computer help..

[setasai]

I can see how many of you prefer to use programs to kill/remove viruses/trojans and for someone with computer knowledge it might be the way to go but personally, I cant stand thinking that if i have one virus... what are the chances I have another that I dont know about?

Once I think about it this way, I just say screw it and do the reinstall. I'm picky like that though. You also have the added benefit of starting fresh.

In anycase, good luck. I hate wasting time on things that arent productive. Not mention its incredibly frustrating.

[scotty]

Originally Posted by setasai

I can see how many of you prefer to use programs to kill/remove viruses/trojans and for someone with computer knowledge it might be the way to go but personally, I cant stand thinking that if i have one virus... what are the chances I have another that I dont know about?

Once I think about it this way, I just say screw it and do the reinstall. I'm picky like that though. You also have the added benefit of starting fresh.

In anycase, good luck. I hate wasting time on things that arent productive. Not mention its incredibly frustrating.

I agree 100%. Thats what I plan on doing, although, i'm still tring to locate my cd.

[setasai]

Look at the bottom of your laptop and see what your license is for. If it says WinXP home then any WinXP Home disc you can get will work even if it's your friend's.

[CZroe]

Originally Posted by setasai

Look at the bottom of your laptop and see what your license is for. If it says WinXP home then any WinXP Home disc you can get will work even if it's your friend's.

Not exactly.

[bdavison]

You need to boot into safe mode first.
Then go into internet explorer, and click on Tools
Then click on internet options
Then click on the connections tab
Then click on the LAN settings
Then uncheck the "Proxy Server" check box.

This disables that "anti-virus virus" programs ability to connect to its server and keep poping up those "blah blah blah is infected" messages.

Then while still in safe mode run Malwarebytes (and make sure its updated)

If that doesnt work....
Then boot into safe mode, and run combofix.
and repeat above steps.
Combofix is an extremely powerful program, you dont have to understand it to use it. Just let it do its thing, and then continue on from there.

[Jesse8931]

Originally Posted by setasai

Look at the bottom of your laptop and see what your license is for. If it says WinXP home then any WinXP Home disc you can get will work even if it's your friend's.

Please dont give false info.

Op if you still have not gotten the issue taken care of pm me.

My store does mail in service and I will give any ninjette members 15% off.

[setasai]

Originally Posted by Jesse8931

Please dont give false info.

Op if you still have not gotten the issue taken care of pm me.

My store does mail in service and I will give any ninjette members 15% off.

Really? That's what i've always done. As long as it's not a Recovery disc made specifically by the manufacturer. I'm just saying that a license for XP home will license any installation from any retail disc.

[Jesse8931]

Originally Posted by setasai

Really? That's what i've always done. As long as it's not a Recovery disc made specifically by the manufacturer. I'm just saying that a license for XP home will license any installation from any retail disc.

Windows xp home or pro retail will not activate with an oem key or vice versa.

[setasai]

Originally Posted by Jesse8931

Windows xp home or pro retail will not activate with an oem key or vice versa.

Really? Hmm strange. Has always worked for me. Ok well since it's not my field of expertise by any means. You have my apologies. In any case, I'm still advocating the reformatting/reinstall option over any software based cleaning.

[RhinoJC]

The any disc/key install Brian is talking about is referred to as a system builder's disk. The disk was given to system builders when they purchased a batch of keys. The OS could be installed using any key because the disk was not specifically tied to an individual key and the system was considered valid since Microsoft didn't have an online authentication process. The problem is that builders were making copies of the disc and giving it to friends and family, allowing them to install the OS on every system in their house using the same key. Microsoft caught on and switched to an online key authentication system back in '06 or '07. Since then, the XP system builders disks have been worthless since they kick back an unauthorized product popup, cutting them off from the Microsoft update servers.

[setasai]

Originally Posted by RhinoJC

The any disc/key install Brian is talking about is referred to as a system builder's disk. The disk was given to system builders when they purchased a batch of keys. The OS could be installed using any key because the disk was not specifically tied to an individual key and the system was considered valid since Microsoft didn't have an online authentication process. The problem is that builders were making copies of the disc and giving it to friends and family, allowing them to install the OS on every system in their house using the same key. Microsoft caught on and switched to an online key authentication system back in '06 or '07. Since then, the XP system builders disks have been worthless since they kick back an unauthorized product popup, cutting them off from the Microsoft update servers.

