy.

And never use just any old spybot removal software you see posted. Many are spy-bots/ad-bots themselves. Use software recommended by virus companies or others that have had success.

For pop up banners, ads, and such I use Ad-Smasher from www.popupstop.com. It had a $20 one time fee and worth every penny to me.

It now takes some work just to enjoy the world wide web without feeling violated. :(

This is increasingly rare. With Mozilla the only web sites that don't display properly lately are ones associated with Microsoft (MSN, etc).

I work in IT, and for some users that have constant spyware/adware problems, I have had no problems migrating them to Mozilla, provided I preinstall a few common plugins (Java, Flash, etc). Once that is done, set Mozilla as the default browser, and delete the "E" off the desktop. These are users that are not particularly tech-savvy.

For popups, I just turn them off in the Mozilla preferences.

Tom

I have Netscape 7.1, works great, tabbed browsing, built in pop-up stopper. I also have IE with the Yahoo bar and all of the latest updates. I primarily use Netscape. I can't pay my Citibank card online with Netscape, something incompatible about their website coding, so for that I use IE. Occasionally I run into similar problems on other websites, then I resort to IE. With netscape, I never have a problem.

Netscape and Mozilla are basically the same thing. I have tried the latest Mozilla, firefox, firebird, firesomethingoranother, it's pretty cool.

With Netscape I pretty much never get hit with weirdness. I also keep Windows up to date with patches and have a firewall (Sygate Personal Firewall, www.sygate.com). I actually don't have any virus protection on my PC (all of the other PC's in the house do) and I haven't since the 90's, but I do recommend it. I also haven't had a virus since before that. The best thing that I can recommend is educating yourself.

Mozilla and Netscape aren't completely immune, http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105_2-5262676.html

http://www.baddteddy.com/tutorials/trojans.htm
http://www.webweevers.com/protection.htm

Yeah, Tom, I too work in IT, as do half the people on this board, it would seem. And as I stated above, instances of browser incompatibility are a lot less abundant, however they still do exist.

In my case, my company has "in-house" applications that run through browsers. We're actually working on developing a portal for all of our customers to use which, you guessed it, runs only on Internet Explorer.

For those of us who work in IT, it's no big deal to learn how to tweak another browser to function the way we want it to. But for the most part, people don't want to take the time to have to learn all that. they just want to use what's available...right now. For those people, all I can say is update, update update!

Randy

I installed Mozella Firefox 2 weeks ago... and the diffrenece is striking. It's almost like having a whole new PC... web pages load far more quickly and, so far, I've had zero problems... no hiccups, no crashes, no page freezes... just quick simple easy operation.

I still have Explorer, and I'll use it if I ever have to. But there is no way I would ever go back to using it (or Netscape) as my regular defaut brower, until MS fixes ALL of the problems associated with it.

Try Mozella, and I doubt if you will ever look back... the simplicity and speed alone are worth the change (let alone virus concerns).

(One test you can do with Mozella, is to see how much faster it assesses and displays your Hotmail account and inbox... if you have one, than Explorer)

-MAS

"Netscape and Mozilla are basically the same thing. I have tried the latest Mozilla, firefox, firebird, firesomethingoranother, it's pretty cool."

That's true Masraum... except from what a computer pro told me a few months back, Mozella is a much more stripped-down version of the basic Netscape system. Kinda like an early 911 ;)

-MAS

Yep, the download for Mozilla is about 7 MB while the Netscape has a 16 MB download and a 29 MB download. Of course, if you want to add, flash, quicktime, etc into Firefox...

I've tried both and timed page loads and they seem about the same. I closed both down, loaded each one up simultaneously, and then browsed to all of the same webpages simultaneously. While I was doing this I monitored memory usage by both applications. At some points Mozilla was ahead and at some points Netscape was ahead, but I determined that where Mozilla was ahead was often because it didn't have a plugin installed for the page that I was on. Once the plugins are installed you'd probably end up with basically the same browser.

I've been tinkering with browsers since I got on the internet, just like I also like to tinker with alternative OS's and alternative Office suites.

I haven't yet found anything that really blows Netscape away. Some are a little better here or there, but none are head and shoulders above it.

