Member Avatar for bluedos82

Location: My house
OS: Windows 98

I have a computer that is messed up!
We had to get a new one because this one was so bad. What happend was ablout every few hrs (mostly when getting on the Internet) a million popups would come up, one after the other and when you closed one, 10 more would pop up. Eventually the computer would be low on resources and then I would have to shut the computer down.

Anyone know what on Earth is causing this?

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by caperjack

Dani AI

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For : the repeated popup flood and eventual resource exhaustion is caused by persistent, intrusive software that keeps spawning windows and processes. As noted, this is a malicious infection; is also on the right track with a diagnostic-first approach. The steps below prioritize containment, safe diagnosis, and minimal risk to personal files.

Immediate containment and cleanup sequence:

  • Disconnect the machine from the Internet (unplug network or disable the modem) to stop further downloads or remote control.
  • Back up personal documents, pictures and email files to external media before making changes.
  • Boot to a minimal mode so fewer autostart items run, then clear the browser cache and temporary files to remove scripted repeaters.
  • Run up-to-date on-demand scanners from trusted vendors; if modern tools cannot run under the old OS, use a bootable rescue scanner on external media to scan offline.
  • Preserve a full startup/process log for diagnosis before deleting items. As advised, keep that log unchanged and share it for guided removal rather than making blind deletions.
  • If manual removals are attempted, create system and registry backups and note every change so it can be undone.

If the infection resists removal or Windows 98 is unstable, a clean reinstall or hardware replacement is often faster and safer. Windows 98 is obsolete and no longer receives security fixes; migrating to a supported OS improves long-term safety. Prevent recurrence by keeping systems current, using least-privilege accounts, maintaining regular backups, and avoiding risky sites. Caution: avoid deleting system files or registry keys unless confident of their purpose; destructive edits can make recovery harder.

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Member Avatar for DMR

Absolutely- malicious programs called "adware", "spyware", and "hijackware".

You can get infested with these nasties simply by visiting certain web sites; you don't even have to download anyhting (knowingly, anyway).

I'm moving this thread to our Security forum, which is where we focus on these issues. Have a read through the other threads there to find out just how prevalent these problems are, and how to protect yourself from them. A good, short synopsis of the whole mess can be found here:

Member Avatar for caperjack

Location: My house
OS: Windows 98

I have a computer that is messed up!
We had to get a new one because this one was so bad. What happend was ablout every few hrs (mostly when getting on the Internet) a million popups would come up, one after the other and when you closed one, 10 more would pop up. Eventually the computer would be low on resources and then I would have to shut the computer down.

Anyone know what on Earth is causing this?

Might I suggest Ad-Aware and Spybot

Download the latest version of Ad-Aware at ADAWARE

Download SPYBOT

How to setup Ad-Aware and Spy-Bot S&D
http://www.zerosrealm.com/scanning.php

And after that, please do the following:


Download 'Hijack This!'.

Unzip (extract) it to a folder of its own.Like c:\HJT\hijackthis.exe , Then Doubleclick HijackThis.exe (in the new folder), and hit "Scan".
When the scan is finished, the "Scan" button will change into a "Save Log" button.
Press that, then Ctrl-A to Select All, and copy its contents here. for hijackthis,most of what it lists will be harmless or even essential, don't fix anything yet.

reboot computer and post a new hijackthis log

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