Ohhhhhhhhh thanks for that explanation. Then it is definitely my bad. I've been a mac user for the last 5-7 or so years and I could have sworn that it worked back then. Ok now it makes sense. Again, my apologies for misleading you.

[CZroe]

Originally Posted by RhinoJC

The any disc/key install Brian is talking about is referred to as a system builder's disk. The disk was given to system builders when they purchased a batch of keys. The OS could be installed using any key because the disk was not specifically tied to an individual key and the system was considered valid since Microsoft didn't have an online authentication process. The problem is that builders were making copies of the disc and giving it to friends and family, allowing them to install the OS on every system in their house using the same key. Microsoft caught on and switched to an online key authentication system back in '06 or '07. Since then, the XP system builders disks have been worthless since they kick back an unauthorized product popup, cutting them off from the Microsoft update servers.

Not exactly. You're confusing two different things. What he got wrong was that OEM keys not only require an OEM "System Builder's" disc, but top-tier OEMs keys also require one specific to that system builder (Dell being the only major exception with standard OEM keys through the years). OEM keys always required online activation even with a freshly installed OEM version. You could have bought an OEM Windows XP disc from Fry's or Newegg in 2001 and it absolutely would have required online activation. It would not have worked with HP, Compaq (two different companies back then), Acer, etc OEM keys but it would work with Dell OEM keys. What *did not* require online activation were the Volume License Keys, but they required a VLK version of XP ("Windows XP "Corporate" as people called it). A VLK would NOT work on an OEM disc. It was made for corporations, school systems, and system builders rolling out XP to hundreds or thousands of systems. They never got rid of it either. I have a VLK that still works to this day and passes Window Genuine Advantage without issue because it was never leaked online.

But here's the whole story: Before XP was released, a warez group known as "TheDevil'sOwn" released an XP VLK ISO along with the famous "FCKGW" volume license key (those are the first five characters). Shortly after, there was even a working keygen, though it generated many non-working keys as well. Another so-called "keygen" would just spit out the FCKGW key. No one knows who the key was originally issued to or why it took MS so long to ban it and most generated keys with Service Pack 1, but it wasn't long before people figured out that you just had to keep generating keys until you got one that generated Product IDs which fell outside of a certain range (presumably, MS never intended to issue VLKs that would generate PIDs in that range when used). Even later in WinXP's life, MS introduced Windows Genuine Advantage through Windows Update (mandatory for the latest WU), which would check your system's key against an online database of issued or banned keys and disable non-critical updates and nag you if you did not pass the WGA check. Even today, if you have a legit VLK, you can install XP "Corp" as often as you want.

Now, Windows Vista used an encrypted and signed flag in the BIOS called an SLIC rather than having different OEM versions of Vista and this would exempt them from the activation limits. People would install hacked BIOSes with an OEM's SLIC so that they could then install with the OEM's leaked installation disc. For the corporate customers, they made system administrators set up local VLK "activation servers" to activate multiple PCs without each PC phoning home to Microsoft. Both of these are still in use with Windows 7. Most people ripping it off are using hacked BIOSes with SLIC 2.0. FWIW, I just visit the tech conferences and earn free NFR copies. They are not for resale, but the same goes for any OEM copy.

I hope this helps clear things up.

[Jesse8931]

Originally Posted by CZroe

Not exactly. You're confusing two different things. What he got wrong was that OEM keys not only require an OEM "System Builder's" disc, but top-tier OEMs keys also require one specific to that system builder (Dell being the only major exception with standard OEM keys through the years). OEM keys always required online activation even with a freshly installed OEM version. You could have bought an OEM Windows XP disc from Fry's or Newegg in 2001 and it absolutely would have required online activation. It would not have worked with HP, Compaq (two different companies back then), Acer, etc OEM keys but it would work with Dell OEM keys. What *did not* require online activation were the Volume License Keys, but they required a VLK version of XP ("Windows XP "Corporate" as people called it). A VLK would NOT work on an OEM disc. It was made for corporations, school systems, and system builders rolling out XP to hundreds or thousands of systems. They never got rid of it either. I have a VLK that still works to this day and passes Window Genuine Advantage without issue because it was never leaked online.

