My Internet is messed up

[Craig.]

howdy nickle.
sadly i tried that to, tons found but even after removal nothing fixed.

[RichieB16]

I don't even know that much about that.  I remember that someone said those programs remove "spy-ware" but that didn't tell me anything.  LOL.

[Craig.]

hi richie:)
spy-ware=bad:) companys place cookies onto your computer that transmits information about your internet activitys back to them, they are usually contained in pop-up adds, kazaa or certain other web-sites and programs. i dont know if they transmit other computer information. but i do recomend getting ad-aware and running it to clean out your computer ASAP

[RichieB16]

OK, I will.  Thanks.  I doubt I will have too much since I just formatted.  But, I'll do it anyway.  

[RollerBall]

Know this is a late reply - haven't looked around much down here lately - but here's something for everyone to remember.

Many problems being caused on cable modem and dsl connections are as a result of actual or attempted browser hijacks by trojans.

MOST AV software doesn't detect trojans and even spyware detectors won't. Trojans are complicated and I don't know of ANY effective free software for dealing with them.

But here's a simple step you can take.

If you start getting connection problems or other weird events, look in the Windows\system and Windows \System32 folders for any NEW exe files. Chance is that any file(s) dated around about the time the problems began is a trojan loaded on your PC by let's say a hacker. You can try creating a folder and moving the exe file(s) into it. If the problems go away after rebooting, chances are they were trojan(s) and can be deleted.

Ideally you should then go through the registry and look for the 'startups' in the various ..Microsoft/Windows/Current Version Run/RunOnce/RunOnceServices etc containers and delete them as well but if you have isolated the active (exe) files, they can't work anyway.

You NEED to be concerned about trojans. The reason they bu**er things up is because MOST of them are diallers (which screw a dsl connection up anyway) or can transmit data back to the 'hackers' server. The kind of data they are looking for is when you do e-transactions using C/Cards and eg passwords to Inet banking accounts.

I don't want to worry you but....

BTW, what are our stoopid politicians doing in the meantime apart from looking up their own backsides and wasting their time in all sorts of other ways. It's about time that some really TOUGH international legislation was devised to cover spam, the loading of unauthorised software on remote PCs without permission, delivering unrequested porn and other stuff. If it isn't the Internet is already becoming a jungle and eventually really drastic controls will be needed that would be totally regrettable given the spirit in which the Internet originally started.

[RollerBall]

As a further update to the above.

I recommend the FREE AV system from www.grisoft.com. It's at least as good as payware stuff like McAfee and Norton from my experience.

Today I updated mine to the 31st October release. When I rebotted it detected a trojan in the system area and when I ran a full scan it picked up and removed 6 (YES SIX!!) trojan/virus files.

Anyone who is running any kind of Internet connection without a system like this is looking for trouble.

BTW AV software MUST be updated at least every 3-7 days. It's no good saying you've got Norton or McAfee that came with your system 18 months ago - it is now worse than useless.