Computer problems
Moms View Message Board: General Discussion: Archive December 2004:
Computer problems
Everytime I get online, our homepage changes. I'm thinking this is because of spyware. However, I've downloaded spy-bot and it's not helping. Our computer is super slow now too. Does anyone have any ideas for software or how this can be fixed? It's very frustrating.
How long has it been since you de-fragged your computer? My husband does that to mine every once in awhile. (Granted, I don't know exactly what that means, and I giggle every time I hear the term - aren't I mature 46 yr old? )
What do you mean by "our homepage changes".
What homepage? Do you mean the default page that IE loads?
Some other things to check...
Do you have a firewall running?
If running XP have you installed service pack 2?
Are you running an antivirus package?
Thanks John. We actually don't have anything you mentioned. We just got a new hard drive and we had antivirus software before that came with the computer. However, when we got the new hard drive, it wasn't there. We're going right now out to buy antivirus software. I checked into the service pack 2 and it said you HAVE to have all spy ware removed before installing. I have to get that taken care of first.
Thanks for the information.
Go to your help section, into the index, and enter "homepage". It will tell you how to set your home page, and set it back to where you want it. As well as running spybot, download and run AdAware (you can get it, free, from PCworld.com - click on the tab for spyware or security). Spybot will catch some programs, Adaware will catch others.
Also, go into your start menu and see if your computer is loading stuff at startup that you don't want - one of the programs may be the one that is switching your home page.
I use XP and by going into Tools, Internet Options, under the General tab the first thing at the top is a choice to "make this my home page". You can go to the site you want for your home page and then go into tools and simply click to make the page you are on your home page. The window will also tell you, before you click, what site is presently your home page so you can search your computer to remove references to that site. As I recall, I could also do this in Windows2000 and Windows98 by much the same process.
Also, check your cookies. Many sites download cookies onto your computer when you are in the site and some of them are cookies which do strange things, including changing your home page. I use the privacy options in internet tools (Tools, Internet Options, Privacy, Advanced) to set my computer to always prompt before a first or third party cookie is downloaded. I can choose to allow for this session or allow permanently (like for Momsview) or disallow for this session or disallow permanently (like for DoubleClick or Gator - Gator is a whole other story). When you make a permanent selection you don't get a prompt window for that cookie again. (I am particularly annoyed when I check emails in my "deleted" box to make sure I want them deleted - they are mostly spam - and an email sender wants to put a cookie on my computer the second I highlight the email without even opening it. Those get the permanent disallow immediately.) I have found, since I set my cookies to prompt before downloading, that almost every site I visit wants to put a cookie on my computer, and those cookies will definitely slow things down. When I was cleaning up peoples' computers at my old job, I found as many as 600 or 1000 cookies, a lot of them images, and deleting them really changed the computer's operation speed. I was able to set cookie options in XP, 2000 and 98.
I agree, definitely defrag. Go into Programs/Tools/Accessories/SystemTools. But first, use the Cleanup tool, which will gather up information about programs you haven't used n a long time and stuff that is just leftover pieces of stuff you already deleted, and ask you if you want to delete this stuff. You can uncheck boxes for stuff you want to keep. Then defrag - go and get a cup of coffee and read the paper while this is happening. Defrag - here is my image of it: when stuff is saved on your hard drive the computer just drops it in the first empty space and if there isn't enough room in that space for the whole item it drops parts of it in the next empty space(es) - sort of like a kid unpacking groceries. What defrag does, in essence, is takes all the stuff and re-organize it so that all parts of a program or item are together - sort of like unloading and sorting and reloading your kitchen cabinets. When your hard drive gets seriously fragmented, programs work more slowly - sometimes noticeably so - and defragging speeds things up. But I doubt it has anything to do with your home page problem (which is possibly a Trojan or some spyware you haven't found yet or a cookie you don't know about). Nonetheless, it is a good thing to do periodically.
And, if you haven't installed XP service pack 2 (if you have XP) or the other Windows security updates for whatever version of Windows you are running, you should do so.
If you are not running XP (which has its own firewall in servicepack 2), go to ZoneAlarm and download their free firewall. They have a paid version and a free version, and once you download the free version they will only occasionally ask if you want to upgrade to the paid version and don't otherwise hassle you. The nice thing about the ZoneAlarm firewall (as opposed to the XP and other Windows firewalls) is that it not only stops stuff from coming into your computer but, if you have inadvertently downloaded something you don't want that is trying to communicate FROM your computer ZoneAlarm will advise you and ask you if you want to allow this. That will allow you to stop that communication and also to identify such unwanted programs so you can search for them and delete them. When you first download ZoneAlarm you will get lots of prompts asking if you want to allow a particular program to access the internet or access your computer. You can accept or deny for that session or permanently, which eventually cuts down on the frequency of prompts. However, the XP service pack 2 firewall doesn't like the ZoneAlarm firewall and if you have both operating at once it will mess things up badly. I am told that if you buy Norton's security program with a firewall (which stops both in and out stuff you don't want to permit), XP doesn't "see" it so there is no conflict.
Personally, I have procrastinated on downloading the XP service pack 2 because of reading about so many problems with it. I finally sent for the CD (I use a modem and it would take "forever" to download), and intend to BACK UP everything on my computer before loading servicepack 2. I intend to disable the firewall that servicepack 2 installs, because I like the ZoneAlarm firewall much better from everything I have read. If you do decide to download service pack 2 (and only if you use XP), be sure to back up every piece of critical data, including your email address book and any emails you want to keep, and be sure you have disks to reload programs if necessary. Also check to be sure you have downloaded the most up to date drivers for your modem, printer, etc. If you go into "help" and type "drivers" in the search window, you will get information on how to find out what drivers you have and how to update them.
Finally, talk to the people who use your computer. Has someone clicked to download a game without checking about all the other things that will be downloaded with it? A lot of "free trial download" game sites will download Gator along with the game, and Gator is one of those programs which reports back on your computer use to advertisers, which can slow things down. Same thing with, for example, 1000 Free Smilies (I learned the hard way) and a bunch of other stuff.
Oh, and if you are buying anti-virus software, check in to Norton's "Security", which has the anti-virus program, firewall, anti-spam, privacy controls and parental controls. I think I am going to upgrade to this when my anti-virus subscription comes up for renewal in a month or two.
Sounds like your browser has been hijacked too.
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