But here's the whole story: Before XP was released, a warez group known as "TheDevil'sOwn" released an XP VLK ISO along with the famous "FCKGW" volume license key (those are the first five characters). Shortly after, there was even a working keygen, though it generated many non-working keys as well. Another so-called "keygen" would just spit out the FCKGW key. No one knows who the key was originally issued to or why it took MS so long to ban it and most generated keys with Service Pack 1, but it wasn't long before people figured out that you just had to keep generating keys until you got one that generated Product IDs which fell outside of a certain range (presumably, MS never intended to issue VLKs that would generate PIDs in that range when used). Even later in WinXP's life, MS introduced Windows Genuine Advantage through Windows Update (mandatory for the latest WU), which would check your system's key against an online database of issued or banned keys and disable non-critical updates and nag you if you did not pass the WGA check. Even today, if you have a legit VLK, you can install XP "Corp" as often as you want.

Now, Windows Vista used an encrypted and signed flag in the BIOS called an SLIC rather than having different OEM versions of Vista and this would exempt them from the activation limits. People would install hacked BIOSes with an OEM's SLIC so that they could then install with the OEM's leaked installation disc. For the corporate customers, they made system administrators set up local VLK "activation servers" to activate multiple PCs without each PC phoning home to Microsoft. Both of these are still in use with Windows 7. Most people ripping it off are using hacked BIOSes with SLIC 2.0. FWIW, I just visit the tech conferences and earn free NFR copies. They are not for resale, but the same goes for any OEM copy.

I hope this helps clear things up.

This.

[scotty]

Okay, talking to my wife's dad, (works for some U.S goverment comp program), he gave me a cd with a antivirus program that they use. So i'm going to give that a try tonight.

[setasai]

Originally Posted by CZroe

Not exactly. You're confusing two different things. What he got wrong was that OEM keys not only require an OEM "System Builder's" disc, but top-tier OEMs keys also require one specific to that system builder (Dell being the only major exception with standard OEM keys through the years). OEM keys always required online activation even with a freshly installed OEM version. You could have bought an OEM Windows XP disc from Fry's or Newegg in 2001 and it absolutely would have required online activation. It would not have worked with HP, Compaq (two different companies back then), Acer, etc OEM keys but it would work with Dell OEM keys. What *did not* require online activation were the Volume License Keys, but they required a VLK version of XP ("Windows XP "Corporate" as people called it). A VLK would NOT work on an OEM disc. It was made for corporations, school systems, and system builders rolling out XP to hundreds or thousands of systems. They never got rid of it either. I have a VLK that still works to this day and passes Window Genuine Advantage without issue because it was never leaked online.

But here's the whole story: Before XP was released, a warez group known as "TheDevil'sOwn" released an XP VLK ISO along with the famous "FCKGW" volume license key (those are the first five characters). Shortly after, there was even a working keygen, though it generated many non-working keys as well. Another so-called "keygen" would just spit out the FCKGW key. No one knows who the key was originally issued to or why it took MS so long to ban it and most generated keys with Service Pack 1, but it wasn't long before people figured out that you just had to keep generating keys until you got one that generated Product IDs which fell outside of a certain range (presumably, MS never intended to issue VLKs that would generate PIDs in that range when used). Even later in WinXP's life, MS introduced Windows Genuine Advantage through Windows Update (mandatory for the latest WU), which would check your system's key against an online database of issued or banned keys and disable non-critical updates and nag you if you did not pass the WGA check. Even today, if you have a legit VLK, you can install XP "Corp" as often as you want.

Now, Windows Vista used an encrypted and signed flag in the BIOS called an SLIC rather than having different OEM versions of Vista and this would exempt them from the activation limits. People would install hacked BIOSes with an OEM's SLIC so that they could then install with the OEM's leaked installation disc. For the corporate customers, they made system administrators set up local VLK "activation servers" to activate multiple PCs without each PC phoning home to Microsoft. Both of these are still in use with Windows 7. Most people ripping it off are using hacked BIOSes with SLIC 2.0. FWIW, I just visit the tech conferences and earn free NFR copies. They are not for resale, but the same goes for any OEM copy.

I hope this helps clear things up.

Very interesting. Guess we can learn about things other than motorcycles here. Thanks for the explanation.

[scotty]

I got my computer back!! So I started it up yesterday to install that Anti Vir program, and when I got to my home screen, well it wasn't mine. I was missing programs and when I clicked to open anything on my "start menu" a box poped up asking what program it wanted me to open it with. I had no programs on my bottom right corner, (Norton, Wireless, Vol, ect.), even that "XP" window wasn't comming up. So I restarted it into safe mode and retried doing the system restore to an eariler day. It worked and now the computer runs normal.

