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.

Red wine in the keyboard?

;-)

Voices in the bottle...

Doh! ............ my Sunday morning head!

Opened up my hosts file in safe mode as suggested by Optimist. There are 6 files in this. They are hosts(1kb) modified 10/11/04, HOST.bak (1kb)modified 10/11/04 and 4 others modified 0n 21/07/01 before I bought my computer. I haven't been too adventurous yet as my son is still in his slumbers. I opened the first file with notepad and it seemed just to describe what type of file it is. I tried opening the second file with notepad and got the response 'windows cannot open this file' I just closed down the hosts file without modifying obviously.
Again, very much appreciate all the support I am getting from this notice board

sutherlh1

The file that you want is 'hosts' with no file extension.

Mine begins with

# Copyright (c) 1993-1999 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.

Any lines begining with # are comments. Look for lines begining
'127.0.0.1' the only one should be

127.0.0.1 localhost

any others can be deleted.

The recent modified date on your file suggests that something has changed it recently possible an AV scan or possibly a virus. Beware of rouge lines being hidden after multiple blank ones.

Best of luck.

Thanks optimist, opened this file and it seems to be similar to yours. I only have the line 127.0.0.1 localhost. All the rest of the lines are preceded by # apart from two. These are
1) my first line is '216.93.168.167 auto.search.msn.com' which precedes your first line,
and 2) there is a line after line '# Additonally' which is 'comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual'. The next line is '# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol'
Most grateful for your help so far

sutherlh1

That means that your Hosts file is OK, at least for the time being, but I'm still worried about the recent modification date.

Keep your computer in safe mode and follow the procedures in Spacemans post above. With a bit of luck you should end up with a clean computer.

Oh dera! Nwo its' drinkin gon aSunay! Another botul pleez!

Excuse me, but, how do you make the quick start bar (in XP) display more than 3 items?

Ta, in advance.

Drag the right hand edge.

Optimist

Tried that but it won't let me.

Edit : Prat that I am. Forgot about the 'unlock' facilty. Effects of the weekend's wine??? Thanks

Now trying Mozilla as 1 of my browsers.

When I use IE it puts in my other browsers toolbar (Yahoo) which I find useful for getting at Yahoo mail. Any idea of how to set this up in Mozilla please? I can see how to install new toolbars but not how to import a specific icon from another browser.

PS I like Yahoo mail 'cos it stores it in web cyber space for me.

Anyone got the telephone number for customer support for Symantec
I've lost it and really need to contact them. Have apparently to
configure Norton Internet Security to stop it blocking AOL broadband
Cheers people!!!

No but you will probably find it on their site.

Kayak, I have figured out the dog noise, it was somebody singing on/off to AOL :-)

Further to my problems with my computer mentioned above. I have tried to go thru Spaceman's recommendations. I was unable to download the second download of Trend Sysclean. It said my Java script was not compatable and directed me to the Sun Microsystem site where I tried to download a compatable version. The Sun site said it encountered a problem and could not download to me (as Mircosoft also cannot). However I did manage to download Ad-Adware 6.0 and Spybot. I have run these in safe mode, AD-aware found 4 files to be removed, Spybot found 34. I obviously used the removal tools on both programmes. I repeated the removal process again and one threat 'DSO Exploit' detected by Spybot remains. I have retried several times but it still remains and has 5 entries in files starting HKEY_USERS\. I tried to search for these files but search mentioned these were not valid files names. Spybot also advised me that 'There is a security hole in IE allowing websites to execute code without asking you first'
I don't know where to go next, maybe reformat my hard drive or replace it.
If i go this route, how Do I save my documents and my photos files without risking contamination?
Again appreciate very much the help given me by this site, especially Optimist, Spaceman, Robb and Splat. My AOL spyware works now and updates and has blocked several sites, so some progress has been made.

sutherlh1 : Side-issue: I wouldn't worry about DSO Exploit. It seems harmless although it is quite easy to remove if you don't mind dabling in the registry. I re-loaded my PC to factory settings recently & it had Exploit in it from day 1! (Although exploit has 5 entries - it only takes 3 or 4 regedits to cure the f****r!) This is where Spaceman will warn about touching the registry - and he's quite correct!

Experts : What about a Disk Check for sutherlh1? Might it help??

Etid: oooerr ! Am I repeating myself aboyt chiskdek? My daughter has just announced that she's having a 7thFloor junior of the male variety so I'm a little pit bished!!!