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View Full Version : Is it a spyware? Sorry if it is a bit long.


michael hill
December 14th 03, 02:53 PM
I have the same problem --
some company called ramgo.com has imposed itself on me as
a search engine rather that MSN and others - this
ramgo.com is based in the UK and I'm in Canada!!!!
Let me know what you find out as I would like to ditch
them....don't know how how as I am very new to all of
this.

Yours
Michael
>-----Original Message-----
>I have only just learnt the word spyware reading some of
>the messages but it sounds as though that might be the
>problem.
>My computer was invaded by something, it put a shortcut
>on the desktop which showed pornographic pictures on a
>popup. There were several programs or files I found
which
>initially I couldn't delete as it said I didn't have
>access. I managed to delete these after changing
>from "read only". The programme change/delete said there
>was an error and couldn't delete it. Also my homepage
was
>changed to something like 777.com which was a list of
>sites including gambling and porn and another time
>internet optimizer.
>I have zonealarm and norton antivirus. Zonealarm kept
>asking if hotvideo could acces the internet. Initially
>zonealarm said it hadn't accessed the internet before
>despite saying no to it it later said it had accessed
the
>internet.
>Also all the files/programmes appeared on 25/8/03 when I
>checked but system restore has no restore points before
>26/8/03 - usually it has loads.
>So I have deleted about 8 files or programmes with the
>words hotvideo,optimize or tinybar in them.
>I am worried there is still something I don't know about.
>Also how did I get it? How can I prevent getting
another.
>I am not aware of having clicked on any dodgy pages
>whilst surfing but I spose it is possible. has anyone
had
>anything similar. Is there anything I should do? I read
a
>message about spyware removal, is this a particular
>programme. Many many thanks for any help. It all sort of
>makes you feel vulnerable with some horrible thing
>stealthily creaping into your computer!
>.
>

Sharon F
December 14th 03, 02:53 PM
On Sat, 30 Aug 2003 19:34:57 -0700, michael hill wrote:

> I have the same problem --
> some company called ramgo.com has imposed itself on me as
> a search engine rather that MSN and others - this
> ramgo.com is based in the UK and I'm in Canada!!!!
> Let me know what you find out as I would like to ditch
> them....don't know how how as I am very new to all of
> this.
>
> Yours
> Michael
>>-----Original Message-----
>>I have only just learnt the word spyware reading some of
>>the messages but it sounds as though that might be the
>>problem.
>>My computer was invaded by something, it put a shortcut
>>on the desktop which showed pornographic pictures on a
>>popup. There were several programs or files I found
> which
>>initially I couldn't delete as it said I didn't have
>>access. I managed to delete these after changing
>>from "read only". The programme change/delete said there
>>was an error and couldn't delete it. Also my homepage
> was
>>changed to something like 777.com which was a list of
>>sites including gambling and porn and another time
>>internet optimizer.
>>I have zonealarm and norton antivirus. Zonealarm kept
>>asking if hotvideo could acces the internet. Initially
>>zonealarm said it hadn't accessed the internet before
>>despite saying no to it it later said it had accessed
> the
>>internet.
>>Also all the files/programmes appeared on 25/8/03 when I
>>checked but system restore has no restore points before
>>26/8/03 - usually it has loads.
>>So I have deleted about 8 files or programmes with the
>>words hotvideo,optimize or tinybar in them.
>>I am worried there is still something I don't know about.
>>Also how did I get it? How can I prevent getting
> another.
>>I am not aware of having clicked on any dodgy pages
>>whilst surfing but I spose it is possible. has anyone
> had
>>anything similar. Is there anything I should do? I read
> a
>>message about spyware removal, is this a particular
>>programme. Many many thanks for any help. It all sort of
>>makes you feel vulnerable with some horrible thing
>>stealthily creaping into your computer!
>>.
>>

Did you install a toolbar from them? Try changing your default search
preferences in IE? To do this, click the search icon in the toolbar. When
the search column appears, click Customize in the header and use the
screens that appear to re-apply your preferences.

A quick online check for adware, spyware, hijackers and other nasties:
http://www.aumha.org/a/noads.htm

Also there are links on the page leading to doxdesk.com, a site well-known
for documenting various parasites.


--
Sharon F
MS-MVP - Windows XP Shell/User

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