R.I.P.
I think our computer is about to bite the dust. It’s rather frustrating since the computer is not even 18 months old. Last night I tried logging on three times and it took 15+ minutes each time just to get the desktop to appear. Then none of the programs would open. I couldn’t check email and I couldn’t view the internet. Devastating. After an hour and a half of aborted attempts, I gave up and watched television (subsituting one monitor-based addiction for another).
The problems all startd last winter. I’m not laying blame, but Matt’s brother moved in with us for a few months starting in January. As an artist, he tried updating some software on the computer. We still don’t know exactly what happened, but his attempts failed and from that point on we got the same error message everytime we log in…something about “First Page” not being found.
Weeks later, our internet was essentially hijacked. No matter what we set our default webpage to be, it showed up with this spam search engine with ads for viagra, breast enhancements, financial debt removal, etc… Our attempts at rectifying the problem only seemed to make things worse as we now get about 5-10 error messages while we try logging in. We just close them all and wait for the damn thing to boot up.
Now, most recently, we’re getting sex pop-up ads. Constantly. Then last night, I just couldn’t get it to do anything. I’m thinking of bringing the computer to work since Harvard has a computer repair center where we can bring in our personal computers (and pay to get it fixed). My only concern is that it’s affiliated with my employer and I worry they might dig around for cookies and find nice little crumbs about stumping, gumming or fursuiters. Not that we’re into that sort of thing….but it’s amazing the sites you accidentally stumble upon.
11 Comments
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
Spyware! I’m sure Harvard people can clean it up and make it work better. Matt’s brother probably downloaded some stuff bundled in with whatever he meant to download that made things bad. All is probably not lost.
*nods*
It’s definitely gotta be spyware. Kathy in my office has had similar issues with her computer for a while, ever since she mis-typed a URL and accidentally got a porn site, and while they (oddly) haven’t been able to totally clear it up, it’s much better now than it used to be. Don’t give up on the computer itself, at least not yet.
The benefit to all this, of course, is that since spyware sends your browser to all sorts of porn sites, etc. *anyway*, you can blame anything out of the ordinary that the tech folks might find on that!
Hey Babe, download Spybot – Search & Destroy to get rid of all those nasties!!!
And maybe go to Norton to check out some virus removal tool[s].. they’re bitchin’! Good luck!!! But definately run Spybot, and then see how your computer will perform…
O and HURRY, before your computer turns into one of those pod-peeple!!!
fursuiters, that totally cracked me up 😀 damn sexy, those people are.
I vote for Spybot Search and Destroy. It’s really good. And FREE.
OK – I love you all! Seriously – you folks are amazing. Big cyber homo-filled hugs to all of you for offering advice and support with my computer problems (and ultimately saving me the $700+ I would have spent this weekend on a new computer because I have no patience).
I took Robert’s advice and downloaded Spybot Search and Destroy. And my computer now works (I’m typing from home)! We still have the problems that originated when Matt’s brother tried downloading art-related programs…and the default web page is still being hijacked. But the Spybot software fixed ALL of the problems preventing us from using the internet. WOO HOO!
Yeah, we might want to think about whether or not we want your employer to see all of those crumbs. However, I have to say that some of those scary pop-up pages have educated me about human anatomy. The Granny Loves Cum site that showed up on the screen this past weekend was most informative regarding certain women of certain age who seem to crave a certain liquid necklace.
Up to a month ago, Spybot was the best of the free spyware/ad removal tools, however, ad-aware SE has caught up and is now the standard. You may download it from this link: http://www.download.com/Ad-aware-SE-Personal-Edition/3000-8022_4-10308605.html?tag=pop
or if it has expired, search for ad-ware SE at cnet’s http://www.download.com I use both utilities but you’ll notice that ad-ware SE compared to spybot exposes more spyware/adware during initial deep scannings. Also, I recommend that you download SpywareBlaster 3.2 from http://www.javacoolsoftware.com w/c nicely integrates with spybot (it is also free, w/ updates as well as the other mentioned utilities). This one doesn’t remove spyware/adware but will prevent you(by giving you notice) and others (particularly your brother- in-law *wink*) from inadverdently downloading spyware/adware in the future.
BTW, thanks for leaving a note at outinnyc.com…appreciate it. And I do enjoy reading your blog from time to time. :))
Glad you got the computer to at least let you get online again. I *hate* it when machines don’t do what they are supposed to do – makes me irrationally furious, for some reason!
Duh, Karl. LMAO