Jump to content

runawayhorses

Experienced Members
  • Posts

    137
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by runawayhorses

  1. I had one years ago that would kill most AOL components on a PC, but every download website I submitted to never listed it. Probably some of the spicy language in the readme file wasn't "kosher" for them. :lol:

     

    Edit: It probably didn't help either that I had named it "Kill AOL." :lol:

    Yeah, some folks are a little touchy in the language department.lol Do you still have that Kill AOL program? I would run it just to be sure all of AOL's crap has been trashed. I think I got it all, but it wouldn't hurt to run it just to make sure. So you designed the program? Wow, I wouldn't know where to begin doing something like that.

  2. AVG Anti-Rootkit installs two driver (.sys) files to system32/drivers folder and they are loaded to memory every time when Windows is booted. I don't like it very much. I scanned once with AVG AR and then stopped them from loading with AutoRuns.

     

    I'm considering downloading the AVG Anti-Rootkit program, and I was curious if the drivers loaded at startup, and also, if it could be incorporated into my already existing AVG Anti-Spyware Program.

    Here is the email I received from AVG support:

     

    "According to your description, we would like to inform you that AVG Anti-Rootkit Free is a standalone rootkit removal tool and cannot be incorporated in any other program. Anyway, it is not necessary to load it on startup. It should be used very rare, only in situations that you notice something strange in the computer's behavior, but other security software did not detect anything. Additionally, it can be used when you have some malicious code, which reproduces itself every time when you detect and remove it. Please, be informed, that AVG Anti-Rootkit Free has no drivers left loaded in the system after exiting the program. This tool is used by starting, scanning and closing it, with no on-access scanning functions or any real time protection. Please, do not hesitate to contact us about any further questions you may have."

    -------------

     

    Sounds pretty good. I think I'll download this one.

  3. AOL is crappy. they are sneaky and evil

     

    AOL was the first ISP i ever used, using the free CDs.. they ask for your credit card info, saying they are just verifying your age. after the Free CD runs out of days, if you don't call in and ask for them to 'end your subscription', they will start billing you.. without you ever knowing

     

    aol sucks! and most of their products are filled with adware/spyware. also, when you try to uninstall AOL, tons of files get left behind. you have to manually search your hard drive for AOL files and delete them all. (like 5mb worth of files don't get uninstalled..) and they hide in system folders

     

    i made a promise to myself to never use anything AOL related

    AOL was the first ISP I had too, and I was glad to get rid of it, which wasn't an easy task. After uninstalling it of course, it left behind files scattered all over the place which I had to manually remove. AOL is a big commercially over-rated pile of crap. They could have a better uninstaller, but they choose not to. I think they actually 'enjoy' leaving behind components as their way of saying screw you and goodbye. I have roadrunner high-speed cable now, and it's been great. Pages load in seconds no matter what the size. It's brute strength and lightning speed makes it a joy to surf.

     

    Someone should come out with an AOL junk remover, hell, I'd have bought one.

  4. Some of the ones I like. I couldn't pick one and if I had to pick my favorite it probably wouldn't be any of these. :P

    The Beatles- Abbey Road(Duh)

    Pink Floyd- Animals

    GNR- Appetite for destruction

    Cream- Disraeli gears

    Pink Floyd is a great band, I think David Gilmour is a great guitarist too. I didn't think 'The Wall' movie was the greatest, but nothing against the band. All their albums have been good ones, of course, the wall was probably their greatest success.

     

    What can you say about Cream except..groooovy baby B)

  5. This page gives lots of info and shows about spybots immunize function

     

    http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/...3.html#immunize

    Thanks Hazelnut, I just educated myself this morning about the immunizing feature. I don't know how I missed it, the feature is right there on the front page.lol I really just wanted to know how to activate it in case someday I decide to use it. I don't intend on using right now though, as I've been doing pretty good with just AVG. I don't like to do too much to IE since it's working better than ever right now. As the saying goes, 'the more you rearrange the pluming, the easier it is to stop up the drain! What's the other one? oh, "If it ain't broke don't fix it. :)

  6. This subject came up some time ago on here about Site Advisor showing a nag screen before taking you to it's site to check out an address, but apparently it only happened about once a month or something, although it dosen't happen at all now.

