IT Queries: Computer problems answered

Hi Paul,
Unfortunately you had run out of time on the excellent radio program last night when I called. Wondering if you have any idea what has suddenly happened to my pc, XP o/s, HP9002.
1. All of my Inbox in Outlook Express disappeared. The 400 emails had been sent to the Deleted folder. This always happens when I first go in to Outlook
2. The Delete keyboard key no longer works.
3. When I click on the task bar Start menu a pop-up asks me if I want to send the Start Menu to the Recycle bin. This only seems to happen intermittently.

Hope you can help.

This certainly is very suspicious behaviour and the first step would be to follow our Removing a Trojan instructions. Before doing that, make sure all your data has been backed up.

Both free versions of AVG and Avast! are good programs and you should use whichever one you find easiest to install.

If no malware is found, it might be best to have a technician look at the system and your security settings.

Since installing Norton Antivirus I can’t access the Internet. I already have a firewall so why is NAV stopping me getting online?

The culprit is the Internet Worm Protection in some versions of  Norton Antivirus. You’ll need to disable this function.

First, open Norton by clicking the Start Button, selecting Programs and Norton Antivirus. If you have a number of Norton Products installed you may have several different Norton folders in your programs list.

In the Norton screen click Options, select Norton Antivirus(this may vary on the version) and on the left pane click Internet Worm Protection.

On the right, turn off the box for Enable Internet Worm Protection or Turn Internet Worm Protection on. Click Okay and exit the program.

When you restart the computer the system will no longer have Internet Worm Protection working and you should be able to access the net.

Just downloaded firefox from the net (English version) on my new HP computer as an alternative to Internet Explorer and my new Trend Micro Professional scan identified an infected file after the download:

Firefox%20Setup%203.5.5[1]exe

May be a problem with the link to download or the free download may be infected?

There’s recently been a spate of false positives being detected in the Firefox download with AVG users reporting similar problems.

While it’s likely to be a false alarm, you should assume the worst by deleting the quarantined files, updating Trend Micro and scanning your computer just to be sure.

The next step is to go to the official Mozilla site and download Firefox from there.

If Trend Micro still reports the download as infected, then Trend is detecting a false positive. You’ll have to tell Trend the file is safe and then install Firefox. If Trend won’t let you do that, then you should disable Trend while you download and install Firefox, just take care not to do anything on the net, such as check emails while Trend is disabled.

I downloaded what i thought was a trojan blocker the name of the program is cyber security and now its reporting a number of virus now i can’t access some pages. I have tried add/remove and system restore and its still on my pc. What can i do?

Unfortunately you’ve been conned into downloading some malware. These sort of scams are unfortunately more common than they should be.

The best remover for this is Malware Bytes and we go through the process of fixing this problem in our Removing a Trojan page.

Be warned though that these Trojans often block the spyware remover sites so you may have to download the programs to another computer, transfer them to a USB stick and install them that way.

If it all sounds too complex, and it often is, then you should call your local computer tech.

We have just received an AVG pop-up informing us that as from 1 December 2009 this will be superseded by AVG 9, which we will have to pay for, approx $50 for one year. With the prices/costs of everything increasing, as aged pensioners we cannot afford this. Do you have an alternative suggestion?

You’ll find there is a free AVG 9, the link is just hidden away in the small print where it asks you to upgrade for $50.

The direct link to the AVG Free homepage is a http://free.avg.com/au-en/download-avg-anti-virus-free-edition and you can download it from there.

Keep in mind $50 for the full AVG protection suite and $35 for the anti virus is good value compared to some of the better known security patches so the full priced program is not a bad deal.

I was using Norton Antivirus which expired few days back. Hence i uninstalled it. But it is still showing in my Add/Remove programs list and its not allowing any other antivirus to get installed.

Norton can be problematic to remove and it’s one of the reasons why we don’t endorse the product.

Symantec are aware Norton doesn’t always uninstall with ease or grace so they provide the Norton Removal Tool to eradicate all traces of the product.

Before running the removal make sure you have downloaded your new antivirus program and you’ve backed up important data. Also note the Norton Removal Tool will remove older Symantec products like Winfax and ACT! so if you are using those, take care.

I have Norton 360 V.3 on my PC running on Windows XP.

For the last month the Norton 360 Live Updates have not been working. I’ve contacted the Norton people and had them manually updated but this hasn’t fixed the problem as the automatic update still doesn’t work.  They uninstalled and reinstalled the programme twice but this made no difference.

They’ve now told me that I have a ctfmon.exe virus which will have to be fixed by Microsoft.  How can I have a virus when I have Norton 360 running all the time and how do I have it fixed?

First the ctfmon.exe file may not be a virus. This is a normal Microsoft Office file, so you shouldn’t assume you have an infection.

The first thing is to check you don’t have a virus and you should do this by following the instructions in our removing a Trojan page.

Once you’re happy you’ve cleared any possible virus infection, you’ll need to clean up your computer.

The next step is to update your Windows Scripting Host as Norton 360 relies on this to work properly.

With your computer now cleaned and up to date, download the latest Norton 360 update and install this.

After rebooting, check Norton 360 is updating. If not, follow the Troubleshooting Live Update instructions on the Symantec website.

I’ve upgraded to the latest version of AVG Free and now I’m finding my computer is running slower. What should I do?

Like most anti virus programs AVG has a number of protections that can slow your computer.

One of the common problems with AVG is the “Link Scanner” function. This checks links in a web page before you click them and warns you if there’s a problem with the linked site. While this is a good idea, it slows web browsing.

To turn this off, open AVG by double clicking the AVG box on the taskbar near where the time is shown. When AVG opens, click Tools and Advanced Options.

In the Advanced Options screen, there are list of settings on the left hand side. Click Link Scanner and take the ticks off the three boxes; Enable AVG Search Shield, Enable AVG Surf Shield and Enable reporting threats to AVG.

Click apply.

To help speed the machine you may also want to change the automatic scan settings. To do this, go down the settings list to Schedules, expand the list by clicking the “+” box and select Scheduled Scans.

On the right hand side of the screen, take the tick off Enable This Task.

Click Apply and reboot your computer.

You should note that because AVG will now not be protecting your web surfing then you should practice safe browsing.

I am getting a message that McAfee service is ending in 7 days. I have a copy of my order number from December of 2008 which pays for a 3 year subscription.  Why am I getting this message?

The problem is in the McAfee system where your subscription hasn’t been registered properly.

Unfortunately you’re going to have to contact their support centre. The link itself is to the United States support site, to change it to your locale, click the United States – English title on the top right hand corner. This will give you the local site.

It’s probably going to be best to call them. When you do, have your records with you at all times and remember to keep notes while always being polite.

Good luck.

I read in one of your  advice pages that I should regularly check for updates with my Norton Symantec 360 and keep checking over and over until the system advises that it is up to date.

Each time I run the check through, it does in fact advise that the system is up to date but when I run it again it still manages to find more updates!

I have, this afternoon run it through at least 7-8 times and it still manages to find more updates! I did the same thing last week and gave up after about fifteen minutes because it was still producing more updates!  Am I THAT far out of date or what is going on?

I would appreciate your comment  - I am not a computer whiz but enjoy my computer and learn more everyday.

Great to hear you’re enjoying learning about getting more from your computer every day. It’s an area of great opportunity.

Unfortunately, you’ll need to keep running the updates until Norton 360 is happy there’s no more to download.

The problem is Norton 360 is a complex program that does many things, so one update leads to another and so on.

So keep doing it until Norton is happy that it is fully up to date.