Is it a virus?

Question

My computer uses windows ME and recently I upgraded to internet explorer 6.0. In the last few weeks, I've had a lot of problems with the internet,and I'm wondering are they all being caused by one thing,possibly a virus,or is it something else? First,I can't change my homepage.It's stuck on some sort of netsearch page, and I've tried everything to get rid of it, but it won't go away. Second,lately I've noticed that on any page that I'm looking at on the net, certain key words are highlighted.When you click on one, it brings you to a page-www.ntsearch.com,which offers a list of titles of sites, all with the key word in them. How do I get rid of that? It's never happened before now and it's driving me crazy!!! Finally, the biggest problem-when I go into certain sites,especially ones that require me to log in,i.e. email accounts,a message pops up on the screen saying 'internet explorer cannot open site (name).Operation aborted.'It then shows a white page with 'cannot find server', and a list of advice on it, none of which works,I've tried it all. I can't get into my hotmail account anymore-it allows me to log in,starts opening the page then this message pops up.Also an account on eircom.net.On a few other sites it will also allow me to log in, click links on them, and then just show me a white screen with the word 'Done' on the bar at the bottom of the screen.Sometimes using the 'refresh'' button will work but not for the email accounts, and also never for the blank page screens. I know it's a lot to ask, but if anybody has any suggestions I'd really appreciate it.I've tried downloading patches etc from microsoft's site and it's had no effect.Also,I can no longer open the microsoft site due to the problems mentioned above! So please, any help would be fantastic!

volcano11 · Answer

Download, install, update, and run Ad-Aware and Spybot and let these programs remove all of the garbage that they find.

http://www.lavasoftusa.com Ad-Aware - get the free version.

http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=download Spybot

If these programs don't solve the problem, go to the following site and follow the directions to download and run the analysis tool called HijackThis.

http://tomcoyote.com/hjt/

Generate a log file, then open it and copy and paste the text of the log file in a message in one of the following forums:

http://subratam.org/
http://www.zerosrealm.com/forums/
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/

where a certified HijackThis expert can offer advice on how to fix the problem:

Steve

JesseTheTech · Answer

He is right if you don't get rid of the adware then it could lead to a virus later on becauses adware is always pinging(trying to connect to the internet).  When it does connect it opens up your computer and downloads unwanted files to your system that maybe infected.   The one you are describing is commonly used, everytime it connects and changes your homepage its trying to download even more adware to your system, Even if you are not using internet explorer the functions are still running behind the scenes, and is trying to connect and execute what ever commands it was scripted to do.  Thats how the viruses get downloaded to your computer from the adware and spyware on your computer.  Spyware can also be dangerous.   Keep ad-aware or  what ever software you use to get rid of adware updated.

jamez kann · Answer

Run http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4289.html about:buster
Run Cwshredder http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4086.html

run a browser which spyware cannot hijack that easily http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/

http://www.fixyourwindows.com/windowsxpsolutions.htm

If the above fixes fail you would need to run hijackthis

All hijackthis posts need to be posted on the sites listed below not here

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/forum22.html
Forum Led by: Moderators, Global Moderator, groovicus,Grinler(DELL REGULAR),harrywaldron,Papakid,

http://forums.net-integration.net/
Forum Led by: Global Moderator, Administrators, Technical Experts, Technical Assistant, Team
Spybot S&D, Technical Guide TonyKlein,Eagle1,Galadriel,tashi,Archon_Wing,

http://forums.subratam.org/
Forum Led by: Forum Moderators,subratam,baskar1234(DELL REGULAR),efwis,Metallica,psyne, SpyDie, normmork, Admin

Virus & Spyware

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