Posts by DMR

Simple question perhaps, but have you looked at your MSN preferences? There should be an option to have MSN load at Windows startup. If that option is enabled, try disabling it.

Moving to the Security forum, as that is where we deal with these kinds of issues.

Hayate,

What you have might not necessarilly be a virus; "spyware"-type programs can often cause these kinds of problems, and anti-virus programs won't detect/remove them.

Have a read through the other threads in Security to find info on how to detect these pests and how to remove them if they're in your system.

Oh, and BTW: I see this is your first post here- welcome!

:)

Hello Helot, welcome to TechTalk! :)

What you're describing is the password function embedded in the computer's BIOS. Although makes and versions of BIOSes vary, every PC has one, and they almost invariably have a password-protection option.

To enable the password protection you need to enter the BIOS setup program. This is done by pressing a certain key as the computer boots up (but before Windows starts booting). The exact key you need to press varies between BIOSes, but DEL, F1, and F2 are three very comon ones. Watch your screen when the computer starts to boot; many BIOSes will display a "Press some key to enter setup" message, and if you press the specified key at that point you'll be put into the BIOS seup program. From there it isn't very difficult to find and set the security/password options.

As long as the password you specify isn't easily guessed, about the only way your son could get into your computer after you set the BIOS password is to physically open the computer's case and clear the BIOS settings by removing the BIOS back-up battery or by using the BIOS-reset jumpers on the motherboard.

Repost if you have any more questions on this and we'll get you sorted.

I'll do it, thanks again. I know I'll sound like a nitwit but is Linux another OS besides lets say XP, etc?

Yes, Linux is an operating system that runs on both PCs and Macs. It has its roots in UNIX, as does the Mach kernel in Apple's Mac OS X

given that Opera works this obviously reduces the set of options for IE not working ....

Given that, yes- it seems to be a specific IE problem rather than a problem with your general network settings. Since you also said that your IE location bar was acting wonky, I'd suspect that IE has been corrupted by spyware/hijackware or the like. If you still want to pursue the fix for IE, I'd suggest that you have a read through the posts in our Security forum- in them you'll find out how to identify and remove these parasitic programs.

Andrew21,

I've split your previous posts (and any responses to your posts) into their own separate thread. The thread is located here:

http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/thread6013.html

Please read the Private Message I sent you concerning my reason for doing so, and please follow up on your troubleshoot in the thread I gave above as opposed to continuing to post in this thread. The problem posted by the originator of this thread has been solved, so this thread is essentially closed; any new questions by other members, however related they might seem to issues in this thread, should be placed in their own thread.

Thanks,

DMR

Good Find! :)

Yes, many (especially older) cable/DSL modems are only 10Base-T (10Mbps) devices.

If you want it to bring up a GUI login prompt automatically at boot you need to change your default runlevel. You do this by CAREFULLY editing the file '/etc/inittab' and changing the default from 3 to 4..

In Mandrake the GUI runlevel is 5, not 4:

id:5:initdefault:

;)

If you type "startx" but get errors instead of the GUI, please post the exact text of those errors.

I am curious if it is connected to the missing Bridge.DLL message i get everytime i put my computer on

Yup, it almost certainly is- you've got spyware and/or other nasty guests in your system. I'm moving this to the Security forum; read through the posts there to find out how to get rid of the bridge.dll problem and other malicious programs that might have infected your system.

What is the exact text of the DNS error? Knowing that will give us more to go on.

IE, Outlook, and media players use different network protocols; the fact that OE and Real work doesn't necessarilly have any bearing on your IE problem. If it's a question of not being able to find sites by their URL, I'd check the following:

1. Open your Network Connections Control Panel, right-click on Local Area Connection, and choose Properties. In the "General" properties tab, double-click on the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) listing and check your DNS server settings in the resulting properties window. Are the IP addresses of your DNS servers correct? Is your system set to obtain those addresses automatically?

2. Try to reach a site by IP address instead of URL:
- Open IE, dismiss the DNS error message, and type the following into the location bar: http://216.239.57.99
If that takes you to Google (it should), then you're having some problem with DNS name resolution; double check your DNS server IP entries again.

3. If the above doesn't work, open a DOS box and try the following 2 conmands:

ping www.google.com
ping 216.239.57.99

What happens?

It's a common side-effect of spyware.

I'm moving this to the Security forum, as that's where we deal with spyware/hijackware/etc. problems. Read through many of the previous "BRIDGE.DLL" threads in Security to find out how to solve the problem.

:)

Thanks guys, I'll try typing administrator.

Remeber, it's case-sensitive- the "A" needs to be upper-case.

;)

Just noticed the smilie in the other post. It wasn't by design. I should have disabled smilies B4 I posted that one. lol.

