didn't i flame windows already before??

[trevelyn]

hi, uhh.. i set up a windows machine cos people really seem to defend its honor around here, and i needed a fast server to host my NDS files.  well, it is summer, and i live in my computer room anyways because of reasons that make me hate my life, which is air-conditioned.  My gf said "hey can i use your computer? its hot in the room where my pc is.." i said "yeah, whatever" then i sat on the other side of the room and continued with my macbook+ubuntu.  Then, when she was done looking at myspace, and whatever she left.  I was walking out of the room and saw an error on the screen, said that "Antispyware2006 was installed and detected errors"  WTF?!??! i opened "add/remove programs" (what a fucking joke) and sure enough applications were actually installed on the system!! SCUMWARE INSTALLED SOMETHING ON A WINDOWS BOX?!?? i removed everything that i didnt use/want.  and from that point on, when i am patching the NDS roms and decide to check out pla forums while sitting here, USING ONLY FIREFOX, IE opens up and theres pop up windows all over the place.  even just now in the middle of my sentence.  so i opened msconfig and got rid of shit that was in the startup tab, i watched taskmanager like a hawk and browsed the web in the bg, and poof more pop ups, and even print screen showed no process in the taskmanager that would cause them.. netstat shows 8000 connections to amazon ads from the forums, and the forums themselves, thats it.  i wiped all the shit from the registry in the RunOnce and Run folders..
i dont know what else to do? what a pain in the ass.  how is this shit on every fucking corporate computer in the world yet can suck so fucking badly, is beyond the scope of my imagination. does anyone know what i should do next? also can i please get rid of shit in the taskbar like the ugly little red and yellow shields?? (updates and system guard) i am truly not knowledgeable in the microsoft department.

thanks in advance windows users! - trev.

[Tachyon]

Dude shit like that is the reason I've committed to learning Linux. I've seen many a box like that and I've always just formatted the drive immediately, Windoze is not worth the hassle.

[M-26-7]

Meh, after a while you just learn to live with the mediocrity. Just like married-life.

[trevelyn]

Meh, after a while you just learn to live with the mediocrity. Just like married-life.

thats what you think, im divorcing.

alrighty then here goes..

Windows XP Media Center Edition CD i fucking found in a drawer, installed it worked great, moron touches it, it's broken.  okay, I disabaled EVERYTHING in msconfig and rebooted, - no inet connection at all, nothing..
i opened firefox, and poof IE opens with a 404, looking for "FINDSTUFF.COM" yeah well, they are going to FINDSTUFF like Nikto later, running from 30 different shells, when i connect from a fucking FiOS wlan outside of Mellon Bank.  fucking assholes.. anyways, Media Center XP right? "Add remove programs doesnt list IE, but "add remove windows components does!" so i waited 15 minutes to realise that i just disabled it from the desktop, and start menu....
...

....

wtf does that mean? i cant remove it entirely?? (oh looky theres find stuff.com again) well, i tried to boot into safemode, nope. not an option, F8 brings it up but wont login. i tried to delete the folder "INTERNET EXPLORER" thinking the p.o.s. OS wouldnt be able to find it to spam me with their nonsense. No. it keeps coming back, after deletion, like a virus.  like a yahoo! msgr client. i really hate internet.  i really do, too much advertising, too much spam, too much shite and piss.

its too risky to have a windows machine here at the lab, so i got the two little exe files working under Wine, and im taking it down to simply host the drive full of roms from a REAL computer.  One that actually listens to commands and allows you to configure it and mold to where you think its simply an extension of your body. FreeBSD FTW.

btw the ugly shields/themes/and TONS of useless shit that slows down your machines can be disabled simply through msconfig.  (it makes it even boot faster!)

[trevelyn]

[rbcp]

Did you have all the service packs and updates installed?  I've been running XP on several computers ever since it came 7 years ago and I've never had any problems like this.  And I have 2 kids who use XP all the time and their computers don't end up with any spyware on them.  I've got them set up with user accounts, though, so I don't think it's possible for them to install anything.  You should also install AVG to protect against viruses and spyware.  It's free software.  http://www.grisoft.com/  Or the paid version of it is available on bittorrent.

