I need some computer help

[TitsMcGee]

So my desktop computer has seemed to want to take a shit on me again. I had a malware issue on Friday, that thankfully I was able to fix myself. Since then IE8 refuses to connect to the internet - which wouldn't be a problem since I don't use it - but yahoo messenager also refuses to connect because of the IE8 issue. I've tried redownloading IE, I've tried restoring the computer to an earlier date, I've tried doing things to the firewall like the diagnostic thing from IE tells me to. Nothing has worked. All the ports and shit are connected and fine, FireFox works just fine too.

Does anyone have any idea on how to fix this? Otherwise I'm going to end up having to reformat the stupid thing and lose some programs because I don't have copies of them anymore (Microsoft Office).

[Head Wreck]

http://housecall.trendmicro.com

see if this picks up anything

[TitsMcGee]

It won't let me download it because it says I don't have an internet connection...even though Firefox is working just dandy.

[killyosaur]

It won't let me download it because it says I don't have an internet connection...even though Firefox is working just dandy.

Check to see if you have any firewalls other than the windows firewall on your system and check if it is blocking anything. Start by trying to turn it off or uninstalling it. Otherwise you may have a particularly persistent and nasty virus which may require a full reinstall. I would suggest open office (openoffice.org) as a viable replacement for Microsoft Office if it does indeed come to that.

another option is to check your hosts file to see if anything goofy was added to it. this file is found in the system folder, (windows\system32\drivers\etc\) and sometimes entries can get added by malicious software that can screw with your ability to download and/or access security software (generally through a series of redirects in the file using the web addresses of the software sites). Screen shots of the errors would also be helpful (ctrl+printscreen and paste it into a graphics program, save and upload).

Edited May 9, 2010 by killyosaur

[TitsMcGee]

Check to see if you have any firewalls other than the windows firewall on your system and check if it is blocking anything. Start by trying to turn it off or uninstalling it. Otherwise you may have a particularly persistent and nasty virus which may require a full reinstall. I would suggest open office (openoffice.org) as a viable replacement for Microsoft Office if it does indeed come to that.

another option is to check your hosts file to see if anything goofy was added to it. this file is found in the system folder, (windows\system32\drivers\etc\) and sometimes entries can get added by malicious software that can screw with your ability to download and/or access security software (generally through a series of redirects in the file using the web addresses of the software sites). Screen shots of the errors would also be helpful (ctrl+printscreen and paste it into a graphics program, save and upload).

Did the firewall thing already, still nothing. Also have ran every virus/spyware/adware/malware program that I have and it's not finding anything. I'm at the point where I just need to save everything and reformat it before I shoot it with the 12 gauge.

[killyosaur]

Did the firewall thing already, still nothing. Also have ran every virus/spyware/adware/malware program that I have and it's not finding anything. I'm at the point where I just need to save everything and reformat it before I shoot it with the 12 gauge.

LOL, yeah, starting to sound that way. Stupid question, you've checked to be sure all your virus, spyware, adware, malware software is up to date? Just another thing to check off the list of crap we sometimes forget to do. Other than that, did IE 8 work before the malware incident? Or have you recently upgraded to IE 8 or made any other updates recently? Sometimes an update can screw up a machine because of certain configurations, I don't know how computer savvy you are, but you can uninstall updates through the install manager, there is a check box at the top to allow you to see them. If uninstalling those doesn't do anything, I'd suggest giving the reformat and reinstall a shot. There are some malicious software that can hide from even the best virus scans and if you have something like that preventing you from accessing the internet, your best option is going to be a reinstall. Before doing a full reformat and reinstall, another thing you can give a shot to is try doing a repair on your OS. you can generally achieve this by popping in the install media, going through the install process and just select repair instead of reformat or install when the appropriate screen comes up. This would, of course, strip out all updates, but you wouldn't lose any software. I'd still suggest doing a full backup just in case.

[TitsMcGee]

LOL, yeah, starting to sound that way. Stupid question, you've checked to be sure all your virus, spyware, adware, malware software is up to date? Just another thing to check off the list of crap we sometimes forget to do. Other than that, did IE 8 work before the malware incident? Or have you recently upgraded to IE 8 or made any other updates recently? Sometimes an update can screw up a machine because of certain configurations, I don't know how computer savvy you are, but you can uninstall updates through the install manager, there is a check box at the top to allow you to see them. If uninstalling those doesn't do anything, I'd suggest giving the reformat and reinstall a shot. There are some malicious software that can hide from even the best virus scans and if you have something like that preventing you from accessing the internet, your best option is going to be a reinstall. Before doing a full reformat and reinstall, another thing you can give a shot to is try doing a repair on your OS. you can generally achieve this by popping in the install media, going through the install process and just select repair instead of reformat or install when the appropriate screen comes up. This would, of course, strip out all updates, but you wouldn't lose any software. I'd still suggest doing a full backup just in case.

Everything is up to date, I run that stuff at least once a week. And everything was working fine before Friday's malware incident. I'm not very computer savvy to say the least, and the person who I usually go to to get this stuff fixed well quite frankly doesn't give two shits about me anymore, so I just get to save everything and reformat it.

[killyosaur]

I suggest before going to the reformat, in the options for install (when you stick the disc in and hit a key on restart) you should be able to go through a repair before doing the reformat. I'm assuming you probably are running XP? I can't recall if vista gave me the option to do an inplace install which just replaces the operating system files, and I haven't had an issue with Windows 7 that might result in me needing to do this, but in XP after you put the install media in and hit any key, select for a new install, hit the F8 key to agree to the terms, then you should be given the option to repair ®. Try that first. The time of install is about the same as a reformat and install, so yes, if that doesn't work you have to go through everything again, but depending on how important it is for you to hold onto the software you can't replace, it might be worth the trouble.

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

Open IE.

go to the Tools Menu

Choose Internet Options

Click the Connections Tab

Click the LAN Settings button near the bottom

In the Lower half "Proxy Settings" Uncheck everything.

Click OK twice... you're online again

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

I wanted to add...

Right now there are various fake anti-virus programs that are infecting peoples computers. They account for 15% of all infections by malicious software. One of the things they do is "shutoff" your internet access. How they do this, is that they act like a proxy server running on the local host. Window's connection settings are changed to point back at the fake AV program. Just do as I instructed above and you will be fine... that is if you have not already formatted your drive...

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

omg you need to log on... I have this horrible feeling you're formating/reinstalling when you don't need to.

[TitsMcGee]

I will have to try that Gaf, thank you.

[TitsMcGee]

Open IE.

go to the Tools Menu

Choose Internet Options

Click the Connections Tab

Click the LAN Settings button near the bottom

In the Lower half "Proxy Settings" Uncheck everything.

Click OK twice... you're online again

Thank you Gaf, that worked perfectly. You saved me a lot of work.

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

You're welcome.