Can't download

[BigLar]

:disgust:

OK, so whenever my daughter returns home from school, "My computer is broke." Insightful comments are poffered such as, "I don't think the program runs because the fan sounds funny."

OK, off with the spyware, one touch update with Norton SystemWorks (28,000+ unneeded files!), rescan with NAV, defrag the system (XP Pro) and all seems right except that when attempting to download a file, the download begins, but quickly stalls.

I've checked the security settings in both IE6 and Firefox (medium, had been custom) but nothing helps. Kinda sounds like a firewall issue. Anyone got any suggestions?

 

[Firsttime]

A system restore to when it could download? Or a fresh OS install maybe?

 

[moonsite]

I would go with the system restore to the day before she came back.

 

[redbeard1]

Winsock fix

Lspfix

Run either or both of these before you try anything else. Spyware can break the tcp/ip stack and both of these programs can fix it. If she had a firewall that has locked the internet out, these will not fix that.

 

[BigLar]

Thanks. I'll give redbeard1 suggestions a try tomorrow, after that, I agree its time for BRAIN SALAD SURGERY!

 

[diapickle]

Before you touch anything run hijackthis and google the symptoms. I solve 99% of my spyware problems this way.
Seriously, don't waste your time with Norton ever again.

 

[stash]

Do yourself a favor and set her up with a regular user account before she goes off to school again. If she keeps running with an admin account, you'll just keep banging your head up against this wall.

I wouldn't waste anymore time with the system in its current state either. 5 or 6 months on a college network running as admin = machine that can only be trusted again after a complete wipe and reload. Save her files (the ones she REALLY needs, not all the crap that she downloaded from Kazaa), and reload the OS. Set up her account as a regular user and send her off.

I would also show her how to use fast user switching to switch between an admin and her regular account, but ONLY if she actually needs to install things when she's at school.

 

[RebateMonger]

Microsoft Shared Computer Toolkit for XP - used to lockdown system.

1) Rebuild her system with a clean XP install, along with all her needed applications, antivirus, and antispyware apps all configured.
2) Ghost the system to another PC or USB hard drive.
3) Next time there's a problem, copy her data files elsewhere and restore the entire system with the "finished" image. Then copy the data back. It'll take a LOT less time than trying to fix stuff.

 

[stash]

Thanks for posting that link, that is a great tool that I forgot about.

If you make her account a regular account and use the shared computer toolkit, there shouldn't be any problems that would require ghosting the machine.

 

[BigLar]

Actually, I DID Ghost 9 her just before she left, so restoring is probably the best option. It bugs me though, that I can't figure out the problem.

Once I try redbeard1's suggestions, I move on to a ghost restore (having followed STaSh's file selection criteria...) I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

[Looney]

is the system using IE? If so, try firefox yet? IE may be fubar'd. It may be a good idea to get her using FF anyways.

 

[BigLar]

Doesn't work with wither Firefox or IE.
Redbeard1's fix didn't do it either.

Time to recover with Ghost...

 

[BigLar]

Brought it back with the Ghost image from June (and immediately downloaded Firefox).

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[mechBgon]

Got it updated and firewalled, with a current-generation antivirus with all the bells & whistles switched on? I 7th the motion for a Limited user account, too, along with user education (no Limewire, Kazaa, Bearshare, etc sweetheart, all that glitters ain't gold).

 

[TanisHalfElven]

Originally posted by: STaSh
Do yourself a favor and set her up with a regular user account before she goes off to school again. If she keeps running with an admin account, you'll just keep banging your head up against this wall.

I wouldn't waste anymore time with the system in its current state either. 5 or 6 months on a college network running as admin = machine that can only be trusted again after a complete wipe and reload. Save her files (the ones she REALLY needs, not all the crap that she downloaded from Kazaa), and reload the OS. Set up her account as a regular user and send her off.

I would also show her how to use fast user switching to switch between an admin and her regular account, but ONLY if she actually needs to install things when she's at school.

nah i doubt that could help much.
unlike linux the windows permisions and low authority mean very little.
now if she were to use linux then it would be different.

 

[Varun]

Originally posted by: STaSh
Do yourself a favor and set her up with a regular user account before she goes off to school again. If she keeps running with an admin account, you'll just keep banging your head up against this wall.

I set up my grandparents with a new computer, and created two limited accounts for them plus an admin account called "Program Installs"

I told them only to use the Program installs account to update antivirus.

They are completely computer unsavy (but learning more and more each day) and with the limited accounts they can't break anything even if they try.

It's the easiest way to keep a computer clean of spyware since it can't be installed.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: tanishalfelven

Originally posted by: STaSh
Do yourself a favor and set her up with a regular user account before she goes off to school again. If she keeps running with an admin account, you'll just keep banging your head up against this wall.

I wouldn't waste anymore time with the system in its current state either. 5 or 6 months on a college network running as admin = machine that can only be trusted again after a complete wipe and reload. Save her files (the ones she REALLY needs, not all the crap that she downloaded from Kazaa), and reload the OS. Set up her account as a regular user and send her off.

I would also show her how to use fast user switching to switch between an admin and her regular account, but ONLY if she actually needs to install things when she's at school.

nah i doubt that could help much.
unlike linux the windows permisions and low authority mean very little.
now if she were to use linux then it would be different.

I disagree with that. In my experience with a work fleet, the Windows permissions mean a lot. SpywareInfo.com agrees and offers some advice for living with a Limited account.

This is one of those ideas that make you want to slap your forehead and wonder why it never occurred to you before. I don't remember what prompted it, but I decided to do a little experiment with my virtual test PC. I created a low-level user account and then went surfing some of the most spyware-infested web sites I could find.

Guess what? Nothing happened. Not only did I fail to pick up a single hijacker, I never once saw as much as a single ActiveX prompt. As far as I could determine, I was immune to spyware infection. Why? Because in limited mode, Windows doesn't allow you to do very much. You are not allowed to make the changes necessary for malware to install and hide itself.

Think about this

 

[stash]

nah i doubt that could help much.
unlike linux the windows permisions and low authority mean very little.
now if she were to use linux then it would be different.

:disgust:

Wow, there aren't rolleyes big enough for this kind of ignorance. Least privilege is least privilege, regardless of the OS.