Got it for 'ya. :)

What can you tell me about this one:DeeEnEs.exe ? It's strange to see it running from the unzipped folder.

DeeEnEs= DNS
It's a client program used with dynamic DNS services such as dyndns.org.

No sweat crunchie, you bust your hump on this stuff everyday- no apologies to me are necessary at all.

:)

guata,

You've now posted this question in no less that 3 different threads as far as I can tell. Please read the "Forum rules when posting" Announcement at the top of each forum to familiarize yourself them, especially these:

"Do not flood the forum
Do not flood the forum posting the same question in multiple forums, or multiple ways. All that happens is it gets confusing. It's a lot easier for everyone to get the answers they need if everything is kept in one place."

and:

"Post in the correct place
There are more than enough forums here for everyone to find somewhere suitable to post their computer support related questions. Please take the extra minute to make sure you are correctly posting in the correct place. Every question or new thought should have its own thread. Replies to a previous post should be thread replies to that particular thread. Do not piggyback threads by posting your question as a reply to another question. Any threads in an unsuitable forum will be moved to another at the administrator's/moderator's discretion."

Please keep this question in this thread form now on; I'm deleting your duplicate posts in the other threads.

Thanks for understanding.

:)

You've at the very least been hijacked, so I've moved this to the Security forum.

Download the latest version of HijackThis, run a scan, and post the log it generates here. That will give us a better clue as to what's still infecting your system.

arg,

Due to the confusion it causes, we ask that members not "piggyback" their question onto a previous poster's thread, but start one of their own instead (regardless of how similar your problem might seem to that in an existing thread).

Please start your own thread on your problem, and try to include as many specifics concerning the problem as possible when you do. I'll delete your post here once I see that you've gotten your own thread going.

Thanks. :)

Hey- Chill out.

As I've said, your question isn't suited to this forum, and I've already told you what the proper course of action should be. Additionally, some of the methods that could possibly be used to obtain the info you want are themselves illegal in some situations, and we don't do the hacks and cracks thing here because of that.

Look, just because someone IMs you saying they have your IP or other information:

A) In and of itself does not make them a stalker.
B) Doesn't even mean that they really have the information they say they do.
C) Doesn't necessarilly mean that they can do anything with that info even if they do have it.

Get yourself behind a good firewall, harden your system, block IMs from this "stalker", and let him go find someplace else to play.

agal82,

Please don't take any of our frustration with this personally, it's just that we've been bombarded with these problems lately and it seems as though harldy any of the posters bother to read through the many related threads for previously-posted solutions before simply plopping yet more HJT logs on us and basically saying: "here, can you fix this for me?".

crunchie has been tirelessly (and very patiently) helping scores of members work through their spyware/hijack problems. I wouldn't doubt that he has nightmares about HJT logs, and with the amount of time he's spent doing this I for one am surprised his head hasn't exploded yet. Again, it's nothing personal.

As far as SpyBot and the other utilities you see us mention here, they are the most recommended and most often used tools as far as fighting spyware, etc. goes. The spyware problem has become so widespread that I personally have gotten to the point of running these programs on any of my client's systems before I even think about doing anything else. I can also honestly say that in the past three weeks there has not been a single time where I've done this and SpyBot and/or Ad Aware have not found (and fixed) at least 5 malicious components on every system. This week's winner had over 300 items which constituted security risks; a combination of SpyBot, Ad Aware, and CWShredder fixed them all.

ctfmon.exe info <- This is a valid MS Office component, although not critical

nscntrl.exe info <- This is component of a trojan!!

msdmxm.exe <- From what I've read, an "adult services" dialer; it should go

Please read through the posts in our Security forum for information on detection and removal of trojans, spyware, etc.
If you find that you have been infected and need further help, please start a new thread in the Security forum. Include as much info as possible concerning what troubleshooting steps you've taken so far, as well as any helpful info you've gotten from any detection and removal utilities you've run.

For future reference though, please start your own thread to reduce confusion.

proettger,

Please follow the advice crunchie gave above. It becomes very difficult to efficiently solve members' problems when questions are being asked by mutiple members in a single thread. This is especially true of threads that contain many long and complex HijackThis logs. If you need to pursue your problem further, start a new thread in this forum.

Thanks for understanding. :)

How do you add the links to web sites and call them "here?"

To save yourself some typing (and avoid possible typos), there's easier way to create links when composing a post, assuming you're using the Standard or Enhanced editor options:

- Highlight the word or words that you want to appear as the underlined title of the link (the word "here", in your example).

- Click on the icon in the toolbar above the reply text box which looks like a globe with a chain link at the bottom of it.

- A dialog box will pop up in which you can type or cut-n-paste the actual URL of the link.

