Guest psychdoc Posted September 9, 2008 Posted September 9, 2008 In the center of my screen, there is an image of a box - with a lock inside it. For approximately 15 seconds, the lock remains shut. Then, without my doing anything, the lock closes and remains so for the same amount of time. The cycle goes on and on. There are no messages accompanying the image. Attempting to put the cursor on it are fruitless. I ran virus scan - which turned up nothing - although after having done so, the images were no longer present. They have, however, returned. Rebooting does not make a difference. Control Alt Delete yields nothing. I have shut down Zone Alarm but the images persist. The images don't seem to have any functional impact on the computer except that they block the middle of the screen. Does anyone have an idea of what is going on and how to rectify this situation?
Guest Lem Posted September 9, 2008 Posted September 9, 2008 Re: Persistent image of a lock on my screen psychdoc wrote: > In the center of my screen, there is an image of a box - with a lock inside > it. For approximately 15 seconds, the lock remains shut. Then, without my > doing anything, the lock closes and remains so for the same amount of time. > The cycle goes on and on. There are no messages accompanying the image. > Attempting to put the cursor on it are fruitless. I ran virus scan - which > turned up nothing - although after having done so, the images were no longer > present. They have, however, returned. Rebooting does not make a > difference. Control Alt Delete yields nothing. I have shut down Zone Alarm > but the images persist. The images don't seem to have any functional impact > on the computer except that they block the middle of the screen. Does anyone > have an idea of what is going on and how to rectify this situation? A "virus scan" alone isn't enough. See below, courtesy of MVP PA Bear: Unexplained computer behavior may be caused by deceptive software http://support.microsoft.com/kb/827315 Run a /thorough/ check for hijackware, including posting your hijackthis log to an appropriate forum. Checking for/Help with Hijackware http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm http://aumha.org/a/quickfix.htm http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=5878 http://wiki.castlecops.com/Malware_Removal_and_Prevention:_Introduction http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/data/prevention.htm http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/tshoot.html http://www.mvps.org/sramesh2k/Malware_Defence.htm http://defendingyourmachine2.blogspot.com/ http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware When all else fails, HijackThis v2.0.2 (http://aumha.org/downloads/hijackthis.exe) is the preferred tool to use (in conjuction with some other utilities). HijackThis will NOT fix anything on its own, but it will help you to both identify and remove any hijackware/spyware with assistance from an expert. **Post your log to http://aumha.net/viewforum.php?f=30, http://forums.spybot.info/forumdisplay.php?f=22, http://castlecops.com/forum67.html, or other appropriate forums for review by an expert in such matters, not here.** If the procedures look too complex - and there is no shame in admitting this isn't your cup of tea - take the machine to a local, reputable and independent (i.e., not BigBoxStoreUSA or Geek Squad) computer repair shop. -- Lem -- MS-MVP To the moon and back with 2K words of RAM and 36K words of ROM. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Guidance_Computer http://history.nasa.gov/afj/compessay.htm
Guest psychdoc Posted September 9, 2008 Posted September 9, 2008 Re: Persistent image of a lock on my screen Lem, Many thanks. What a pain! I'll definitely look for a local computer pro. psychdoc "Lem" wrote: > psychdoc wrote: > > In the center of my screen, there is an image of a box - with a lock inside > > it. For approximately 15 seconds, the lock remains shut. Then, without my > > doing anything, the lock closes and remains so for the same amount of time. > > The cycle goes on and on. There are no messages accompanying the image. > > Attempting to put the cursor on it are fruitless. I ran virus scan - which > > turned up nothing - although after having done so, the images were no longer > > present. They have, however, returned. Rebooting does not make a > > difference. Control Alt Delete yields nothing. I have shut down Zone Alarm > > but the images persist. The images don't seem to have any functional impact > > on the computer except that they block the middle of the screen. Does anyone > > have an idea of what is going on and how to rectify this situation? > > A "virus scan" alone isn't enough. See below, courtesy of MVP PA Bear: > > Unexplained computer behavior may be caused by deceptive software > http://support.microsoft.com/kb/827315 > > Run a /thorough/ check for hijackware, including posting your hijackthis > log to an appropriate forum. > > Checking for/Help with Hijackware > http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm > http://aumha.org/a/quickfix.htm > http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=5878 > http://wiki.castlecops.com/Malware_Removal_and_Prevention:_Introduction > http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm > http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/data/prevention.htm > http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/tshoot.html > http://www.mvps.org/sramesh2k/Malware_Defence.htm > http://defendingyourmachine2.blogspot.com/ > http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware > > When all else fails, HijackThis v2.0.2 > (http://aumha.org/downloads/hijackthis.exe) is the preferred tool to use > (in conjuction with some other utilities). HijackThis will NOT fix > anything on its own, but it will help you to both identify and remove > any hijackware/spyware with assistance from an expert. **Post your log > to http://aumha.net/viewforum.php?f=30, > http://forums.spybot.info/forumdisplay.php?f=22, > http://castlecops.com/forum67.html, or other appropriate forums for > review by an expert in such matters, not here.** > > If the procedures look too complex - and there is no shame in admitting > this isn't your cup of tea - take the machine to a local, reputable and > independent (i.e., not BigBoxStoreUSA or Geek Squad) computer repair shop. > > -- > Lem -- MS-MVP > > To the moon and back with 2K words of RAM and 36K words of ROM. > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Guidance_Computer > http://history.nasa.gov/afj/compessay.htm >
Guest 3c273 Posted September 10, 2008 Posted September 10, 2008 Re: Persistent image of a lock on my screen Is this a Dell monitor and is the lock blue? If so, it could be the OSD lock. There are instructions to disable it on this page. http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/monitors/1901FP/en/controls.htm Louis "psychdoc" <psychdoc@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:7E4B7BA1-230F-4520-BB5A-28DB2B2563E6@microsoft.com... > In the center of my screen, there is an image of a box - with a lock inside > it. For approximately 15 seconds, the lock remains shut. Then, without my > doing anything, the lock closes and remains so for the same amount of time. > The cycle goes on and on. There are no messages accompanying the image. > Attempting to put the cursor on it are fruitless. I ran virus scan - which > turned up nothing - although after having done so, the images were no longer > present. They have, however, returned. Rebooting does not make a > difference. Control Alt Delete yields nothing. I have shut down Zone Alarm > but the images persist. The images don't seem to have any functional impact > on the computer except that they block the middle of the screen. Does anyone > have an idea of what is going on and how to rectify this situation?
