Uhm, I uninstalled a "Sidebar" program at work and now the computer is absolutely messed up...

Red

Diamond Member
Aug 22, 2002
3,704
0
0
Work computer here with Win98...

there was a blue "Sidebar" icon in Internet Explorer. Thinking it was adware (which it is?) I went to add/remove programs and uninstalled it... at that point everything in the add/remove list disappeared. Just thought it was a bug so I restarted... when I restarted windows, Windows 98 had a pop up box for a fresh installing, asking for name / Cd key, etc?

Now the IT guy is on my back? What the hell happened?
 

Red

Diamond Member
Aug 22, 2002
3,704
0
0
Originally posted by: Gurck
Are you the only one who uses that particular computer?

No, I don't use it at all, I was just asked to take a look at the computer to see what was wrong with it... I saw a bunch of adware and tried to delete it.
 

dug777

Lifer
Oct 13, 2004
24,778
4
0
hahaha- thats my nightmare whenever pple ask me 2 take a look at their comp- bad luck m8, hope it sorts itself out
 

Gurck

Banned
Mar 16, 2004
12,963
1
0
Originally posted by: Red
Originally posted by: Gurck
Are you the only one who uses that particular computer?

No, I don't use it at all, I was just asked to take a look at the computer to see what was wrong with it... I saw a bunch of adware and tried to delete it.

Why bother if it's not the pc you use? Anyway, you should always remove spyware using programs designed for it.. AdAware and Spybot imo are the best, there are other good ones out there, but you need to be careful because many are actually spyware programs themselves (the people who write this sh*t need to be burned at the stake :frown: ) I've never heard of a problem like this, the IT guy can probably get the CD key from the original install and put it back in, see what happens from there.
 

AMDFanatic

Member
Oct 28, 2004
32
0
0
Originally posted by: Red
Work computer here with Win98...

there was a blue "Sidebar" icon in Internet Explorer. Thinking it was adware (which it is?) I went to add/remove programs and uninstalled it... at that point everything in the add/remove list disappeared. Just thought it was a bug so I restarted... when I restarted windows, Windows 98 had a pop up box for a fresh installing, asking for name / Cd key, etc?

Now the IT guy is on my back? What the hell happened?

Sounds like spyware. If you have another computer download Adaware SE personal from download.com and burn it to a CD-RW. Restart the Windows 98 computer in Safe Mode by rebooting and holding the F8 key at the splash screen. Choose Safe Mode and if it allows you to get in, install Adaware and do a full scan.