- Click OK, and you're done.

:)

That's the basic shape, yes. You do want to check the actual CRxxxx or whatever part # though, as the diameter of those style of batteries does vary. Also, there's often no need to hunt for the batteries online. Those types are pretty common; I can usually find them at my local drug store or Radio Shack for a couple of $$.

I would uninstall IE and install Netscape :) just kidding.

Why say that you're kidding?

Most of the spyware/hijack/etc. programs exploit vulnerabilities that exist in IE; using another browser is actually a very good way to protect yourself from the stuff.

My computer keeps getting infected with briss.E, and I have no clue how to remove it or stop it from coming back.

Can somebody please help?

Briss variants are trojans (and keyloggers) related to the infamous "bridge32.dll", among other things. Use the info in some of the links returned from the following Google search for more information, including removal and protection instructions:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=briss+virus&btnG=Google+Search

Remember that due to the increasing volume of these types of intruders, you need to keep your anti-virus and anti-spyware software extremely up to date. Mutations of these little buggers can appear almost overnight, and it isn't uncommon for a removal/prevention utility that's even a week out of date to miss the latest variants.

What diagnostic program? A loopback cable or loopback plug is a piece of hardware necessary for troubleshooting certain functions of modem, sound, network, etc. cards; if you don't have one installed when you run certain diagnostics, those diags will either fail or complain that they can't be run without the loopback device connected.

Don't bother snuffling through your desk drawers in search of the elusive loopback beasts, though. :mrgreen: They're devices that repair techs will have, but they aren't (usually) something that will be part of the package that an end user gets when they buy a computer or piece of computer equipment

On a simple but often overlooked note:

Have you checked the "mixer" settings for whatever volume control/audio control software you use? These programs have individual volume setting for different sound sources such as CD audio, .wav files, MIDI files, etc. Problems like this are often simply due to having a particular sound source's volume muted or set to zero.

One question... When using "search" what exactly does it do? I find alot of the time it comes up with irrelevant results.

You can see what the default search settings are (and modify them) by clicking the "advanced search" option.

In terms of coming up with irrelevant results, that's often a case of using too "loose" a search criteria. Remember that you can often use Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT, +,-) as well as quotes around phrases to refine your search.

what's to stop someone from getting a gang togeather... It's a possibility.

More than a possibility- I've even seen people register on a site under several different user names for the express purpose of mounting their own "denial of karma" attack against someone else- no gang needed. This kind of abuse of "rating systems" is what has caused many forums to drop ratings altogether.

If you honestly want to verify a member's reputation, the best thing to do is to use the "find posts by this member" option available on many/most forums and read through some of those posts. You'll be able to determine pretty quickly whether the member is worth relying on.

Harassment violates AOL's terms of use; the first thing you should do is contact them. Email them a description of the problem along with the user's screen name and, if possible, copies of the offending messages. AIM also gives you the option of warning and/or blocking a user; you might just want to block the person and let it go at that. Read through AIM's online help for more info on blocking and warning.

Dealing with this sort of problem by yourself is not the first course of action to take,and probably isn't a course that should be taken at all.

By the way,

This isn't really an appropriate forum for your question, as this forum is for discussing and resolving networking-related hardware and software problems.

Those settings are in the Internet Options Control Panel. Open the Control Panel and click on the "Security" tab. Select the Internet zone (the globe) and click the "custom level" button. That will bring up a window where you can set/change how IE deals with ActiveX and other online content.

Cetainly sounds like she's been hijacked.

HijackThis is small enough to fit on a floppy, but unfortunately SpyBot and Ad Aware are not. Your best bet is to d/l all three of those utilities on another computer, burn them to CD, and get them on to your sister's computer that way.

If you do find spyware/hijackware/etc. on her system please start a new thread on the subject in the new Security forum, as that forum is where these sort of questions belong now.

:)

civic,

Please follow up with this in your original post. In order to keep things from getting confused, we ask that members not post duplicate threads dealing with the same question or problem.

Thanks. :)

"02-08-2004, 11:19 AM"

Erm, only looks like a couple of months to me... :mrgreen:

Runtime/stack overflow errors basically indicate that a running program tried to perform an operation in an incorrect manner. This could be due to a bug in the program, a software conflict, or a number of other things.

If you give us more specific information concerning the circumstances under which this error occurs we'd be able to help you resolve this more quickly. For instance, you didn't even tell us which version of Windows you're using or what this clipart CD is.

Please post as much info as you can; it will help us all.

Instead of taking you to your home page, where exactly does IE take you when you start it up?