    I should have used the word 'nag screen', it would have been a more accurate term as opposed to pop-up. What it would do is ask (via nag screen) if you wanted to purchase the pro version or something to that effect. It was very difficult to look at the stats of a particular site that it would object to without clicking the nag screen and having it take you to mcafee's website.

     

    After having the adviser for a short period of time, I realized it was pointless for me to have it, because it served no purpose as far as my style of browsing goes. I don't want something 'warning' me left and right about which sites I'm accessing, and as a result, making me click something to proceed. That's the whole REASON I have a anti-virus, spyware, and a firewall program for Christ sake! If I happen to get something i.e. spyware, doesn't matter because it will soon be removed anyway. So perhaps I'm taking chances with other virus risks, OK, wouldn't be the first time, and I'm convinced it won't be the last.

    The point is, I like the 'freedom' to choose my own path and deal with the results myself, without a damn cuckoo clock going off every five minutes. :)

  7. Spyware Blaster doesn't run in the background, it just adds restricted sites so uses no resource. Spybots immunise function is very similar so even if you don't want to install Spyware Blaster you could turn on Spybots immunise function (as with Spyware Blaster it doesn't run in the background or use resources either). I actually use both with no problem and would suggest you use one or the other, you can't really argue with zero resource protection ;)

    How do you turn on Spybots immunize function? I looked in the settings section but couldn't find which feature to activate. What I did when I first installed it was unchecked the protect IE box. So now if I decide I want the protection how do I turn it on, short of reinstalling it?

  8. Post your favorite pics and let's see who likes what. :)

     

    It's hard to choose, but I'd say my favorite album would be RUSH 2112.

     

     

    rush-2112.gif

     

     

     

     

    Here's my favorite female singer Belinda Carlisle.

    I've seen her in concert at Clearwater Beach Florida, close to where I live.

     

     

     

     

    belindacarlisle.gif

     

     

     

     

    This next picture is Belinda Carlisle's Runaway Horses album.

    Yep, that's where my name came from. B)

     

     

     

     

    belindacarlisle01.gif

     

     

     

     

    This picture is Belinda Carlisle's first solo album after

    breaking up with the all female band 'The Go-Go's.

     

     

     

     

    belindacarlisle02.gif

     

     

  9. Make sure its not in add/remove programs. If not then you may have to manually go into your profile and delete it or even worse create a new one.

    It should be in the add/remove programs. I had it for about 30 mins one day till I decided I had enough. The free version is a real pain with pop-ups asking you to purchase their software.

  10. SpywareBlaster is must have, if you use IE. It's not so necessary, if you use Opera or Firefox. I use Opera, but i still use SpywareBlaster and also regularly check for updates.

    Well, the thing is, I don't want to run 2 spyware programs together at the same time for protection. AVG Anti-Spyware and AVG Anti-Virus, and of course the windows firewall are the only programs runnng. I have several other scanner & removers that I use on a schedule every night while I'm sleeping.

     

    They are:

    AVG -anti virus

    AVG -anti spyware

    RegCure -registry cleaner

    SUPERAntiSpyware

    XoftSpySE- anti spyware

     

    Then I wake up to clean computer :D

  11. For spyware i use just Spyware Blaster and Spybot (for their blocking/immunise functionality) and SuperAntiSpyware for an occasional scan. Use AVG Free for AV and Sygate for firewall. That combined with not downloading anything suspicious (and no P2P) has resulted in no viruses or spyware for over 4 years now

    Thanks guys. I decided not download the Spyware Blaster since it doesn't have a scanner & remover.

    However, I just downloaded the Spybot SD and it found a few things that it removed and deleted.

