BeeCeeBee

There are 2 possibilities here. (actually more but we will take 2 at a time :)) 1. When you start to download does a yellowish bar appear at the top of your browser warning you of a download. If it does you have to click on it and allow download from that site. I am not saying you should get that bar but it sometimes goes unnoticed if and when it does appear. 2. The very problem that you are trying to solve may be what is slowing down or stopping the download. If it does not start downloading the go back to the malware post and start it again by clicking on the link or refresh the page before you try to download again. PLEASE tell me that you did not mean "switch off" literally. Always shut your computer down from the start menu. Cutting the power at the switch is always a last resort. You will learn to love it, and hate it , and love it again. Don't worry

Not sure from the order of posts nutty, you seem to be replying to my post. Did you see the instructions tha Tootech gave you just above yours and if not please do so now. Thanks.

Hi Why, May I suggest that you search around the forums (maybe gaming and tips) to see if you can find anything that might be appropriate. In the meanwhile, in order to get any meaningful reply to this post you are going to have to supply a lot more information about what you are running on your PC. All I can tell is that you are running an old PC with XP Home. What size is your hard drive? What CPU, graphic cards etc. are you running. Just give as much system information as you can.

No you are not being stupid at all! Try this and see if you find the files. Just go to search on the start menu. click on search for files or folders then click more advanced options and finally put a dot in the search hidden files and folders. Then type in ubstor.info and see what comes up. (search system folders should already have a dot in it if not put one there.) Don't let the language in the reply throw you. Just see if you can find the files and get back to us.

Hi syscho, Hopefully the steps offered by Seth will find the culprit, it usually does. I do have two questions and one thought. If kaspersky is telling you that you are clean, what program is telling you that you are infected? I also see that you mentioned cleaning your registry. Did you use a registry cleaner? Sometimes they cause more problems then they solve and many are just plain untrustworthy.

Is this a full digital movie camera or a digital still camera with a video option. Most of the latter use quicktime and you would need to convert it for Media Player.

Hi again, I just tried and the site is a bit slow but not as slow as you are reporting. Just keep trying. There is another site listed where it can be found Majorgeeks.com but because you are so new at this I would prefer that you stick with the snapfiles. The other can be a bit overwhelming and you may find yourself downloading the wrong thing. Also because I do not want you to get confused, I believe that there is no option to just run the program and it may ask you if you want to save it. Just say yes and save it to your desktop. You can always delete it when you are done.

As one of these modern thinkers that Wolfey mentioned I sort of liked the USB caddy method but then I confess I do not know nearly as much (but never let on.) Assuming that the drive is not damaged in any physical sense there is no reason why it cannot formatted and used. Just be sure to test it out thoroughly with unimportant data to be certain it can be relied on to function properly. If it will not format it is best that you forget it and move on. It is probably damage beyond repair. Once the drive is installed it is important that you perform a ckdsk before you commit to using it at all. Just as a reminder to you or for the benefit of anyone looking in who hasn't done it before: See: How to perform disk error checking in Windows XP

Great news tismehi, Don't worry the registry can be a scary place. Wolfey is usually spot on about these things. Glad you are sorted and this appears solved. Please come back any time. No need to wait for a problem.

They will say exactly that either upper filter of lower filter. Once you locate the proper key and follow Wolfey's direction you will see the value in the larger window to the right. It is these specific values that need to be deleted. Just delete the 2 of them that he suggested and do it one at a time.

Bill have a look at this. You may note that among the recommended antivirus programs you will not find AVG. You seem to rely heavily on it. Feel free to draw your own conclusions http://extremetechsupport.com/forum/malware-removal-av-firewalls-etc/3597-free-pc-help-recommended-security-products.html

Hi Platte Lets take things one at a time. Either way, "quick" or "post reply" will do. Quick reply is is text only (no smileys etc.) You certainly have permission to post so you may have just hit something by mistake. Don't worry about it unless it keeps happening. Spybot is a very common antimalware program and Teatimer is part of it. If you don't use it there is nothing for you to do and skip that step. Now let change the order of things a bit. While we all agree that you should not just download things without thinking it through, downloading files and programs is an integral and often fun part of using your PC. The key issue is trust. If you trust the site it is almost always safe. Every link we give you that is from a Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help Staff member is well tested and safe. You are making a major mistake by not downloading Microsoft Updates and should do so automatically. They are designed to protect you. There is no reason to distrust them. There are no absolutes when it comes to safety and it is always a good idea to try to check out a site first. This may be of help to you and is part of our recommended software SiteAdvisor The ATF cleaner is also safe or we would not recommend its use as part of the program just follow the directions and let it run clicking the boxes that show in the diagram. Finally when downloading in general you are usually given 2 choices. If you choose "run" the program it will simply download and and open up on your computer. If you choose "save" it will place the file in a folder you designate for you to open and run later. Many people feel that is the safer alternative where you are not sure of the source. That is not always the case. It is a good Idea to check back here before downloading anything (free or not) that is promising to fix your problems. There is a lot of junk out there that can do you more harm then good. The bottom line is that you can never be perfectly safe but if you have the right protection on your computer you should be fine. Please refer to our recommended security products and choose from them, not all of them. http://extremetechsupport.com/forum/malware-removal-av-firewalls-etc/3597-free-pc-help-recommended-security-products.html I am not sure that this answers all your questions but you really should first follow through with the anti malware program and get the windows update ASAP!! Do those things first and let us know how things stand!

