In a momentary fit of insanity I allowed an offering of Explorer 8.0 (I
think) to download.

The only visible consequence is an overnight firing up of Explorer such
that I am greeted each morning with a Windows related advert.
Curiously the screen is prevented from entering sleep mode.

Today's offering was for a Windows driver scanner for a Brother printer.

I am using XP with service pack 3. I know this system is about to be
unsupported so am becoming very nervous about anything uninvited!

Any thoughts?
--
Tim Lamb

On Wed, 29 Jan 2014 09:16:34 +0000, Tim Lamb wrote:

In a momentary fit of insanity I allowed an offering of Explorer 8.0 (I
think) to download.

The only visible consequence is an overnight firing up of Explorer such
that I am greeted each morning with a Windows related advert.
Curiously the screen is prevented from entering sleep mode.

Today's offering was for a Windows driver scanner for a Brother printer.

I call malware. That certainly isn't normal IE8 behaviour.

IE8 should have long been upgraded by Windows Update. Where did this
"offering" come from...?

In article , Tim Lamb
scribeth thus
In a momentary fit of insanity I allowed an offering of Explorer 8.0 (I
think) to download.

The only visible consequence is an overnight firing up of Explorer such
that I am greeted each morning with a Windows related advert.
Curiously the screen is prevented from entering sleep mode.

Today's offering was for a Windows driver scanner for a Brother printer.

I am using XP with service pack 3. I know this system is about to be
unsupported so am becoming very nervous about anything uninvited!

Any thoughts?

Did you download it from the real Microsoft website as sometimes down
loads for such aren't the real thing and come packages with other
"wares"...


Like Firefox that can come from other then the Mozzie foundation site..
--
Tony Sayer

On 29/01/2014 09:16, Tim Lamb wrote:
In a momentary fit of insanity I allowed an offering of Explorer 8.0 (I
think) to download.

The only visible consequence is an overnight firing up of Explorer such
that I am greeted each morning with a Windows related advert.
Curiously the screen is prevented from entering sleep mode.

Today's offering was for a Windows driver scanner for a Brother printer.

I am using XP with service pack 3. I know this system is about to be
unsupported so am becoming very nervous about anything uninvited!

Any thoughts?

Do you have another computer that you can use to make a bootable CD to
scan this machine for any known malware? Corrupting IE to make it show
adverts or hijack keystrokes is unfortunately all too common.

You can't trust the main machine any more. There are some tools that use
enough obfuscation that they might be able to detox an infected machine
without being noticed by the malware. I have found MalwareBytes to work
fairly well on other peoples infected PCs YMMV

http://download.cnet.com/Malwarebyte...-10804572.html


--
Regards,
Martin Brown

In article , Martin Brown
writes
On 29/01/2014 09:16, Tim Lamb wrote:
In a momentary fit of insanity I allowed an offering of Explorer 8.0 (I
think) to download.

The only visible consequence is an overnight firing up of Explorer such
that I am greeted each morning with a Windows related advert.
Curiously the screen is prevented from entering sleep mode.

Today's offering was for a Windows driver scanner for a Brother printer.

I am using XP with service pack 3. I know this system is about to be
unsupported so am becoming very nervous about anything uninvited!

Any thoughts?

Do you have another computer that you can use to make a bootable CD to
scan this machine for any known malware? Corrupting IE to make it show
adverts or hijack keystrokes is unfortunately all too common.

You can't trust the main machine any more. There are some tools that use
enough obfuscation that they might be able to detox an infected machine
without being noticed by the malware. I have found MalwareBytes to work
fairly well on other peoples infected PCs YMMV

http://download.cnet.com/Malwarebyte...-10804572.html


Agreed that malwarebytes is the way to clear this, an excellent program,
well thought of, very thorough and even asks polite permission to update
itself before attempting to do so.

I prefer the direct download at:

http://www.malwarebytes.org/

http://downloads.malwarebytes.org/mbam-download.php

Cnet frequently (although not in this case) put up their own 'trick'
download buttons to encourage you to install their own junkware.

It sounds like a fairly benign bit of adware, I'd download malwarebytes
then unplug the machine form the internet then boot in safe mode and do
their recommended scan.

Read the resulting report carefully and choose what you want rid of and
what you want to keep, the adware should be obvious.

Running their beta antirootkit scan overnight (very thorough) after you
have done this would be a good move too.

http://downloads.malwarebytes.org/file/mbar

I'd then run malwarebytes again after a day or so to make sure that a
hidden trigger has re-installed the malware.

Firefox would be a better day to day browser but I would pick up v21.0
from mozilla or oldversion.com as it has more accessible privacy
features than the latest version from Mozilla.

for windows:

https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.....0b7/win32/en-
GB/Firefox%20Setup%2021.0b7.exe

or all o/ss

https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla....leases/21.0b7/

HTH
--
fred
it's a ba-na-na . . . .

