Optimist. Would chkdsk /r /f help sutherlh1 before any thoughts at hard disk replacements anyway?

sutherlh1 / 7th floor

It is never a bad thing to run ChkDsk but the assumption so far is that your problem is virus / trojan related.

Having said that, I think that assumption is based on your symptoms being similar to someone elses. Perhaps the next step should be for you to repost your problems and what steps you have taken so far.

These web hosting companies are a joke. I have canelled and had refunded 3 orders over the last 24 hours. I am tring to stay British but so far have tried and cancelled orders with:

streamlinenet.co.uk
https://www.123-reg.co.uk
web fusion/pipex

they are so unprofessional I'm amazed they exist at all. Perhaps all of the techy world is like this or it's just UK plc!? They couldn't run a brothel.

More importantly I have lost 2 days of my time farting about with muppets.

sutherlh1, please be more specific about what steps you have taken to remove the problem, which software have you run and how? It is difficult to remove some infections but it shoudl not be impossible, there are people here who will do waht they can but we do need as much information as possible.

Mr E

I think you need to work out exactly what you need the web server to do and what service level you require.

I'm not trying to defend them but there are advantages and disadvantages of both Lynux and MS servers and anything that is not standard has got to cost.

I don't know what you were paying, but I pay $10 a month for a very basic web hosting package and IMO a very good email service. I'm happy that it works almost all of the time but have to face the fact that at that price they can't afford to give me much attention.

Mr Euro, one of the best ways to start out is to use webspace provided by the ISP, which is often free apart from the registration of the domain. I don't know what's available in France, perhaps you should take a look? In the UK one of the best is PlusNet, which gives you 250Mb of free webspace with CGI, FrontPage, PHP, MySQL, SSL, stats, and other bells and whistles, all for free. Registration of a domain is 1 per month. And on top of that you can have 2Mb/s ADSL for 19.99 depending on bandwidth. Excellent customer service.

PlusNet

Optimist, I have actually and at least two of them received my spec before I placed any orders. You would not believe some of the general practices all the companies I mention used (I have email proof and some are the most basic). I don't know the market but from what I see it's competitive, and I am surprised customer service doesn't appear as part of the offering. Must be a niche there for somebody....

Thanks Kayak. PlusNets offering is better than most hosting companies!!!! Haven't looked in france but may have found a solution.

What is really annoying is I am putting in 20 hours+ per day on these projects (whilst I may a full recovery), time is off the essence, and I get fed up with dealing with muppet companies who think employing a nice voice at the end of the phone is good business.

Honestly, they are all catching the French illness "anyone would think we are here to serve you!"

I am worn out.

Quick question. Is there any great difference between re-registering a domain name and pointing your domain to name servers and keeping your current registrar?

Thanks.

Have a break Mr E , Wales due to dish up some Champagne rugby on BBC2 in half an hour.

Regarding my problems with Norton antivirsus/firewall on my home computer. The main problems are that these will not come on, either will my spyware (adware) and AOL spyware protection. I cannot log on to many sites including moneyam and microsoft updates. I get the first page but once I try to log it I get 'the page cannot be displayed' When I try to update the Norton and spyware programmes it seems to contact to the sites and then says all are up to date. I tried this when I was logged off and got the same response. So it looks to me that all have been nobbled to appear they are working. I know from using my portable computer that there are updates to be downloaded as I have had several.

I have downloaded other spyware mentioned in this board and they show threats such as recycler, adlop and data miners. However when I try to use the remove button on each of these programmes i get 'page cannot be displayed' I have tried running Norton in the safe mode as suggested by Optimist. It found 348 threats which Norton was unable to remove. However I was able to remove them manually. Despite all this my problems remain the same as above. I have also gone to the symantic site and carried out the free virsus and threat scans they provide. They say the computer is 'safe' from threats and virsuses.

sutherlh1,
OK I think you need to start again with this one, I suggest :-

1) Disable or uninstall all virus protections that you have at the moment
2) Disable or uninstall all anti spyware that you have at the moment.
3) Download and install Ad-Aware and update it
4) Download and install Spybot S&D and update it 5) Look a couple of days up this thread and find the info about Trend Sysclean and download and install it (2 downloads).
6) Restart you machine in Safe mode and run the three programs installed above.
7) Restart your machine and apply all microsoft critical updates.
8) Check to see if you still have any problems.

I am not clear exactly what spyware software you are using, you say Adware, if that is not Ad-Aware as in step 3 above then I suggest you dump it.

I would not use Norton either as I dont like it however many people do use it and find it OK. The free AVG Virus protection program is very good.

Keep a note of what happens at each step and let us know how it goes.

Good luck

sutherlh1

First of all it appears that whatever viruses you have/have had are disrupting the scans and your web browsing so keep the computer in safe mode until it is sorted don't even think about booting in normal mode as that gives the virus a chance to re establish itself (I have seen cases where a virus will re infect a machine at startup because it has not been completly cleaned but will not become active for anothe couple of boot cycles).

One of the ways that viruses prevent internet access is by altering the 'Hosts' file. See my post 2489 and check that first. For most people this file is almost empty but viruses tend to insert long lists of AV sites normally preceded by 127.0.0.1 this is what stops your internet access. Let me know what you find in yours.

sutherlh1

I've only just seen Spacemans post which is an excellent procedure to follow. However, I would still check that Hosts file first to make sure you can get to the sites.

Sorry I nmessed up the links :-
Get Ad-Adare form here http://www.lavasoft.de/software/adaware/

And Syybot S&D from here :-
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html

And I strongly agree with optimists advise re hosts, do that first....

Now I am off to watch Norwich beat Charlton !

Thanks Optimist and Spaceman, I will first go to my hosts file and then go through the detailed steps from Spaceman once i have some assistance from my son tomorrow. Will let you know how I get on. Do you have a link for the AVG free antivirus. I am disappointed with Norton as I have automatic updates set on and have carried out scans very other day. I do have ad-aware not adware antispy software. Here's hoping for a solution, appreciate all the support I have received from this notice board.

sutherlh1, the web address for avg is

www.grisoft.com

sutherlh1

You can find AVG here http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_index.php

I've nothing against AVG but I think you are being too harsh on Norton which is among the best packages. There is no single product that will stop everything hence the current wisdom is to use Adaware, Spybot and a good AV product.

Best of luck.

I'd just like to say that this must be the best topic on the AM board, or other boards come to that! It makes the subscription worth itself for the friendly help that anyone can get. Funny how the best help is on a site for "shares" ain't it!

I reckon that the experts here must have more patience than most! Thanks to everyone involved. I have learn't more here than from countless mags and internet sites.

I have a bit of a problem looming on my machine but will leave it till tomorrow because another bottle of red is calling.