Post by goldeneye on Dec 19, 2008 16:19:02 GMT -5
As you may have heared, Internet Explorer 7 has been the target of a bunch of hackers and spyware since someone opened their mouth about a bug in the program which from what i've heared allows a website to remain open even when you think you've closed it, meaning someone can see what you're doing, which obviously puts your passwords and usernames at risk.
I believe i have been the victim of one of these attacks, and i have been stressing myself over fixing it. I may have found a way, which has worked for me. Look at the following symptoms, and see if you're havig these problems:
Slow/sluggish computer, which seems reluctant to open up the internet
The taks manager reports you are using all your processor capabilities (the CPU usage is constantly around 90-100%)
The task manager lists processes that you can't identify but take up a load of CPU
You can't seem to install or uninstall anything (try installing windows defender. if this doesn't work, try uninstalling an old unused program. If both don't work saying something about microsoft installer, then this is what i mean)
My fix for this is to do a system restore to a point back before you noticed the problem. This won't delete any of your files, but it will remove anything you've installed (like updates) up to that point. This will reset all your settings so you'll be sorting those out, but it's a small price to pay.
Once you've finished the restore, immediately get Windows Defender or install any up-to-date, trusted piece of anti-virus, firewall, anti-spyware software. Then make sure any windows updates have been installed.
To avoid problems, do not download from an untrusted site, do not visit an untrusted site, and do not open emails that you don't know the source of or you weren't expecting or can't verify.
PS: if the problem i've had sounds like something other than the IE bug, then let me know and i'll change the thread name accordingly
I believe i have been the victim of one of these attacks, and i have been stressing myself over fixing it. I may have found a way, which has worked for me. Look at the following symptoms, and see if you're havig these problems:
Slow/sluggish computer, which seems reluctant to open up the internet
The taks manager reports you are using all your processor capabilities (the CPU usage is constantly around 90-100%)
The task manager lists processes that you can't identify but take up a load of CPU
You can't seem to install or uninstall anything (try installing windows defender. if this doesn't work, try uninstalling an old unused program. If both don't work saying something about microsoft installer, then this is what i mean)
My fix for this is to do a system restore to a point back before you noticed the problem. This won't delete any of your files, but it will remove anything you've installed (like updates) up to that point. This will reset all your settings so you'll be sorting those out, but it's a small price to pay.
Once you've finished the restore, immediately get Windows Defender or install any up-to-date, trusted piece of anti-virus, firewall, anti-spyware software. Then make sure any windows updates have been installed.
To avoid problems, do not download from an untrusted site, do not visit an untrusted site, and do not open emails that you don't know the source of or you weren't expecting or can't verify.
PS: if the problem i've had sounds like something other than the IE bug, then let me know and i'll change the thread name accordingly