In message , Adrian
writes
On Wed, 29 Jan 2014 09:16:34 +0000, Tim Lamb wrote:

In a momentary fit of insanity I allowed an offering of Explorer 8.0 (I
think) to download.

The only visible consequence is an overnight firing up of Explorer such
that I am greeted each morning with a Windows related advert.
Curiously the screen is prevented from entering sleep mode.

Today's offering was for a Windows driver scanner for a Brother printer.

I call malware. That certainly isn't normal IE8 behaviour.

IE8 should have long been upgraded by Windows Update. Where did this
"offering" come from...?

From a screen print....
http://static.myleadsolution.com/ag/...0B6AAEB855AB4B
....

It claims to be a Microsoft gold certified partner.



--
Tim Lamb

In message , tony sayer
writes
In article , Tim Lamb
scribeth thus
In a momentary fit of insanity I allowed an offering of Explorer 8.0 (I
think) to download.

The only visible consequence is an overnight firing up of Explorer such
that I am greeted each morning with a Windows related advert.
Curiously the screen is prevented from entering sleep mode.

Today's offering was for a Windows driver scanner for a Brother printer.

I am using XP with service pack 3. I know this system is about to be
unsupported so am becoming very nervous about anything uninvited!

Any thoughts?

Did you download it from the real Microsoft website as sometimes down
loads for such aren't the real thing and come packages with other
"wares"...

er.. probably not. It looked authentic but I didn't check. Norton did
not raise any objections.


Like Firefox that can come from other then the Mozzie foundation site..

--
Tim Lamb

In message , Martin Brown
writes
On 29/01/2014 09:16, Tim Lamb wrote:
In a momentary fit of insanity I allowed an offering of Explorer 8.0 (I
think) to download.

The only visible consequence is an overnight firing up of Explorer such
that I am greeted each morning with a Windows related advert.
Curiously the screen is prevented from entering sleep mode.

Today's offering was for a Windows driver scanner for a Brother printer.

I am using XP with service pack 3. I know this system is about to be
unsupported so am becoming very nervous about anything uninvited!

Any thoughts?

Do you have another computer that you can use to make a bootable CD to
scan this machine for any known malware? Corrupting IE to make it show
adverts or hijack keystrokes is unfortunately all too common.

Only my wife's laptop (running Vista) This sounds to be beyond my
current skill set:-(

You can't trust the main machine any more. There are some tools that
use enough obfuscation that they might be able to detox an infected
machine without being noticed by the malware. I have found MalwareBytes
to work fairly well on other peoples infected PCs YMMV

http://download.cnet.com/Malwarebyte...-10804572.html

OK Noted. Thanks



--
Tim Lamb

In message , fred writes
In article , Martin Brown
writes
On 29/01/2014 09:16, Tim Lamb wrote:
In a momentary fit of insanity I allowed an offering of Explorer 8.0 (I
think) to download.

The only visible consequence is an overnight firing up of Explorer such
that I am greeted each morning with a Windows related advert.
Curiously the screen is prevented from entering sleep mode.

Today's offering was for a Windows driver scanner for a Brother printer.

I am using XP with service pack 3. I know this system is about to be
unsupported so am becoming very nervous about anything uninvited!

Any thoughts?

Do you have another computer that you can use to make a bootable CD to
scan this machine for any known malware? Corrupting IE to make it show
adverts or hijack keystrokes is unfortunately all too common.

You can't trust the main machine any more. There are some tools that use
enough obfuscation that they might be able to detox an infected machine
without being noticed by the malware. I have found MalwareBytes to work
fairly well on other peoples infected PCs YMMV

http://download.cnet.com/Malwarebyte...-10804572.html


Agreed that malwarebytes is the way to clear this, an excellent
program, well thought of, very thorough and even asks polite permission
to update itself before attempting to do so.

I prefer the direct download at:

http://www.malwarebytes.org/

http://downloads.malwarebytes.org/mbam-download.php

Cnet frequently (although not in this case) put up their own 'trick'
download buttons to encourage you to install their own junkware.

It sounds like a fairly benign bit of adware, I'd download malwarebytes
then unplug the machine form the internet then boot in safe mode and do
their recommended scan.

Read the resulting report carefully and choose what you want rid of and
what you want to keep, the adware should be obvious.

Running their beta antirootkit scan overnight (very thorough) after you
have done this would be a good move too.

http://downloads.malwarebytes.org/file/mbar

I'd then run malwarebytes again after a day or so to make sure that a
hidden trigger has re-installed the malware.

