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unwanted dial ups, screen saver problems
It's been a long time since I've bothered you people.
But in the past month I've started having some undesirable things happen.
First, when I am disconnected from the internet, the systen tries to connect about every 5 to 10 minutes. If I have the 'dial up' page selected as dial up automatically, it does so by itself. I thought at first my wife was leaving it connected and she thought the same of me.
If I de check the auto dial up, the 'dial up' window appears at the above times and stays until I remove it, but of course it doesn't dial up.
The other thing is the screen saver. I have for years had it set at 15 minutes and it use to work just fine. Then it started never coming on. I now have it set to 5 minutes and it does come on and may stay active (screen saver shows)for about 15-20 minutes, then it reverts back to desk top.
I'm on a Dell 4700 With WXP and a dial up line. I have AVG and Adaware.
I've been searching for possible answers for about a week and haven't found the solution.
One I haven't tried is to open start up and remove all not needed programs, mainly because I don't know which ones are needed or not.
I do run AdAware about every other day. Have AVG on auto daily at 3pm, it does connect, check, disconnect and run as suppose to.
Haven't added any thing to the comp in about 8-10 months, long before this showed up.
Any possible solutions out there?
techsupport4fre
47 Posts
904
0
Posted December 15th, 2005 12:00
try clearing up the startup group items and see if that resolves the issue.
go to Add/remove programs to see if there is any malicious looking program that may be dialing out...
for a rapid response email me @ techsupport4free@gmail.comThanks for the replies.
I'm still trying some of what you have suggested.
I had run the MS Live Safety Center thing before I had put this message up. It did show that there was 1 virus and one file infected. But even after it had deleted those, I still had the same problem.
I ran the MS virus check again this morning and it was clean. I also ran the Dell check and it was clean.
One thing, when I run SFC/scannow, it runs for a while and then something about needs a dll. I don't know where to get those. The cd that came with the comp. says that it is "not for reinstallation of the programs or drivers". Isn't the dll a thing for drivers? I went to Dell for driver etc download and ran the check and it says everything is OK.
I think something is messing with my mind and just doesn't know what infertile and small space it has to work with.
- I'm still laughing over that last remark. Soon as the tears dry and I finish explaining to the boss that lurking on the Dell forum IS my job description, I'll try and get back with some info on dlls. They're everywhere, and it may be prudent to identify which one is being called for, although it may be just as well to perform a repair-reinstall from the Windows CD. I'd like to have another member of the forums chime in because I'm really in the dark at the moment, a view I'm familiar with.
GM GM,
Reference the dll restore. Is there suppose to be another cd with my computer other than the one that Dell sent? The WXP was installed on the comp when I got it and so far I haven't found a WXP disc other than the one labeled REINSTALLATION CD. And it says that it does not have the dlls on it. I tried having it in the drive when i ran the sfc and I would attempt to load from it when it said that needed a dll, but no soap on that procedure. Then when I ran the Dell PC check up, I understood that it was checking for the proper dlls, but it said all was OK.
I know that there is somewhere on this hard drive a program that Dell would have me go to for certain reinstalls, had a funny name, but I can't remember it. Don't know if that is where I should be able to get the dlls. At least that was the procedure long ago and far away on my previous Dell.
I have cured part of my problem.
Went over to the Vmundo or what ever board. Tried the VirTumundo Be Gone. exe and it ran in 9 sec. and found nothing. Then I tried the FixVundo tool. Took about an hour to run. It found one infected file. Cleaned it and it seems to have cured the unwanted dial up thing. I can now leave my dialup on auto and it doesn't dial up and connect.
I still have something that seems to maybe effect the screen saver. When I'm connected, about every 10-15 minutes there is a flicker in the screen. On the task bar? something appears for about 1 sec and then slides over to the left as if it is going under what ever is shown as open. It is light blue, has the white letter looking thing on the left side, but the letter page is completely white rather than having the big E thing on it.
That may effect my screen saver . I haven't had the patience to sit here and watch it , time it etc to be sure.
GreyMack
2 Intern
•
2190 Posts
904
0
Posted December 15th, 2005 09:00
As you are know, and as this M$ article discusses, some programs may attempt to dial out when you start Windows or start the program. It seems like most valid programs would not make an attempt every 5-10 minutes for fear of disturbing their customers, but you never know. I presume with a dial-up connection you have had to exercise some control over software updates, and you didn't set anything to check for updates every few minutes.
I can recommend additional protection for spyware/adware. For additional scanning, both Spybot Search & Destroy and Microsoft Anti-Spyware (still in beta release?) are good free choices that can be installed along with AdAware. Microsoft Anti-Spyware can also be used for some types of real-time protection. Spyware Blaster is a good choice for malware prevention by passively blocking access to certain sites.
For startups, let me refer you to the site provided by Paul Collins. The first link is the front page with background and usage information, the second is the on-line list.
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_index.htm
http://www.sysinfo.org/startuplist.php
The HijackThis and Virus/Spyware Information & Removal boards may provide some additional possibilities. HJT reports what it finds without distinguishing good from bad, so it requires some analysis to determine whether anything has been discovered.
I really don't have any insight on what might be causing the attempted dial-out, but it may well be related to the screen saver symptoms. Certain activities may be interpreted by Windows as user presence, causing the screen saver to never come on or to clear off so you can use the desktop.
GM