strange behaviour of IE

[riya_here]

hi all,

i am a bit confused.

I have a laptop having win 2K. My dad used to use it, n now he gave it to me. its not been used since a long time.

Now, Whenever i connect the internet (i have cable net) from it, it starts opening new
IE windows for unknown sites. My laptop is not having any popup blocker/ spyware. The antivirus is not having uptodate definitions.

But when i connect the same net from my desktop PC, it works fine. my desktop PC is having popup blockers and antivirus.

please help.

[brokencrow]

You've got a classic case of spyware. Run Ad-Aware and Spybot, clean out anything they find.

It would behoove you to first download Firefox for a web browser. A clean install of Firefox at this point will give you a useable browser for now.

[foxyloxley]

and CWShredder too

get it here

run through this tutorial

it will help you out

[edit]
and DON'T change browsers yet .......
fix the issues THEN change
but fix the underlying problems first ...........

[Nokia]

Originally posted here by brokencrow
You've got a classic case of spyware. Run Ad-Aware and Spybot, clean out anything they find.

It would behoove you to first download Firefox for a web browser. A clean install of Firefox at this point will give you a useable browser for now.

It would probably be a good idea to get rid of your spyware before you start downloading and installing new web browsers!

[nihil]

Hi,

I would check to see what you have the installation CDs for, you might want to consider a reformat and reinstall?

Assuming that you do not:

1. Get a firewall download it on a protected machine, burn it to CD, and install it on the laptop. ZoneAlarm will be adequate for the moment.

2. Get an AV and update it, run it in Safe Mode Avast! and AVG are two reasonable free ones.

3. Update Windows (and IE)..................you will be quite a few security patches behind.

4. Get:

Spybot Search & Destroy
Ewido
A-Squared
AdAware

Update them, and run in safe mode.

Go to the Trend Micro site and run the PC-Cillin "Housecall" online scanner.

That should get you started

[ByTeWrangler]

Greeting's

You must spread your AntiPoints around before giving it to nihil again.

but anyway seriously we must have some kind of a direct hyperlink or we should make that SPYWARE REMOVAL TUTORIAL a STICKY IN THE SPYWARE AND ADWARE FORUM.

Anyway coming back to the topic I think foxyloxley and nihil have provided more then enough information to keep your PC clean from now. If you continue to use IE here are some tips :

Control Panel
Network and Internet connections
Internet Options
General
Temporary internet files
Settings
Set to: Every visit to page
Days to keep pages in history
Set to: 0
Security
Internet
Custom level
Reset to: High
Reset (yes)
Scroll down to "File download"
Set to: Enable (yes)
Local intranet
Sites
Make sure nothing is selected
Trusted sites
Sites
Add following web site to the zone:

add: *.microsoft.com
add: *.passport.com

If you dont add microsoft to trusted website's list then you will not be able to update your PC
Make sure "require server verification" is not selected!
Move the tab to "Medium"
Restricted Sites
Custom level
Reset to: High
Reset (yes)
Scroll down to "File download"
Set to: Enable (yes)
Privacy
Advanced
Override automatic cookie handling
First party cookies: Block
Third party cookies: Block
Enable: Always allow session cookies
Content
Autocomplete
Disable all
Clear forms (yes)
Clear passwords (yes)
Programs
Disable: Internet Explorer should check whether it is the default web browser
Advanced
Disable everything else, but enable the following
+ Always send URL:s as UTF 8
+ Disable script debugging
+ Enable folder view on FTP sites
+ Enable page transitions
+ Show friendly http error messages
+ Show go button in address bar
+ Use passive ftp
+ Use smooth scrolling
+ Use http 1.1
+ Use http 1.1 through proxy connections
+ Dont display online media content in the media bar
+ Play animations in webpages
+ Play sounds in webpages
+ Play videos in webpages
+ Show pictures
+ Smart image dithering
+ Check for publishers certificate revocation
+ Check for server certificate revocation
+ Check signatures on downloaded programs
+ Do not save encrypted pages to disk
+ Use SSL 3.0
+ Use TLS 1.0
+ Warn about invalid site certificates
+ Warn if form submittal is being redirected

I personally dont prefer IE not because its deemed as an unsecured web browser but because its more intigrated to the OS and thats why its more vulnerable. I would personally prefer you ro change your browser.

One more thing DONT USE YOUR ADMIN ACCOUNT FOR BROWSING (DONT USE IT FOR ANYTHING EXCEPT INSTALLATION'S)
If you must do that use "DropMyrights" by microsoft

get it from :

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/de...re11152004.asp

[riya_here]

thanks a billion....

u people really gave me lots of ways.... now i m glad...

ya, getting a reinstall of OS is the option, but i want to clean stuff....

re-installing an OS is really easy but i want to learn how to clean up.

re-install is not a problem as i dont have much data in my laptop.

i will try all this.... n will surely get back to you ppl!!!

Thanks again!!!

[ByTeWrangler]

Greeting's

You might want to show us your Hijackthis log to be sure that your system is clean if you are going to re-install then update before coming online for that download autopatcher.

[brokencrow]

Also try CCleaner. It's great for removing all the temp files on a Windows-based PC. Temp files cause a lot more problems than people realize.

[riya_here]

As recommended, I used ZoneAlarm, but after installing it, I am unable to access my internet.