Firefox would be a better day to day browser but I would pick up v21.0
from mozilla or oldversion.com as it has more accessible privacy
features than the latest version from Mozilla.

for windows:

https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.....0b7/win32/en-
GB/Firefox%20Setup%2021.0b7.exe

or all o/ss

https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla....leases/21.0b7/

HTH

Excellent Fred! I do use Firefox as default browser but keep Explorer as
an alternative for sites that limit your access.

I am going to struggle recognising what can safely be removed. Anyway no
online purchases or bank access FTTB.

--
Tim Lamb

On 29/01/2014 11:00, Tim Lamb wrote:
In message , Martin Brown
writes
On 29/01/2014 09:16, Tim Lamb wrote:
In a momentary fit of insanity I allowed an offering of Explorer 8.0 (I
think) to download.

The only visible consequence is an overnight firing up of Explorer such
that I am greeted each morning with a Windows related advert.
Curiously the screen is prevented from entering sleep mode.

Today's offering was for a Windows driver scanner for a Brother printer.

I am using XP with service pack 3. I know this system is about to be
unsupported so am becoming very nervous about anything uninvited!

Any thoughts?

Do you have another computer that you can use to make a bootable CD to
scan this machine for any known malware? Corrupting IE to make it show
adverts or hijack keystrokes is unfortunately all too common.

Only my wife's laptop (running Vista) This sounds to be beyond my
current skill set:-(

If it has a combo rw CD drive it shouldn't be. ISTR all the major AV
players have some sort of daily disk image that you can download and run
(and provide instructions for how to do it). You obviously have to tell
the PC to boot from CD first instead of HD but many are already set like
that by default. It shouldn't be too hard to do this. No harder than
downloading the right file from your AV vendor and following a few
simple instructions. It has the advantage that you are then using
software that is familiar to you. Leaving it three days after the
malware got past a decent AV product is usually enough time for their
countermeasures to have caught up enough to zap it.

You can't trust the main machine any more. There are some tools that
use enough obfuscation that they might be able to detox an infected
machine without being noticed by the malware. I have found
MalwareBytes to work fairly well on other peoples infected PCs YMMV

http://download.cnet.com/Malwarebyte...-10804572.html


OK Noted. Thanks

As Fred said download it from their main site Cnet will try and flog you
stuff and add its own relatively benign adware if you are careless.

Increasingly lots of updaters have default settings to install annoying
destablising plugins adware "tools" for browsers - Adobe for instance.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

Well, dunno, I've been using 8 for years, and yet its not supported by
Google and dropbox and others. Since you cannot get any newer version for XP
my advice is that after April 1st, simply make Firefox your default browser
which does work and carry on as before.
No not seen any adverts. You may well have missed an option to have or not
have adverts or another piece of software installed. I'm sure if you look
around you can disable such things, or run Malwarebytes to see if you have
any dodgy stuff on your machine. IE should not auto fire up. it should be a
choice, so some html is being launched at start up and regularly, which
sounds like maware to me. Look in msconfig.exe and see what is running at
start up, if it is not recognised by you, disable it temp wise and reboot
and make sure things work.
I had this once with AVG, which was one of the reasons I shunted it off my
system. There are avg safe search toolbars that can be set to do this as can
other toolbars. Kick them into touch, particularly the Google heap.
Brian

--
Brian Gaff....Note, this account does not accept Bcc: email.
graphics are great, but the blind can't hear them
Email:
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________


"Tim Lamb" wrote in message
...
In a momentary fit of insanity I allowed an offering of Explorer 8.0 (I
think) to download.

The only visible consequence is an overnight firing up of Explorer such
that I am greeted each morning with a Windows related advert.
Curiously the screen is prevented from entering sleep mode.

Today's offering was for a Windows driver scanner for a Brother printer.

I am using XP with service pack 3. I know this system is about to be
unsupported so am becoming very nervous about anything uninvited!

Any thoughts?
--
Tim Lamb

From a screen print....
http://static.myleadsolution.com/ag/...0B6AAEB855AB4B
...


Then *might* be relatively benign adware - see eg
http://www.anvisoft.com/resources/ho...removal-guide/
But note please I would not delete all host entries as that recommends
and not download any tool. I don't have time now to find a better guide
but as others have said Malwarebytes usually does the business.

It claims to be a Microsoft gold certified partner.

Please note that this comes with no warranty whatsoever despite the fact
that I am a former Microsoft developer and current drinking buddy of
Angelina Jolie

--
Robin
reply to address is (meant to be) valid

They all do this come and try this one ads. I suggest if you use Firefox as
the default browser that the first job is to install an ad blocker, it makes
sites like file hippo etc much less of a hassle.
There is one for IE but it only runs for a time and then wants to be payed
for, but tis cheap and seems to work well.
Brian

--
Brian Gaff....Note, this account does not accept Bcc: email.
graphics are great, but the blind can't hear them
Email:
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________


"Tim Lamb" wrote in message
...
In message , fred writes
In article , Martin Brown
writes
On 29/01/2014 09:16, Tim Lamb wrote:
In a momentary fit of insanity I allowed an offering of Explorer 8.0 (I
think) to download.