Hi Shrimply, Are your date and time showing correctly right now? What do you mean by ?

Regardless of what may be wrong I would urge you to get in touch with the shop and find out exactly what he did with regard to your Operating system. You may find that he restored your existing system and that the discs you have at home will still be recognised. What discs do you actually have? Are they XP discs or are they from the manufacturer only to be used in their computers?

Great Stuff Sangfroid The sky is a winner. Not so sure I appreciate the Old People jokes though!! A joke of course.

You do need admin. rights to use the eset scan. Are you certain that you did not create a second account for yourself perhaps with a name change? I also notice that you have a lot of different antimalware and antivirus on your machine. As I am sure you know more is not always better. Do you know, other than the ones we mentioned in the malware removal program, which of these programs were running at the time of the scans.

Hi Platte ( I keep thinking of you as Scary) perhaps you should change your name after this is solved and stay with us.:) You are probably not doing any more harm by continuing on the pc but what you have recommended to yourself is the wisest move. Print the directions and follow them, then get back to us ASAP after you are done. There is no point in dealing with individual symptoms until we see what, if anything is left to resolve after all the scans etc. It really is a painless and easy process to follow just do it step by step. :D

A couple of brief question that may clear things up. Did you remove the askbar through control panel? If so I would suggest that you go into search and see if it lists any remaining askbar files and delete them (being very careful not to read too quickly and remove taskbar files) I am curious about the "fu_exe" file. Is that exactly how it appeared or was there anything more such as "script fu.exe"

Frankly I miss the guy who tells me that the virus data base has been updated. I was beginning to think of him as a friend!! :eek: I'm not sure what that says about me though. :confused:

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help First off while I know that things can get scary :eek: we are not one of them and we are free :) and really are here to help. So lets get started and get you posting. Just go the the forums page , the home page and pick a heading that seems to fit and dont worry if you get it wrong. In your case you feel that you have been infected with something without your knowledge. Hmm That sounds like malware so go to the forum marked malware and open it. Now just click on where it says new thread and ask your question or state your problem. Don't worry about not knowing the terms or any special language just be as clear as you can and we will pick up from there. It really is that easy and we are glad you found your way to us.

Hi Shrimply, I have had both and am presently using Avira. I had a major infection while using Avast. It is not that Avast didn't catch it because it did. However what I found is that I lost control. The bug kept trying to reinstall itself each time I tried to stop it and Avast just kept going crazy(that is a technical term "going crazy".) It sort of soured me on the experience because the constant barrage of sirens and repeated warnings did not stop and I had no idea whether or not I was responding to the most immediate threat or not. That may not make any sense because it is one of those "you would have to have been there"type of things. Anyhow so far I have found Avira to be pretty good except that unlike Avast it does pop up an ad for an upgrade each day as it adds to the virus data base. But it is not really much of an intrusion and does let you know that you are up to date. Of course I have not had any event that would allow for a true test of its effectivness but it did come recommended from other Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help members. Hope that helps

