Viruses + Spyware + Adware = Malware!

Answers

2008-03-20T05:55:00.004-04:00

click My Answers

New Virus and Spyware Help Forum

2007-07-23T06:19:00.000-04:00

Having problems with spyware, viruses (trojan, worms etc..) and or adware? Post a question in our forum, or browse the answers - take a look registration is free! Malware Solutions Forum

Burlington Vermont's First Overnight Boat Cruise on Lake Champlain

2007-06-07T06:59:00.000-04:00

Press Release: Burlington, Vermont June 6, 2007

Overnight Cruise Boat To Make Vermont's Lake Champlain Its Home

Green Mountain Boat Lines, operators of the Spirit of Ethan Allen III in Burlington, Vermont, announced the arrival of the Moonlight Lady, the first overnight cruise boat on Lake Champlain. The Moonlight Lady is a 65 foot custom built passenger yacht that will offer exciting 1 and 3 night Vermont vacation excursions. "The journeys are designed to have guests experience the ever changing natural beauty and abundant recreational opportunities available in and around the lake", states owner Mike Shea. The Lady's top deck, with it's teak deck furniture will accommodate up to 30 for special functions. The main deck houses eight staterooms, with private shower rooms, and a forward lounge. The varnished mahogany lower deck lounge features a wet bar and a piano to enhance the mood and inspire sing-a-longs. Vermont's local seasonal products will be the focal point for the on-board chef's creative menus.

"The Moonlight Lady will offer many options to chart their own boat cruise adventure. Whether it is sitting on deck taking in the sights and sounds with a beverage and a good book or taking advantage of the many port-of-call options, such as; golf, tennis, kayaking, biking and spa elements. The journey on the Moonlight Lady will have you Relaxed, Refreshed, Recharged and Reconnected", Shea explains.

Launch of Moonlight Lady to be part of the Lake Champlain Maritime Festival

A press conference will take place on June 12 at 1:30 aboard The Spirit of Ethan Allen III to formally announce the the Moonlight Lady. Her official launch will take place as part of the festivities of the 2nd annual Lake Champlain Maritime Festival on the Burlington, Vermont Waterfront August 17 - 19. For more information on the festival:

Lake Champlain Maritime Festival

For more information about Burlington, Vermont vacation boat cruises go to VermontMoonLightLady.com

Vermont Website Design Blog Created

2007-06-03T04:54:00.000-04:00

This blog was originally created to help with the ongoing battle against viruses, spyware and adware. Since then it has begun to grow into something a bit less focused. As you can see I began throwing 'website design' topics around which doesn't really fit with the topic of the blog. The solution: create another blog!

So here you have it - vermont-website-design.blogspot.com.

The plan for this blog is to write about anything related to web design that I come across that might be helpful for someone just beginning to learn html, xhtml, css, and JavaScript. For example: one of my latest posts is about the .png fix for Internet Explorer 6 and another is about how to show/hide (toggle) divs using CSS and JavaScript.

If I find a good website design tip during my travels into the ever-changing world of html I will post it at vermont-website-design.blogspot.com

New Website Design Project

2007-05-25T05:32:00.000-04:00

My next website design project is for a boat called 'Moonlight Lady'. The boat is located on Lake Champlain in Burlington, Vermont and will offer small boat overnight cruises. The project files will be located here. This project is expected to go live by the end of June 07.

10 Free Ways To Help Prevent Malware Threats

2007-05-17T11:20:00.001-04:00

It seems that every day there is a new virus, spyware or adware threat. What are you doing to protect your personal data and identity? Here are ten free ways which can help a home user can protect his/her personal computer from online malware threats.

read more | digg story

New Version of Malware.Solutions.com / VPCSolutions.com

2007-05-16T05:37:00.000-04:00

I have decided to re-design my website MalwareSolutions.com. The new site will be fully XHTML compliant and will use 'tableless design' using CSS. I started the re-build about two weeks ago and I am still on the homepage. Lots to be done! If you would like to see the work in progress you can follow along at vermontpcsolutions.com/web_design.html - once on this page click 'Client Login' then without entering a username or password click 'Login'. I will add the newest version of the site to the top of this list. I will be removing older versions as they eventually will be just a waste of Internet 'space'.

If you have any comments or suggestions please let me know.

Two New Free Tools Added - Anti-Spyware & Anti-Rootkit

2007-04-11T06:33:00.000-04:00

I added two new free pieces of software to the Malware Solutions online arsenal.

The first is free rootkit detection and software from Grisoft (yes, the makers of AVG Anti-Virus). The name of the product is AVG Anti-Rootkit Free. You can find it on our Free Anti-Virus Software page.

Here is what AVG has to say about their own product:

"AVG Anti-Rootkit is a powerful tool with state-of-the-art technology for detection and removal of rootkits. Rootkits are used to hide the presence of a malicious object like trojans or keyloggers on your computer. If a threat uses rootkit technology to hide itself it is very hard to find the malware on your PC. AVG Anti-Rootkit gives you the power to find and delete the rootkit and to uncover the threat the rootkit is hiding."

The second application is also from Grisoft. I am talking about AVG Anti-Spyware.

"AVG Anti-Spyware Free is a free anti-spyware protection tool developed by GRISOFT for home use. We invite you to join the millions of satisfied customers worldwide who have downloaded the software and now enjoy the benefits of AVG Anti-Spyware Free."

You can download AVG Anti-Spyware Free from Free Anti-Spyware Software page

What you get with AVG Anti-Spyware Free

	Easy to use
	Daily database updates
	Heuristics to detect unknown threats
	Automatic Cleaning Engine
	And most of all ... great customer satisfaction!

What you do not get

	Automatic online-update
	Real-time monitoring of the entire system
	Self-protection at kernel layer guaranteeing gapless monitoring
	Consent for commercial use

If you are wondering what a Rootkit is then read on....

"A rootkit is a set of software tools intended to conceal running processes, files or system data from the operating system. Rootkits have their origin in relatively benign applications, but in recent years have been used increasingly by malware to help intruders maintain access to systems while avoiding detection. Rootkits exist for a variety of operating systems, such as Linux, Solaris and versions of Microsoft Windows. Rootkits often modify parts of the operating system or install themselves as drivers or kernel modules.

The word "rootkit" came to general public awareness in the 2005 Sony BMG CD copy protection scandal, in which Sony BMG music CDs surreptitiously placed a rootkit on Microsoft Windows PCs when the CD was played on the computer. Sony provided no mention of this on the CD or its packaging, referring only to security rights management measures."
What is a Rootkit?

How To Remove Spy Sherrif

2007-03-27T04:37:00.000-04:00

Here is how to remove Spy Sherrif: (adapted from a post in MalwareSolution's Forum

1. Download SmitfraudFix.exe from here and save it to your desktop:

Confirm that the file SmitfraudFix.exe now resides on your desktop, but do not double-click on the icon as of yet. We will use it in later steps.

2. Next, please reboot your computer into Safe Mode by doing the following:

-- 1. Restart your computer

-- 2. After hearing your computer beep once during startup, but before the Windows icon appears, press F8.

-- 3. Instead of Windows loading as normal, a menu should appear

-- 4. Select the first option, to run Windows in Safe Mode.

-- 5. When you are at the logon prompt, log in as the same user which you had done the previous steps.

3. When your computer has started in safe mode and you see the desktop.

4. Close all open Windows.

5. Now, double-click on the SmitFraudfix icon that should be residing on your desktop.

6. When the tool first starts you will see a credits screen. Simply press any key on your keyboard to get to the next screen.

7. Press the number 2 on your keyboard and the press the enter key to choose the option Clean (safe mode recommended).

8. The program will start cleaning your computer and go through a series of cleanup processes. When it is done, it will automatically start the Disk Cleanup program.

This program will remove all Temp, Temporary Internet Files, and other files that may be leftover files from this infection. This process can take up to a few hours depending on your computer, so please be patient. When it is complete, it will close automatically and you will should continue with step 10.

9. When Disk Cleanup is finished, you will be presented with an option asking Do you want to clean the registry ? (y/n). At this screen you should press the Y button on your keyboard and then press the enter key.

10. When this last routine is finished, you will be presented with a red screen stating Computer will reboot now. Close all applications. You should now press the spacebar on your computer. A counter will appear stating that the computer will reboot in 15 seconds. Do not cancel this countdown and allow your computer to reboot.

11. Once the computer has rebooted, you will be presented with a Notepad screen containing a log of all the files removed from your computer. Examine this log, and when you are done, close the Notepad screen.

Your computer should now be free of the Spy Sheriff infection.

Free Anti-Virus & Anti-spyware Software for Windows Vista

2007-03-15T07:14:00.000-04:00

Good news! I learned that AVG Anti-Virus, Spybot Search & Destroy and AdAware run on Windows Vista! The best part about these programs are that they are free to download.

You can find a full list of free anti-virus software here

You can find a full list of free anti-spyware products here

New Sites Launched

2007-03-08T06:33:00.000-05:00

I launched a new site a few days ago. Take a look:

Pathways To Well Being

I also setup a page for my web design services:

Web Design Services

This one went up a few weeks ago:

Onion River Chiropractic

How To Remove: Trojan Downloader Zlob.Media-Codec

2007-03-08T06:30:00.001-05:00

How To Remove: Trojan Downloader Zlob.Media-Codec Overview: Trojan-Downloader.Zlob.Media-Codec disguises as required upgrade software for Windows Media Player to be able to view adult videos online. It contains malicious codes that downloads a variant of Trojan.Zlob which is the culprit for Rogue Antispyware Programs such as SpywareQuake, SpyFalcon Winfixer and others. Category: Malware/Adware Related Files and Process: %program_files%\intcodec\iesplugin.dll %program_files%\IntCodec\iesuninst.exe %program_files%\IntCodec\isaddon.dll %program_files%\IntCodec\isamini.exe %program_files%\IntCodec\isamonitor.exe %program_files%\IntCodec\isauninst.exe %program_files%\IntCodec\pmmon.exe %program_files%\intcodec\pmsngr.exe %program_files%\IntCodec\pmuninst.exe
Download SmitfraudFix and save it to a desired location. This will be in ZIP File. Extract all the files to your Desktop, it will create a folder SmitfraudFix. Note: When extracting or executing, some files might be detected as Potential Threat or Harmful Script. Please disable AntiVirus or Any Script Blocking Software temporarily. It may harm or make the Fix incomplete. Temporarily disable System Restore (WinME and Windows XP) [how?] Reboot your computer in SafeMode [how?] Browse the folder SmitfraudFix on your Desktop and double-click on smitfraudfix.cmd “Enter your Choice: (1,2,3,4,L,Q):” Press no. 2 to clean to the infections. Wait for the process to finish. If prompted for: Registry cleaning - Do you want to clean the registry? Press Y, as Yes It will check if your wininet.dll file is damaged, if so it will ask you to Replace Infected File? Press Y as Yes and hit Enter. In order to make sure that Adware is completely eliminated from your computer, carry out a full scan of your computer using AntiVirus and Antispyware Software. Another way to detect the virus using various Scanner Program without the need to install can be done with Free Online Virus Scanner. http://www.vermontpcsolutions.com

Updated: How To Remove Spyware

2006-10-01T07:29:00.000-04:00

Spyware, Adware, Malware, Badware....whatever you choose to call it, it's a problem. Chances are that you or someone you know has or will experience some sort of 'ware' infection on a computer and it can be frustrating.

