[droopy55]

When I try to look at the "Who's Online" page, it switches me over to a Lycos Search Page. This only happens on this particular page. Is anyone else having this problem?

droopy

[ktp]

Ruh-roh Raggy...

Last time I had that happen to me, on a different site, I was infected with a browser hijacker. Lycos is the culprit apparently

You should go to your program files and see if there is any lycos files and in my opinion, get rid of them. It is linked to alot of adware/malware/hijackers/worms and even trojans. Trust me I've had them all at one point or another and have finally gotten rid of everything and keeping it away by disabling my active scripting in Internet options. Active X also allows these things to download themselves and since I have DSL it was doing it before I could cancel the programs!

Wow, I was long winded, but that is such a inconvenience and annoyance when you can't get to where you're wanting to go. LOL.

Good luck!
Kimberly.

[droopy55]

Phew!!! Thanks, Kimberly!!!

I did find a Lycos program and uninstalled it immediately. I've not checked about the active scripting in Internet options yet. I'm not computer savvy. What is the purpose of active scripting? And what did you do about your Active X?

Relieved but still somewhat anxious,
droopy

[ktp]

Droopy,

Ok...when you disable active scripting the, let's call them viruses, cannot download themselves automatically. Active X is tricky because some sites require it, luckily this one doesn't. If you don't want to disable all of your Active X then just disable the ones that allow unsigned or unverified downloads. Active X and Active scripting work together. Active scripting will keep some javascript from loading on your pc but most viruses are written in java, I can still play games online and everything, but I do enable it when I go to hotmail because you must, yahoo you don't . With Active X enabled and active scripting enabled, the active scripting allows the viruses to get their "own permission" to download themselves thanks to active X. This won't catch everything but this has gotten rid of the Lycos nightmare for me.

I hope this is not as confusing as I think it's gonna be.

If you go to Tools>Internet Options>Security>Custom you will be able to access what all your settings are and change them accordingly. I also set my security level up to Medium, which makes it hard for some sites to load but definitely worth it to me, anyway. I have three children that love arcade games and have given me little gifts pretty often up until I disabled it all

They think I'm mean. LOL. It's better than not having a pc at all!

Good luck, I can understand your anxiety but it really shouldn't be anything to worry about just a major annoyance.

Kimberly.

[(JD)]

Hi droopy... you can also download and use for free (honest) Ad-aware SE from lavasoft... and use it to scan and clean up hijackers and the like. It often catches something the McAfee I bought doesn't!

Stopping in at the microsoft site once in a while, or putting your computer on "automatic" updates will also help keep these problems to a minimum.

[silver_queen]

I use Ad-aware SE too. It works. I also use Spybot in conjuction with Ad-aware.

[droopy55]

Hi Kimberly,

Thanks for all the information. Where did you learn so much about computers?

I looked and I "think" my settings are correct. I'm clueless when it comes to the computer. I can type and navigate the internet. That's it.

I'll try to print this post for future use, just in case I didn't look at it right.

Thanks bunches,
droopy

[droopy55]

Hi SkyBdark,

I'll check out the software you've mention.

I have Norton Systems Works and it picks up the Adware but it doesn't delete all of them. Then you have to go and delete it yourself which the instructions, to me, is complicated to understand. It says that deleting some Adware may affect other programs. Right now, I have 47 at-risk files that I don't know how to get rid of.

I believe my computer is already set for automatic updates. I'm not sure. Do you know how to do that?

Thanks for you advice,
droopy

[droopy55]

Hi Silver,

I'll certainly will check those two programs out. I guess you can't have too much protection.

Many thanks!
droopy

[ktp]

I also have Ad-Aware and it is a good program but something got through on it so I supplemented it with a program called Hijack This! and it has truly helped. No problems whatsoever. What's good about these programs are they're free or at the very least shareware, so no cost up front for the initial downloads. We also have spyware doctor downloaded but haven't used it. It's for one of those "just in case" moments

I don't know nearly as much about computers as my husband. He has taught me everything I know. I cannot say how he knows so much, but when he was a 13 year old Gifted and Talented student who was using the internet, he and his fellow GT'ers got a letter from Microsoft, signed NOT stamped by Bill Gates himself, but then again we don't talk about that! LOL.

Take care and good luck,
Kimberly.

[SeptemberMorn]

Kimber, I've had those programs you mentioned but not too long ago, my puter got infected with the Swizzor trojan. NONE of the programs I have, including McAfee were able to fix it so I went looking. I found the program "A Squared" that finally got rid of it. Spyware Doctor left a .dll file in my puter that not even A Squared can get rid of. I've done a search for the file, but it's really hidden! Even used the "add/remove" option to remove Spyware Doctor and when I deleted it from my puter, it told me that there was one file that had been left. Ad-Aware doesn't find it because it and SD are from the same company. A Squared calls it "critical."

Oh! And A Squared has a help forum, too! I like that! Questions get answered the same day. At least, mine did.

I hear "Hijack This!" is a great program, too, though.

[Nerak]

Droopy I just checked and it worked ok for me :-)

[droopy55]

Hi Karen,

I finally got mine to working when someone told me to delete a program on my computer. But I have some more serious issues with Adware right now that my Antivirus software won't remove...48 files as a matter of fact.

The thing about it is, is I believe they attach themselves sometimes to legitimate software and if I delete it, well, you know what happens.

Also, something has messed with my download software for Windows. I can't download ANYTHING! I tried to download some software for Spyware and it wouldn't let me and there are several other issues I'm having. I guess I'll have to take it to a computer repair person to see what's going on.

droopy