Guest psychdoc Posted September 11, 2008 Posted September 11, 2008 Re: Persistent image of a lock on my screen Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! It IS a Dell monitor and it WAS (in contrast to "is" -thanks to you) a blue lock - and it appears to be history. This stuff has consumed 72 hours of my time - time, which like for most of us, could be spent much more productively. It feels GREAT knowing that I can now get back to my life. I also just noticed that I can turn off my monitor - something that I wasn't able to do last night. Do you have any speculations as to how that happened? I certainly did not touch those controls. Never have. And I certainly would prefer it not to happen again. I'm also thinking too that had I brought my cpu - by itself - into a shop for assistance in extricating whatever it was that had supposedly hijacked my computer, I would have spent a lot of money and the answer would never been found (in the CPU itself). May I ask how it is that you are aware of such highly specific information? So - thank vERY much. I really appreciate your input. "3c273" wrote: > Is this a Dell monitor and is the lock blue? If so, it could be the OSD > lock. There are instructions to disable it on this page. > http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/monitors/1901FP/en/controls.htm > Louis > > "psychdoc" <psychdoc@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message > news:7E4B7BA1-230F-4520-BB5A-28DB2B2563E6@microsoft.com... > > In the center of my screen, there is an image of a box - with a lock > inside > > it. For approximately 15 seconds, the lock remains shut. Then, without > my > > doing anything, the lock closes and remains so for the same amount of > time. > > The cycle goes on and on. There are no messages accompanying the image. > > Attempting to put the cursor on it are fruitless. I ran virus scan - > which > > turned up nothing - although after having done so, the images were no > longer > > present. They have, however, returned. Rebooting does not make a > > difference. Control Alt Delete yields nothing. I have shut down Zone > Alarm > > but the images persist. The images don't seem to have any functional > impact > > on the computer except that they block the middle of the screen. Does > anyone > > have an idea of what is going on and how to rectify this situation? > > >
Guest 3c273 Posted September 11, 2008 Posted September 11, 2008 Re: Persistent image of a lock on my screen Not sure how they get that way. (Power surge, cosmic rays, the cat, who knows?) I stumbled accross that article while I was trying to help someone else and just happened to remember it. Glad the solution kept you from having to spend any money. Louis "psychdoc" <psychdoc@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:7290FB79-9302-46E7-9F9D-504AB641E5C6@microsoft.com... > Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! It IS a Dell monitor and it WAS (in > contrast to "is" -thanks to you) a blue lock - and it appears to be history. > This stuff has consumed 72 hours of my time - time, which like for most of > us, could be spent much more productively. It feels GREAT knowing that I can > now get back to my life. I also just noticed that I can turn off my monitor - > something that I wasn't able to do last night. Do you have any speculations > as to how that happened? I certainly did not touch those controls. Never > have. And I certainly would prefer it not to happen again. > I'm also thinking too that had I brought my cpu - by itself - into a shop > for assistance in extricating whatever it was that had supposedly hijacked my > computer, I would have spent a lot of money and the answer would never been > found (in the CPU itself). > May I ask how it is that you are aware of such highly specific information? > So - thank vERY much. I really appreciate your input. > > "3c273" wrote: > > > Is this a Dell monitor and is the lock blue? If so, it could be the OSD > > lock. There are instructions to disable it on this page. > > http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/monitors/1901FP/en/controls.htm > > Louis > > > > "psychdoc" <psychdoc@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message > > news:7E4B7BA1-230F-4520-BB5A-28DB2B2563E6@microsoft.com... > > > In the center of my screen, there is an image of a box - with a lock > > inside > > > it. For approximately 15 seconds, the lock remains shut. Then, without > > my > > > doing anything, the lock closes and remains so for the same amount of > > time. > > > The cycle goes on and on. There are no messages accompanying the image. > > > Attempting to put the cursor on it are fruitless. I ran virus scan - > > which > > > turned up nothing - although after having done so, the images were no > > longer > > > present. They have, however, returned. Rebooting does not make a > > > difference. Control Alt Delete yields nothing. I have shut down Zone > > Alarm > > > but the images persist. The images don't seem to have any functional > > impact > > > on the computer except that they block the middle of the screen. Does > > anyone > > > have an idea of what is going on and how to rectify this situation? > > > > > >
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