I tried Mozilla Firefox and when I browse Pelican I don't get the "Post Quick Reply" box at the bottom. I've gone back to I.E.
-Chris

Michael here.

It was a spy problem. McAfee discovered it during a full search of my hard drive. There were five spy programs sitting there. It quarantined all of them and I'm not having a problem anymore.

Here's a question, if someone got in my car and took over control, wouldn't that be stealing. Why can't we take legal action against these spy programs for taking over our computers. Isn't it illegal use of personal property?

Lawyers, chime in please.

Michael

That's strange... as I'm using Firefox right now and just replied to your post with the "Post Quick Repy" box. So far all of my web pages look identical to IE.


-MAS

I just downloaded Mozilla and am using it right now... So far so good! Seems quite a bit faster than IE6, and my quick reply box is visible, but only after I logged in. (Chris-make sure you logged in first) What's the difference between Mozilla and Firefox?

I have found that many of the pages that say they won't work (like Wells Fargo banking for instance), only say they don't. Unfortunately, they are coded in such a way as to not let you get past the first screen unless you are running IE on a PC.
I am a Mac user. I usually use Safari or Firefox. However, if I go to Wells Fargo, I can't login using safari. It doesn't even give me the option.
But, and here is the best part.... If I go to the debug menu in safari and tell safari to tell the wells fargo server that I am using a PC with IE... Guess What? It works!
So, there isn't anything wrong with the code, it is in fact, the people who wrote the website not wanting to let other browsers work.
Granted, not all websites will work like this (the ones that rely heavily on active x, for instance), but most will.

And, tabed browsing is the best thing to come to browsers since mosaic! (some of you should know what that means) :D Until IE gets that update, I won't be using it much at all.

neilt

Mozilla is the make, firefox is the model.

Chris, you were missing the quick reply because you hadn't logged in as others have noticed. Firefox will have it's own cookies that keep track of whether or not you are logged in, it couldn't read your IE cookie. Once logged in it would be the same.

Neiltorda, there are several mods that you can do that will add the tabbed experience to IE. The one that comes to mind first is "crazy browser", but I know I've seen others.

Michael Elliot, You should still get adaware and/or spybot. I wouldn't trust McAffee to completely get all spyware, it works great for viruses, but I would want something more spyware specific for that.

Not to debate the merits of IE, I am not exactly sure I agree with that. Even our Host's web site doesn't load correctly for me with any of Mozilla's products. Additionally there are lots of commercial sites that have nothing to do with MS that won't work with it. I find this especially true with SSL.

The thing that I havn't seen mentioned is "drive by" infections. You go to the wrong site, you are going to get infected unless you are on Mac or Linux. Additionally, AIM seems to be increasingly a portal for worms of all types.

While IE can be tweeked to be as secure as you want it, it doesn't natively block pop-ups. Until it does, I'll keep using Firefox as my primary browser with IE on the desktop for use as needed.

"Even our Host's web site doesn't load correctly for me with any of Mozilla's products."

For me, everything is identical. But I am running Windows 98 (by choice), so maybe that could account for the difference?

-MAS

Netscape/mozilla will cause problems when you go to the pelican catalog, otherwise the forums are identical.

OK.

So, after my last post, the same thing happened again. As soon as I submit, the thing goes haywire. I rechecked and I don't have any spyware programs lurking.

Funny thing is, I haven't had this problem on any other sight, just Pelican.

Michael

My experience is exactly the same. Used IE exclusively till a couple of weeks ago. Now I'll only use if I have to. Go with Firefox.

The 2 major problems with browser/site incompatibilty are sites designed with FrontPage, and sites running IIS. It's a known fact that IIS deliberately misbehaves when it detects non-IE browsers.

People using FrontPage for anything other than simple vanity pages should be summarily taken out and shot. Administrators who cling to IIS will then be fed Solient Green casserole cooked up from those manged remains, fattened up, slaugheters, and in turn fed to the people who write Flash intros for pages, who in turn...

Not that I have any strong feelings about this stuff or anything...

man... if you feel this way about website coding, i would hate too see what you think about someone driving slow in the left lane.....

:D

This might be the stupidest thing I have seen on this web site. Chill out man!!! :D

Thanks! That fixed it.
-Chris