Geek Question
 

I have had Trend Mico installed for several years, but about six weeks
ago it just stopped working. Some error message saying a required .dll
file was missing or something (a day earlier, the system had frozen
while installing upgrades...I figured it was the cause).

Anyway, I uninstalled Trend Micro after trying for a day to
troubleshoot it, and installed the freeware version of Avast!

For the most part, it seems okay, but twice now (the second occurrance
was about 5 minutes ago), I suddenly get a truckload of Explorer
windows opening up. It got up to about 45 of them before I got the
computer forced off, and restarted.

Three questions:
1) What the hell is going on?
2) Is there an easier way to stop this process other than holding down
the 'on' button until it shuts down? It seems that this is a pretty
unsophisticated way to do it.
3) Is this malware, that Avast is not intercepting? Any other Avast
users had this happen?

If this is a bug getting through the firewall, then I want a different
antivirus program.

--riverman

Geek Question
 

On Feb 24, 5:09 am, "riverman" wrote:
I have had Trend Mico installed for several years, but about six weeks
ago it just stopped working. Some error message saying a required .dll
file was missing or something (a day earlier, the system had frozen
while installing upgrades...I figured it was the cause).

Anyway, I uninstalled Trend Micro after trying for a day to
troubleshoot it, and installed the freeware version of Avast!

For the most part, it seems okay, but twice now (the second occurrance
was about 5 minutes ago), I suddenly get a truckload of Explorer
windows opening up. It got up to about 45 of them before I got the
computer forced off, and restarted.

Three questions:
1) What the hell is going on?
2) Is there an easier way to stop this process other than holding down
the 'on' button until it shuts down? It seems that this is a pretty
unsophisticated way to do it.
3) Is this malware, that Avast is not intercepting? Any other Avast
users had this happen?

If this is a bug getting through the firewall, then I want a different
antivirus program.

No geek here, but the multiple Explorer windows is precisely the same
thing that happened on Becky's computer a few weeks ago. Presumably,
it had nothing to do with Trend Micro or Avast, as she doesn't use
either. We got it taken care of by reverting to the last resore point
on her machine and then running her anti-virus software. No idea
whether this will work for you but it's something to keep in the back
of your mind if no one presents another solution.

Good luck.

Wolfgang

Geek Question
 

On Feb 24, 12:09 pm, "riverman" wrote:
I have had Trend Mico installed for several years, but about six weeks
ago it just stopped working. Some error message saying a required .dll
file was missing or something (a day earlier, the system had frozen
while installing upgrades...I figured it was the cause).

Anyway, I uninstalled Trend Micro after trying for a day to
troubleshoot it, and installed the freeware version of Avast!

For the most part, it seems okay, but twice now (the second occurrance
was about 5 minutes ago), I suddenly get a truckload of Explorer
windows opening up. It got up to about 45 of them before I got the
computer forced off, and restarted.

Three questions:
1) What the hell is going on?
2) Is there an easier way to stop this process other than holding down
the 'on' button until it shuts down? It seems that this is a pretty
unsophisticated way to do it.
3) Is this malware, that Avast is not intercepting? Any other Avast
users had this happen?

If this is a bug getting through the firewall, then I want a different
antivirus program.

--riverman

Lots of problems with some of these things.

Use this, it is free, and works perfectly;
http://www.free-av.de/

Also you should consider installing Firefox;
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/

many of these problems are explorer related.

TL
MC

Geek Question
 

On Feb 24, 12:09 pm, "riverman" wrote:
I have had Trend Mico installed for several years, but about six weeks
ago it just stopped working. Some error message saying a required .dll
file was missing or something (a day earlier, the system had frozen
while installing upgrades...I figured it was the cause).

Anyway, I uninstalled Trend Micro after trying for a day to
troubleshoot it, and installed the freeware version of Avast!

For the most part, it seems okay, but twice now (the second occurrance
was about 5 minutes ago), I suddenly get a truckload of Explorer
windows opening up. It got up to about 45 of them before I got the
computer forced off, and restarted.

I Three questions:
1) What the hell is going on?
2) Is there an easier way to stop this process other than holding down
the 'on' button until it shuts down? It seems that this is a pretty
unsophisticated way to do it.
3) Is this malware, that Avast is not intercepting? Any other Avast
users had this happen?

If this is a bug getting through the firewall, then I want a different
antivirus program.

--riverman

If you need to shut the computer down, just switch it off.

I can also recommend this; http://www.spywareterminator.com/

TL
MC

TL
MC

Geek Question
 

On Feb 24, 12:09 pm, "riverman" wrote:
I have had Trend Mico installed for several years, but about six weeks
ago it just stopped working. Some error message saying a required .dll
file was missing or something (a day earlier, the system had frozen
while installing upgrades...I figured it was the cause).

Anyway, I uninstalled Trend Micro after trying for a day to
troubleshoot it, and installed the freeware version of Avast!

For the most part, it seems okay, but twice now (the second occurrance
was about 5 minutes ago), I suddenly get a truckload of Explorer
windows opening up. It got up to about 45 of them before I got the
computer forced off, and restarted.

Three questions:
1) What the hell is going on?
2) Is there an easier way to stop this process other than holding down
the 'on' button until it shuts down? It seems that this is a pretty
unsophisticated way to do it.
3) Is this malware, that Avast is not intercepting? Any other Avast
users had this happen?