The only visible consequence is an overnight firing up of Explorer such
that I am greeted each morning with a Windows related advert.
Curiously the screen is prevented from entering sleep mode.

Today's offering was for a Windows driver scanner for a Brother
printer.

I am using XP with service pack 3. I know this system is about to be
unsupported so am becoming very nervous about anything uninvited!

Any thoughts?

Do you have another computer that you can use to make a bootable CD to
scan this machine for any known malware? Corrupting IE to make it show
adverts or hijack keystrokes is unfortunately all too common.

You can't trust the main machine any more. There are some tools that use
enough obfuscation that they might be able to detox an infected machine
without being noticed by the malware. I have found MalwareBytes to work
fairly well on other peoples infected PCs YMMV

http://download.cnet.com/Malwarebyte...-10804572.html


Agreed that malwarebytes is the way to clear this, an excellent program,
well thought of, very thorough and even asks polite permission to update
itself before attempting to do so.

I prefer the direct download at:

http://www.malwarebytes.org/

http://downloads.malwarebytes.org/mbam-download.php

Cnet frequently (although not in this case) put up their own 'trick'
download buttons to encourage you to install their own junkware.

It sounds like a fairly benign bit of adware, I'd download malwarebytes
then unplug the machine form the internet then boot in safe mode and do
their recommended scan.

Read the resulting report carefully and choose what you want rid of and
what you want to keep, the adware should be obvious.

Running their beta antirootkit scan overnight (very thorough) after you
have done this would be a good move too.

http://downloads.malwarebytes.org/file/mbar

I'd then run malwarebytes again after a day or so to make sure that a
hidden trigger has re-installed the malware.

Firefox would be a better day to day browser but I would pick up v21.0
from mozilla or oldversion.com as it has more accessible privacy features
than the latest version from Mozilla.

for windows:

https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.....0b7/win32/en-
GB/Firefox%20Setup%2021.0b7.exe

or all o/ss

https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla....leases/21.0b7/

HTH

Excellent Fred! I do use Firefox as default browser but keep Explorer as
an alternative for sites that limit your access.

I am going to struggle recognising what can safely be removed. Anyway no
online purchases or bank access FTTB.

--
Tim Lamb

On 29/01/2014 10:55, Tim Lamb wrote:
In message , Adrian
writes
On Wed, 29 Jan 2014 09:16:34 +0000, Tim Lamb wrote:

In a momentary fit of insanity I allowed an offering of Explorer 8.0 (I
think) to download.

The only visible consequence is an overnight firing up of Explorer such
that I am greeted each morning with a Windows related advert.
Curiously the screen is prevented from entering sleep mode.

Today's offering was for a Windows driver scanner for a Brother printer.

I call malware. That certainly isn't normal IE8 behaviour.

IE8 should have long been upgraded by Windows Update. Where did this
"offering" come from...?

From a screen print....
http://static.myleadsolution.com/ag/...0B6AAEB855AB4B
...

It claims to be a Microsoft gold certified partner.

This is m2pub which is adware. Irritating but not malicious.
To get rid of it, browse here to download then install and run the free
version of Malwarebytes Antimalware software.
http://www.malwarebytes.org/mwb-download/

Actually, I don't think you have a serious issue. It just needs careful
hunting down. Do just one thing at a time though, do not download every anti
malware known to man and take the compter back to an earlier time all at
once. That is not only the way to insanity, but to completely trashing the
Windows operating system. It may well be amulti tsking system but it can
only cope with one bit of abuse at a time!

Brian

--
Brian Gaff....Note, this account does not accept Bcc: email.
graphics are great, but the blind can't hear them
Email:
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________


"Tim Lamb" wrote in message
news
In message , Martin Brown
writes
On 29/01/2014 09:16, Tim Lamb wrote:
In a momentary fit of insanity I allowed an offering of Explorer 8.0 (I
think) to download.

The only visible consequence is an overnight firing up of Explorer such
that I am greeted each morning with a Windows related advert.
Curiously the screen is prevented from entering sleep mode.

Today's offering was for a Windows driver scanner for a Brother printer.

I am using XP with service pack 3. I know this system is about to be
unsupported so am becoming very nervous about anything uninvited!

Any thoughts?

Do you have another computer that you can use to make a bootable CD to
scan this machine for any known malware? Corrupting IE to make it show
adverts or hijack keystrokes is unfortunately all too common.

