`*>please help me please<*`

ok, i have 2 big problems....

1.one is that i have a spyware or something called HKEY...heres what "hijackthis" says its called.. (hkcu,hklm) ive got those 2 sypware.. ive tried removing them with sypbot..adaware..and hijackthis. but none work. it keeps changing my browser to weird search sites and i cant change it back..

now i cant even get online throught the big EI icon. i had to link this through aim and get here,... (lsid32) thats what it says as my home page now..dangit!! cant get online through the E! argh.. help me!

2.ok someone changed my aol password... i dont know how or why.. i havnt told it to any1. but its changed and aol wont change it back until my parents cal them.


help me guys please!

 

If you have Win XP, restore to a restore point that predates these wierd occurences. Make sure you have good anti-virus in place and run adaware, spybot, and all the other good programs on a regular basis. Always have a GOOD restore point to back up to and then you won't have to do all the usual jumping thru hoops to get your PC back.

Here's some tips on how to get there>>

 

READ ME FIRST: Basic Spyware, Trojan And Virus Removal.

 

whoops! my attachment was too big so I'll explain the steps..it's easy if you have XP installed. Go to START>>Help & Support (not programs!)>>Undo changes to your computer with System Restore >>>choose a good date in BOLD from the calendar that represents when your PC was OK>>>click next and it should restore you back to a time before your problems started.

Good Luck

Bo Bo Bolinski

 

Kodo, are you suggesting trying to remove the problem even if system restore is available? Please explain. That usually is a very painful and not always rewarding exercise.

Bo

 

Another excellent idea which I use is to always have a backup HD with a clean XP and all your favorite stuff on it in case the your main drive goes south. What an easy way to recover. Then you can GHOST (copy) the good one to the bad and still have a backup. Simple but elegant and very practical considering the price of a new HD these days. I have an 80 gig main and a 160 gig backup

Bo

 

Thanks Major! Yes, I realize that the restore may still perpetuate the problem or "restore it" but I make a regular point of creating restore points that I know are clean and if you go back far enough to a point when you did not have the problem then I don't see any issue with using restore. Otherwise, what purpose would it serve. I only see a problem if you choose the wrong restore point (usually automatically created) that does not pre date the bad stuff.

Using GHOST to have a clean install to go back to isn't very much different than using restore, only takes longer. A restore point created just after a clean install would be pretty much equivalent to a ghosted HD, wouldn't you agree.

And yes, I will read the tutorial, thanks! PS: I very much appreciate your advice I have received in the past and I always try to revisit threads that I have opened to make sure I include my solutions. MajorGeeks is a wonderful thing indeed!

Bo

 

Major, not sure what Tutorial you are asking me to "run"? Is it the spyware removal mentioned by Kodo? I read that and dloaded everything including the instructions to a special MG folder for future reference.

If so, then what do you mean by "It helps most people with a simple link " There is not anything simple about that tutorial, takes hours and requires one to follow a very carefully scripted set of instructions. Am I missing something here? Are you referring to a different tutorial?

Not meaning to be rude here, I just don't understand and want to get the full benefit of your experience.

Bo

 

just because it's system restore doesn't mean malware can't infect it. Since most spyware applications can't modify the restore points , it is suggested to eliminate them as any refuge for malware.

The tutorial does take a bit of time but it is rather step by step and not overly comlicated. It is completed by many people each day. The steps are a necessary evil because of the nature of spyware.

 

Thanks Kodo! First of all, what is malware, is that "mal" for bad?

My point is that with using system restore either you restore to a point that was not infected or you don't. If you restore to a point that is not infected (the presumption being that you have a pretty good idea at what point the bad stuff started happening (at least which day) and can therefore select a restore point that was created before that bad stuff) then you have saved yourself a lot of time and effort going thru your laborious, albiet effective (most of the time) process. Does that make sense? It makes perfect sense to me that you can identify a specific point in time or a day when everything was working just fine and equate that to a system restore point. Seems pretty logical to me. Am I missing something here?


Bo Bo

 

Chaslang, I guess we will have to agree to disagree re using system restore. It has saved me many times. I make a point of creating manual restore points every time I install something significant such as a SP. Other than that, it is a whole lot easier to reinstall most software than to go thru all those malware programs in and out of safe mode, especially for the casual user.

I agree that for most uninitiated users system restore may not be the best option since not only do they not know it exists, they are not in the habit of creating their own good restore points and may, like you say just restore the problem.

It's always nice to have more than one option to fall back on such as ghosting your HD to another HD periodically to have a spare hard drive backup. Actually I have 2. Especially useful if and when your main drive goes south which I am sure has happened to a lot of people. Even if you have to add back a bunch of programs it still is easier than formatting and starting from scratch.

Later, Bo