Windows XP forum: programs crashing on XP

Often these type of program crashes are related to malware, so I would go online to Housecall, (http://housecall.trendmicro.com ), and run a scan there.

Then I would download AVG's free Antispyware, http://www.free.grisoft.com/doc/1 install, update and run in Safe Mode. Delete everything it finds.

Remember, anti-malware scans don't always scan System Restore points where viruses and spyware can hide, so I would toggle System Restore off then on to remove all the existing restore points first.

Mark

okay, here are the results:

trendmicro's site found three spywares:

trak briss
abetterinternet
fasttrack

after i deleted them (and undid my restore settings), i ran the AVG scan in safe mode, but all it found was a bunch of cookies.

i did a second trendmicro scan after the AVG was finished, and the trak briss spyware came up again. i'm wondering if there's a program that'll remove it permanently, but more importantly, my programs are still crashing on me.

roxio's worked just fine for 3 years. and when it stopped working, the only changes to my system were the additions of opera and gogodatatray.

in addition, the fact that roxio, IE, qcd, and opera all crash from the exact same actions (that is, trying to download items or save data) makes me doubt that roxio's age is the problem here.

when the problem began, i had 3 BHO's: google toolbar, ebay toolbar, and gogodatatray. everything was fine until gogodatatray was added (until i deleted it, i thought that it was the culprit).

the machine is a Dell Optiplex G260. Since it's a company computer, i doubt it's been cleaned, and i wouldn't know how to.

i removed roxio, as well as my toolbar software programs.

i still have the problem.

how do i safely clean it? i'm not familiar enough with how a motherboard looks to know if anything is abnormal.

the cd drive is about the same age as the rest of the machine, 3+ years.

Maybe try some other programs,such as TREND MICRO,don't forget to disable norton first.Also install AVG ANTI SPYWARE,you could scan in safe mode.

Tom

To clean your CPU heatsink, it is best to buy a can of compressed air and use that to blow out the dust from all those narrow grooves. Then while you are at it, blow the dust off all the fan blades of all your fans, including your power supply fan. If you are doing the job right, you should be having a lot of dustballs flying everywhere!

okay, i have a lot report and ask about, so bear with me.

first, the cleaning: my computer had A LOT of dust. i mean, gobs of it. the vent in front that lifts up was like a laundry lint filter. the metal and plastic inside was coated with it, and there were tufts of dust floating around inside. i wiped it clean, except i was careful not to touch the circuitboards. i want to be sure i know what i'm doing before i go there.

second, the computer's age: i recieved this computer on "loan" from the office in 2003. (more on that in a minute). no hardware has been added or replaced since then.

third: the trendmicro and avg scans: i used both on friday and today. the first time, avg found haxdoor spyware and a trojan. i deleted them, and neither has turned up in any spyware scand i've done since. and i'run all of my spyware programs at least once this weekend. trendmicro found lots of security risks, but i expected them. way back when windows had their big "service pack 2", the techies at the office told me not to install it, because it would conflict with the programs i use for work. so my computer is very vulnerable, and that's why i try to use firefox when i can.

fourth, i unplugged everything one at a time like fjord suggested, and i still have the problems.

fifth - and right now, this is my BIGGEST worry - Mozilla has now begun to malfunction. i'm afraid of the reason why, and i hope i'm wrong about this. here's the story: this is technically an office computer on loan for work at home. technically, that's a lot of b.s., since everyone who gets a home computer from them uses their computers for private and recreational purposes. the office knows this and is fine with it. but when there's a problem getting to the office, i do use it for its real purpose.

now, here's the big scare i had: when firefox began to malfunction, i got an error: "the filepicker was unexpectedly closed by windows," then the browser freezes. this is the same problem that IE and Opera had. and here's what made me freak out: my teenaged son used the computer right before this happened, and when i checked the browser history, the last 3 websites on my log were porn sites. as you can imagine, this is a BIG no-no. my fear is that my computer might be set to turn off certain features if it catches porn in its browser history. he insists this was the only time he ever did it, but now, i'm worried that i will get in a lot of trouble if i try to get this thing back to the office techies to get fixed.

could this be why my system is going crazy on me?