Only my wife's laptop (running Vista) This sounds to be beyond my current
skill set:-(

You can't trust the main machine any more. There are some tools that use
enough obfuscation that they might be able to detox an infected machine
without being noticed by the malware. I have found MalwareBytes to work
fairly well on other peoples infected PCs YMMV

http://download.cnet.com/Malwarebyte...-10804572.html

OK Noted. Thanks



--
Tim Lamb

On 29/01/2014 11:26, Brian Gaff wrote:
Well, dunno, I've been using 8 for years, and yet its not supported by
Google and dropbox and others. Since you cannot get any newer version for XP
my advice is that after April 1st, simply make Firefox your default browser
which does work and carry on as before.
No not seen any adverts. You may well have missed an option to have or not
have adverts or another piece of software installed. I'm sure if you look
around you can disable such things, or run Malwarebytes to see if you have
any dodgy stuff on your machine. IE should not auto fire up. it should be a
choice, so some html is being launched at start up and regularly, which
sounds like maware to me. Look in msconfig.exe and see what is running at
start up, if it is not recognised by you, disable it temp wise and reboot
and make sure things work.
I had this once with AVG, which was one of the reasons I shunted it off my
system. There are avg safe search toolbars that can be set to do this as can
other toolbars. Kick them into touch, particularly the Google heap.
Brian

It is good idea to use the custom installation option, to then untick
boxes of unwelcome software istallations.

On 29/01/14 11:08, Tim Lamb wrote:
Excellent Fred! I do use Firefox as default browser but keep Explorer as
an alternative for sites that limit your access.


???

It must be YEARS since I found a site that wouldn't work with firefox ...

Are there really some left?

I am going to struggle recognising what can safely be removed. Anyway no
online purchases or bank access FTTB.


--
Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to
lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the
members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are
rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a
diminishing number of producers.

On 29/01/2014 09:16, Tim Lamb wrote:
In a momentary fit of insanity I allowed an offering of Explorer 8.0 (I
think) to download.

The only visible consequence is an overnight firing up of Explorer such
that I am greeted each morning with a Windows related advert.
Curiously the screen is prevented from entering sleep mode.

Today's offering was for a Windows driver scanner for a Brother printer.

I am using XP with service pack 3. I know this system is about to be
unsupported so am becoming very nervous about anything uninvited!

Any thoughts?

At the risk of stating the obvious it the time to move on from an
obsolete OS is long overdue. I had hung on to XP until a year ago when I
bought a new laptop that came with Windows 7. It soon became apparent
that the time to leave XP behind had come. Having installed Windows 7 on
my desktop I am well pleased with it.
--
Peter Crosland

In article , The Natural Philosopher
scribeth thus
On 29/01/14 11:08, Tim Lamb wrote:
Excellent Fred! I do use Firefox as default browser but keep Explorer as
an alternative for sites that limit your access.


???

It must be YEARS since I found a site that wouldn't work with firefox ...

Are there really some left?


Well I had to line up some CISCO analogue telephone adapter units the
other day via the web interface and some of the facilities on the config
screen just weren't there..

Try as I might I couldn't get them to open so I could do a firmware
upgrade Nothing on the CISCO support site anywhere .. so just gave
up;(..

Came back to it a few days later and thought is there anything I
overlooked and accidentally opened it this time in Chrome and
mysteriously there're all there.

No mention of the browser to use in the manual!



I am going to struggle recognising what can safely be removed. Anyway no
online purchases or bank access FTTB.



--
Tony Sayer

On 29/01/2014 11:08, Tim Lamb wrote:

Excellent Fred! I do use Firefox as default browser but keep Explorer as
an alternative for sites that limit your access.

I am going to struggle recognising what can safely be removed. Anyway no
online purchases or bank access FTTB.

Work on the principle that if malwarebytes flags it, have it delete it.
Keeps it simple.



--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On 29/01/2014 11:46, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 29/01/14 11:08, Tim Lamb wrote:
Excellent Fred! I do use Firefox as default browser but keep Explorer as
an alternative for sites that limit your access.


???

It must be YEARS since I found a site that wouldn't work with firefox ...

Are there really some left?

Loads out there on corporate intranets (some only working on IE6!), and
a few SaaS type vendors on the internet that still require it.



--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

In message , The Natural Philosopher
writes
On 29/01/14 11:08, Tim Lamb wrote:
Excellent Fred! I do use Firefox as default browser but keep Explorer as
an alternative for sites that limit your access.


???

It must be YEARS since I found a site that wouldn't work with firefox ...

Are there really some left?

Sorry. Bad explanation. The FWi site currently allows 2 articles to be
read but wants you to sign in for more. I don't like auto sign in and
use an alternative browser to confuse them:-)

I am going to struggle recognising what can safely be removed. Anyway no
online purchases or bank access FTTB.