I am in the process of downloaded that updated Norton Anti Vir to my laptop, but it wont let me download it because I have Norton on my computer already. Any tips?

Thanks for everyone's help on this. This has been a bad week between painting/moving into a new home, breaking my thumb yesterday, and my computer crapping on me.

[DaBlue1]

http://www.nortonremovaltool.org/
Restoring you computer to a prior date will only be temporary. You must remove all the prior restore points. What ever infection you have also stores itself in the System Restore. Be sure to utilize Malwarebytes as well. Good Luck.

[coolbreeze]

Originally Posted by Jesse8931

Best forum for virus issues http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/ Btw Ive been a manager of a computer repair store since I was 18

If you want to do it yourself, I suggest going on over to this site. Whenever I have computers that are giving me more issues than I care to think to of, I go there for help. I'm very proficient, but having other eyes look over my logs, report, etcs are great. As a side note, they are typically very busy in the virus forum, so it will take a few days before you get a response.

[scotty]

Originally Posted by DaBlue1

http://www.nortonremovaltool.org/
Restoring you computer to a prior date will only be temporary. You must remove all the prior restore points. What ever infection you have also stores itself in the System Restore. Be sure to utilize Malwarebytes as well. Good Luck.

Cool, thanks! Also, I looked into my XP program and saw that my fire wall was turned off. I'm not to sure what that does/blocks, but I did turn it on. Not sure if that has anything to do with this issue or not. Thank you for the site! I will check it out completely and report back.

[DaBlue1]

Originally Posted by scotty

Cool, thanks! Also, I looked into my XP program and saw that my fire wall was turned off. I'm not to sure what that does/blocks, but I did turn it on. Not sure if that has anything to do with this issue or not. Thank you for the site! I will check it out completely and report back.

Having the firewall turned on does help, however certain infections will turn it off or disable it. You gotta get a hold of those infections before they totally disable all of your security features. Hopefully Norton will work out for you, if not, use the alternatives.

[coolbreeze]

You don't need the Norton Removal Tool unless you plan on replacing Norton with another AV software. I may have missed that, but I don't remember you saying you wanted to do that.

[coolbreeze]

BTW, here are 3 free online virus scanners, if that is what you are looking for.

http://housecall.trendmicro.com/
http://www.bitdefender.com/scanner/online/free.html
http://www.eset.com/us/online-scanner

As far as the firewall, I would suggest something other than Windows Firewall (Comodo, which is my favorite, ZoneAlarm, etc).

[scotty]

Originally Posted by coolbreeze

You don't need the Norton Removal Tool unless you plan on replacing Norton with another AV software. I may have missed that, but I don't remember you saying you wanted to do that.

My wife's dad gave me a cd with a anti vir program, I guess it's Nortan, because it says it will not let me download it as there are already a norton program on my computer. So I guess I have to delet it to install this one. The one I have is an updated one. I can go online and pay to upgrade my current one, but I have a free cd. lol

[coolbreeze]

It should allow you to download it, but it most cases you can't install it. 2 AV programs is no-no. You won't get double the protection, they end up 'fighting' each other for a lack of better terms. If you go that route, be sure that the cd version is the most recent version. You wouldn't want to uninstall 2010 and find out that the cd version is 2005.

[DaBlue1]

Originally Posted by coolbreeze

You don't need the Norton Removal Tool unless you plan on replacing Norton with another AV software. I may have missed that, but I don't remember you saying you wanted to do that.

There are some older versions of Norton AV that may not uninstall completely the conventional way or by installing a newer version. Norton Removal tool solves that issue it also make the process easy and convenient.

[coolbreeze]

Right, but I don't think he is trying to remove Norton.

[scotty]

The Norton on my computer right now is 2008..The cd I have is a 2010 Norton. I'm on my laptop now, (YAY!) and will be looking at the above links!

[coolbreeze]

Great! I'm working on one now that has the Internet Security Virus on it.

[scotty]

Well, I ended up using this link, (http://www.eset.com/us/online-scanner) and scanned my commputere. Took a few hours, but it found the viruses and I deleted them all. I can already tell the differnce in my computeres performance. I can't seem to figure out this whole downloading thing with Nortan, so my wifes dad is going to do it for me. Atleast I can say,(with much, much help from here) I was able to fix the computere myself.

Thanks again for everyones help! Saved me a few dollars i'm sure!

[coolbreeze]

Good deal. Happy to hear that it's starting to work again.