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been
Two friends of mine have called me because I'm computer savvy. They both
told me weird things were happening on their computers. Their systems are
Windows 2000 and Windows XP. The version of IE they're running I can't be
sure due to whatever is going on but, it looks like version 6 at least. What
is really odd is they both called within a day of each other starting on
Wednesday but, they in no way are associated with each other. They're
symptoms are similar with slight variations. So I took a look. Heres what
I've noticed:
Symptoms on both systems:
Internet Explorer will redirect to www.ownbox.com or other sites when trying
to access Windows Update by typing in the URL. When using the Tools/Windows
Update feature the Windows Update site shows the title Windows Update but,
nothing else displays.
Internet Explorer will not allow me to click on certain links. Those, from
what I've seen, are typically links linking to Windows Update, Symantec
online virus scan and spyware removal sites such as spybot or adaware.
Internet Explorer will not allow me to cut or copy and paste a link. The
only way to access those links that IE is not allowing me to use, that I've
found, is by right clicking on the link and adding it to favorites and then
accessing the link through the favorites list.
Symantec's online antivirus will not run because it states ActiveX and
Javascript are not enabled, but they are.
Internet Explorer does not display version, cipher, product ID or update
version when using Help, About.
Internet Explorer does not allow entry of data in input fields on webpages
such as password fields or search string fields.
Differing Symptoms:
Windows 2000: when going to Control Panels, Add/Remove Programs displays
only the icons of each program but no further identifiable information so
you end up with a screen with a vertical string of icons and no text.
Windows 2000: antivirus is still running but, when attempting to select
a drive to scan they simply are not listed.
Windows XP: antivirus is not running and will not load.
Windows XP: The start bar is now a search bar.
My friend Greg is bringing over his XP system so I'll have a better
opportunity to work with it. But at this point all I can say is it feels and
acts like a virus/spyware issue. I've read the latest threats at the
symantec website nothing seems to correspond. I've run both spybot and
adaware on the XP computer but the problem remains. The only other thing
that I know to do is when I get it boot up with Norton's emergency boot disk
and give it a scan with the latest definitions.
So, any suggestion I can get from the group as to what this is would be
appreciated. So far I haven't been able to identify what the culprit
program/spyware/virus/worm is. If I can identify it I can take care of it.
told me weird things were happening on their computers. Their systems are
Windows 2000 and Windows XP. The version of IE they're running I can't be
sure due to whatever is going on but, it looks like version 6 at least. What
is really odd is they both called within a day of each other starting on
Wednesday but, they in no way are associated with each other. They're
symptoms are similar with slight variations. So I took a look. Heres what
I've noticed:
Symptoms on both systems:
Internet Explorer will redirect to www.ownbox.com or other sites when trying
to access Windows Update by typing in the URL. When using the Tools/Windows
Update feature the Windows Update site shows the title Windows Update but,
nothing else displays.
Internet Explorer will not allow me to click on certain links. Those, from
what I've seen, are typically links linking to Windows Update, Symantec
online virus scan and spyware removal sites such as spybot or adaware.
Internet Explorer will not allow me to cut or copy and paste a link. The
only way to access those links that IE is not allowing me to use, that I've
found, is by right clicking on the link and adding it to favorites and then
accessing the link through the favorites list.
Symantec's online antivirus will not run because it states ActiveX and
Javascript are not enabled, but they are.
Internet Explorer does not display version, cipher, product ID or update
version when using Help, About.
Internet Explorer does not allow entry of data in input fields on webpages
such as password fields or search string fields.
Differing Symptoms:
Windows 2000: when going to Control Panels, Add/Remove Programs displays
only the icons of each program but no further identifiable information so
you end up with a screen with a vertical string of icons and no text.
Windows 2000: antivirus is still running but, when attempting to select
a drive to scan they simply are not listed.
Windows XP: antivirus is not running and will not load.
Windows XP: The start bar is now a search bar.
My friend Greg is bringing over his XP system so I'll have a better
opportunity to work with it. But at this point all I can say is it feels and
acts like a virus/spyware issue. I've read the latest threats at the
symantec website nothing seems to correspond. I've run both spybot and
adaware on the XP computer but the problem remains. The only other thing
that I know to do is when I get it boot up with Norton's emergency boot disk
and give it a scan with the latest definitions.
So, any suggestion I can get from the group as to what this is would be
appreciated. So far I haven't been able to identify what the culprit
program/spyware/virus/worm is. If I can identify it I can take care of it.