IE is very prone to being crippled by the many spyware/hijack/etc. programs that have become so prevalent lately. Have a look through the threads in our Security forum for instructions on where to download (and how to run) free tools to remove these malicious programs. If any of the removal programs (SpyBot, Ad Aware, HijackThis, etc.) detect problems on your system, please post a new thread in the Security forum detailing exactly what the tools found and any other details that might help us get your problem fixed as quickly as possible.

I take it your hear to start trouble? Stealing our company name PC MOD KINGDOM?

About kazaa dont forget who used to work at the Business Software Alliance. I can do what I want when I want it. I can download what I want for the sake of BSA.

If you have a problem contact my Boss at 1-888-667-47229 call him and ask for Anothy.

Also Norton is lame get something more powerful.

That's all I have to say dont get under my skin again or for the 2nd time PCMODKINGDOM.NET will be shut off.

Off your meds again, Jimmy? Tsk-tsk! :mrgreen:

Ok folks-

<end rant>, and end it now- civility is key here. Let's stick to our job of solving problems and put the egos aside please.

If the personal attacks and jousting continue, this thread will be closed.

barbie42,

You have some spyware issues going on, so I've moved this to the Security forum. Read through the other threads in the forum for information on downloading and using many of the free spyware/malware/etc. removal tools. Run the suggested utilities, let them fix what they find, and them post a fresh HijackThis log after doing so.

To be fair on the original poster & seeing how his problem is still ongoing, it would be unfair to him/her to start doing your log. Please start your own thread where someone will be glad to help you.

Yes. It is our policy that threads remain focussed on the original poster's question in order to keep things clear and concise.

ElTete,

I've split your question into its own thread; you can find it here:

http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/showthread.php?t=5871

Please follow your troubleshoot in that thread as oppsed to here.

Thanks. :)

enter bois screen after the computer started by click del button

That varies between BIOS makes and versions; a couple of other keys commonly used to access your BIOS's setup are F1 and F2.

Regardless of what the actual key is, you have to press it well before the OS starts to load; you can't enter the BIOS setup once the OS is loaded. BIOSes often display a "Hit <some key> to enter setup" message during the boot process; see if yours does.

Try to install windows 98se and save your settings then you won't lose anything of your information ..:D

Yeah, if you don't want to jump to Win2k or XP, the 98->98SE upgrade is painless.

hi
don't use windows xp, and don't use IE 6 and go to www.symantec.com and download the removal tools for the blaster worm and the sasser worm and tell the person who is using the pc to not download anything from the internet and not to be visiting bad websites!

David, not to offend, but:

-Many people don't have time to overcome the curve involved in learning a new OS; if they're used to Windows, they will want to continue using Windows.

-I certainly agree about not using IE, and recommend that to my clients as well. Unfortunately, for the reason I gave above, most will continue using IE. The best thing to do in that case is to make sure that you keep absolutely current on MS security patched and updates.

-You do not have to download anything or visit "bad websites" to get with some of this stuff; the problem of "malware" has become much more widespread than that.

Sorry bout that. New at this, didn't know I was hogging on your turf. My apologies.

Not a big problem; most new members aren't aware of our posting guidelines and the reasons for them. Please have a read through the " Forum Rules When Posting " Announcement posted at the top of each forum's main page for more info on this.

Also, please start your own thread and post your log there; I'll delete your posts here once you've done that.

Thanks for understanding.

omg, thank you so much!!

I'm assuming that means you're set now-

Marking this one as solved.

*** To any members having a similar issue: please start your own thread and post your question there as opposed to "tagging on" to this thread.

Thanks. :)

http://www.batterypower.net/

Yeah looks like there all really the same.

Tee-hee! ;)

K_T,

Due to the huge volume of spyware/malware-related questions we've been getting lately, we've created a new Security forum to specifically address those issues. I'm moving your post there now.

:)

sry. Didn't think much of it considering it was the same problem.

No problem- it just makes it easier (and faster) for us to get to the bottom of a given member's problem if he/she starts their own thread, and that thread remains dedicated to their problem alone. In others words, that approach helps us all. :)

But anyway, running the fixes in safe-mode did the trick. case closed.

Very cool- glad we could help you get it sorted.

How about the mods locking this thread if the OP's problem is fixed??

Done.

This thread has been "piggybacked" so many times that it's difficult to determine just whose problems have been solved, but to avoid more confusion I'll close this one.

*** Note to anyone who may have a problem similar to any posted here:

Please do not tag your question on to a pre-existing thread, regardless of how similar your problem may appear. Start your own thread, stating your particular problem and giving us as much specific information as possible concerning that problem. If the problem involves hijackthis logs, spyware, viruses, etc., please post your question here in the security forum.

Also, please read through the suggestions offered in previous posts before you post your own question; chances are very good that you'll find solutions to your problems have already been given in those threads.

Thanks,

- DMR