     

    I used to have Spybot years ago, and they certainly have improved through the years. I even changed the skins on the program with the skin options menu! Thumbs up for Spybot! I'm just going use it for scanning and removing spyware, so I disabled the real-time protection. I use AVG for real-time.

  12. Learn your super hero's amigo! Batman doesn't have any special powers all he uses is some human ingenuity and gadgets to make him seem powerful, whilst Superman has real super powers without any need of any gadgets.

    Yeah, come to think of it you're right. What about UnderDog, does that count?? LOL

     

     

    underdog.gif

     

     

  13. Hi all B)

    Sorry to see (pardon the pun) that some of you cant see my home page image.

    Every time I click on the link it works :D

    Here is another link to something I found amusing B) I don't think this woman would be laughing to much.

    That falls gonna leave a red mark! LOL

  14. No, but it will let you know that there's no hijacked page since it's loading a local .htm file from My Documents.

     

    My Internet Explorer homepage has links to Microsoft Update, Microsoft Downloads, and Dell Updates & Support - but I only open Internet Explorer about once per month when they have those monthly updates.

    Yeah, that a good idea.

     

    Isn't this the screenshot you made of your homepage on IE? It shows your homepage as 'About Blank'.

     

    Andavari.gif

     

     

  15. Thanks, I see it when I click that link.

    Good, that's how I intended it. Seems too many people are not seeing the images around here, so I posted it via link. Guess I could have uploaded it to Piriform too.

  16. lol. :)

    His about:blank is not a spyware infection. Yes its true that a few years ago cws would hijack your homepage(that was just a sign of it) and set it to about:blank but that does not mean that about:blank itself is a virus. Its just as everyone else said: a blank page.

     

    CWS doesn't really seem to be around much anymore. I haven't run into any in hijackthis logs in a long time. :D

    Oh OK rridgely, you know more about this than I do, it's just that I've experenced this before, and finally got rid of it. When I open a new tab now it reads "Blank Page" and if I change my homepage to a blank page it reads "Blank Page" and not "About Blank" anymore. It was my understanding that "About Blank" should never appear in any scenario. I think the thing that made About Blank such a sucessfull infection was that if a person used a blank page as there homepage, it could change to "About Blank" without them realizing it because it would hardly be noticeable. Most people would look at it and think that's how it's always been. I use to use a blank Page that called itself About Blank for a long time, I thoiught this was normal, and one day I decided I wanted to change it to something else, and I did. But, soon after I logged off and rebooted and started IE again it went back to About Blank. I did this several times and each time it went back to About Blank. Then I googled 'About Blank' and found out about it being a form of spyware infection. Well, to make a long story short, I found a program that removed About Blank and haven't had the problem since. Aparently it's very difficult to get rid of, and the average spyware program doesn't remove About Blank.

     

    I'm using IE7 and all the new tabs that I open all say 'Blank Page' now. If I change my homepage to a blank page it reads 'Blank Page' and not 'About Blank' anymore.

     

    I think if people use a blank page for there homepage and it reads "About Blank" the only way to know for sure you don't have the infection is to try changing your homepage to something else, reboot the pc, and see if IE takes you to the homepage you set it to, or if it goes to About Blank.

     

    But like I said before, you certainly know more about this stuff than I do, and I'm just sharing what I've experienced in the past and my observations.

     

    Sorry if I upset anyone, it wasn't my intention.

  17. it's not hijacked. If I type in the same, I get the same result. It's one way of getting a blank page.

    There is no reason why you wouldn't get the same result. Just go look it up and find out for yourself. I'm not making this up man!

     

    Edit:

    Run a test if you don't believe it, Try setting your homepage to something else, then reboot your pc, and see if it goes to the page you set it to, or if it goes to About Blank.

     

    Edit:

     

    Please Read This:About Blank

    Google it also

  18. Can we have a third party opinion please :rolleyes:

     

    I can't say anything more, except I have used IE about 5 times in the last 5 years...

    Well, regardless of how often you use IE, it still doesn't change the fact that it's highjacked. I'm only trying to help ya :) . You just need the right program to get rid of it, that's all.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.