If this is a bug getting through the firewall, then I want a different
antivirus program.

--riverman

By the way, holding down Ctrl-Alt-Del should normally bring up your
task manager, and allow you to shut down the program, it will also
tell you which programs are are actually running. This does not always
work perfectly though. If in doubt, shut the machine down.

You may find this useful, also works perfectly and is free;
http://www.iobit.com/

advanced windows care, the freebie.

before you run any of these, get this and run it;
http://www.ccleaner.com/

TL
MC

Geek Question
 

Wolfgang wrote:
On Feb 24, 5:09 am, "riverman" wrote:
I have had Trend Mico installed for several years, but about six weeks
ago it just stopped working. Some error message saying a required .dll
file was missing or something (a day earlier, the system had frozen
while installing upgrades...I figured it was the cause).

Anyway, I uninstalled Trend Micro after trying for a day to
troubleshoot it, and installed the freeware version of Avast!

For the most part, it seems okay, but twice now (the second occurrance
was about 5 minutes ago), I suddenly get a truckload of Explorer
windows opening up. It got up to about 45 of them before I got the
computer forced off, and restarted.

Three questions:
1) What the hell is going on?
2) Is there an easier way to stop this process other than holding down
the 'on' button until it shuts down? It seems that this is a pretty
unsophisticated way to do it.
3) Is this malware, that Avast is not intercepting? Any other Avast
users had this happen?

If this is a bug getting through the firewall, then I want a different
antivirus program.

No geek here, but the multiple Explorer windows is precisely the same
thing that happened on Becky's computer a few weeks ago. Presumably,
it had nothing to do with Trend Micro or Avast, as she doesn't use
either. We got it taken care of by reverting to the last resore point
on her machine and then running her anti-virus software. No idea
whether this will work for you but it's something to keep in the back
of your mind if no one presents another solution.

Good luck.

Wolfgang


Restore points are a good idea. Probably what you have is some type of
ad-ware or mal-ware. These will hijack Internet Explorer, and install
themselves on your machine. I had issues with these a long time ago. I
basically cleaned them up by

1) removing any malicious software using the add-remove software tool in
control panel
2) running spybot (available as a free download) to scan the computer
and remove any spyware/malicious software
3) I installed Bazzoka scanner, and again scanned the machine. Bazooka
does not remove the spyware/malware, but will give you instructions on
how to do it
4) I switched to Firefox as a browser.

Turning of the computer may not be a good option as many of the malware
programs will simply reinstall themselves when you restart the computer.

I think Wolfgang's suggestions about restoring the system is a good one,
and one I would try first. I would then download firefox and use it.

Also, for furhter protection, you want to track down and use some fo teh
spyware/malware tools.

Tim Lysyk

Geek Question
 

"Tim Lysyk" wrote in message
news:To_Dh.127761$Y6.1391@edtnps89...
Wolfgang wrote:
On Feb 24, 5:09 am, "riverman" wrote:
I have had Trend Mico installed for several years, but about six weeks
ago it just stopped working. Some error message saying a required .dll
file was missing or something (a day earlier, the system had frozen
while installing upgrades...I figured it was the cause).

Anyway, I uninstalled Trend Micro after trying for a day to
troubleshoot it, and installed the freeware version of Avast!

For the most part, it seems okay, but twice now (the second occurrance
was about 5 minutes ago), I suddenly get a truckload of Explorer
windows opening up. It got up to about 45 of them before I got the
computer forced off, and restarted.

Three questions:
1) What the hell is going on?
2) Is there an easier way to stop this process other than holding down
the 'on' button until it shuts down? It seems that this is a pretty
unsophisticated way to do it.
3) Is this malware, that Avast is not intercepting? Any other Avast
users had this happen?

If this is a bug getting through the firewall, then I want a different
antivirus program.

No geek here, but the multiple Explorer windows is precisely the same
thing that happened on Becky's computer a few weeks ago. Presumably,
it had nothing to do with Trend Micro or Avast, as she doesn't use
either. We got it taken care of by reverting to the last resore point
on her machine and then running her anti-virus software. No idea
whether this will work for you but it's something to keep in the back
of your mind if no one presents another solution.

Good luck.

Wolfgang


Restore points are a good idea. Probably what you have is some type of
ad-ware or mal-ware. These will hijack Internet Explorer, and install
themselves on your machine. I had issues with these a long time ago. I
basically cleaned them up by

1) removing any malicious software using the add-remove software tool in
control panel
2) running spybot (available as a free download) to scan the computer and
remove any spyware/malicious software
3) I installed Bazzoka scanner, and again scanned the machine. Bazooka
does not remove the spyware/malware, but will give you instructions on how
to do it
4) I switched to Firefox as a browser.

Turning of the computer may not be a good option as many of the malware
programs will simply reinstall themselves when you restart the computer.

I think Wolfgang's suggestions about restoring the system is a good one,
and one I would try first. I would then download firefox and use it.

Also, for furhter protection, you want to track down and use some fo teh
spyware/malware tools.

Tim Lysyk

First, Wolfgang and Tim gave you good advice. You probably have some
ad-serving malware/adware that installed itself on your computer.
Frequently, you can get rid of it without going back to some restore point
by running Spybot Search & Destroy and/or Ad-Aware...both are free to home
users. I'd run them first and if that doesn't clear up the problem, then
restore the system.