computer help for the tech......

[Burn]

this is embarrising.... i'm great with computers,work on them for curcuit city, been building them for 6 years.... yadda yadda... I keep getting
page cannot be displayed errors when I try to log into paypal and ebay! same thing when I go to check my mail, so i've been using outlook express for mail... anything? i've changed my security settings several times, i can't seem to figure it out. luckily everything else works fine.... [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

[SeventhSon]

Re: computer help for the tech......

clear your cache?

also, make sure your hosts file hasn't been tampered with. a new rash of spyware messes with that file and sends ebay and paypal urls to some eastern european site.

run spyware protection. there's a free one from microsoft that is highly regarded. i'm sure your web browser is hijacked.

Finally, download Firefox from www.mozilla.org. If you can visit paypal/ebay with Firefox, then your IE is hosed with malware.

[OnlineStageGear]

Re: computer help for the tech......

That's what I was thinking, it is probably the re-direct spyware. Also, make sure those sites aren't blocked under your restricted sites.

Matt

[ApeDosMil]

Re: computer help for the tech......

it "might" be a bad connection to the net. Sometimes a bridge breaks from you to ebay and it won't work until they fix that bridge. how long has this been happening?

only certain sites right?

[thetroy]

Re: computer help for the tech......

re-format. The universal answer to any and all software problems.

Re: computer help for the tech......

Any type of "bridges" or hops, routers, etc etc are typically fixed and/or re-routed fairly quiickly with any Tier 1 provider, so that's not going to be the issue.

I'm with Matt and 7 and it's most likely some spyware. I use Spyware nuker, it's not free, but definitely worth the $20 IMO. There are numerous out there tho, just find one you like, free or not and use it, religiously...

Good luck!
Pat

[hippietim]

Re: computer help for the tech......

If your system has a spyware redirector at the Winsock layer then no program is going to get to Paypal.

When you get the error page, right click on the page and select Properties. What does the URL look like? If it looks like this:

res://C:\WINDOWS\system32\shdoclc.dl...tp://blah/blah

Then you are most likely getting an error from the Winsock layer. If it is something else, then it could be something hooking IE directly (it could still be a low-level Winsock hook as well).

If you think you have spyware loading at startup, you can prevent Windows from loading any startup programs by holding down the right-shift key while you are logging in (and hold it until your desktop is really loaded).

Re: computer help for the tech......

Oh and 7, that spyware deal from M$ didn't work on a buddy's computer I just had to repair last week, it also had the winsock bug... There's probably a couple of new programs installed, find them and remove them, they should be in control panel, but generically labeled.

Pat

[hippietim]

Re: computer help for the tech......

I just got an email from a coworker about this. Check out this knowledge base article:

http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;892350

Pat, can you shoot me an email with the particulars of your buddy's spyware problems so I can get it looked at by the right folks on our side?

Re: computer help for the tech......

Hmmm, I'd really like to, but I don't think he saved anything, I know I didn't. I'll ask and see if he saved any screenshots, etc, but it's doubtful.

Pat

[PowerTube]

Re: computer help for the tech......

[ QUOTE ]
....make sure your hosts file hasn't been tampered with.

[/ QUOTE ]

Another trick I've seen some of them do is to create or install an "alternate" HOSTS file and set the registry to cache its settings. Then, if you look at your original HOSTS file, everything looks hunky-dory but it isn't even being used.

Spyware writers need some serious jail time!
[img]/images/graemlins/nono.gif[/img]

[SeventhSon]

Re: computer help for the tech......

Some great advice here. I will reiterate the following: definitely download Firefox. While it won't get you around spyware that redirects at the Winsock (Microsoft's TCP/IP) layer or via the hosts file, it will certainly reduce the number permutations that you have to investigate.

It's like a 2nd pair of eyes cuz a lot of "traditional" spyware hook at the IE layer and you can determine if you're infected if everything's a green light when browsing with Firefox.