What is spyware?
Spyware is malicious software that collects information about a user and is installed on a computer without the user's informed consent. Not to be confused with a virus.
There are many different types of spyware.

Adware - is a type of spyware that collects information about a user in order to display targeted advertisments to the user.

Browser Helper Objects (BHOs) - is a plug-in for Internet Explorer which helps developers customize and control the browser.

Browser HiJacker - is when a malicious application adjusts your browser settings without your concent. For example: your homepage has changed to a search page, dangerous sites have been mysteriously added to your Favorites, questionable websites are added to Internet Explorer's list of Trusted Sites etc...

Keyboard Logger - logs all the activity of your keyboard and reports this information back to a remote computer. This information can be used to steal passwords, bank information etc...

Phone Dialer - AKA - Modem HiJacker - this type of application changes the phone number dialed when using a dial-up Internet connection so charges are incurred on the users phone bill.

Remote Access Trojans (RATs) - malicious programs that run on a user's computer which permits an intruder remote access to that computer.

How do I know if my computer is infected? What are the signs of spyware?

slower than normal computer? - Is your computer having trouble performing routine tasks? Has there been a sudden increase in the amount of times your computer crashes? Does your computer not start at all?

homepage has changed by itself? - Has your homepage been hijacked? Does it open to a search page that you did not specify?

pop-ups driving you crazy? - Do they appear as soon as you turn on your computer? Are they for adult websites? Some spyware will bombard you with popups that aren't even related to the website you are visiting.

browser settings have changed and you can't change them back? - When you open up Internet Explorer does it open to a search page that you did not specify?

new browser toolbars installed - but not by you? - Is there a mysterious toolbar installed on your browser?

phone bill sky-rocketed - Do you see charges on your phone bill for adult websites or 1-900 numbers?

unexpected new or new icons in your system tray? - Are there applications running on your computer that you did not install?

Now that you know a bit about what spyware is and how to tell if a computer is infected, let's get down to the removal process. First things first - backup your personal data! You should be doing this regularly anyway. Using Windows XP - Click Start >> All Programs >> Accessories >> System Tools, and then click Backup to start the wizard.

To remove spyware/adware you need two programs (maybe three). The two I recommend are SpyBot Search & Destroy and AdAware. SpyBot Search & Destroy can be found here www.safer-networking.org. AdAware can be found at this address www.lavasoftusa.com. The Third is an application called HiJackThis (which can be found here www.spywareinfo.com). Be warned, HiJackThis is for advanced user, the is a powerful tool! Consult the program's documentation before deleting any files, you could cause serious system damage if you do not know what you are doing.

Download, install and update the programs. Then restart the computer and tap the
F8 key on your keyboard as the computer begins to start - this will give you the
option of starting in 'Safe Mode'. You will see a few other options here as well.
For this particular job select 'Safe Mode'.

What is Safe Mode? Safe Mode is an alternate way of starting a computer using only the bare minimum of resources. It's a troubleshooting tool built into indows based operating systems.

If a computer is running in Safe Mode you should see that the screen resolution looks 'off', which is perfectly normal, and you should see the words 'Safe Mode' in the corners of the screen.

Run full system scans with both programs. They should be able to find the problems and remove them. To learn how to remove a particular item using SpyBot and/or AdAware consult each program's 'Help' documentation.

Next, restart the computer in "normal mode" and see what happens. If you are still experiencing problems start the computer in Safe Mode again and run the spyware scans once more. Make sure that the spyware definitions are up-to-date for each program before using Safe Mode. This will give you the maximum advantage when trying to detect and remove malware.

There is another tool built into Windows called MSCONFIG which I use quite often when troubleshooting spyware.

What is MSCONFIG? MSCONFIG is a special tool built into the Windows operating system (not included with Windows 95 and 2000) called “Microsoft System Configuration Utility” or “MSCONFIG”. MSCONFIG is designed to help you troubleshoot problems with your computer such it being slow, frequent crashes, as well as to remove spyware and viruses. As you may already know, running many programs at once will cause your computer performance to slow down. Don't forget, Windows also runs many programs in the background that you never see, you can use MSCONFIG to prevent some of programs from loading at startup which can greatly increase the speed at which your computer runs.

To access MSCONFIG Click Start, then click Run and type “MSCONFIG” or "msconfig"
(without the quotes), in the window that opens. Once MSCONFIG opens you will see
6 to 8 tabs (depending on which operating system you are using) which provide
access to various parts and processes that Windows uses. The tab you are interested
in is on the far right, it s called “Startup”. It controls which processes start
automatically when Windows loads. If this is the first time you are running MSCONFIG
you may notice that the list of start up items is quite long. You will see four
columns: the first is a column of check boxes, the second is the name of start
up item, the third is where the item is located on the hard drive and the fourth
is the registry location.

To remove an item from the start up menu remove the check mark from the corisponding check box. To instruct a process to run on start up put a check mark in the box.

By now you might be asking, "Which processes are safe to remove?" This is where it gets tricky. An easy way to determine whether a startup item is needed or not is to do a Google search for the process name and see you if you can safely remove the item from the start up menu. Many autostart entries are crucial part of Windows XP, for example: Userinit.exe and Explorer.exe, so don't remove these.

Once the computer is clean you should follow these tips to keep spyware and adware off your machine.

Install anti-spyware software before you get infected

Install a software firewall - a firewall acts as a barrier between your computer and the Interent, you can find many free for personal use - software firewalls. ZoneAlarm is a great free choice and can be found here www.zonelabs.com.

Keep Microsoft Windows Up-To-Date - with Windows Update. Microsoft often releases software patches which you can download and install to help prevent malicious software from being installed on your PC.

Stay away from questionable Websites! - you know what I am talking about!

Use a secure Web Browser - such as Mozilla Firefox

When troubleshooting a computer with spyware problems the most important thing is to remain patient. I have personally removed over 30,000 infected files from computers over the past two years. I have had a 100% success rate thus far using the methods described above!

Good Luck!

Author: Michael McKennedy - http://www.MalwareSolutions.com

Resources:

http://www.malwaresolutions.com/what_is_spyware.html

http://www.malwaresolutions.com/tools_spyware.html

http://www.malwaresolutions.com/how_to_remove_spyware.html

http://www.malwaresolutions.com/how_to_use_msconfig.html

http://www.malwaresolutions.com/how_to_backup_files.html

Free Anti-Spyware Software

2006-09-26T08:01:00.000-04:00

check out the Free Anti-Spyware Software swicki at eurekster.com

Free Anti-Virus Software

2006-09-26T07:54:00.000-04:00

check out the Free Anti-Virus Software swicki at eurekster.com

Search Malware Solutions

2006-09-26T07:45:00.000-04:00

check out the Malware Problems? swicki at eurekster.com

Spyware Problems? Search For The Solution

2006-09-26T07:21:00.000-04:00

check out the Remove Spyware swicki at eurekster.com

Virus Problems? Seach For The Solution

2006-09-25T05:19:00.000-04:00

check out the Virus Removal swicki at eurekster.com

MalwareSolutions.com

2006-09-24T06:47:00.000-04:00

The new website has gone live. It's been completely rebuilt again. I am getting great results with the new format and layout. Seems like people are having a much easier time locating the free anti-virus/spyware removal software and advice.

If you are looking for a way to remove viruses for free go here for free anti-virus software

Trying to get rid of spyware? - click here for free spyware removal tools

Sunday, June 25, 2006

2006-06-25T05:56:00.000-04:00

I have been focusing most of my attention on websites. This is one that I have been actively working on www.creativequestvt.org

My own site is coming along as well. I have been focusing on gathering as much information about virus removal and free anti-virus software as I can find. The goal is to enable users to help themselves in removing viruses and spyware from their infected computers. Another focus is to look at the preventative side of things. Not only do I want people to be able to repair their computers for free that's why we offer free virus repair plus many links to free resources about removing viruses from an infected PC. The goal is to educate about viruses and spyware that's why we have added a few new pages What is a virus? and What is spyware?

You can now search our site for free virus removal tools - search by virus name.

I have been getting a lot of feedback lately from people who have found all of this free information useful. Therefore, here is a sitemap of VPC Solutions.com.

home

    what is spyware?

    what is a virus?

    services

        repair

        installations

        web design

        security

        existing clients

                client projects

        contact information

        legal information

        privacy statement

    shopping for software

    free downloadable tools

        free antivirus software

        free virus removal tools

        free firewalls

        free microsoft tools

        free misc tools

        free spyware removal tools

        free web browsers

        contact information

        legal information

    free Windows resources

        forums

        networking information

        spyware information

        anitivirus information

        Windows information

        contact information

        legal mumbojumbo

    VPC Solutions blog

    VPC Solutions forum

    search

    news archives

        2005 News Archives

Monday, April 11, 2006

2006-04-10T06:39:00.000-04:00

Busy, busy, busy - too busy to blog! Over the past few months I have been keeping busy with websites. I completely overhauled this site The Spirit of Ethan Allen III. I did some more work on this site Welcome Kitchen Catering. I started a new site for the Creative Quest Summer Arts Day Camp and I got a call over the weekend about building a site for Onion River Chiropractic.

I worked on one computer (another Dell) where the client suspected spyware, or possibly a worm. The only sign of anything wrong (according to the client) was that the computer was running slowly. I picked up the machine, brought it to my shop and began the usual process of checking for problems (check startup menu, scan for viruses, spyware and adware etc..). As usual there were a few spyware findings but nothing critical - just tracking cookies. The end result was $50 in RAM (giving the machine a total of 512 MB) and two hours of my time and the machine is running perfectly.

I worked on another Windows 98 machine. This one had some problems, nothing major, just some spyware. The complaint was that the machine was spitting out errors when attempting to run some kids games. I don't mean graphics intense games or anything that is demanding of resources. The machine wasn't even going to have Internet access. I cleaned the machine removing five or so spyware applications and then I was tasked with installing about eight kids games -easy money! I picked that one up on a Sunday evening and dropped it back off on Tuesday. The clients were quite happy.

I was supposed to pick another computer up yesterday. I got a call over the weekend from a woman who didn't know what the problems were. I asked her if she could tell me what operating system she was using and she didn't know. When I asked what kind of problems she was experiencing she said that it was slow and the cd drive would not open. I was scheduled to pick it up yesterday at 3:00 but early in the morning I got a call from her husband who left me a message stating that he did not want to waste a "few hundred bucks" on a machine that is obsolete (about three years old!) so he went out and bought a new one. He said, "I am just going to throw the other one away!" I hope that he really didn't mean what he was saying. I hope her recycles the thing!