--
Tim Lamb

In article , John
Rumm writes
On 29/01/2014 11:08, Tim Lamb wrote:

Excellent Fred! I do use Firefox as default browser but keep Explorer as
an alternative for sites that limit your access.

I am going to struggle recognising what can safely be removed. Anyway no
online purchases or bank access FTTB.

Work on the principle that if malwarebytes flags it, have it delete it.
Keeps it simple.

I agree that is a safe bet and I prob shouldn't have scared Tim.

A different matter with other tools though, HijackThis for example but
safe on Malwarebytes.
--
fred
it's a ba-na-na . . . .

In message , Martin Brown
writes
Do you have another computer that you can use to make a bootable CD to
scan this machine for any known malware? Corrupting IE to make it show
adverts or hijack keystrokes is unfortunately all too common.

Only my wife's laptop (running Vista) This sounds to be beyond my
current skill set:-(

If it has a combo rw CD drive it shouldn't be. ISTR all the major AV
players have some sort of daily disk image that you can download and
run (and provide instructions for how to do it). You obviously have to
tell the PC to boot from CD first instead of HD but many are already
set like that by default. It shouldn't be too hard to do this. No
harder than downloading the right file from your AV vendor and
following a few simple instructions. It has the advantage that you are
then using software that is familiar to you. Leaving it three days
after the malware got past a decent AV product is usually enough time
for their countermeasures to have caught up enough to zap it.

You can't trust the main machine any more. There are some tools that
use enough obfuscation that they might be able to detox an infected
machine without being noticed by the malware. I have found
MalwareBytes to work fairly well on other peoples infected PCs YMMV

http://download.cnet.com/Malwarebyte...-10804572.html


OK Noted. Thanks

As Fred said download it from their main site Cnet will try and flog
you stuff and add its own relatively benign adware if you are careless.

Increasingly lots of updaters have default settings to install annoying
destablising plugins adware "tools" for browsers - Adobe for instance.

OK Done. I ran the quick version and removed some items. Others I left
due to nervousness:-)

Full scan tonight!


--
Tim Lamb

In message , Brian Gaff
writes
Actually, I don't think you have a serious issue. It just needs careful
hunting down. Do just one thing at a time though, do not download every anti
malware known to man and take the compter back to an earlier time all at
once. That is not only the way to insanity, but to completely trashing the
Windows operating system. It may well be amulti tsking system but it can
only cope with one bit of abuse at a time!

I don't think the *way back* machine works on my current set up. I
always assumed this was a conflict with Norton?

--
Tim Lamb

In message , Fredxxx
writes
On 29/01/2014 11:26, Brian Gaff wrote:
Well, dunno, I've been using 8 for years, and yet its not supported by
Google and dropbox and others. Since you cannot get any newer version for XP
my advice is that after April 1st, simply make Firefox your default browser
which does work and carry on as before.
No not seen any adverts. You may well have missed an option to have or not
have adverts or another piece of software installed. I'm sure if you look
around you can disable such things, or run Malwarebytes to see if you have
any dodgy stuff on your machine. IE should not auto fire up. it should be a
choice, so some html is being launched at start up and regularly, which
sounds like maware to me. Look in msconfig.exe and see what is running at
start up, if it is not recognised by you, disable it temp wise and reboot
and make sure things work.
I had this once with AVG, which was one of the reasons I shunted it off my
system. There are avg safe search toolbars that can be set to do this as can
other toolbars. Kick them into touch, particularly the Google heap.
Brian

It is good idea to use the custom installation option, to then untick
boxes of unwelcome software istallations.

I do that but they don't always offer a choice.

--
Tim Lamb

In message , Peter
Crosland writes
On 29/01/2014 09:16, Tim Lamb wrote:
In a momentary fit of insanity I allowed an offering of Explorer 8.0 (I
think) to download.

The only visible consequence is an overnight firing up of Explorer such
that I am greeted each morning with a Windows related advert.
Curiously the screen is prevented from entering sleep mode.

Today's offering was for a Windows driver scanner for a Brother printer.

I am using XP with service pack 3. I know this system is about to be
unsupported so am becoming very nervous about anything uninvited!

Any thoughts?

At the risk of stating the obvious it the time to move on from an
obsolete OS is long overdue. I had hung on to XP until a year ago when
I bought a new laptop that came with Windows 7. It soon became apparent
that the time to leave XP behind had come. Having installed Windows 7
on my desktop I am well pleased with it.

Sadly my now rather dated mail/news reader doesn't work on 64 bytes.
There are workarounds but not something I am anxious to engage.

--
Tim Lamb

In message , John
Rumm writes
On 29/01/2014 11:08, Tim Lamb wrote:

Excellent Fred! I do use Firefox as default browser but keep Explorer as
an alternative for sites that limit your access.

