Computer problems

[SFG75]

A few months ago, about five sites that I frequented a lot suddenly disappeared from my screen. Whenever I typed in their URLs, I got the typical "couldn't find the page" thing that always pops up when that happens. Not only that, but my entire desktop was wiped out and I can only access it and other files on my computer by doing the whole "ctl-alt-delete" exercise. The hard drive is a o.k., but there are about ten "anti-virus" programs that I have never downloaded, that are now on the computer. Now here's the kicker-I was told by a family techno-geek that the only way for me to cleanse the computer, would require me to lose the hard drive, unless a separate hard drive was installed and things were saved on it. Deleting programs? Forget it, when I go to do that, the program just shuts down.

So my question is this-What is the deal here? I'll probably lug the darn thing to some shop to get fixed-I am not mr. techno by any means. This whole thing has just been weird.

[labmonkey]

what OS are you running?

[SFG75]

what OS are you running?

Forgive my ignorance here -I suppose you ar referring to the program? I use XP.

[CoventryCat86]

Zac posted a message on the Island that some hard drive on the server blew up and EVERYTHING on your private little site was LOST, LMFAO The slanderous posts you made trashing CigarPass is now gone, lucky you Scotty boy.

FYI, here's his post:

Well about a week ago the server seemed to start eating away the site due to a corrupt HDD. I managed to backup some stuff but most was lost including all the member logins the site backend and all that good stuff. So basically a lot of money was lost lol, and hours of work. I just thought it would be easier to start this back up sense I am starting my finals in the next week or so. I hope you guys all come back and get the forum going again, sorry for all the problems. As of now I am going to be the only moderator. The rules are no name calling (unless in a friendly matter), keep the topics in the correct forum, if you are going to argue and call each other names do it via PM please. I want to keep this as a cigar forum and nothing else. People that do not follow those rules and only look to cause problems will be banned and usernames deleted with no warning.

[the ox]

Hi, I used to have my own computer repair buisiness and maybe I can help. XP has a restore feature in it that lets you "turn back the clock" so to speak and restore your PC to a earlier date when everything was running fine. You should find it in your start menu. STRT/PROGRAMS/ACCESSORIES/SYSTEM TOOLS. That might work for you. It sounds to me like you have a very very bad case of some nasty spyware on your PC. It can be a pain to remove. Try the system restore feature first and if that dont work you might have to buy a spyware busting program.

[CoventryCat86]

Hi, I used to have my own computer repair buisiness and maybe I can help. XP has a restore feature in it that lets you "turn back the clock" so to speak and restore your PC to a earlier date when everything was running fine. You should find it in your start menu. STRT/PROGRAMS/ACCESSORIES/SYSTEM TOOLS. That might work for you. It sounds to me like you have a very very bad case of some nasty spyware on your PC. It can be a pain to remove. Try the system restore feature first and if that dont work you might have to buy a spyware busting program.

No, his main problem here is that his favorite site LetsTalkCigars or more commonly referred to as "The Island of the Misfit Toys" blew up over the weekend and has been down. The children that run it have been working to be best of their abilities (which as you can only imagine is extremely limited) to get their lame site back up and running again but in the mean time, poor ole Scotty (SFG75) has nothing to do so he decided to come here and bother us. Trust me, this guy is nothing but trouble and if probably the biggest a$$hole I've ever run across on Cigar BBs.

Clike HERE to view his "meltdown" thread and never mind what I say, you can see for yourself what kind of a POS this guy is.

Scotty, you won't be able to view the thread because you've been banned from CigarPass which puts you in an elite class of people. CigarPass has almost 2000 members and has been in operation for almost five years and only four people have been banned and you are one of them. The site owner of CigarPass will tolerate just about anything except when people like you do not stay within the normal boundaries of good manners and respect towards others. Rod (the site owner) gives everyone a lot of lattidute but you saw fit to act like a complete a$$hole which is why you were banned.

[labmonkey]

Hi, I used to have my own computer repair buisiness and maybe I can help. XP has a restore feature in it that lets you "turn back the clock" so to speak and restore your PC to a earlier date when everything was running fine. You should find it in your start menu. STRT/PROGRAMS/ACCESSORIES/SYSTEM TOOLS. That might work for you. It sounds to me like you have a very very bad case of some nasty spyware on your PC. It can be a pain to remove. Try the system restore feature first and if that dont work you might have to buy a spyware busting program.

you took the words right out of my mouth ox.

[alexgtp]

If you are running win XP use the system restore.

If you are running WIndows 2000 you can use the last known configuration.

I hate to say that these will not solve any of your problems unless you are having device problems or have removed any important registry settings.


What you seem to have is what is called spyware/ web hijackers.
Best bet would be to go to www.download.com and download a free spyware cleaner called AD-ware SE. 6.0 Load this software than re-boot your pc (IN SAFE MODE) than clean out what it tells you too.

Next clean out all your temp internet files...and also all of your cookies. also it would be wise to go to your control panel and go to the add/remove programs button and see what programs have been loaded on your pc that do not belong there. You can use the remove program for each program that does not belong.

If this does not solve your problems you will need to run a program calle HIJACK THIS.. this is a very powerful tool that should only be used if all else fails.

IF you need help running the last one please let me know..

I use adware 6.0 due to it being free and also because it has the most up to date files.

[SFG75]

I'll definitely try the "restore" thing as soon as I get home. Thanks for all the advice. (keeping fingres crossed)

[CoventryCat86]

I'll definitely try the "restore" thing as soon as I get home. Thanks for all the advice. (keeping fingres crossed)

You HAVE been hanging around the Island too long there Scotty boy it's

fingers

and WHEN are you going back to the Island?

[SFG75]

Thanks a million fellas. Problems are more than taken care of now and I can actually see my desktop applications for the first time in months!. The "turning back the clock" thing worked like a charm. I've also visited download.com and have re-armed the computer for the next potential onslaught. Man, if I took that machine to the fixers, it would have put me out of some serious dough.