I had to reinstall because the registry was hopelessly fouled. I
think it came about because I mapped a drive from the other computer
and then made the mistake of using the File & Setting Transfer
wizard.... it created a huge and unwieldy registry, with entries for
programs that I never intended to install on the new computer. It was
easier to start all over again, and yes, of course, I followed the
procedures to avoid spyware and applied all updates immediately. I
routinely run AdAware, Spybot and CWShredder... updating first, so
I'm relatively certain I'm not contaminated. I have also performed an
XP repair. The only problems with IE I have are when I try to access
the MS support site--see my message to R.Aldwinckle.
jan
...I had to reinstall XP completely a couple of weeks ago and
that's when all this started.
Oh? Why did you have to reinstall XP? After reinstalling, did you
*immediately* take care of everything at the following page?
Before You Connect a New Computer to the Internet
http://www.cert.org/tech_tips/before_you_plug_in.html
My good buddy Robert Aldwinckle and I are seeing eye-to-eye on this,
Jan: Either your display settings are wrong or you've got some
malware which has "hijacked" the settings usually found in
Accessibility. A CoolWebSearch variant is most likely and the
just-released Ad-aware SE has been doing a good job on CWS so far:
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/support/download/. Make certain you seek
updates before each and every use, even "right out of the box" new.
<canned "hijackware" response>
Help with Hijackware
http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm
http://aumha.org/a/quickfix.htm
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/Darnit.htm
CoolWebSearch Chronicles
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/cwschronicles.html
Run these tools in the following order with nothing else running in
background:
1. CWShredder (fix all found)
2. Ad-Aware (fix all found)
3. Spybot (RTFM but generally fix everything in red)
Important: You *must* seek updates for Ad-Aware, Spybot, etc.,
before each and every use, even "right out of the box". But even
they can't catch everything, 24/7. When all else fails, HijackThis
(
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/files/HijackThis.exe) is the
preferred tool to use. It will help you to both identify and
remove any hijackware/spyware. **Post your files to
http://forums.spywareinfo.com/ or
http://forum.aumha.org/viewforum.php?f=30 for expert analysis, not
here.**
[Alternate download pages for many of the above tools may be found
at
http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm.]
Also:
1. Download and run Stinger (
http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger/);
then...
2. Update your virus definitions, enable Show Hidden Files
(
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2002092715262339)
and then run a full system scan in Safe Mode
(
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2001052409420406)
with nothing else running in background. Note the files identified
and removed then find the corresponding page for the file at your
AV maker's online support pages (e.g.,
http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/adware.winfavorites.html)
and follow all Removal steps.
WinXP Only (WinME similar): If this scan finds anything, create a
new Restore Point then Disk Cleanup > More options > Delete all but
the most recent Restore Point.
3. Check in at Windows Update.
So How Did I Get Infected Anyway?
http://boards.cexx.org/viewtopic.php?t=957
</canned "hijackware" response>
--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-Windows (IE/OE)
Jan Works wrote:
Yes, I've previously looked at the Accessibility options; nothing
is selected. I disabled NAV and ZA, separately and then together;
no difference there. Today I made a note of the coding on various
websites I visited to discern a pattern, but it's not consistent.
There are problems with all 3. The sites I have trouble on seem
to be primarily Unicode (UTF-8) (support.microsoft.com, KB
articles, doonesbury.com, downloads at
office.microsoft.com/officeupdates) but two Unicode sites I
visited were just fine. I double-checked them on my 2nd computer
to be sure. My OE html messages are Western European (ISO) as is
the HotWired newsletter I get in my inbox--it has bad line
spacing--lines jammed together, but when I go to wired.com--also
Western European (ISO)--it's fine. microsoft.com is Western
European(ISO) and is fine. But acdsystems.com--also Western
European (ISO) looks fine but the dropdown menus are really
really funky. Two of the sites have color backgrounds that are
missing. doonesbury.com has a burgundy background on my other
computer; on this one there's no background and the links to the
left are sitting mostly on top of each other. And at prsa.org
which has black type on a light olive green background (on my
other computer), on this one it's yellow type on a white
background (unreadable.) Selecting a different coding made no
difference at all on any of the funky-looking sites.
Thanks for sticking with me on this one.... any clues on how to
fix what's broken? (I had to reinstall XP completely a couple of
weeks ago and that's when all this started.)
Jan
See if disabling NAV or/and ZA helps at all, Jan.
Also check View>Encoding in both IE and OE.
IE Tools>Internet Options>General>Accessibility> Anything
checked here? Did you check 'em?
--
~Robear
No, I've never used them. I just did a test and tried to
apply a stationery
template... nothing there, so I guess they're not installed...
disappeared?
I just do a simple formatted email with nothing fancier than
bold, italic, larger font and color for heads. But now I'm
not getting color. I just purchased and installed Office 2003
... you should see the garbage rendered
when I visited the MS update site the installation sent me to.
Would you like to see a screen shot?
XP Professional, all updates (except SP2) installed.
Jan
Are you using a stationery template, Jan?
Windows version?
--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-Windows (IE/OE), AH-VSOP
Are You Ready for WinXP SP2?
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=windowsxpsp2
What You Should Know About Spyware
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/devioussoftware.mspx
AumHa Forums
http://forum.aumha.org
Jan Works wrote:
In Outlook Express, I am unable to use all of the Rich
Text attributes when I compose an html email (I do a
regular newsletter and would like to have this function
back.) I can change fonts and sizes (although they don't
always hold) bolding, italics, but I can't change font
colors. All
the text remains black. Also, some websites look funky --
overlapping text and poor line spacing -- but the real
problem is when I visit the Microsoft Support page and
all of the KB articles. HUGE spaces between elements on
the page and GIANT letters.... only a corner of one in
the Window, for example.
Is this an HTML rendering issue? XP Prof, all updates
(except SP2) installed. NAV, ZA all functioning...
regular scanning with AdAware and Spybot. I've
uninstalled and reinstalled IE6, but with no better
result.
Can anybody here point me in the right direction?
TIA
Jan