Help?
I’m pretty sure my home computer has a virus, or spyware, or something. It seems to have hijacked Firefox, at least to a certain extent. My default homepage on Firefox is my lj profile page and that hasn’t changed, but it won’t let me log in. I can log in on Netscape and IE. But now I’m afraid to do anything - on any browser - that entails logging in anywhere because I’m afraid of getting my passwords stolen and getting my lj (or any other accounts) hijacked.
Am I being paranoid or just being safe? I definitely don't want to use Firefox right now for anything with a password, but how safe do you think Netscape or IE is in this case? (I feel so lost not having lj access at home!)
What’s been happening is: my computer has been turning itself off after about an hour. The screen goes black, and then it goes blue with a message that says “A problem has been detected and Windows been has shut down to prevent damage to your computer.
DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL”
It also says to check to make sure any new hardware or software is properly installed, blah blah blah. (I haven't installed anything lately.) When the computer shuts itself off, obviously I can’t use the start button to turn it off (since, y’know, no Windows, no Start button) so I try shutting it with the power button and that doesn’t work either. So I unplug the thing and go do something else for a while.
When I come back and plug it in, it turns on just like normal and all is well for about an hour, when the whole cycle begins again. When I turn the computer on, it gives me the option of sending an error report. I do, and it tells me it has something to do with McAfee, my anti-virus/firewall. I ran a quick scan, which found several problems, which were either removed or quarantined. I tried doing a full scan, but a full scan apparently takes more than an hour, which doesn’t help.
When this first happened, I tried logging into livejournal on Firefox just like I always do, and I couldn’t. After trying to log in about three times, I tried with Netscape and IE, and had no problems. Just to be on the safe side, I changed my lj password at work the next day and haven’t logged on at home since then.
This may have something to do with the current virus-y issue with Adobe Acrobat, because right around the time my computer started acting funny, Adobe opened up and then disappeared all by itself for no reason at all. I know I certainly didn’t click on anything to open it up.
On the advice of people who recently got a virus from Megaupload, I downloaded Malwarebytes and several other freeware programs that are supposed to catch whatever McAfee didn’t.
Guess what? I couldn’t open them. I could get as far as getting desktop icons, but I couldn’t get any of them to actually open. I don’t know if that’s the virus preventing me from opening them or if it’s McAfee not playing nice with the competition.
Anybody got any ideas?
Also, I’ve been thinking of getting a second computer, and I’ve decided on a laptop. My internet provider is my cable company -- any recommendations for firewalls, anti-virus and spyware protection? I don’t think I’ll be using McAfee on the new computer…
Am I being paranoid or just being safe? I definitely don't want to use Firefox right now for anything with a password, but how safe do you think Netscape or IE is in this case? (I feel so lost not having lj access at home!)
What’s been happening is: my computer has been turning itself off after about an hour. The screen goes black, and then it goes blue with a message that says “A problem has been detected and Windows been has shut down to prevent damage to your computer.
DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL”
It also says to check to make sure any new hardware or software is properly installed, blah blah blah. (I haven't installed anything lately.) When the computer shuts itself off, obviously I can’t use the start button to turn it off (since, y’know, no Windows, no Start button) so I try shutting it with the power button and that doesn’t work either. So I unplug the thing and go do something else for a while.
When I come back and plug it in, it turns on just like normal and all is well for about an hour, when the whole cycle begins again. When I turn the computer on, it gives me the option of sending an error report. I do, and it tells me it has something to do with McAfee, my anti-virus/firewall. I ran a quick scan, which found several problems, which were either removed or quarantined. I tried doing a full scan, but a full scan apparently takes more than an hour, which doesn’t help.
When this first happened, I tried logging into livejournal on Firefox just like I always do, and I couldn’t. After trying to log in about three times, I tried with Netscape and IE, and had no problems. Just to be on the safe side, I changed my lj password at work the next day and haven’t logged on at home since then.
This may have something to do with the current virus-y issue with Adobe Acrobat, because right around the time my computer started acting funny, Adobe opened up and then disappeared all by itself for no reason at all. I know I certainly didn’t click on anything to open it up.
On the advice of people who recently got a virus from Megaupload, I downloaded Malwarebytes and several other freeware programs that are supposed to catch whatever McAfee didn’t.
Guess what? I couldn’t open them. I could get as far as getting desktop icons, but I couldn’t get any of them to actually open. I don’t know if that’s the virus preventing me from opening them or if it’s McAfee not playing nice with the competition.
Anybody got any ideas?
Also, I’ve been thinking of getting a second computer, and I’ve decided on a laptop. My internet provider is my cable company -- any recommendations for firewalls, anti-virus and spyware protection? I don’t think I’ll be using McAfee on the new computer…