Missing the Shoot

[Droogan_Leader]

Okay, I have a wonderful job, full of hope and promise, great resume' fodder, and so on, but I never get to post on the Shoot. To compound my sadness, my home computer works fine, but for some strange reason MSN, my new ISP, is really, really slowing down my computer. I don't know why--I've checked Task Manager, and I've run Ad-Aware to search for spyware, etc., but no resolution. Anyway, it seems as though fate has kept me away from the Shoot for a while, and I think that sucks. Hope everybody's doing well!

...And I know I've missed a lot, but can anybody give me the highlights of the past 2 weeks?

[Matt1]

Heated, pointless political "discussion." Interracial porn. Battle of the Matt's. Milkshakes. Hypnosis. Talking behind your back.

Nothing really out of the ordinary. /forums/images/icons/wink.gif

[Robbo_the_Hood]

interracial porn? Where was I?

[Efexeye]

Luckily, you missed it. It happened sometime between XMAS and New Year's- Ryall caught it quick, though.

[Matt1]

Unfortunately, it was here and gone in a flash. Errr, I meant... fortunately. Because porn is bad and evil. It's a tool of the devil. /forums/images/icons/wink.gif

Actually, it really was bad. Take it from me, the porn connoisseur.

[Droogan_Leader]

I actually came in on the end of the interracial porn thing, so seems I didn't miss much after all. I am interested to know how the Battle of the Matts and the Milkshake discussion went though...

[Matt1]

I triumphed. /forums/images/icons/cool.gif

[ILovePapaSmurf]

<font color="purple">Yeah, because I was the only one that voted and it was for you. /forums/images/icons/wink.gif

WB Droogan, this blue gal missed ya.. /forums/images/icons/laugh.gif</font color>

[Mighty_Wingman]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
I've run Ad-Aware to search for spyware, etc., but no resolution.

[/ QUOTE ]

I had a nasty little virus a while back that was actually hiding from my Norton a.v. and connecting itself to everything in the process. Go to the "symantec" site and download all applicable upgrades, reboot and scan each file from your desktop individually . Your c and d drives documents etc. You'll have to quarantine and probably delete and reload anything affected. (I had to delete my internet explorer and reload it from the windows site. ) It's a time consuming pain in the ass but your computer will thank you later.

Hope that helps !

[karmattack]

http://www.melaman2.com/tvshows/logos/kotter.jpg

So, uh....stop going away!

[Droogan_Leader]

Aw, thanks, Smurfette.

And Wingman, that sounds like something worth trying--but if you don't mind me asking, what ended up being the problem virus? Do you remember the name? Whatever it is, it's connected to explorer somehow. Thanks for the help.

And Karma, I said it was fate that kept me away--one of few forces that can pull off keeping me away from the Shoot. Got any suggestions on how to avoid fate? (I'm sure you do, but I'll ask anyway.)

PS- If anybody in any way ties Ashton Kutcher's new movie The Butterfly Effect into this thread, I'll personally J&amp;SB style come over to your house and whip your ass.

[Omaru]

Welcome back.

I had a virus wherein it kept setting my homepage to some dumb thing and placed all kinds of search tools crap in the task bar. I think I had to go to some technical forum, but that was different cause I knew the name of the search at least.

[Droogan_Leader]

I've been fortunate enough to avoid the 'set your homepage to this page' program, and a lot of other scams, but this one eludes me. I never download anything unless it's from Microsoft, or some other company I know won't attach spam or adware on.

Since you brought it up, Omaru, I've also somehow downloaded this thing where I can't do an explorer address bar auto search anymore. I type something in, hit enter, and it takes me to some page where said search terms have hits, but they are all advertisement and spam sites. It's very frustrating, and I've tried finding it in my Program Files, but I'm afraid I'm going to delete an important program or something. I took it to Bestbuy to get it looked at, and all they did was run Ad-Aware. Whoopty-freakin'-doo, a lot of good that did me.

[JIM]

Have You tried "Spybot"? I use it instead of Ad-Aware.
Used to play around with Ad-Aware, but it was'nt good enough.
In general, do you have your OS prompt you for active X controls, etc.? It's a bit annoying but I've avioded a lot of bad stuff that way.
I Have to find an eaiser method.

Edit: Oh wow...I made it to "Old Hand"!

[Threadkiller]

I have to second the suggestion for Spybot. Easy to use and effective for all the annoying things I've managed to download.

[Matthew]

I believe there is a scene in "The Butterfly Effect" where ashton sits at a computer and tries to figure out what is wrong.


Anyway, with MSN being your new ISP, you need to do a few things.

1, Get someone else
2, Never use them again.

SERIOUSLY though, it all depends on your OS.

If you are on XP or 2k, you need the recent service pack, and you also need the most recent IE (PROBABLY the reason why you are having tr4ouble accessing some sites. ) There is also some configuration things you can do with IE to help you.

I also recommend a 3com card, since that works quite well with MSN stuff.

Besides that, what exactly is going on?

[Remission]

Karma, any friend of Sir. Strongbad, is a friend of mine.

[Droogan_Leader]

You hosted a cool avatar for me, so I can look past the Kutcher comment...

Is it just you that thinks MSN sucks though? I'm wondering if it's a virus, or "the new look of MSN". And excuse my ignorance on the subject, but what's a '3 com card'? And what IE 'configuration things' can I do to help?

And this Spybot--where can I find it? Is it free? (I'm just asking 'cause I don't want to have to uninstall anymore 'trial versions' of programs.)

Thanks to JIM and TK on the the suggestions, as well. Your help's very appreciated /forums/images/icons/grin.gif

[jjcourtright]

This is the Spybot (http://www.zone-x.com/spybot/) link supplied by Matthew in the reformatting thread. I used it this morning on the computer at work, and it found alot of shit. Already, it seems that my pop-ups have gone down by 90%.