Also yesterday, I went to a house to troubleshoot a problem with a game "The Battle For Middle Earth II". The problem is that when the game is run it crashes and reports that there is a problem with game.dat. Upon investigation (Google) I realized that this computer is not alone! There are many users experiencing the same problem. It looks like the solution is going to be a video card driver update. The computer is lacking access to the Internet so I was not able to update the driver but I was told that they would be getting Internet access soon. The sad part is that this poor kid saved up $50 to buy the game and he has not been able to play it!

Monday, January 16, 2006

2006-01-16T06:25:00.000-05:00

I created the VPC NewsLetter this weekend. The first mailing went out yesterday. You can sign up for it by clicking here.

Tuesday, December 27, 2005

2005-12-27T19:30:00.000-05:00

The Gateway I was working on on Monday is working fine. That poor machine was loaded with problems and after four or five hours of work it seems to be running fine. The hardest part was removing Zone Alarm from the system (which is not completely gone yet). I was in the registry deleting. I removed half a dozen files relating to Zone Alarm. I searched and searched some more and could not find anything else to delete. I decided to try installing Zone Alarm again - no - did not work - got the same error "Validation failed for C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\VSINIT.DLL". Since the machine was hooked up to my DSL connection -sitting there online waiting to get infected I found a way around the Zone Alarm issue (see -- Monday, December 19, 2005), I was able to install Outpost Personal Firewall. Sure, it's a trial version but it will keep the "bad guys" out for 30 days!! Beyond that, the machine is running smoothly! The client will be more than happy!

In regards to Windows 98 - CRX model. Last night I connected the machine to my phone line, booted and noticed Net Zero on the desktop. Guessing that this was the service the client was using to "try" to get online I ran the application. Once I got to the final screen and was about to attempt a login to the network - CRASH!!!! The machine reset itself!! I waited calmly. The monitor screen remained black, the only words on it told me that the monitor was working but to check the cable. I knew that the cable wasn't the issue! I tried rebooting - not a chance!!! The poor machine lie dead in my shop, the fans humming but not boot beeps, nor sound of the hard drive. I unplugged the machine and sat dowh to think.

Did the hard drive just die?? Should I try another monitor? Do I really have to remove hardware one piece at a time until I figure out what is causing this death?? If so, the first piece I will look at is the modem! It was clinking and clanking around in the tower. Maybe it's causing the system not to boot. That would be okay! I would simply replace the modem. But, if it is the hard drive or something else?? I don't think that this client wants to put much money into this old computer. At this point we are looking at about $100. You start adding hardware plus my time and soon you could buy a new computer!!

Hopefully I will pull the machine apart, take out the modem and the machine will boot! If not, it's time to call the client!

I'll try to keep you posted!

Thursday, December 22, 2005

2005-12-23T08:31:00.000-05:00

The Subject: Windows 98, a machine that has passed through many hands. It’s a CRX brand computer; ancient, dusty and probably really messed up.

The Problem: As vague as, “I think that it can’t get on the Internet?” and “The mouse doesn’t work right.”

I looked down at the back of the machine to see what kind of network connection was there and I noticed something quite peculiar. There wasn’t a modem attached. Oh, there was a space where a modem once rested and functioned properly but apparently the modem got pushed inside the tower and slid around every time someone moved the case.

I sat the computer down in my shop. I moved the red toolbox a bit closer and began to look towards the gray beast of a machine for some sign of how to open it up. I saw a few screw-looking things in the back but noticed that they were not screws. They were more like rivets. In other words, they would not come out with a mere screwdriver.

I began to poke at the top of the case. I looked at the front. I closely examined the sides to try to get some clue as to how it opened. Finally, I pried the front plastic piece off and noticed six screws holding the sides of the tower on. I removed three; slid the metal cover off to see the poor modem lying there in the dust. I picked it up (the modem) and slid it back into place, grabbed a screw from the toolbox, secured it and reassemble the tower.

I booted the machine; it was quiet compared to the one I worked on yesterday. It loaded fine. First thing, ran msconfig. Nothing jumped out at me. I installed Spybot Search & Destroy, updated the definitions file and ran it.

The results are in: 42 problems found in 19:24 minutes – all removed.

Some of the problems found: Advertising.com, Alexa Related, Avenue A, Inc., Bfast, Bluemoutain, ClickAgents, Commission Junction, DoubleClick, Engage, Inc., Enliven, Excite, FastClick, Flycast, HitBox, HitsLink, MediaPlex, PornTracker, SexTracker, TargetNet, ValueClick, and WebTrendsLive.

I ran msconfig and removed some unnecessary startup items. Rebooted. Edited the startup menu - shows a significant decrease in startup time! I will run a defrag too. Just to speed things up. 1% Complete ………..3% Complete……………………..4% Complete……………………………………………………5% Complete……………oh, never mind. I could go on like that for quite a while.

It’s 11:07 and defrag is at 10%

Monday, December 19, 2005

2005-12-22T06:09:00.000-05:00

11:35 pm
I just finished with the Dell Laptop. Here is what I did to complete the job: Reinstalled OS and drivers. Installed AVG AntiVirus, Microsoft AntiSpy, Zone Alarm, SpyBot Search & Destroy, Updated Windows to SP2 and installed all other security patches and fixes. Turned on Windows Update. Installed Microsoft Office, QuickBooks (and imported the client’s data) and the Internet Connection software and all is well. It’s like a brand new computer just out of the box

Now I am in my basement in working on this old Gateway I picked up tonight. First impressions, what a piece of crap! I just booted, popped in a cd full of helpful goodies and attempted to run AdAware when suddenly that old familiar blue screen jolted me. InCd crashed! This is Windows 98, supect: loaded with spyware and/or adware.

I'm letting it run through a quick disk check after the abrupt shutdown. By the way, between the buzz of this laptop and the hum of the extra-large pc sitting on the table to my left sounds like an airplane heading straight for my head.

Windows is booting - "Validation failed for C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\VSINIT.DLL" - click ok to cancel. I'll try Ad-Aware again -found 4 New Critical objects. I noticed, running in the system tray was the icon for 180 Search Assistant.

Scan is complete 259 - could not remove 4 and guess who they belong
to, 180 Search Assistant. Ad-Aware reported that on reboot it would remove the 4 infected files. I am running SpyBot Search & Destroy right now. So far no problems reported. Spybot is checking against a list of 32,660 posible known threats. It's 11:51 pm

11:58 PM
SpyBot has hit the motherload. Here is what has been found:
Alexa Related, 180Solutions.SearchAssisant, CoolWWWSearch. WinPro.32, DyFuCA.Internet Optimizer, Huntbar, n-Case, WildTangent, RealDownloadExpress, NewDotNet, MyWay.MyWebSearch, ISearchTech.YSB, ISTech.PowerScan, GoldenPalace.Casino, GAIN.Gator, FunWeb Products, EffectiveBandToolbar and maybe a few that I missed to jot down - 69 problems reported.

12:03 am - 12:08: 69 problems removed.

Installing AVG AntiVirus....Rebooting...No Viruses found during AVG's boot scan.

AdAware is checking the system right now. I don't think that AdAware will find much. Spybot just cleaned it out.

If I could install Microsoft AntiSpy (doesn't run on Win98) I could seal the deal. Actually, HiJackThis followed by a clean bill of health by AVG. Okay, nothing found by AdAware - E Trust EZ Firewall error - OK to cancel.

1 Virus spotted - 12:22 AM - Trojan horse Downloader.Generic.ML location -- C:\NULL (file name NULL)

This computer is so loud!! 2nd virus found - Trojan horse Dropper.Exebind.W C:\Windows\System\in10bfs.dll - it's 12:27 AM I'm beginning to fall asleep. 2 more viruses found these two are stored in C:\Windows\TEMP folder. There are two versions of Downoloader.Istbar - Downoloader.Istbar.CE and Downoloader.Istbar.AF

12:38 - another found: another Downloader.Istbar.9D, this one is sitting right there in My Documents.

We are up to a total of 5 viruses and I am going to bed....12:50 AM

Woke in the morning to find the computer stalled. AVG reports that the viruses had been removed. I rebooted and attempted to install Zone Alarm - error appears - "cannot validate C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\VSINIT.DLL" - an online search tells me that Zone Alarm needs to be uninstalled completely before it can be reinstalled.

Okay after much research I figured out what part of and possibly the entire problem might be. It appears that eTrust EZ Firewall might have link here been distributed Zone Alarm as part of it's software package. I found this article on how to uninstall Zone Alarm.

It seems like that is what needs to be done. Since I know that the client did not backup the files I will call her and tell her that I need to edit the regristry and there is always a chance that something undesirable could happen. I always think of a computer being somewhat delicate after being "beat up" in the process of extracting lots of files that don't want to go away. Either way, I will end up backing up the data but I really wish that people would at the very least know the how and why of backing up data. It only takes one data loss for a person to "learn the lesson".

Saturday, December 17th, 2005

2005-12-18T06:45:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I got a call. The problem: client could not open QuickBooks nor print from any application. The computer: Dell Inspiron 5100 - laptop, dialup connnection. No firewall running, AVG AntiVirus not updated, Windows running SP1 only!!!

I logged on under the default user - no password protection. After Windows came up I began to see SpyBot Search & Destroy warnings popping up stating that uwtrevuxuunh.exe was trying to add itself to the startup menu. A quick Google Search resulted in no information for that particular file. As I denied the action another would popup, each time changing locations as well as file name. The CRASH!!! - Memory Dump error – blue screen!!

I booted to safe mode using F8. I was able to log in under the admin account.
Started Microsoft AntiSpy – found 148 registry keys infected, 43 files and 19 different viruses, adware and spyware running. A few of the culprits were:

- Rbot
- Delfin.Media
- Adware.PEDev
- SdBot.tsecure worm
- 180Solutions Search Assistant
- Media Motor
- Ist.SideFind
- WebHancer
- Shop At Home
- Trojan.Startup.NameShifter.BT

Removed all of them.

Rebooted, same SpyBot warnings. Ran AVG AntiVirus – blue screen error - CRASH again!!! IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL was the specific error.