I am going to struggle recognising what can safely be removed. Anyway no
online purchases or bank access FTTB.

Work on the principle that if malwarebytes flags it, have it delete it.
Keeps it simple.

er.. It flagged about 15 but only ticked 2 for removal. I should have a
fresh list tomorrow and plan to post some examples here for comment.

--
Tim Lamb

In article , Tim Lamb
writes
In message , John
Rumm writes
On 29/01/2014 11:08, Tim Lamb wrote:

Excellent Fred! I do use Firefox as default browser but keep Explorer as
an alternative for sites that limit your access.

I am going to struggle recognising what can safely be removed. Anyway no
online purchases or bank access FTTB.

Work on the principle that if malwarebytes flags it, have it delete it.
Keeps it simple.

er.. It flagged about 15 but only ticked 2 for removal. I should have a
fresh list tomorrow and plan to post some examples here for comment.

As John suggests you are 99.9% safe to take it at its word and kill the
lot but feel free to post a screengrab of the results to remove all
doubt.

Tinypic suggested for an easy upload:

http://www.tinypic.com/

A tip is that most things it identifies as PUPs (Potentially Useful
Programs) aren't (useful that is) :-). Even if they were useful and you
lost them then it's a simple enough matter to find them again and
re-install.
--
fred
it's a ba-na-na . . . .

In article , fred writes

A tip is that most things it identifies as PUPs (Potentially Useful
Programs)

Potentially *unwanted* programs, I think you meant.

--
(\_/)
(='.'=)
(")_(")

In article , Mike Tomlinson
writes
In article , fred writes

A tip is that most things it identifies as PUPs (Potentially Useful
Programs)

Potentially *unwanted* programs, I think you meant.

Quite right, thank you :-)

Also, I've realised my suggestion to disconnect the network connection
and run from safe mode may stop the prog updating before running which
is pretty much essential. I ran a fix on a box using MAB over Christmas
only to have it re-infect itself in the New Year as the MAB definitions
were just a month out of date and had missed the hook for the
re-infection.

The alternative is to let then prog update then disconnect before the
disinfection process.
--
fred
it's a ba-na-na . . . .

On 29/01/2014 13:04, fred wrote:
In article , John
Rumm writes
On 29/01/2014 11:08, Tim Lamb wrote:

Excellent Fred! I do use Firefox as default browser but keep Explorer as
an alternative for sites that limit your access.

I am going to struggle recognising what can safely be removed. Anyway no
online purchases or bank access FTTB.

Work on the principle that if malwarebytes flags it, have it delete it.
Keeps it simple.

I agree that is a safe bet and I prob shouldn't have scared Tim.

A different matter with other tools though, HijackThis for example but
safe on Malwarebytes.

Indeed, and my comments were specific to Malwarebytes. HijackThis is a
useful tool and a different class of thing altogether like
Systeinternals Autoruns.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On 29/01/2014 13:23, Tim Lamb wrote:
In message , John
Rumm writes
On 29/01/2014 11:08, Tim Lamb wrote:

Excellent Fred! I do use Firefox as default browser but keep Explorer as
an alternative for sites that limit your access.

I am going to struggle recognising what can safely be removed. Anyway no
online purchases or bank access FTTB.

Work on the principle that if malwarebytes flags it, have it delete
it. Keeps it simple.

er.. It flagged about 15 but only ticked 2 for removal. I should have a
fresh list tomorrow and plan to post some examples here for comment.

It will not automatically tick the "potentially unwanted" programs (i.e.
some browser search engine replacements etc). However its still a safe
bet to right click on the check box list and choose "select all" from
the popup.



--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On 29/01/2014 13:13, Tim Lamb wrote:
In message , Fredxxx writes
On 29/01/2014 11:26, Brian Gaff wrote:
Well, dunno, I've been using 8 for years, and yet its not supported by
Google and dropbox and others. Since you cannot get any newer version
for XP
my advice is that after April 1st, simply make Firefox your default
browser
which does work and carry on as before.
No not seen any adverts. You may well have missed an option to
have or not
have adverts or another piece of software installed. I'm sure if you
look
around you can disable such things, or run Malwarebytes to see if you
have
any dodgy stuff on your machine. IE should not auto fire up. it
should be a
choice, so some html is being launched at start up and regularly, which
sounds like maware to me. Look in msconfig.exe and see what is
running at
start up, if it is not recognised by you, disable it temp wise and
reboot
and make sure things work.
I had this once with AVG, which was one of the reasons I shunted it
off my
system. There are avg safe search toolbars that can be set to do this
as can
other toolbars. Kick them into touch, particularly the Google heap.
Brian

It is good idea to use the custom installation option, to then untick
boxes of unwelcome software istallations.

