Guido broke my computer. =(

[banditcom]

RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: Guido broke my computer. =(

Yea that damn registry cleaner didn't fix it, so if you would have paid them, it wouldn't have worked. It must be something in your startup that's conflicting with it, since it works in safe mode.

Start -> Run -> msconfig -> startup

Uncheck some of that crap in there. I won't be around tonight so I can't help you through it, but someone else will.

[stretchypanda]

Re: RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: Guido broke my computer. =(

You needed the Geek Squad to figure out that you had spyware?

I'm pretty bad about running any kind of spyware detector/preventer/eliminator unless there's a definite problem. As Guido said, it's a little hard to believe that my computer is loaded with spyware (of which I am unaware) and it is ONLY affecting AIM. Until that guy said anything, I hadn't even considered spyware.

But thanks for your always-useful input, nonetheless.

[esupin]

RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: Guido broke my computer. =(

This is what was on the Google ad bar at the top of the page when I was reading this thread:



I think certain types of spyware can somehow infest AIM now, if you click on some random message someone gives you(I'm not really sure how it works, but my friend had a similar problem, only his computer works fine).

[JurseyRider734]

Re: RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: Guido broke my computer. =(

You needed the Geek Squad to figure out that you had spyware?

I'm pretty bad about running any kind of spyware detector/preventer/eliminator unless there's a definite problem. As Guido said, it's a little hard to believe that my computer is loaded with spyware (of which I am unaware) and it is ONLY affecting AIM. Until that guy said anything, I hadn't even considered spyware.

But thanks for your always-useful input, nonetheless.

stop lookin@porn

[jewpinthethird]

Re: RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: Guido broke my computer. =(

You needed the Geek Squad to figure out that you had spyware?

I'm pretty bad about running any kind of spyware detector/preventer/eliminator unless there's a definite problem. As Guido said, it's a little hard to believe that my computer is loaded with spyware (of which I am unaware) and it is ONLY affecting AIM. Until that guy said anything, I hadn't even considered spyware.

But thanks for your always-useful input, nonetheless.

stop lookin@porn

Easier said than done.

[stretchypanda]

RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: Guido broke my computer. =(

Wow. Apparently Gateway can't help me either, because I'm not paying for special tech support. I could make them honor my warranty and send my computer in, but I've just been told all they can do is erase all my files.

Wow. I think I got stupider during that phone conversation.

[banditcom]

RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: Guido broke my computer. =(

The best bet is to back-up everything onto another harddrive and reformat.

[evilbutterfly]

RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: Guido broke my computer. =(

I think certain types of spyware can somehow infest AIM now, if you click on some random message someone gives you(I'm not really sure how it works, but my friend had a similar problem, only his computer works fine).

That's not spyware, it's an AIM virus. Spyware = mostly harmless. AIM viruses = annoying as hell. AIM viruses also = easiest thing to not get, as long as you're not an idiot. If you hadn't noticed, there seems to have been a wave of said AIM viruses going around recently. Usually there are only a few isolated cases of idiots clicking things they shouldn't, but then for a week or two it'll seem like EVERYBODY gets one. My roommate got one, my friend from SVSM got one, my sister got like, 3. It's bad bad stuff.

PS: I use regular AIM, bitches. I've seen Trillian on Adele's computer and not liked some things about it, and I've used gaim on the Redhat machines in the eos lab here, and it doesn't seem to be anything especially good. What pisses me off the most is that I can't just ctrl/ctrl+shift commands to insert faces, which I do ALOT. Also, tabbed windows suck, I don't care what you say.

[stretchypanda]

Re: RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: Guido broke my computer. =(

The best bet is to back-up everything onto another harddrive and reformat.

Won't that just save whatever the shit is causing problems now?

By the way, y'all don't know it, but you should: Whorli is the best ever. Even my mom said so.

[blahblah18]

RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: Guido broke my computer.

no, because the problem may be on the motherboard vs the harddrive, or something else like that. And if it isn't in the registry, then it shouldn't carry over.
And its not as bad as me trying to open up mozilla on my friend's computer, it saying not responding, then brought up a black screen that said operating system not found. That took a boatload of time fixing :-p

[eVILPeeR]

RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: Guido broke my computer.

It's not a hardware issue, blahblah18.
There's several possible issues that could be at hand here:
Number 1 - What evilbutterfly said. Unfortunately, most viruses "encode" themselves into a low layer of the Hard Drive, so even if you do a normal format it won't get rid of it. My suggestion if this is the case: Do a low-level format (you should ask some of your computer-genius friends about that, they'll know what you're talking about). A low-level format completely CLEANS the hard-drive, it deletes everything completely and makes it untracable or recoverable. Do what banditcom said - back up all the important things you want to save. Don't back up your entire computer, because the said virus will transfer.

Number 2 - Spyware/Trojan. Spyware is tricky, just like trojans. They embed themselves into certain important parts of your hard drive that make it hard to find. My suggestion - use a variety of spyware removers. I've found each one removes different spyware each time, so they all track different files. Most track a large database of the same ones, but each one tracks a few extra ones that others don't. I think that made sense. Anyways, the suggestion in Number 1 will fix this, but if you REALLY wish, manually go through the folders C:\Documents and Settings/Users\*user*\*all folders*\, C:\Windows\System32, C:\, C:\Program Files\Temp (or wherever the temporary folder is). Look for ANYTHING suspicious. One way of doing so is hovering over the file. Any Microsoft certified file will look authentic, with the name properly typed. A trojan or spyware application will have bad grammar, or mistyped letters. Also, trojans/spyware often have very small file-sizes. So things with 0KB are pretty much safe to delete, aslong as you're sure it's Microsoft Certified.

Number 3 - Conflicting programs. Ctrl+alt+del and end process EVERYTHING on the process list. It won't let you end process something if it needs to be run. Also look for suspicious looking files under here, and do a search on your computer and find out more information about it. Google the file name or something, you're bound to find information about it.

Number 4 - It just won't work. I've found that no matter what you do, some programs just will not work with certain systems. An example of this, would be a game I had called KKND (Krush Kill n' Destroy). It never worked on my computer, but the same CD ran on my friends computer just fine. It still doesn't to this day, and I have a completely new system now. Kinda retarded, isn't it? Anyways, this could be the case, though very unlikely. This is only if you've gone through all 3 other suggestions, and they haven't worked.

What do I highly recommend? Number 1. A clean, low-level format always fixes any problems. It's the number one fix-all solution to anything.

[esupin]

RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: Guido broke my computer.

Google a download for AIMFix- it will get rid of most AIM viruses you get(stuff that anti-spyware/whatever you are using won't get rid of).

[Arthur122368]

RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: Guido broke my computer. =(

I usually just hit my computer really hard. That usually works for me.