Rebooted to safe mode
Ran msconfig edited the startup menu - removed 3 entries
Ran AdAware found – 40 items

Ran SpyBot Search & Destroy - found 42 problems including registry settings to disable AntiVirus, Firewall, SP2, etc…rebooted

Ran in safe mode – removed Temp Internet Files, cookies and history
Ran AVG AntiVirus – no infections found
Turned on Automatic updates
Ran SpyBot again – found 10, removed 5, needed to reboot to remove others
Rebooted – SpyBot ran found 16 problems – removed 10
Rebooted – still getting errors
Rebooted – msconfig – removed 1 entry
Rebooted – blue screen
Last Known Good Config – rebooted – errors
Booted to safe mode installed updates for Ad-Aware and SpyBot
Ran AdAware – found 87 problems removed
Ran SpyBot – found 20 – removed 16 – 4 resident in memory must reboot
Rebooted – SpyBot ran found 6 problems removed 2 could not remove 4
Rebooted – Safe Mode – stalled
Rebooted – Safe Mode – tried to backup Quickbooks to ThumbDrive – failed
Rebooted to blue screen
Ran chkdsk /f – in safe mode found error rebooting to fix
Rebooted tried to run QuickBooks in safe mode – got blue screen
Rebooted – safe mode – ran QuickBooks – blue screen
Might have been able to backup QuickBooks to Thumb? but no way to verify data....
Rebooted several times more – blue screen
Booted to safe mode -
Ran QuickBooks - created a backup - was able to save to the Desktop and then drag the file to the thumbdrive!!!
Client is going to neighbor's house to install QuickBooks on their computer, then she will try to restore QuickBooks using the thumbdrive backup file. If this works and all data is current I will pickup the laptop and reinstall the OS. Four hours spent on this one so far. I will wait until tomorrow for the call. I hope the data is verified as the most current!!

Sunday, September 18, 2005

2005-09-18T06:20:00.000-04:00

Re: Dell Dimension 2200 - This machine is still sitting in my shop. It was preloaded with Windows XP Home Edition when my client purchased the machine. I called him to see if he could locate the software for it. He seems to think not. I looked through the software he gave me when I first picked up the machine and it's not there. Three days ago I called my client to let him know that I am up against a wall with this one. I have two options, 1) get the original system recovery disk 2) call Dell and order a replacement system recovery disk.

I have worked on several computers over the past week. One was another Dell, this was the 4600 Dimension with Windows Media Center installed. I picked it up after working at my new job Dealer.com on Thursday. My plan was to clean it up that night and return it the following morning. Instead I found out that this particular Dell would not work with any one of three monitors that I have. I joined a chat session with a Dell support person to find out what the deal was. First he told me that there was a problem with the video card. Then I explained to him two things, 1) the machine has onboard video (built into the motherboard) 2) the computer see the clients Dell monitor just fine. The support person insisted that the machine does not have onboard video - I told him that I was starting into the belly of it and indeed, the VGA port was built into the motherboard. What he was talking about was the tv tuner card. Anyway, after finding out that this Dell would only work with a digital monitor I switched my flat panel display to digital and booted the machine. Again, it would not recognize the monitor. The support person from Dell eventually disconnected me from the chat. I guess that's what happens when they can't answer a question.

I returned the computer to the client the following morning and set up the machine with his monitor to get a feel for what the original problem was. He was complaining that his DSL connection was slow. He was correct. I ran an AdAware scan and removed twenty five problems but none of them were critial. Eventually I ran out of time due to a previous commitment. I told him that I would be back after the weekend to give his computer a full "once-over".

I worked on a few other machines but their problems were similar to those you can find in previous posts.

Sunday, September 4th, 2005

2005-09-04T07:27:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to update you on the Dell Dimension 2200 I am working on. Yes, I did say "I am working on". This computer is the most bothersome computer I have ever worked on. As I said in my last post, spyware, viruses and adware had a hold on the poor machine. It took over twenty four hours to run a virus scan in safe mode! Anyway, I tried everything. Running Adaware removed over 600 spyware/adware infected files. Running Avast AntiVirus removed a few items but they returned on reboot. The main problem seems to be with Nail.exe! I spent a week working on the computer. Each day the processor seemed to have sped up just a tiny bit. I called the client and told him that his computer was really screwed and that I was amazed that I could not remove the problematic software. I also informed him that it has become a personal battle and that I would not charge him for the total amount of time I was putting into his machine (I estimate that I have put in thirty hours, which would cost over a $1000!). I told him that if I didn't have it cleaned up by Friday that I would need the software to reinstall his operating system (Windows XP Pro). Well, I began walking down that path yesterday at about 6:00 PM. After a few hours of loading the operating system files (I booted to the Windows XP CD and re-partitioned the hard disk) the final stages of a successful installation were unfolding. The computer rebooted, setup continued and then just when I thought I would be lying in bed happy that the computer was fixed, I got the old blue screen with an error that stated the file vga64k.dll was stuck in an infinite loop and setup could not continue! I said to myself, holy shit! Then I gathered my thoughts and downloaded an updated version of the file, booted to the CD again and selected the Recovery Console to try to repair the installation. At the command prompt I copied vga32k.dll from a floppy disk to the Windows\system32 folder to overwrite the file. Then I rebooted - same problem. I decided to start over, just for the hell of it! It didn't work!

Anyway, another 10 hours into this damn machine and the only thing I can think of is that the Dell came preinstalled with another operating system (probably Windows XP Home Edition) and that I might need to get that software from my client and after restoring the initial configuration I could perform an upgrade to XP Pro.

At this point I am attempting to use the Format command at the command prompt to erase the drive one more time. I guess that I am hoping to get lucky or something!

This is the first computer that I have been unable to fix, so far! I will apolgize for using such language but this thing is really pissing me off! Part of me wanted to toss this thing off a bridge (then pick up all the broken pieces and recycle them) and buy the guy another computer, but I know it can be fixed! It's a damn computer that's all!

I will keep you posted of the outcome.

Thursday, August 25th, 2005

2005-08-25T18:37:00.000-04:00

I am working on a Dell Dimension 2200. I picked it up this afternoon. The machine is running Windows XP Home Edition. The complaint is that the machine won’t boot. The first thing I did was power the machine on and press the F8 key to boot into Safe Mode. After about five minutes of watching the hard drive activity light blink and then go off for a few minutes I impatiently decided that the machine was stalled. Then I powered the machine down the hard way (by depressing the power button until the machine went off). I rebooted and attempted to run Last Known Good Configuration. Again, the machine tried to boot but after five to seven minutes I decided to restart and attempt booting into Safe Mode with Command Prompt
(click here to see how to run
System Restore using the command prompt). Then I ran chkdsk /f to not only check the hard drive for errors but to fix them (that’s what the /f does) too. It has been about fifteen minutes now. I am awaiting the results. I have a feeling that this poor computer is chock-full-of-spyware and or virus, and oh, did I mention adware? That is my guess without actually seeing the operating system boot!
It took about forty minutes to run chkdsk. No errors reported. I am going to attempt to run Safe Mode again. Sixteen minutes later and the login screen has passed and I am looking at a black screen with the words Safe Mode lining the corners. The system isn't fully functional yet but it will be soon. The first thing I will do is to run MSCONFIG to check for suspicious start up items. The desktop has come up. I ran MSCONFIG and found many viruses, spyware and adware. For example I found Iexplor.exe (adware), Sixtypopsix.exe (spyware), syscheckbop32.exe (adware), MWSOWMON.exe (My Web Search - spyware), ms66.exe (spyware), dst.exe (virus), ssk.exe (adware) and sysnet.exe (virus). I unchecked them all and also a bunch of other suspicious files. I have rebooted the machine and I am waiting for the results. It's now 8:00. I began this adventure at 5:30. As I am still waiting I will tell you that I did not see any antivirus software configured to run at startup. But I did see Microsoft AntiSpy. If I can get the desktop up I can run AntiSpy. I am still waiting for this machine to boot. The screen is currently black and the hard drive activity light has blinked a few times but not enough to feel confident. Wait, I see the cursor arrow on the screen and more activity. This poor machine might boot after all! This an exercise in patience. Oh, I see the Windows startup screen. It's nice to see that familure blue screen! It has been ten minutes since I pressed the power button! I can honestly say that this is the longest period of time I have ever seen it take for a computer to load! It's 8:18 and I am still waiting. I am at the user login screen. After over twenty minutes I decided to reboot and start in safe mode again. System stalled - rebooting (8:29). The machine is almost functional (8:46). Microsoft AntiSpyware Beta1 is trying to load. It did not load. I had to use the Task Manager (Ctrl + Alt + Delele) to kill the process. I ran MSCONFIG again and removed a few more questionable startup items. I am rebooting back into Safe Mode to see if I have any luck (9:20).

You might be wondering why I simply don't reinstall the operating system. Well, I would have gone that route already but the owner of the computer has files that would be difficult to replace.

I have tried running System File Checker in safe mode. It failed to run. I am trying to access the Control Panel and System Restore but I am not getting any where.

It's now 10:44. I am attempting to run the Windows Recovery Console. If this doesn't work I am going to call it a night!

Sunday, August 21st, 2005

2005-08-21T07:08:00.000-04:00

I picked up another Dell laptop last Wednesday. It belongs to a college student but I got the call from the person's parents. The complaint was that the computer would get bumped off the Internet after a while of surfing. I picked the computer up at 8:30 in the morning. By 9:00 I was working on it. Here is what I found and what I did to resolve the issues.

My first experience with the machine was not positive. It would not boot. I forced it to turn off by holding the power button down. I restarted and noted that it took a long time for all the programs to load. I ran the msconfig utility to see what applications were set to load on startup. Two program names looked suspicious to me. The first was TrusyHound-ts.exe. I performed a Google seach to confirm that it was a problem and came up with this link. I deselected the check box so that TrustyHound-ts.exe did not load when I rebooted the computer. The second executable file name that looked strange to me was system.exe. Turns out that according to this link that name belongs to a virus called Trojan.Mitglieder.B. I deselected it to run on startup as well.

The next thing I did was connect the laptop to my network to see if I could update the user's antivirus software. The update failed so I installed AVG, updated and ran the software to remove Trojan.Mitglieder.B. Then I ran the netstat utility (start - run - type cmd - then type netstat and press enter) to see what other computer were connected while the Dell was online. None were. I deleted cookies, removed all Temporary Internet Files and deleted the contents of the Temp folder.

Then I downloaded and installed a copy of Microsoft AntiSpy, updated and ran the application. It found TrustyHound and removed the problem. I booted into Safe Mode and ran both applications again. Neither found any problems. Then I rebooted again and ran the updater for McAfee (this the antivirus originally installed on the Dell). This time it worked. Next I ran Windows Update and installed all critical updates and rebooted. Next I ran disk defragementer, and rebooted again. Lastly I turned on System Retore (it was turned off) and created a clean restore point. I left the machine connected to the Internet to see if any problems arose. All was well.

I called my client and set up a meeting for the following day to return the laptop. It only took three hours to get that machine running as though it was fresh off the shelf and my client was quite happy to hear that the machine was feeling better.

