Odd problem

S

saulat_99

New Member
This is my account but a question for my brother and his computer, one I gave him. It is a P4 Inspiron 8200. The battery has been bad for some time. Two days ago someone kicked the plug out by accident and the computer I am sure powered off within a few minutes of that. He is now having an issue connecting to sites on the internet with any browser. I told him it sounds like a hardware issue but it seems strange he can connect to google but, not his email, firefox forums, or about any other sites. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I am at a loss as to what it could be and he seems to want to avoid formatting the hard drive. Maybe a restore point or something like that.
 
PCC_Australia

PCC_Australia

New Member
Could be just a cached page of Google loading and all the other problems with connectivity are the hints of the real problem. A hard kick may have upset something within the hardware itself, possibly the main call of connection, either an ethernet card or an internal modem?
 
S

saulat_99

New Member
That is kind of what I thought. He said that he tried going back to a restore point. Now apparently he has some connectivity with IE, but can't even start firefox. He said something about seeing some pop up windows, perhaps a coincidence in timing with some ad ware or virus. This was last I called him about 2 hours ago.
 
GameMaster

GameMaster

New Member
It's quite possible that the PC is infected. The coincidence would be what distracts us but this is checked easier and faster than some hardware problem.
If you suspect for a virus, then follow the steps:

Download and Run ComboFix
If you already have Combofix, please delete this copy and download it again as it's being updated regularly.
Note: Do not mouseclick combofix's window whilst it's running. That may cause it to stall

Click here[/color] to download HJTsetup.exe
  • Save HJTsetup.exe to your desktop.
  • Double click on the HJTsetup.exe icon on your desktop.
  • By default it will install to C:\Program Files\Hijack This.
  • Continue to click Next in the setup dialogue boxes until you get to the Select Additional Tasks dialogue.
  • Put a check by Create a desktop icon then click Next again.
  • Continue to follow the rest of the prompts from there.
  • At the final dialogue box click Finish and it will launch Hijack This.
  • Click on the Do a system scan and save a log file button. It will scan and then ask you to save the log.
  • Click Save to save the log file and then the log will open in notepad.
  • Click on "Edit > Select All" then click on "Edit > Copy" to copy the entire contents of the log.
  • Come back here to this thread and Paste the log in your next reply.
  • DO NOT have Hijack This fix anything yet. Most of what it finds will be harmless or even required.
 
S

saulat_99

New Member
I spoke with him tonight after I got off work. He says Firefox live support helped him figure out it is more than likely the vondo virus which seems notoriously hard to get rid of. I only briefly looked on google about it. It must suck for him that when I gave him the laptop I forgot to give him the OS and driver discs, I'll have to email it to him so he can reformat. I never have had much luck manually deleting viruses, always run into files or registry keys I can't seem to get rid of, even in safe mode, though it has always worked out. If anyone knows an easy fix I would appreciate it otherwise its snail mail and a reformat for him.
 
GameMaster

GameMaster

New Member
If it's a Vundo infection ( as I suppose ) ComboFix will help. Instead of formatting and losing all the data, it's certainly better to at least try solving the problem.

If you change your mind, the instructions are still here.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top