I made the unfortuate mistake of clicking on an email message that was disguised as an "egreeting" from Yahoo...the sort that are used to invite people to parties, etc.

It of course turned out to be a scam...and whatever bug that is running is opening up a browser window ever few moments to a different porn site.

I've already run "Ad - aware" to no avail. My anti-virus protection (McAfee) isn;t stopping it either.

Suggestions, please?

Reboot your computer.
If you still have problems, post again.

Check your cookie file too. There might be something in there casuing the popups. Delete any cookies that have a date & time around when you opened the email.

Another thing to try would be BHOCop.  You can use it to detect and remove "Browser Helper Objects", which are programs that can be embedded in Internet Explorer and do fun things like this.
It might work where Ad-Aware failed, because it's not automated and doesn't need to know about the BHO beforehand.

You could also switch web browsers.  Take a look at Mozilla, the open-source browser that took over Netscape's code.
It's fast, it works with most web pages, you can disable pop-up ads, and it doesn't have all the back doors that IE has which people exploit with things like you're seeing
I've been using it for months, and it works very well.

Re computer....I've rebooted, closed all the browser windows AND delete every file in the "Temporay Folder" dated for today. Still getting the pop ups....though some of them are now blank because the GIFs they were accessing from my hard drive are now gone.

Actually, they aren't "pop ups"....this darn thing actually OPENS UP anotehr browser window, then takes me to that site. Fortuately, it doesn't close the window I have open, but it sill makes it really hard to concentrate on my work....

Now Internet Explorer won't let me log on to this site....I'm using AOL....

All offered help still welcome...

Looked for any executable files downloaded today....no "*.exe" files dated for today.....

I noticed it runs more "viciously" (?) when I am using a certain website (not this one). I just spent an hour studying at alma mater's online class site without a problem. Others have suggested it might have something to do with "JAVA" something else in the other, saying some webpages are more "JAVA driven" than others.

I've deleted something called "Instant Access" using the "ctrl Alt delete" function (here in Windows ME) and that SEEMS to have helped. However, I deleted it before, and it came back.

I noticed something else as well...the illict webpages appear in the same order continoiusly...first the one for young girls, then the one for hot chat, then the real gross hardcore one, then it starts over....

Help me somebody....please....

I have catched a number of dcom programs communicating over the internet by using ZoneAlarm.

Besides .exe files, you needed to check for .dll files.  Have you check Start Menu\Programs\Startup directory to see if there is any hidden startup program.  You can also start a command console window (type "command" or "cmd" at the "run" dialog box) and type "at" to check whether there is any scheduled task.

Good luck.

Log onto http://and.doxdesk.com/parasite/ and see if it reports any parasitic software.

You'd need to check for .exe, .dll, and .ocx files, and that's assuming they left a default extension on it.
The behavior you're describing really sounds like a BHO, so BHOCop could fix it.  In case you haven't tried that yet, here's a link.

You are getting on the right track but the exact answer may be hard to find.  Use your control-alt-delete function to stop that unusual task that your are seeing.  However, before you reboot, go down to start-run and run a program called "msconfig.exe".  This will execute a program that will allow you to disable things that automatically start up with windows.  It will be hard to tell you what you need to disable because of how your various programs that you want are named.  This will have to be a trial and error thing.  Once you disable things, reboot your computer and see if this fixes your problem.

I recently went through this on Windows 2000 because I was getting a bunch of strange pop-ups.  I had to delete a bunch of things and edit my registry to catch it all.  Without looking at your running tasks, it would be hard for me to tell you what to kill.  Be careful if you wind up in the registry as you don't want to remove anything you need.

Speaking of the registry, I believe that WinME has a go back function that will allow to run registry settings before you encounter problems.  Look for this and you may be able to fix your computer without looking for individual tasks.  I've never worked with ME but from what I've heard, this was it's only good feature.

Ideas:

* Delete all "offline content".  In IE 6, that's Tools\Internet Options\ press DELETE FILES, Check off "Delete all offline content" then press OK.

* On the same tab where the DELETE FILES button is located, use the DELETE COOKIES button.

* Check for updates to your browser -- one of the security updates may do the trick.  See http://microsoft.com/windows/ie/downloads/critical/q323759ie/default.asp to see if this patch applies to your version of IE.

-Hoot.

but it still amazes me how TER has made us such a tight-knit group. MyLifeAsMe turned here to get computer help! The TER gang immediately tried to help with suggestions that took some time to post. I frequently post thoughts that are related to sports and I never get any flak about it.

Once again, here's to the TER brotherhood!

review site different from others.  I, for one, am a better person because of all the insights I gained from reading and responding to others' posts.

-- Modified on 9/24/2002 4:46:56 PM

I'm not an expert on software and I don't even play one on TV but I have a couple of suggestion:


- Assumption Number 1:  The problem only occurs when you launch a browser
Go to "Control Panels ... Internet Options"  Choose the "Security" tab and highlight the "Internet" globe then click on "Custom Level"  start disabling the different "scripting" languages one by one until you see an improvement specifically ActiveX, Java VM, "Scripting" aka VBScript etc...
From there you'll be able to narrow it down to the actual file that's causing the problem by searching for that file extension and narrowing your search using the appropriate date.

- Assumption Number 2: The problem occurs at start-up or before you launch a browser.  Search for all kind of executables using a date criteria and by that I include all the above "Scripting" languages (jar, vbs, etc...).  Also look in you start-up folder and task scheduler.

Note that you should treat even html files as suspect since they can contain scripts.  Look for something like this in the html source:

SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript"
....

I hope this helps.  Good luck!

but you may wish to try a system restore.  This will not cause you to lose any data but it will return your system to a previous state and could potentially clear up this problem.  The process is also totally reversible.

If you are running windows XP, system restore should be: Start/All Programs/Accessories/System tools/System restore.

If you cannot find it or are running an older version of windows try: Run/MSCONFIG  then follow the prompts for system restore.

You will want to restore to a date just prior to when the problem began.

Hope this helps.

The geeks among us might like to know what caused the problem and how it was resolved.

The problem was...a file that had been download to my PC by that bogus egreeting invitation without my knowledge.

After a few hours of trying the not so obvious and difficult, in exasperation the technician recommended I first delete the "Tempoary Internet Folder" and all the files contained therein (it restores automatically), then the internet history file (ditto re: restoration). No effect.

Then, at the end of her rope, she suggested deleting the "downloaded programs folder". That solved the problem.

Who woud have ever thought a virus would hide out in EXACTLY the place where it should be?

Thanks again everyone...

-- Modified on 9/26/2002 1:09:05 PM

You Know MyLife, I saw that folder, but was too afraid to delete the folder.  Is it safe to delete that whole folder or do I need to pick out what I want to delete out of there?  "LiL" Darlyn

She had me delete the entire thing, saying it would restore itself...but rememebr, this is NOT what I do for a living, so if it doesn't go well....

On the other hand, if it solves whatever problem you are having and you wish to return the favor....  :^)

This to my computer, is that it screws everything up & then I'm up all night trying to put everything back to normal.  Been there done that many a time & have missed allot of email appts. That is one of the reasons I specifically state on my site that emails are for advanced appts. just in case I screwed around with something I shouldn't have (on my computer that is) Hee Hee.

"LiL" Darlyn