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

2005-08-16T18:13:00.000-04:00

I have seen some interesting problems over the past few weeks. One of my favorites was when I found a piece from a floppy disk jammed in the non functioning drive. I have removed spyware and viruses from several computers. One I worked on yesterday for three house had 1,620 spyware infected files and 21 viruses. It was a Dell laptop running Windows XP Home that had only been subjected to the dangers of the Internet for six months. The antivirus software trial period had clearly run out. Therefore there weren't any updates to the virus definitions file. No firewall running either. Automatic Updates was disabled and the operating system had no been updated since SP1. There was a lot of starting in Safe Mode (press the F8 key as the machine is starting to boot - on some machines it's different) running AdAware, Spybot Search and Destroy, Microsoft AntiSpy and AVG AntiVirus. Some of the names of the virus infected files were smse.exe, wualcts.exe, dipset.exe and MMXMtf8exe.exe. Some of the more commonly known spyware/adware which I ran into was WinTools and CoolWebSearch. There were others. The first symptoms of spyware where when I booted the machine and could not access the msconfig utility (start-run-type in msconfig). I rebooted into Safe Mode and ran msconfig to see if I could spot any spyware. I noticed some odd looking file names that led me to believe that the machine was indeed a victium of spyware, viruses and adware. I rebooted the machine after disabling some of the suspicious executable files set to load upon startup. I installed the proper tools. Updated them (on a dial-up connection, I swear it was painful to watch) and ran the applications. I ran Spybot first and found 58 problems. Next I ran AdAware and found 359 problems. Then I ran AVG and found the 21 viruses. Lastly I ran Microsoft AntiSpy and found 846 problems!

At the end of it all I explained in detail what I did to the machine and also what to do to help prevent the problems from getting on the computer again. I drove off down the driveway and onto a pothole lined dirt road past farms and acres of green grass. I left behind another satisfied customer.

I had a few quick visits over the past seven days. Both of them lasted under an hour. My policy is that I get paid at least one hour. One was to enable a DSL connection to load upon startup automatically, plus check for spyware/virses and the like. It was another Dell laptop running Windows XP. That went quickly. The other was to check a PC running Windows XP for a virus. The client compained that the computer was shutting down automatically after twenty-or-so minutes. I booted the machine (it was very slow booting), looked at the Startup menu, removed a few obvious items and rebooted. Then I checked the system properties (right click on the Desktop and choose Properties - then choose Screen Saver - then click the button that says Power.) and found that someone had set the computer to go in Standby after 25 minutes. Problem solved. I ran Microsoft AntiSpy removed a few items and was out the door within 45 minutes. The machine was running smooth.

I will be picking up a laptop on Thursday and working on a basic virtual tour for this site Pathways To Well Being. Plus I am waiting to set up another appointment with a woman who is complaining about viruses.

On another note; a friend dropped off two towers, probably running Windows 98, for me to play with. I haven't even fired them up to see what they can or cannot do. Maybe I will install some spyware or viruses for fun and then remove the pests. I now have about six computers in my basement! Plus there are four in this room with me right now! I might have an addiction!

Thursday, July 28, 2005

2005-07-28T06:12:00.000-04:00

Yesterday - 10AM I had a job interview for a position as Software Analyist. The interview went well. I was told to expect to be called back for a second interview next week.

Directly after the interview I was called to troubleshoot an Internet connectivity issue. I arrived at the house to find a generic computer running Windows 98 without the ability to get a dial tone from the modem. First I checked the phone jack by plugging a telephone into it to check for a dial tone. The jack was working properly. Next I checked the phone cord inself. That seemed to be fine as well. I looked under Device Manager (right click on My Computer, choose Properties) to see if there were any conflicts with the dialup adapter. The computer reported the modem as working fine.

I went to my car to check for another modem. I found one. The question was, would it work? In removed the non-functioning modem and installed the new one. I rebooted the machine and it did not detect the newer modem. I attempted to locate the new device using the Add New Hardware Wizard (Start - Settings - Control Panel - Add New Hardware). The device could not be found. I removed the obviously broken modem and explained to the owner of the computer that she most likely needs a new modem. She recommended that I take her tower with me. That way I could purchase the modem and install it at my leisure.

I left her house and went to the nearest electronics store - Radio Shack. They were out of internal dialup adapters. Next I went to Best Buy to check their price on a modem. I was shocked and angered when I found out that they were trying to get $40 for a modem! How could I charge someone for a $15 part? I walked out of the store.

I arrived home and began looking in my basement through piles of old towers. I removed two modems, found the drivers online at www.driverguide.com and copied the files to a floppy disk. I removed the old modem and replace it with the new one. I booted the machine and the Add New Hardware Wizard appeared. I directed the wizard to look at the floppy drive for the drivers. All was successful. I connected the phone cord to the modem and dialed into the users Internet access account. Another problem solved!

My plan for the day. I must drop off the Dell laptop by 8:00. Then I have to be somewhere from 9-6. Then I will go to the house with the past modem issue and hook the computer back up, submit a bill and go home.

I got another call yesterday stating that this site www.pathwaystowellbeing.org will need some updating.

My first Verizon Yellow Pages ad came out a few weeks ago -it's a nice ad, and it really sticks out on the page. The problem is that they listed my business under the wrong category! They put it under Networking instead of Service and Repair! Yes, I dabble in networking but that is not my main focus! Verizon really screwed up! The funny part of this whole thing is that back when I was putting the ad together I was told by my contact person at Verizon that I was going to receive a proof of my ad before it actually went to print. Several weeks had gone by so I emailed the contact again. She told me that she would get the proof to me. A few more weeks passed so I contacted her again. She told me that she was passing my request along to her manager and apologized for taking so long. I never received a reply from her manager, nor did I get the proof! Then the phone book arrived in the mail. It was too late!

I have sent an email to the contact person with whom I placed the ad. She hasn't replied (this was two weeks ago I sent the email). I spoke with another gentleman from Verizon about the problem. He said that he would look into it (that was over a week ago - still no return call). Why should I have to pay for an ad that is listed under the wrong category? I have already begun to receive phone calls for networking jobs that are beyond my comfort level. I have no problem installing a wireless network or a small business or home network but I am getting calls to set up larger networks. Then I have to explain to them that I do not specialize in networking! How does that make my company look? Not good! Verizon really screwed up! The ad would have cost $130 a month! That's a lot of money to be listed under the wrong category! I hope that they don't expect payment anytime soon!

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

2005-07-27T18:18:00.000-04:00

I worked on a laptop yesterday. It was another Dell running Windows XP. I can't tell you how many Dells I have worked on in the past six months. Does this mean that Dells are junk? Probably not, I think that it means that there are so many people out there who own them. If I were to take a guess at what type of computer I fix most it would have to be Dell. Anyway, the laptop was a return visit. I originally fixed it last week. It was plagued with spyware and viruses. A clever virus had the CDROM drive disabled so I was unable to install any software that way. Luckily, upon examining the startup menu, I noticed an executable file with a suspicious name, it had the words cdrom in the file name. I deselected it as a startup item and upon the next boot the drive worked. After that point it was simply a matter of booting to Safe Mode and cleaning the machine up. I tried to drop the laptop off at the owners how the following day but I was informed that she would be out of town.

About a week had passed and the owner called to set up a time when I could drop her computer off. I met with her, explained what the problems were and how to combat them (don't open attachments, scan downloaded files with antivirus software and be careful). The following day I recieved a call from the Dell owner. She was having problems again. I told her I would be at her house in a half hour to check it out. I arrived at her house and she booted up the machine, it stalled. I attempted to boot into Safe Mode, it stalled again. I asked her what was going on when it began to have problems. She said that there wasn't anything inparticular. She was downloading some updates and it stalled. I realized that the problem most likely wasn't related to any of the previous work I had performed. Then I tried Last Know Good Configuration and that failed. I shut the machine down the hard way - by holding the power button down for as long as it takes, put the laptop in its case and headed home.

I began working on the machine. I booted to Safe Mode and let the machine load for about fifteen minutes. It finally came alive! That's when an error message popped up telling me that updates had not been completely installed and that some components of Norton Antivirus had not been completely removed. The evidence was plain as day. The problems were not with the work I had performed but they were caused by the user. I accessed the System Restore feature (I set a restore point after I cleaned up her machine the first time.) and restored the system to a date when I was certain that the computer was functioning properly. I rebooted to finish the process and the computer was back to a healthy state.

I will return it to her tomorrow - free of charge.

Wednesday, July 20, 2005

2005-07-20T22:29:00.000-04:00

I got a call last week. It was a previous client. Problems with an attempted wireless router installation. We set up an appointment for this morning - 10:00 AM. The challenge; to install and configure a wireless router to allow two laptops (with built in wireless) to share a DSL connection. It should have been easy but, it wasn't. As a matter of fact, I had encountered this exact setup before. Verizon DLS with a Westel modem and a Linksys router. The user tried to install the router but got stuck. He called me. After some searching I found the answer. The solution is simple, Verizon uses PPPoE, so this must be configured through the router. (Type 192.168.1.1 into your web browser's address bar and press Enter. Type in your user name and password to log into the router interface. From here you will have to find PPPoE. It's there, so keep looking.) don't forget to enter the user name and password for Verizon under the PPPoE dialog, and turn off the DHCP server.

The task began with a suggestion from my client. She wanted a virus and spyware scan. I downloaded and installed Microsoft AntiSpy as well as AVG AntiVirus ran a scan with both applications and was pleased to say that nothing was found. I examined the startup menu and didn't find anything unusual. Then I began the router setup.

I changed the appropriate router settings, changed the SSID connected the cables, rebooted and followed all other proceedures mentioned in the router's manual (Yes, I actually look at the manuals!). I opened up Internet Explorer and it connected to my client's preset homepage. I turned to the other laptop to see if it could see the wireless connection. The connection singnal strength was reported as "Excellent". My mind began to think about what I would do with my free time since I would be finished much earlier than predicted. I typed www.google.com into the address bar. The Google homepage was displayed. I typed in a search and got results. I clicked on a link from the results page only to find that the link timed out. I opened the command prompt (by going to Start - Run - if you are using Windows XP type "cmd" - without the quotation marks - If you are using Windows ME (I know, Windows ME is almost painful to use.)type "command" - again, without the quotes then press Enter. This will bring up the command prompt.) and typed in used the Ping command to see if the computer was connected to the Internet. Without going on and on, I just have to tell you that the connection was spotty - at best. I checked, double checked and rechecked my double check to make certain that the settings were correct, they were. I changed Ethernet cables. That didn't do anything. I decided to call Verizon to see if there were any other settings that needed to be changed. The support person asked me the standard questions. I explained to her what I had determined thus far. She was stumped. We ruled out the problem being in the modem. When hardwired directly to the modem the Internet connection was fine. Since the router settings were correct that could be ruled out as well. The Verizon support person consulted a higher level support technician. Their answer was to return the router, get a replacement and try again.

Three Hours had passed. The client had decided to return the router and attempt the install again at a later date. I got in my car, opened up all four windows and drove away listening to great music. I wasn't satisfied with the results of my morning appointment but the summer breeze was blowing on my face again. I hope that the problem is solved with a replacment router!

Sunday, July 10th, 2005

2005-07-10T07:11:00.000-04:00

I have completed the Welcome Kitchen Catering website.

I also redesigned Vermont PC Solutions.com.