Hi Blondieblue and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help! :) Clearly you are on the right track suspecting and removing malware. Malware can be tricky and often continue despite what we think are our best efforts. May I suggest that you copy and follow the directions below. If malware remains the problem this should get it sorted for you. Once you are done please come back to us so we will know how you made out and see if there are any issues remaining. Your computer is probably infected with Malware. Malware is software designed to infiltrate or damage a computer system without the owner's informed consent. It is a combination of the words malicious and software. The expression is a general term used by computer professionals to mean a variety of forms of hostile, intrusive, or annoying software or program code. Required Cleanup Steps Disable the Spybot Search & Destroy TEA TIMER if you use it and if it is enabled Run a Temporary file and cache cleaner (ATF) Run 2 Anti-Malware scanners (Listed Below) Run an Online Anti-Virus / Anti-Malware Scanner (Listed Below) Clear out old System Restore points If continued Malware type activity is present you may be asked to post a TrendMicro™ HijackThis™ Log file, do not do so unless requested. The reason to run multiple scanners is to ensure that no single scanner is missing something. The time it takes will vary depending on your system and your internet connection speed. Typically the SUPERAntiSpyware and Malwarebytes scanners will take between 10 to 90 minutes. The ESET online scan should take between 1 to 3 hours. In most cases, these scans will suffice to clean and disinfect your computer. Heavily infected systems or slower PCs can take much longer to scan and clean. For best results print the following instructions and bookmark this Web page To keep this guide printer-friendly, use your cursor to highlight the contents below. From your browser select File - Print and in the printer dialog box under "Print range" click the Selection choice to print out these instructions for removal of malware. http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn266/FPCH/Malware%20Guide/printer-selection.gif ____________________________________________ STEP 1 Disable Spybot Search & Destroys' TEA TIMER: (if installed, if not go to Step 2) Run Spybot-S&D in Advanced Mode. If it is not already set to do this Go to the Mode menu select "Advanced Mode" On the left hand side, Click on Tools Then click on the Resident Icon in the List Uncheck "Resident TeaTimer" and OK any prompts. Restart your computer. __________________________________________________ STEP 2 Follow these instructions carefully. Download ATF-Cleaner from Snapfiles.com to remove un-needed temporary files from your computer that may contain malware. You can also download it from Majorgeeks.com When you run ATF-Cleaner, check the items as shown below for Main. For FireFox, be sure to click on the FireFox tab on top and check the items as shown below for FireFox NOTE: If you don't have FireFox or Opera installed then they will be grayed out and can be ignored Then click on "Empty Selected". http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn266/FPCH/Malware%20Guide/atf-cleaner01.gif . http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn266/FPCH/Malware%20Guide/atf-cleaner02.gif __________________________________________________ STEP 3 Install and run the free version (not the Professional version) of SUPERAntiSpyware from SUPERAntiSpyware.com Accept any prompts to allow SUPERAntiSpyware to install the latest rules and infection definition files. You do not have to send them your e-mail address, just click next. You can leave the automated check for updates on. You can uncheck "Send a diagnostic report to research center" if you don't want to send the information. DO NOT allow SUPERAntiSpyware to protect your Home Page settings. On the Top Left select the Scan your computer button. Make sure there is a CHECK MARK on all Fixed Drives. Click "Perform a Complete Scan". Click "Next" to Repair issues found and reboot the computer when prompted to do so. __________________________________________________ STEP 4 Install and run Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware from Malwarebytes - (direct download) Accept all defaults for the installer Allow the program to update the definitions Click on the Quick Scan and click Next. If any items are found allow it to clean them and then Reboot your computer. __________________________________________________ STEP 5 Run an online scan with ESET from Free Virus Scan: Use ESET's Online Antivirus Scanner You must use Internet Explorer for this online scan. FireFox, Opera, etc will not work for this scan. If your computer is running Window's Vista, then you must first start Internet Explorer as an Administrator. To do so, right-click on the Internet Explorer icon in the Start Menu and select "Run as administrator" from the popup context menu. Accept the terms and click "Start". Once the scanner is ready, check "Remove found threats" AND "Scan unwanted applications". Click "Start" to begin the scan. When completed restart your computer __________________________________________________ Make sure your internet firewall security is enabled, and then please return to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help and tell us how the computer seems to be operating. At that time, you will receive instructions to assist you in removing malicious programs from your Add/Remove program list if warranted. If required this is the download link for TrendMicro™ HijackThis™ Unless instructed to by the Technician helping you then do not download this tool. Once you and the Technician agree that your system appears to be clean then you should delete all your System Restore points and recreate a new one. Please follow the instructions here How to turn off and turn on System Restore in Windows XP How to turn off and turn on System Restore in Windows Vista

Hi felixm I have been trying to follow your issues through this post and others and strictly from my point of view as a Moderator it is becoming a bit too difficult. Will you please go back through everything and just give us a comprehensive list of where you stand right now and what issues need resolution. We want to help but when everything is combined nothing is quite making sense, Let me try to give you some examples of what I am getting at. You are being asked certain questions or are given advice but I can't find any reply that we can follow and move on from. ie. You were told that you don't need the Catalyst ( the theme of this thread) and yet there has been no reply to that at all. It has been suggested that you return to XP and there was no reply to that either. The whole concept of having both at the same time escapes me totally. In yet another thread you were directed to the HP site by Wolfeymole and again By RandyL but you never reported back regarding that advice and instead opened another thread on a different issue. Your problems seem to be related to games and gaming. I believe you were asked the source and nature of these games but, again, I can not find where you have pinned that down for us. The biggest problem is that all of these tangents give us cause for concern that there may be some subterfuge going on here and we cannot have that. We are not the PC Police, felix, but we do have certain rules that we abide by and standards to maintain. We live by our reputation. That is not by any means to be construed as an accusation but I do want you to understand that appearances often take on a life of there own. Believe me, we do not want to withdraw our assistance to you and sincerely hope you will help us consolidate and streamline your issues. It is really in your own best interest. Please help our people to help you. I am not having a go at you and please dont take it that way.

Hi Mara I spent some time on youtube trying to see if they offer any parental contol themselves and they do not seem to. They do have a general warning that the site is not for anyone under 13. That, of course, begs the quesion - Why exactly is it ok for a 13 year old to learn how to make a flame thrower. It seems you are left with just overall parental contol.