I tried to help a friend of mine recently who's got major XP spyware and/or virus issues.  I tried installing AVG and some other anti-virus software, but the computer wouldn't take either of them.  We're gonna wipe it all out this weekend and reinstall.  I think XP is a great OS and I've never had much of a reason to hate it.  You just have to keep some kind of anti-virus program running on it and/or keep people off your computer who let those kind of things happen.

[gangals]

Trev, here's a program that is able to unlock the hold a program will have on a file when it prevents you from accessing it.

http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker


Also for spyware, I advise using SUPERAntiSpyware and ATF Cleaner in safemode.

Once you've gone through msconfig, I advise going into Services and disabling all the crap you don't need.

[Lestan Gregor]

Another trick you can try is disabling explorer.exe, since winantispyware is a type of Vundoware. Vundoware can't run while explorer.exe is running.

[trevelyn]

omg i lost my mind!!

i tried everything i could, i felt like a surgeon under a lamp trying to save a dying man.. i get too fond of my machines.  after all, i talk to them, and pretend they talk back to me.  i watched taskmanager again, this time i pressed alt+ctrl+del instantly as windows opened, and watched and pressed print screen when something new came up, and i found something new.  rfeugosrgbv.exe or something, and then i re-opened msconfig  and there was something *new* in it!
so theres now a rogue program (that doesnt show up in taskmanger under processes) that keeps making new dll's that control ie.  why couldnt there be "ps aux" or "kill -9" Brad, and everyone i realise that you guys are good with windows, you told me before, thats why i was asking for advice i didnt mean to re-flame it, i was just so pissed off.  i pay mortgage for a whole house, but all my shit is jammed into one room, and somehow it still got fucked with.  i should pay someone to hug me.  I dont think i feel like going through all the trouble of dl and installing spyware, after all that.. i have 3 drives in that machine 20GB each, its sole purpose was to host the DS ROMs/Backups.  why didnt it ask me for an admin passwd when i installed it i cant log in safe mode as "administrator" if thats even a REAL acct.  cos it asks for a passwd that isnt blank!!  i think i know the smb.conf file like, i think i memorized it by now anyways! so i will just switch, and give the media center edition cd to my brother or mom or something.  tanks guys. 

[Lestan Gregor]

If you give me 20 bucks I'll hug you.

[trevelyn]

If you give me 20 bucks I'll hug you.

where do you live?

[mr_doc]

I use 'hijack this' when people ask me to fix those problems. Download that.

[PHISH-PHREAK]

I disabaled EVERYTHING

My own mediocre attempt at humor has been highly amusing to myself. bald

[Jordi]

Did you have all the service packs and updates installed?  I've been running XP on several computers ever since it came 7 years ago and I've never had any problems like this.  And I have 2 kids who use XP all the time and their computers don't end up with any spyware on them.  I've got them set up with user accounts, though, so I don't think it's possible for them to install anything.  You should also install AVG to protect against viruses and spyware.  It's free software.  http://www.grisoft.com/  Or the paid version of it is available on bittorrent.

I tried to help a friend of mine recently who's got major XP spyware and/or virus issues.  I tried installing AVG and some other anti-virus software, but the computer wouldn't take either of them.  We're gonna wipe it all out this weekend and reinstall.  I think XP is a great OS and I've never had much of a reason to hate it.  You just have to keep some kind of anti-virus program running on it and/or keep people off your computer who let those kind of things happen.

I agree! I love Windows XP and have nothing against it. The version of Windows Vista I'm using isn't all that bad either. From my experience with Spyware and Windows, good luck! I would just re-format and protect your system the first time. You could always try going into safe mode and running Spybot Search and Destroy plus checking the registry and startup folder... That MIGHT work, but even so, it is a gamble.

[Zazen]

why couldnt there be "ps aux" or "kill -9"

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/ProcessesAndThreads/PsTools.mspx - I use these tools a lot.

I find the best way to get rid of spyware is to just search for files modified in the last day (assuming you just recently got infected). You'll find an assload of mysterious-looking .exe's and .dll's. Delete them. When some of them refuse to be deleted, use MoveFile (http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/SystemInformation/PendMoves.mspx) to schedule them for deletion and reboot. I have seen only one piece of spyware that will actually sense a pfro and get rid of the entry for it, which I had to delete by booting off a CD. I bet this gets more common, though.