I have solved many computer problems in the past month or two. Most of them have not been spyware/virus related. I did work on one computer with virus problems - (Norton Anti-virus could not remove the infection, so I had to manually remove it). Another client had a fan die on her graphics card, luckily her computer was under warrenty. IBM replaced the part - no questions asked. I reinstalled Windows 98 (yes, I did write Windows 98!) on another machine. The owners felt that Windows 98 was a sufficient operating system for the tasks they typically perform. After I returned the computer in brand new condition, the owner attempted to reinstall the DSL software but had problems. She decided to take the computer to the company which supplies the DSL connection. When the computer was returned my client booted to find out that the mouse driver was no longer functioning. My client called the DSL company to explain what had happened, the person on the phone told her that "it was not their problem." Instead of pouring more money into this seven year old computer my client is in search of a new machine. She will have a lot less problems with Windows XP (I hope).

For leisure; lots of hikes, camping, photography, and swimming in Lake Champlain.

My next major task is to overhaul this site The Cook's House. I don't expect to start on this project anytime soon due to my hectic schedule but it must be done sometime.

Tuesday, May 3rd, 2005

2005-05-03T15:52:00.000-04:00

I can't believe that a month (plus) has gone by since my last post. It's not like I haven't done any computer work, actually, it's the opposite - I have been too busy to jot down the details of my daily computer related adventures.

Today I was hired to transfer settings and data from an old laptop to a new one, install a new printer, set up an Internet connection and give some basic tutorials. I spent five hours in a beautiful home working with with two Dell laptops. Personally, I don't know why people go with Dell but, then again, they are cheap! My first step was to check the older Dell for viruses and spyware so that when I transfered files to the new computer there wouldn't be a risk of infection. I scanned with the usual software but only found tracking cookies. I couldn't believe it; here was this old laptop running Windows XP, no firewall, no antivirus protection, no spyware protection and Windows wasn't updated - and no problems? Honestly, it was nice to see. I was glad to be able to work with two clean machines.

My plan of action was to use a USB data-transfer cable and software to make the migration. I installed the software (PC Relocator - by Alohabob, which was given to me by a neighbor) on both machines, plugged in the USB cable and ran the software to set up the migration process (there are other steps involved but I figured that I would save you some reading time). The cable was recognized by both computers but when I ran the application on the old computer it got to a certain point and the program stopped functioning. I tried updating the software but that didn't work. I reinstalled, double checked all the settings and after about an hour I decided that I should go another route. I found a thumb drive in the new Dell laptop box and realized that this was my solution. (The old laptop didn't have a floppy drive nor a CD burner.) First I configured the DSL connection. Secondly, I configured her email client (Outlook Express) and began searching her computer for files that she might want to keep. To my surprise, all of her data fit on the 256 MB thumbdrive! I was glad that PC Relocator did not work. In my experience using PC Relocator I found that there is a bunch of useless (pardon my lack of vocabulary) crap that also gets transfered as well as those files and applications that the client needs.

All went well. The printer installed flawlessly, XP detected the Internet connection with ease, I gladly answered many questions, gave some advice (ex: install Picasa 2 - www.picasa.com (she is into photography and Picasa 2 is a wonderful application for organizing (amoungst other things) photos) and Firefox - www.mozilla.org) and was on my way back to West Bolton.

What else have I done lately? I was hired to install PCs for Amerigas. I created some PDFs for a client using Adobe PageMaker. My task was to duplicate some existing documents (that were saved as image files) in PageMaker and export them to PDF format. I shot and edited digital video for a construction company that is looking to create online tutorials (I will post a link when it all comes together.) I updated this homepage www.soho2go.com and created this page www.soho2go.com/pago2goda.html. The catering website I was working on has stopped in its tracks. I am eager to go on but the client has other priorieties. I have been taking photographs of food and manipulating them in Photoshop for this company www.soea.com, although you won't find any samples of my orignal photographs on the site itself. They will be used for internal instruction manuals and maybe some marketing projects. Scattered throughout these projects I have been making house calls removing viruses, spyware and adware.

These are just a few examples of the exciting work that a computer repair techician can experience in a months worth of time! Aren't you glad you read this?

Wednesday, March 30th, 2005

2005-03-30T22:21:00.000-05:00

It's 10:21 PM and I just finished working on a Toshiba laptop running Windows XP Home Edition. When I first turned this machine on over eight hours ago (no, I have not been working on it all that time) the first sign of a problem was when I attempted to access the cd drive so that I could install some software. Clicking on the My Computer and Control Panel icons crashed the system. I rebooted and tried to Explore the Start Menu by right clicking on the Start button and choosing Explore. This also froze the machine. I rebooted in Safe Mode and removed any suspicious start up items.

The next step was to figure out how to get the proper tools on the machine so I could clean the troubled computer. A floppy disk would not work. Then I thought about a thumb drive. I loaded Microsoft Anti-spy and AVG Anti-virus onto the thumb drive, booted into Safe Mode and copied the applications to the laptop. Then I rebooted and installed both of them.

In total there were almost 300 virus infections and almost 900 spyware/adware related problems. The software didn't detect them in one shot either. First I ran the software without the update virus defintions and spyware signatures, just to get the machine to a point that I could work with it. Then I had to reboot, re-run the software, reboot, find and fix more problems etc... This went on for quite some time.

When I felt that the machine was at a working level I logged in to the user's account to see if I could access the Control Panel or My Computer. The answer was no. I ran sfc /scannow, chkdisk and didn't find any problems. After some searching, I came up with a few possibilities; one was that it was Windows XP Service Pack 2 which was causing the problem. I debated uninstalling it but decided I would try other options first. Then I stumbled across a post in an online forum that gave a recommendation to solve this very problem. The user said to open Internet Explorer, then choose Tools and under Tools choose the Advanced tab. Under Advanced, I had to find the setting that read "Enable third party browser extensions", I deselected and closed down Internet Explorer. The computer also had an update ready to be installed so I took care of that as well. When I rebooted and clicked on My Computer I was plesently surprised to find that it worked! I am not sure if it was the Internet Explorer setting or installing the update that did it. Either way, I was happy to have found the solution. I pulled AdAware off the CD and installed. Back to removing the pests.

After several virus scans, usually finding 1 or 2, a few spyware scans finding 60-122 infected objects I removed all System Restore Points and created a new one. I rebooted and scanned several times and found nothing. The next step was to install a firewall, connect to my network and update all the software I installed, which I did. I ran a virus scan again and found another 60 or so viruses. Spyware scans revealed some problems as well.

Finally, after several scans the software was reporting a clean machine! I defragged, cleaned up any files I left on the desktop and filled out the invoice. I will return the laptop tomorrow - overnight computer repair - how often can you find that service?

Tomorrow I have a networking issue to solve, I have to drop off the 60 cds that hold the converted training video I had been working on, drop the laptop and put more flyers out to advertise. Friday, I have two clients set up before noon.

I have made great progress on the Welcome Kitchen Catering website. The site should be going up with a few weeks. I am awaiting the client to give the go ahead on purchasing a web host.

Saturday, March 19th, 2005

2005-03-19T07:03:00.000-05:00

My appointment yesterday was a success. I arrive at the office and began talking with the office manager about the problem the computer was experiencing and what she has tried to do as far as troubleshooting goes (oh, I also dropped her PC off, I disinfected it the night before - it took three hours - she had over 600 spyware infections and 9 viruses - plus, 48 critical updates needed, I installed a firewall, antivirus etc.... her machine is running perfectly now - she will be very pleased!). I tried a few tests using ntbackup.exe. First I created a new, smaller back up job and attempted to run. It stalled half-way through. Then I created a backup job that sent the backup to another PC on the network (this way I could try to determin if the problem was in the software or hardware, or both). That was successful. This at least gave us a backup to work with incase the next step in the process went wrong. The next step was to sort through the event logs with Event Viewer to see when the errors began. Then to use System Restore to restore the system settings back to the way they were the day before the first error was recorded. I selected the date and hoped for the best. The computer rebooted and after a few tense minutes the Windows XP desktop began to come to life. The first thing the office manager did was to try to run a DOS based program which was not running since installing a Windows Update. It ran, she nearly jumped in the air. Then it was time to try ntbackup.exe. I formatted a blank CD-RW and used Task Scheduler to run the backup job. After about six minutes the backup was complete and after a few more, the backup was verified and we were happy. The office manager asked me what she should do about installing future Windows updates, since this was obviously the problem in the first place. I told her that she should install all "critical updates" and if the problem happens again we can always restore, or remove the update. I updated their antivirus software and was finished.

Another safisfied client: I walked out of the office watching people smile and go along with their work day. The office manager thanked me and I walked out the door.

Friday, March 18th, 2005

2005-03-18T07:11:00.000-05:00

I just read a great article called The Strange Tale of the Denial of Service Attack Against GRC.com - if you are facinated by Internet security then read this article!

Also from GRC.com some great free security testing tools, run LeakTest and ShieldsUp! to find out how vulnerable your computer is to possible intrusions. You can find a link to both of these free services here.

Thursday, March 17th, 2005

2005-03-17T23:07:00.000-05:00

Is it true that Spring is a mere four days away? Here in Vermont Spring is more than a month away! Before Spring comes mud season! Living on a dirt road you prepare for mud season. Rutts a foot deep, pools of muddy water splashing up onto the windshield etc...Anyway, this week I have delt with a few of the "same old, same old" issues (spyware and viruses) and then I had a couple of different problems to solve. I visited the client I spoke about in my last post (80 gig drive, DSL setup). The first step was to transfer the data from the old drive to the new. This process took over an hour and a half. I actually left the site and came back, saving my client a few dollars, she was happy about that! After the drive data transfer was complete I had to change a bios setting so that the new drive was recongnized as the boot drive, change the jumper settings to "master", rebooted, crossed my fingers - success! and off I went to the Verizon DSL installation.

I ran the software and encountered the same error as with the previous installation attempt. The software stopped halfway through. I was able to ping the router and had Internet connectivity periodically. I looked into network settings and didn't spot anything abnormal. After about twenty minutes of getting nowhere I decided that instead of beating myself up over finding the solution I would again save my client some money and get on the phone with Verizon tech. support. The person I spoke with really knew his stuff! I explained the spotty Internet connection, told him what I had looked into and within minutes he asked if there was a previous version of Verizon DSL software installed on the machine; indeed there was. I uninstalled the software, looked into the router settings and we thought we had it nipped, no, not quite. Eventually we figured out that the Verizon software did not like the user name which it entered (it must have grabbed it from the old settings) for my client. I looked at a piece of paper my client gave me with some Verizon notes on it and I found another password which I entered. When I checked the router status a positive connection to the Internet was established - success. I thanked the support person for his fifteen minutes of time, installed Zone Alarm Firewall and was on my way home; all of this took a bit over three hours.

