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IE Explorer and Outlook Express acting up

Hand Lettering topics: Sign Making, Design, Fabrication, Letterheads, Sign Books.

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Mike Jackson
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IE Explorer and Outlook Express acting up

Post by Mike Jackson »

Hi all,
Tyler was playing some kind of Internet game on Darla's office computer yesterday. I don't know if I can blame the game, but later in the day, she couldn't get Internet Explorer or her Outlook Express to open correctly.

When it did give me a bit of a screen, IE's status bar said it was trying to download Yahoo Messenger buttons, along with loading our home page.

I eventually deleted Yahoo Messenger and downloaded the install program for a clean IE 6 on my other computer. I copied it to her computer and let it load fresh, but it still gave us the same problems. I also went to the Control Panel and used the Install/Uninstall programs utility to let it repair and replace damaged or missing files. It still stopped as soon as the program loaded.

Here's the kicker....
I found that when I went to the Windows Explorer utility (Windows-E), I could double click on Internet Explorer and it loaded fine. Just out of curiosity, I dragged that icon to the desktop and tried starting it there and it closed out as soon as it loads.

I've run McAfee virus scans on the machine and it does not see any virus or trojans. I also looked in the Start Up folders and in the Win.ini files for any obvious run files. Just as an overview, it looks and acts like a virus, but I don't see anything causing it.

Outlook express tries to load, asks for the password, but then comes up with a quick message about a faulty file. I set her up on the shop computer so she can at least send and receive emails, but I need to solve the problems.

Any help would be appreciated.

Mike Jackson
Mike Jackson / co-administrator
Golden Era Studios
Vintage Ornamental Clip art
Jackson Hole, WY

Photography site:
Teton Images
Jackson Hole photography blog:
Best of the Tetons
Doug Bernhardt
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Post by Doug Bernhardt »

Goldie...am having also with outlook express. As you can imagine I'm at a loss here especially as my wife (tech support) is out of town visiting relatives! Will let you know whatever (if anything) happens here. Till then I think there's no e-mail.
Russ McMullin
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Location: Tooele, UT
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Post by Russ McMullin »

It sounds like spyware to me. For some reason most anti-virus programs don't detect spyware. I have had really good luck with Spysweeper. I pay for it, but I think there is a free trial version.

Russ
Mike Jackson
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Post by Mike Jackson »

Just a quick update:
I downloaded the Spyware (beta) software from Microsoft's site and installed it on Darla's machine. If found several spyware files and removed them, but IE still would not load properly from the normal menu buttons. I could still make it work by going to My Computer and typing in an address in the bar. That works fine.

While I had an instance of IE6 open, I went to the Internet options and deleted the cookies, temporary files, and also the history. I then set the home page to a very basic page on my site with no scripts or extra baggage. Interestingly, as soon as I opend the page, I looked in the options section to see the files that were in the temporary Internet files. As expected, I saw the html page and a few gif files in the folder. But then, about ever three minutes, the browser would flicker and the folder added three or more page address and gif files, even though I hadn't clicked on anything in my browser. So, there is some sort of trojan or spyware element causing the page to refresh and add unseen files. I watched it for a while and it eventually downloaded a zip file, followed by some sort of command to unzip it. Microsoft's spyware software brought up a screen telling me there was TODO...utility trying to extract the files, which it blocked.

After being blocked, I deleted all files and started the browser again, still going to my basic page. This time, however, I could leave the browser open and no new pages were added. I still can't enter IE using the standard start buttons, but it looks like I have stopped the unwanted files from being added. I still don't know where the invisible command is residing that is initiating those page downloads, and the spyware software is not seeing it, but it has to be there somewhere.

I am open to suggestions, so if anyone has seen anything like this, please let me know. I went ahead and add the beta Microsoft AntiSpyware software to my other machines and let it kick a few files off each system.

Thanks in advance,
Mike Jackson
Mike Jackson / co-administrator
Golden Era Studios
Vintage Ornamental Clip art
Jackson Hole, WY

Photography site:
Teton Images
Jackson Hole photography blog:
Best of the Tetons
Russ McMullin
Posts: 58
Joined: Mon Apr 25, 2005 12:57 am
Location: Tooele, UT
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Post by Russ McMullin »

I would try a different spyware remover and see if it finds more stuff. Adaware and Spybot are both good. Spysweeper is my favorite. I have been spyware free for over a year with Spysweeper. Sometimes one program will miss something that another program will catch. If the Microsoft spyware program didn't catch the problem the first time I wouldn't have any confidence in its ability to remove it. The spyware might be blocked, but it sounds like it is still alive in your system.
Mike Jackson
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Joined: Tue Apr 06, 2004 11:02 pm
Location: Jackson Hole, WY
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Post by Mike Jackson »

A friend is coming over this morning to rid the machine of the spyware. He does it for a living and says he has the better software. After reading up on the problem, it is apparent the spyware trigger is residing in the registry and gets triggered each time the browser is started. Each time, it self replicates and loads back all the files and makes the calls to open the offending internet sites.

Hopefully, when he leaves I will have a clean system again and can report back.

Mike
Mike Jackson / co-administrator
Golden Era Studios
Vintage Ornamental Clip art
Jackson Hole, WY

Photography site:
Teton Images
Jackson Hole photography blog:
Best of the Tetons
Mike Jackson
Site Admin
Posts: 1705
Joined: Tue Apr 06, 2004 11:02 pm
Location: Jackson Hole, WY
Contact:

Post by Mike Jackson »

Hi again,
My tech friend came over and we loaded WinCleaner on the machines. It found quite a few culprits, but didn't seem to want to get all of them. I also downloaded AdAware and Microsoft's spyware software, and neither of them caught and fixed the problems.

Today, upon the recommendation of Tom at Signcraft, I went ahead and downloaded Spysweeper as a trial and it found what seems to be the hidden adware and trojan that was really causing Darla's machine a lot of problems. Both Internet Explorer and Outlook Express had become so fouled, neither would work. Based on what I can see right now, the $29.99 per machine will be well worth it. I was just about to offload all her data files and reformat her system. Whew!

Thanks to all who responded.
Mike Jackson
Mike Jackson / co-administrator
Golden Era Studios
Vintage Ornamental Clip art
Jackson Hole, WY

Photography site:
Teton Images
Jackson Hole photography blog:
Best of the Tetons
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