I do that but they don't always offer a choice.

With some applications you need to go through the "advanced" or "custom"
install to deselect the bundled shovelware.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On 29/01/2014 13:17, Tim Lamb wrote:
In message , Peter
Crosland writes
On 29/01/2014 09:16, Tim Lamb wrote:
In a momentary fit of insanity I allowed an offering of Explorer 8.0 (I
think) to download.

The only visible consequence is an overnight firing up of Explorer such
that I am greeted each morning with a Windows related advert.
Curiously the screen is prevented from entering sleep mode.

Today's offering was for a Windows driver scanner for a Brother printer.

I am using XP with service pack 3. I know this system is about to be
unsupported so am becoming very nervous about anything uninvited!

Any thoughts?

At the risk of stating the obvious it the time to move on from an
obsolete OS is long overdue. I had hung on to XP until a year ago when
I bought a new laptop that came with Windows 7. It soon became
apparent that the time to leave XP behind had come. Having installed
Windows 7 on my desktop I am well pleased with it.

Sadly my now rather dated mail/news reader doesn't work on 64 bytes.
There are workarounds but not something I am anxious to engage.

You can install Win 7 32 bit if you want... that retains the ability to
run 16 bit code. Failing that Win 7 Pro allows use of "compatibility
mode" (i.e. basically a XP install stuffed into a virtual PC), and that
will work on the 64 bit version.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

In message , Tim Lamb
writes
In message , Peter
Crosland writes
On 29/01/2014 09:16, Tim Lamb wrote:
In a momentary fit of insanity I allowed an offering of Explorer 8.0 (I
think) to download.

The only visible consequence is an overnight firing up of Explorer such
that I am greeted each morning with a Windows related advert.
Curiously the screen is prevented from entering sleep mode.

Today's offering was for a Windows driver scanner for a Brother printer.

I am using XP with service pack 3. I know this system is about to be
unsupported so am becoming very nervous about anything uninvited!

Any thoughts?

At the risk of stating the obvious it the time to move on from an
obsolete OS is long overdue. I had hung on to XP until a year ago when
I bought a new laptop that came with Windows 7. It soon became
apparent that the time to leave XP behind had come. Having installed
Windows 7 on my desktop I am well pleased with it.

Sadly my now rather dated mail/news reader doesn't work on 64 bytes.
There are workarounds but not something I am anxious to engage.

That would that be TP I see - in order to keep it I bought W732 bit, but
I still run XP on a laptop. I haven't seen anything startlingly better
on W7. IE8 was crap on it though, regularly going into a loop so now use
FF
--
bert

In message , fred writes
Tinypic suggested for an easy upload:

http://www.tinypic.com/

A tip is that most things it identifies as PUPs (Potentially Useful
Programs) aren't (useful that is) :-). Even if they were useful and you
lost them then it's a simple enough matter to find them again and
re-install.

Ah! I wondered what that meant.

--
Tim Lamb

In message , fred writes
In article , Mike Tomlinson
writes
In article , fred writes

A tip is that most things it identifies as PUPs (Potentially Useful
Programs)

Potentially *unwanted* programs, I think you meant.

Quite right, thank you :-)

Also, I've realised my suggestion to disconnect the network connection
and run from safe mode may stop the prog updating before running which
is pretty much essential. I ran a fix on a box using MAB over Christmas
only to have it re-infect itself in the New Year as the MAB definitions
were just a month out of date and had missed the hook for the re-infection.

The alternative is to let then prog update then disconnect before the
disinfection process.

Spotted that. 199 days overdue. Starting in safe mode is problematic.
The initial displays are too fast to read so I don't know when to hit
F8. The initial run was done in normal set up. Bloody slow loading!

--
Tim Lamb

On 29/01/2014 12:58, Tim Lamb wrote:
In message , The Natural Philosopher
writes
On 29/01/14 11:08, Tim Lamb wrote:
Excellent Fred! I do use Firefox as default browser but keep Explorer as
an alternative for sites that limit your access.


???

It must be YEARS since I found a site that wouldn't work with firefox ...

Are there really some left?

Sorry. Bad explanation. The FWi site currently allows 2 articles to be
read but wants you to sign in for more. I don't like auto sign in and
use an alternative browser to confuse them:-)

Setting the browser to reject cookies from that site usually fixes
those... works on the Telegraph paywall for example.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

In message , John
Rumm writes

It must be YEARS since I found a site that wouldn't work with firefox ...

Are there really some left?

Sorry. Bad explanation. The FWi site currently allows 2 articles to be
read but wants you to sign in for more. I don't like auto sign in and
use an alternative browser to confuse them:-)

Setting the browser to reject cookies from that site usually fixes
those... works on the Telegraph paywall for example.

Sssh!

--
Tim Lamb