I just finished up on a Windows 98 machine. The client dropped off the machine tonight. I sat right down and got to it. The machine is a classic case; Windows 98, antivirus that has not been updated (Panda), no firewall, no spyware detection/removal tools etc...My first contact with the Microsoft Windows logo appeared as the clicks and clacks - oh nevermind, let me get on with the story. The machine stalled at the first sign of a Microsoft logo. I rebooted into Safe Mode using the F8 key and ran msconfig to see what was going on. I found eAccelerator - deselected and then removed several other entries (One of the client's complaints was that the machine started up slowly.) that did not need to start up - at all! Next, I checked out Panda. It didn't run. I took another look at the start up menu using msconfig, looked up a few processes, rebooted and struggled to that classic view called Windows 98 SE. I installed the usual set of tools - AVG, AdAware, SpyBot. Anyway - here is the log of what I did:
booted computer - froze
restarted in safe mode
removed unecessary startup items
tried running Panda - failed
rebooted
installed AdAware - 586 problems corrected
installed AVG (per client request)
installed Spybot Search and Destroy - failed
tried several times to install Spybot - system froze
ctrl + alt + del to shut down the spybot installer
rebooted - ran AVG found 6 viruses - deleted 3, manually deleted 3
deleted TEMP file folder contents
deleted Temporary Internet Files
checked to see if SpyBot installed, it did, ran SpyBot found 3 bad files - removed
removed Panda Antivirus (per client request)
rebooted
emptied recycle bin
installed Zone Alarm Free edition (per client request)
rebooted
installed USB Ethernet adapter, connected to network
updated AVG
updated AdAware
updated Spybot
disconnected from the Internet
scanned with AdAware - 7 problems fixed
scanned with Spybot - no problems reported
scanned with AVG - 3 infected objects detected - removed
scanned with AVG - no infections found
ran windows update - found 48 critical updates - installed
rebooted
ran scandisk and disk defragmentor - free of charge
and finished in three hours - not too bad

Saturday, March 12th, 2005

2005-03-12T06:18:00.000-05:00

I have seen a few challanges this week. Wednesday morning I visited the home of a family; the problem - spyware/adware and viruses. After two hours of eliminating almost 3,000 infected files the client began asking if I was almost finished. This might be the beginning of a trend, people rushing me out the door. The funny thing is that it took these people months to get their operating system to the point at which I come in. Sometimes I think that the expectation level is a bit low when it comes to spending money to fix a computer. Anyway, I installed the correct tools, ran a few scans, rebooted, rebooted again, rebooted again and again, scanned, booted, scanned, installed a firewall, anti-virus (This client previously had Norton but I uninstalled due to the fact that AVG Antivirus found over 30 viruses while this non-updated version was running.), gave the family some quick tutorials and general safe web browsing habits and off I went on the answer the next call.

The next stop was at a small business. They were having problems with the built in Windows backup program called ntbackup.exe. The problem was (and still is) that when ntbackup runs, as it is scheduled to do, it stalls almost halfway through. I have read about such an error and microsoft says that there is a patch for it. I have to get back into the office (Monday), find the patch and install. Hopefully it works because I have had the same issue with ntbackup on my Windows XP machine.

Thursday I didn't have any troubleshooting work but I used this day to put the near finishing touches on this site.

Friday morning I had a client drop off a laptop running Windows ME. Yes, the dreaded Windows ME. I run Windows ME on my laptop and believe me, the OS is problematic. The client told me that if the bill was getting up too high he was going to buy a new laptop instead of spending the money on his HP. The process to clean the machine went as follows: booted - ran msconfig - disabled any start up ideas known to be a problem, ran AdAware - found 417 problems - tried to delete and failed. Installed AVG antivirus - ran found 17 viruses. Installed/ran Spybot Search and Destroy - found 79 problems - removed successfully, booted into Safe Mode, ran AdAware - found and removed 269 problems, rebooted, edited startup menu again, found one suspicious entry ADMANCTL.EXE, after reading up on this process I was informed that this was indeed spyware. I deselected the item restarted the machine, ran msconfig and found ADMANCTL.EXE was back again. I rebooted into Safe Mode, ran AdAware - found/removed 217 problems, unchecked ADMANCTL.EXE, ran AVG and didn't find a virus, ran scandisk, converted lost file fragments, ran disk defrag.

The next step was to disable system restore to make sure that nothing was hiding in the restore files. Then I enabled it and created a restore point. I emptied all cookies, TEMP files, and Temporary Internet Files and the Recycle Bin. I installed Zone Alarm firewall and configured it. Then I created a network connection to my DSL, updated AVG, AdAware and Spybot. I ran Windows Update to get the 48 critical updates for Windows ME. Next I ran Spybot found 17 problems and fixed them all. Ran AdAware found 14 problems - removed them. Ran AVG - no viruses. Ran AdAware - no problems, ran Spybot - no problems. I looked up at the sky, held my hands in the air and proclaimed "this machine is clean". I am just kidding, I didn't do this at all.

My other client for yesterday involved installed an 80 gig harddrive as a second drive in a Windows 98 machine. The other task was to install a Verizon DSL wireless router. I had two and a half hours to do it. The harddrive install took about an hour. It was difficult to find the right BIOS setting that allowed the computer to recognize another drive. Then it came time to set up the router. The old harddrive (1.5 gig) had about 150 MB of space left. I cleared out any excess files to make room for the Verizon installer package. I ran the installer and it almost worked but stalled. I was able to make the network connection for short periods of time but I have a feeling that the low amount of disk space is keeping the computer from making successful long term connections to the Internet. Unfortunitely, I had to leave the client without Internet access. I asked her to back up all of her important data and set up a return visit appointment so I can go back and transfer all of her data/settings from the old drive to the new 80 gig. I think that the computer will run much happier with some space to play with.

Last night I spent some time working on the index page of the Welcome Kitchen Catering website which I have not posted yet. I am waiting for content on the site but I have started the old wheels turning in the brain.

Wednesday, March 9th, 2005

2005-03-10T14:51:00.000-05:00

It was Sunday afternoon - 2:00 - I arrived at the house.

I kicked my boots off by the door and sat down in front of the computer. I introduced myself and asked about the history of the computer and specifically if there was anything that lead up to the crash. Apparently, the client, had downloaded something and when the attempt was made to uninstall the spyware suspect the computer ceased to function.

I powered up the computer. It was WinXp, good, I thought to myself. The login screen appeared and when I went to move the mouse I noticed that there wasn't a response. I could tab through the input boxes and buttons but nothing from the mouse. I asked the client if anything could have happened to it. You know, maybe it flew off the desk and hit a wall or maybe it magically leaped off the desk into someone's coffee. He said no. I had a spare in the car but I didn't feel like running back out into the bitter wind to grab my USB mouse from the toolbox plus I wasn't certain it was a hardware problem.

I powered off (the hard way) and upon rebooting I tapped the F8 key to access Safe Mode. I booted the machine into Safe Mode and it loaded up just fine, mouse working and all. I ran msconfig to see what nasty stuff was set to start up automatically and I found plenty. I deselected all that I was certain of and rebooted the machine.

The next step was to clean the poor machine. I ran Microsoft Anti-Spy, AdAware and AVG-Anti-virus and removed the most infections I have ever seen on one computer. The number was 8,001. That brings my current total beginning back in October of 2004 to 31,930.

While sitting there watching programs sort throught files and registry values looking for infections my phone rang. I silenced the ringer (In my opinion it is inappropriate to answer a business call on a client's time.) and continued on. It was over an hour since I had arrived. The client was getting restless. I could tell that he wanted to be somewhere else. I decided to wrap things up as fast as I could without leaving an incomplete job. I explained to him that more than likely his computer was still infected with viruses and/or spyware/adware/malware etc...I told him to run AVG again and the antispyware applications I installed. He seemed confident enough to complete the cleansing process and after all it was his money. It was a little over an hour and a half since I first stepped in the door. The client wrote out a check with a generous tip and I was on my way.

I left the house, walked through the parking lot and sat down in my car. I checked my phone messages. The call I had missed was from a client I had seen the day before. The guy with the two computers. I called him back. He was having issues with Firefox not having access to the Internet. I told him that I could be there in 10 minutes. He agreed and I headed towards his house. On the way I thought to myself, Firefox, huh, must be a firewall issue. I arrived at the house (quicker than in ten minutes) and knocked on the door. My client was on the phone. I knew where the computer in question was set up so I let myself in and sat down at the machine. I attempted to run Firefox. "This page cannot be displayed." I shut down Zone Alarm and tried Firefox again and it connected to the start page. I looked at the program access configuration, gave Firefox the appropriate access and told my client what the problem was and how to resolve it if the problem should arise in the future. He thanked me and I walked out of another house leaving behind another satisfied customer.

Saturday, March 5th, 2005

2005-03-05T20:54:00.000-05:00

I spent two hours today working on two computers simultaniously. One was running Win98 and the other XP. They were situated in a beautiful home and owned by a family of four. Can you guess what the problem was? You probably guessed correctly - spyware. The XP machine was sporatically having trouble connecting to the Internet and was running slower than normal. The Win98 machine was spitting out blue screens on occasion and also running slowly. I decided that I would begin working on the Win98 machine first since it was my least favorite of the two to troubleshoot.

Each computer already had the necessary tools installed; Zone Alarm Pro, Norton Anti-virus (updated too!), AdAware, Spybot and the XP machine even had HiJackThis installed. My first step on the Win98 machine was to run msconfig to take a peek at the startup menu. Right away I noticed a few problems and disabled them. Then I rebooted into Safe Mode and ran AdAware and Spybot which removed over 300 problems. Then I ran Norton and no viruses were found. Next I rebooted and ran msconfig again and found winstat.exe running. I did a quick search on www.processlibrary.com and found "winstat.exe is a process that belongs to the Kodorjan Trojan. Kodorjan Trojan is a backdoor worm that steal personal data" - Norton didn't pick this up so I manually removed it.

While working on the Win98 machine I was performing the same routines on the XP machine. AdAware turned up a mere 15 critical objects and Spybot found 1 or 2. I installed Microsoft Anti-Spy Beta and ran it which resulted in located and removing another 20 infections. My experience with Microsoft Anti-Spy thus far has been more than positive! The main culpret on this machine was WildTangent (cdaEngine0400.dll) but was no match for Microsoft Anti-spy.

Upon leaving I explained to the family that downloading free software sometimes gives you more than you expect. Then I told them about Google and that if they want to download something that is free to perform a Google search first and see if anyone else had problems with the application. I left a stack of business cards on the desk and asked them to pass them around to friends and co-workers. They seemed quite happy with the work so I should see some "word-of-mouth" business in the next few weeks.

Tomorrow I have an appointment set up for a late afternoon. The problem is that the computer (XP - Home Edition) won't boot. According to the kid I spoke with (his mom called first but she doesn't know anything about computers so she put her son on the phone) his computer gets to the login screen and freezes. He said that he downloaded something and tried to uninstall and ended up with a machine that will not boot! I am thinking that I might have to run chkdsk from the recovery console but first I will see if I can get in using Safe Mode. Who knows, I have to see it to diagnose it! In addition to this I should complete the first draft of the video conversion I have been working on for a week. I would like to hand a copy of the first version to my client on Monday.

