Using Firefox going forward - IE infected by spyware + other
Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2005 12:13 pm...malicious code
I had been using IE over Firefox (already installed a while ago) mainly because I like the way you can have the bookmarks in a frame on the left while viewing the associated web pages to the right, which I prefer for navigating.
However, with the preponderance of spyware and other malicious stuff which apprently affect IE more than other browsers, I will have to reluctantly get used to the way Firefox handles / displays bookmarks/favorites and start using it exclusively.
Even after using NIS and NAV on an ongoing basis, and, after my PC was infected, running Spyware Blaster, Spybot Search and Destroy, MS Spyware beta (by Giant) and manually deleting registry entries (from 'run' and 'run once' keys), still having certain resilient things keep popping up.
I will have to set my PC for auto updates. I intentionally didn't have this, because I didn't want it to kick in automatically while I was in the middle of burning data, flashing a drive or performing other sensitive operations that I didn't want being interrupted.
Symptoms (just started yesterday, so haven't had a chance to fully work on it - was busy with other stuff:
- (In IE) Search page gets changed continually (sometimes MS AntiSpyware beta (sort of like a TSR) kicks in (after reboot) AFTER the malicious code has already run, so it is too late.
Once I 'restore browser'
- They even seem to be killing NIS/NAV (several icons disappear from taskbar after initally appearing when bootup is complete).
- When I shut down the PC, I get an error that 'TaskbarWindowApp' [can't remember full name] can't close, so I have to end it manually (I'll have to google that one tonight to see if it is an official Windows program or if this has to do with the weird taskbar behavior).
- MS Spyware beta detects, and blocks, about three or four different types of attempts to hijack my browser; these appear to be set to activate
every so many minutes.
I may try restoring my PC from a Ghost image (think I did one pretty recently - I'll just check 'Program Files' folder [and other fldrs] (sorted by last change date) to see what was installed / done after the Ghost image was created.
If not, I may reinstall Windows and all my apps from scratch; this is a last resort, since it is a time consuming process.
I had been using IE over Firefox (already installed a while ago) mainly because I like the way you can have the bookmarks in a frame on the left while viewing the associated web pages to the right, which I prefer for navigating.
However, with the preponderance of spyware and other malicious stuff which apprently affect IE more than other browsers, I will have to reluctantly get used to the way Firefox handles / displays bookmarks/favorites and start using it exclusively.
Even after using NIS and NAV on an ongoing basis, and, after my PC was infected, running Spyware Blaster, Spybot Search and Destroy, MS Spyware beta (by Giant) and manually deleting registry entries (from 'run' and 'run once' keys), still having certain resilient things keep popping up.
I will have to set my PC for auto updates. I intentionally didn't have this, because I didn't want it to kick in automatically while I was in the middle of burning data, flashing a drive or performing other sensitive operations that I didn't want being interrupted.
Symptoms (just started yesterday, so haven't had a chance to fully work on it - was busy with other stuff:
- (In IE) Search page gets changed continually (sometimes MS AntiSpyware beta (sort of like a TSR) kicks in (after reboot) AFTER the malicious code has already run, so it is too late.
Once I 'restore browser'
- They even seem to be killing NIS/NAV (several icons disappear from taskbar after initally appearing when bootup is complete).
- When I shut down the PC, I get an error that 'TaskbarWindowApp' [can't remember full name] can't close, so I have to end it manually (I'll have to google that one tonight to see if it is an official Windows program or if this has to do with the weird taskbar behavior).
- MS Spyware beta detects, and blocks, about three or four different types of attempts to hijack my browser; these appear to be set to activate
every so many minutes.
I may try restoring my PC from a Ghost image (think I did one pretty recently - I'll just check 'Program Files' folder [and other fldrs] (sorted by last change date) to see what was installed / done after the Ghost image was created.
If not, I may reinstall Windows and all my apps from scratch; this is a last resort, since it is a time consuming process.
