OT Need Help from Heather.

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David S. - 27 Jul 2004 01:17 GMT

Heather:
Last week my Internet Explorer stopped working. For most web sites that
I try to visit I get the "This Page Cannot Be Displayed" error message. The
only thing I did was install some updates from Microsoft (at least I thought
they were from Microsoft??). Some sites do come up, e.g., the bank, the
broker, but none of the regular sites like MSNBC, CNN, Earthlink, etc. Any
idea what I could be dealing with here?
Thank you for your help.
David

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philski - 27 Jul 2004 02:15 GMT

David S. wrote:

> Heather:
> Last week my Internet Explorer stopped working. For most web sites that
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> Thank you for your help.
> David

David,
While you did not post your current operating system, you can re-install
IE and usually can recover your browser along with all your settings.
You can install the latest version by going here for starters:

> http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/default.mspx

Hope this helps.

Philski

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Heather - 27 Jul 2004 02:36 GMT

Hi Philski....

I was just answering this when yours came in......he is using IE 6. An
easier route might be *repairing* IE......but I will write him and see.
Browser hijacker comes to mind......they are the latest and greatest scourge
in malware.

Cheers......Heather

> David S. wrote:
> David,
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
>
> Philski

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Heather - 27 Jul 2004 02:37 GMT

David.....you didn't click on an email alleging to be from Microsoft which
had an attachment, did you?? If so, you now have a virus. But if I recall
correctly, you do have an *up to date* Norton, right?

Microsoft NEVER sends out patches, updates or fixes via email attachment!!!!
Virus writers do though and this particular one has been around for years.

The other possibility is a browser hijacker.....has your home page changed
to a different one? Drop me a line at home, or I do have an Earthlink
address for you and will contact you. I need more details.

Btw....I assume you all have heard of today's new variant of MyDoom....so
update your AV programs NOW.

Cheers...Heather (heatherfig at rogers dot com)

> Heather:
> Last week my Internet Explorer stopped working. For most web sites that
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> Thank you for your help.
> David

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Larry Wheat - 27 Jul 2004 12:27 GMT

Are you IE users aware that Slate (owned by msn.com), and the Dept. of
Homeland Security recommended that IE users switch to something else
until Microsoft makes Internet Explorer more secure?

http://slate.msn.com/id/2103152/

http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/713878

Also

http://www.infoworld.com/article/04/07/09/28enterwin_1.html

Larry

> David.....you didn't click on an email alleging to be from Microsoft which
> had an attachment, did you?? If so, you now have a virus. But if I recall
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
>
> Cheers...Heather (heatherfig at rogers dot com)

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Leonard Evens - 27 Jul 2004 12:39 GMT

David S. wrote:

> Heather:
> Last week my Internet Explorer stopped working. For most web sites that
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> idea what I could be dealing with here?
> Thank you for your help.

I don't know if this will help you, but my daughter regularly has that
problem. In her case it is caused by adware or spyware installed by
various websites that her children frequent. The program Ad-aware
(www.lavasoft.de) seems to clear it up. You can get a free version from
them which has to be run reguarly manually and upgraded each time to
include the latest adware. You can also buy a version which blocks
attempts to install such software.

If on the other hand you installed a trojan horse and your virus
protection program didn't detect it, you probably have to reinstall IE.

Trojan horse hackers are getting pretty clever as misleading people.
Never click on something you get in email unless you are absolutely
certain where it came from. And after doing so, don't ever answer any
questions giving personal information such as credit card numbers or
passwords.

> David

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Shorty - 27 Jul 2004 16:47 GMT

I am using Firefox now as the browser. It was an easy download and install,
has been blocking all the popups.

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Claude - 27 Jul 2004 21:26 GMT

> I am using Firefox now as the browser. It was an easy download and install,
> has been blocking all the popups.

As long as we're off-topic, I'll ask a related question. I have the
standard Mozilla browser. What are the advantages of switching to Firefox?

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Alan Meyer - 28 Jul 2004 00:12 GMT

> > I am using Firefox now as the browser. It was an easy download and
> install,
> > has been blocking all the popups.
>
> As long as we're off-topic, I'll ask a related question. I have the
> standard Mozilla browser. What are the advantages of switching to Firefox?

I believe they both use the same underlying "engine".
Mozilla is a complete package with email, newsgroups
and an HTML editor ("Composer"). Firefox is web
browsing only.

I believe the purpose of the Firefox browser is to
provide something smaller and faster than the full
Mozilla. If your computer is fast enough and has
enough disk space to run Mozilla well, I don't know
that there's any advantage to Firefox. It is smaller.
As to faster, I don't know how much that may be.

Incidentally, I've used Mozilla for a long time as my
standard browser. It has some nice capabilities not
found in IE - especially tabbed browsing, popup
blocking, and greater configurability. I recommend
it.

Alan

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dale.j. - 28 Jul 2004 00:28 GMT

> > > I am using Firefox now as the browser. It was an easy download and
> > install,
[quoted text clipped - 23 lines]
>
> Alan

I have firefox, firebird, camino, omniweb, mozilla, netscape, explorer
and safari. I use safari 70 percent of the time and firefox camino or
firebird the other 30 percent. All work good.

Dale

Signature

Email: dalej2@mac.com

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David S. - 28 Jul 2004 00:59 GMT

Thanks to all who responded. Looks like what I have is a hijacked
browser. Heather has sent instructions on how to fix it, but I have to
download some programs to do this, and I cannot get to the web sites with my
browser down. I will have to get the programs from work tomorrow and burn a
CD.
I am going to look into the other browsers also. I was not aware of the
other alternatives. I thought Netscape was the only other main browser out
there (do they still exist?).
By the way, I do have AdAware, the free version, and Norton AntiVirus
came on the new Dell last year. That subscription is about up, but Heather
recommended a different, free, anti virus software, so I am going to try
that. I guess I also need some anti spyware software too. Before you know
it a person will need an 80 gig hard drive to hold all the protective
software.
Thank you again to all who responded. Sorry for the off topic post.
David S.

> Heather:
> Last week my Internet Explorer stopped working. For most web sites that
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> Thank you for your help.
> David

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