when we've resolved this issue, i'll go ahead and download the security updates. right now, i'm concerned that adding more stuff onto the computer might make the search for my problem more complicated.

at the office, we get our security updates all the time. but home computers are very low on the priority list, and the techies don't like to waste time with them. that's the biggest reason why they asked us not to meddle with what's already uploaded on them.

i've run all four of my spyware programs -trendmicro, avg, spybot, and adaware this morning for fear that my son invited a whole bunch of nasty stuff onto the computer. thankfully, it was clean.

the firewall situation confuses me. i was told long ago that our computers are protected by a big firewall at the hub of our office servers. but my internet service is private, so i can't see how that's possible. so i have no visible firewall i know of on my computer (they may have something built in that i don't know about). i do have norton antivirus running at all times. the techies put it on though, and i think it's a cheapo version, because it doesn't have the same functions or look as regular norton antivirus (the icon on the bar is yellow mouse, instead of a yellow square).

the filepicker link you gave me sounds hopeful, but confusing. i've been praying that my son didn't ruin the computer and get me in trouble.

Just so I understand, are you recommending that I download the security update and a second firewall right now?

According to my settings, the firewall option was unchecked. There was a list of options that asked me what items internet users could access, but i left them unchecked.

As for Norton, it still asks for and receives updates, but it functions poorly. For example, once it downloads an update, it takes about 24 hours for it to stop asking for the same update. It's also programmed so I can only add scheduled scans. I can't delete or discontinue a scan for another time. If I want a scan at midnight and I already have one scheduled to occur at noon, my only choice is to it schedule it for both times. And it never seems to find the viruses avg or spybot catches.

And btw, PapaEcho, gogodata IS the software that was you linked to. I downloaded it because I realized that AdsubtractPro was obsolete. It had stopped functioning the way it was supposed to (and in hindsight, it was the very first software item that ceased to work, although that was many months ago, and it never interfered with my surfing or systems' functions.)

i had a busy week, but i can focus on this situation again.

my anti-virus version is Symantic AntiVirus Corporate Edition. I also have A folder names Norton Antivirus that just has log files and a .dat file, but nothing else.

The date on both of these products folders is april 2004.

to be addressed. The updates are very important. Security Pack 2 give you a free firewall & a popup blocker. It also will tell you when updates are ready to install. If there is a company firewall, Windows will recognize it. Yu can get rid of gogodata toolbar because you will have a popup blocker with that update. Norton/Symantec has not been a good to a lot of people - the last time there was a good product was just before 2004. Also, your's is already outdated. What do you have for spyware? I have 3 spyware products on my computer that was built in 1998, so the age of yours is not an issue.
Did you know there are at least 2 free antispywares? I have Spybot S&D (http://www.safer-networking.org) and Ad-Aware SE (www.lavasoft.com). Even a free antivirus is available, AVG Antivirus at http://free.grisoft.com and it automatically updates. Just because you have Firefox, there are some vulnerabilties and it is the updated version? From: www.mozilla.com/firefox/ is the latest update, Title: Firefox 2.0.0.1, Filename: Firefox Setup 2.0.0.1.exe File size: 5.69MB (5,971,432 bytes). The earlier version had flaws. There are also two available registry cleaners and it keeps your computer running well. www.ccleaner.com is one. Another is EasyCleaner: http://personal.inet.fi/business/toniarts/ecleane.htm. With Crap Cleaner, the first one, under Windows/System is Temporary Files, I keep that unchecked for those are Temp Files. Under Aplications, I make certain some item are also unchecked like Adobe, Antispyware and Antivirus. Issues and Registry are the same thing, but EasyCleaner will clear files, cookies, history & MRU (most recently used sites) but with EasyCleaner, if you find items in the registry,select all, delete all and don't save. there is a red + and select all and delete all of the same. In the Control Panel is Internet Options and there can be changes made there History is set to zero, you can decrease the amount of cookies & temporary internet files by decreasing the disk space to 10 MB. If you hsve Disk Cleanup, old compressed files is set to 50 days. Click on that and drop it to 1 day. You will be surprised how much is freed up on your hard drive. Don't forget to Defrag it after all that. Darrell