Thursday, March 3rd, 2005

2005-03-03T21:27:00.000-05:00

Woke up this morning, logged into the PC and fired up the old ThinkPad laptop and began working on converting some training videos to digital format and at the same time I began editing some graphics and HTML for a cruise ship that operates on Lake Champlain. I did not originally create the site but I have been hired to update it. Today I worked on this page and a few other pages that have not been posted yet. They should be up by the morning.

I have two appointments set up for tomorrow. The first is to look into networking three computers in a home, WinXP on a laptop, Win98 and 95. Two of them might be wireless. I am not sure yet. I have to look at the layout of the house. My second appointment is a simple email configuration call which shouldn't take too long.

I have two other clients in line for the weekend. One is to set up a new system and the other is a troubleshooting job. Beyond that I hope to get some skiing in. With a foot of new snow on the ground the backwoods skiing is at its prime! The other day I took a run and I was nearly knee-deep in powder, no other tracks around, the sun slowly sinking behind the mountains, it was beautiful!

Wednesday, February, 23rd, 2005

2005-02-23T16:59:00.000-05:00

4AM yesterday, woke up ready to go. The only problem was that I really didn't have any where to go. Instead, I decided I would continue working on some website content. That lasted a few hours and then it was really time to go.

I arrived at the trailer, which looked more like a conventional house rather than the image I expected, met the man outside and he welcomed me in. It was 7:45 AM. He offered coffee, I declined and then I met his wife and computer.

We, the man and I, sat down at his Gateway computer running Windows 98. I asked him to tell me exactly what he needs to acomplish. At this point I hadn't heard of any problems with the computer. He told me that he was more interested in learning how to use the comptuer rather than having me fix any particular problem. I was a bit geared up due to coffee I drank earlier so I had to force myself into a slower mode. My biggest concern was trying to avoid speaking in terms that he might not understand. Anyway, we sat for a few hours talking about the computer. He asked questions, I answered. All the while his wife sat at a wooden dining table piecing a puzzle together. She too asked questions. Needless to say, it wasn't your average house call.

By the time I left, we had gone through the basis of how the comptuer is laid out (in terms of folders and files), how to use email, the power of ctrl+alt+delete, some Control Panel items, System tools, msconfig, installed anti-virus, set up his AOL account (that I was the first time I ever had to use AOL, I am okay now, but the clutter of the interface was driving me crazy, or was that the coffee?). I set up the printer and showed them how to use it, the basis of searching the Internet, what spyware is and a list of safety tips, etc... He was very receptive and eager to learn. I enjoyed being a tutor. It was relaxing to sit and talk about computers which such personable people.

The next part of my day was spent working on the music section of my site. It's really coming along and I must admit that the content is quite funny but I won't post the link to the pages until they are complete. Then I had a two hour meeting during which I discussed the future of one of the websites I am working on. After that I was on my way home.

Monday, February 21st, 2005

2005-02-21T07:52:00.000-05:00

I had to reschedule my appointment for today due to inclement weather. A winter storm warning is in effect for the entire day.

I called my client over an hour ago and set up an appointment for tomorrow at the same time.

I added some more content to my website. I have been a photography addict for quite some time. Yesterday I found some inspiration to create a section of my website dedicated to my photographs. Links can be found on all of my web pages under the Services category. Here is a quick link as well. I began these pages yesterday at about 3:00 PM. I went to sleep last night with an unfinished project which only means one thing - interrupted sleep. I crawled out of bed this morning at 4:00, fired up the old Mr. Coffee and set my obsessive mind to rest by completing the Photography pages. (I shouldn't use the word 'completed' because I am learning that websites are never really complete.)

The next project for my site will be a section dedicated to the digital music I enjoy creating.

Friday, February 18th, 2005

2005-02-18T20:54:00.000-05:00

It has been a busy week. I don't have any tales of troubleshooting, or symptoms of spyware of verse based on virues but, I did add an online user forum to www.vermontpcsolutions.com. The forum is set up so that users who have issues with spyware, viruses and other general issues can post questions, comments and answers. You can get to the forum by clicking here or by going through the main page here.
You must register first. Registration requires an email address but I promise your address will not be sold or given out. It is for verification purposes only!

Oh, I did pick up a new client, a website that I haven't started building yet. It will be for a Chiropractic office. I am waiting on the content for the site. As soon as it goes up I will post a link.

Monday, February 21st 8:00 AM is my next day to make a home visit. I got the call two days ago but I am booked up through the weekend. I think that it might be in a trailer park. I can honestly say that I have not had the privelage of working in a trailer home. As long as there is a computer in it I will be glad to repair the poor machine (another Windows 98 machine on a dial-up connection). I will let you know how it goes.

Snow keeps falling here in Vermont, snow keeps falling here in Vermont, snow keeps - you get the idea. The skiing is wonderful. This morning I went for a two hour adventure on my cross country skis, up and over a small mountain across the street from my house. Plenty of deer tracks, perfect conditions for wood skiing and the snow continued to fall as my beaten sticks carved gracefully (for the most part) through deep powder avoiding collisions with maple, birch and tamaracks.

I did the same run yesterday but with blue skies above. Using Photoshop I stitched together this panorama taken from Libby's Look, the highest elevation on the route.

If you would like to see a larger (much larger) version go here.

Sunday, February 13th, 2005

2005-02-14T02:36:00.000-05:00

Got a call sometime last week, slow start-up on computer, slow Internet connection. Made an appointment for today. Arrive at the house. Met the owners and their week old baby. Sat down at the computer (Windows 98 SE machine) installed anti-virus (AVG), AdAware etc....Rebooted - took a little under 10 minutes to boot!! I checked out the system properties and found only 32 MB RAM. I ran a quick spyware check found KaZaa and thirty one other bits of the nasty stuff, removed them, ran msconfig, edited the start up menu to remove any unnecessary start up items (Real Player, AOL, Quicktime blah, blah, blah) rebooted, boot time zipped right along. Updated AdAware and found out why the Internet was slow - Dial up! Informed the owner of RAM limitations and where to pick up some cheap, used RAM, got in my car, turned on an Interpol cd, got a pizza and a sixer and came home.

Also this week, got more work on an ongoing web project SoHo2go.com, some graphics editing, more work on this site, purchased a domain for this site,a video conversion project for this company, created this page (which will move here and three days of cross-country skiing in a foot and a half of snow! Not a bad week in the life of a Computer Repair Technician!

Sunday, February 6th, 2005

2005-02-11T00:20:00.000-05:00

I got a call on Friday. A previous client was having issues with his computer. The same thing as before - spyware, and viruses. I scheduled an appointment for Sunday morning. I woke up, drank many cups of coffee, drank many more cups of coffee and drove a half hour to his house.

It was 12 noon when I arrived. He looked like he just woke up and indeed he had. He was clearly hung over from the night before. He was getting geared up to watch the Superbowl and to get intoxicated all over again. Personally, I could care less about the Superbowl. I don't understand what is so Super about it. Anyway, my task was to fix his computer. Once he cleared all the cigarette ash off his computer desk I was ready to begin troubleshooting.

I sat down infront of his dusty machine, hit the power button and waited. His Windows XP machine stumbled along and finally got to the log in screen. "It won't accept my password", he said. I tried typing it in. He was right, the password would not work and neither would his Enter key. Strange, I thought to myself, how strange. I asked if his keyboard was having any problems prior to getting locked out of his computer. He said no.

The smell of cigarettes and stale beer began to overwhelm me as I attempted to boot into Safe Mode. Safe mode would not work. Last Known Good Configuration would not work. I couldn't even boot to a command prompt. I tried a boot disk. Nothing. I tried using an XP cdrom to boot to the Recovery Console, not a chance!

Two hours later it didn't look good. I was thinking that reformatting his hard drive was an option. He would loose all his school work, music and whatever else he kept cluttering up his machine. He said, "Do what you have to do. I need a computer, preferably one that works!"I decided that I should take his tower home to work on it. I am a stubborn man when it comes to computers. I don't enjoy failing and I tend to become obsessive when it comes to computer problems! They always have a solutions!

I got the computer into my shop, plugged in my own mouse, keyboard and monitor. I pressed the dirty power button and walked upstairs to get a drink. I would be in the shop for quite some time, I suspected. I walked back into my shop to see the log on screen. I typed in the password and Windows began to boot. "It was a damn keyboard problem", I laughed. I knew it within the first five minutes. Ha, this one is going to be easy.

I began the usual routine; check the start up menu for odd looking executables, check out to see what programs he had installed (some contain spyware) and then I began installing the software to remove any viruses and spyware on his machine. I installed AdAware, SpyBot Search & Destroy, Microsoft Anti-Spy and Free AVG antivirus. What did I find? Over 4800 infected files and registry values. It looked like the mass of downloaded music, movies and applications from some P2P file sharing network had gotten the best of Windows. Some viruses and spyware were more stubborn than others forcing me to search out the names of some of the executables in the start up menu. I found many that were know to be spyware, disabled them from start up and went on.

Finally, after several passes with AVG and spyware removal tools I was looking at a clean machine. I decided that before I connect to the Internet I would throw on a Firewall (He had a cable connection without a firewall!). I installed and configured Zone Alarm, connected to my router and began to download updated for Windows from Microsoft. After about fifteen critical updates I got to the big one; Service Pack 2. I accepted the download and walked away for a while.

Once the download was complete (about a half hour later) I began the installation process and walked away again. About twenty minutes later I went to check on the progress and noticed that the screen saver had kicked it. I jiggled the mouse to get back to the desktop and realized that the installation process had stalled. His computer was frozen and I mean solid! Ctrl + Alt + Del would not work. Swearing did not work. Punching thirty keys at one time did not work!! I had to power down the old fashion way; that dirty power button, the one with the finger print stain that was clearly wiping off onto my finger from pressing that damn button so many times!

Upon rebooting I received an error message that said the computer was "unstable". I thought to myself, "No, I am the one who is going to be unstable. I had this thing running smoother than a Belgian Wheat beer down my slippery tonuge!" I didn't panic though. I followed the instuctions on screen to use the Add/Remove Programs control panel applet to remove Service Pack 2. After a long, long time the uninstall was complete and I was told to reboot. Again, I pressed the now not-so-dirty power button and crossed my fingers as the clicks and beeps brought the operating system to life. I entered his password and hit the Enter key. His machine was alive and well; no spyware, no viruses and no Service Pack 2! I could have attempted to reinstall but I knew what kind of a budget he was on. His computer wasn't worth as much as he would have had to pay me for the total time I worked on it. I decided that I would let him download and install Service Pack 2 saving him $80!

I returned the following day and gave him his computer back. He handed me some money, thanked me and I went back out into the world. The only difference this time is that I had a pocket full of cash!

Welcome

2005-02-10T23:09:00.000-05:00

In my line of work (repairing computers, mainly software related issues) I come across many a computer that has been beaten down by spyware and viruses. This blog is dedicated to those tales.