Argle

[mitchy]

OK, this can't be good. I cannot connect to a single anti-virus, anti-spyware website. Not.A.Single.One. I'm assuming the 'orrible virus has left something nasty that prevents connection, because a friend can get to the sites just fine and I can (obviously) connect to other websites no bother.

I've run AVG which wasn't updated but did find some trojans which it claims to have removed. I'm guessing it didn't get 'em all...*mutters* I've downloaded Avast from a download site but wouldn't you know it, the setup file crashes every time you run it. *sighs more*

Is there a kind soul who could chuck Avast and/or a spyware removal gizmo up on YouSendIt or some such site so that I can try sneaking around the problem? If that doesn't work, umm, I may have to cling to some techie person's ankles and wail for more help. You've been warned. Thanks in advance for any assistance!

Comments

[silenttex.livejournal.com]

From what I can see on t'web, this seems like it should be relatively easy to remove. Follow the manual instructions on this site: http://www.411-spyware.com/remove-antispywarexp2009
and check everything is gone. I'd also check your hosts file. For XP it's at: C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC. Right click on it and choose Open With Notepad. Check for anything you don't recognise. You can *usually* safely delete every entry in here. (Make a backup copy first in case I'm wrong!)
You could try replacing the hosts file with one from here: http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm
Delete your Temporary internet files and cookies, and then open a command prompt and type "ipconfig /flushdns" (without the quotes).
You could also try googling for HijackThis, which is a tool that tells you what's running in the background. You can export the results and post them on the site forum and ask for help.
If none of that works, I suspect a complete reinstall is probably going to be the quickest and easiest recovery method.

[gayeld.livejournal.com]

If the other instructions don't work let me know and I'll send (snail mail) you my Norton 360 disc. I bought one of the "good for three computers" ones and only put it on two computers. (My new one runs Vista and the version of 360 I have doesn't work with Vista. *scowl* It would be nice if someone got my monies worth out of it.)