IT Queries: Computer problems answered

please list current free anti virus software downloads that are thorough and efficient for windows 7 home?

The free anti virus programs we’d suggest for Windows 7 Home users are the following;

AntiVir: Will offer to give you the Premium edition for free as well, but we don’t like the sign up process
AVG Free: The sign up will also try to steer you towards the paid for package
Avast!: Avast is one of the longest standing free products

While AVG pushes their paid for version the hardest during the download process, all of the free versions are loss leaders for their paid versions.

The paid versions are good value for money compared to the bigger brand name products and give you more features than the free version and tech support for when there are problems.

We’d recommend the paid versions of all of these programs as well.

Note that all of these programs are free only for personal use; if you want to use them in a business you have to shell out for the paid versions.

Hi, I need to reinstall my Win XP OS to get rid of all the junk I’ve accumulated;  I’ve burnt a DVD with my documents on it, but will my emails be there as well ?  if not, how do I preserve them ?

Your emails probably won’t be in My Documents unless you’ve specifically told your system to save them there.

Finding your emails on a Windows system is particularly irritating as the different programs dump them into different folders. In Outlook Express and Windows Mail the address books are also saved in a completely different location.

The best thing is to back up your entire profile, this sits in the Documents and Settings folder on your C: drive and the profile will be either your log in name or something close to it.

By backing up this entire folder, you’ll save your My Documents folder, desktop, web browser bookmarks, address books and email. Just take care that your email folder isn’t so big it won’t fit on a single DVD.

I have received a fraudulent email from a bogus UPS parcel delivery site. As I have been expecting a delivery, I mistakenly opened the email and clicked on the attachment.

My AVG 9 program promptly detected 2 viruses which I thought I had then successfully removed. However now, when I boot up, I get the following 2 error messages:
C:\\WINDOWS\\rhstap.dll – Specified module could not be found
C:WINDOWS\\olamobel.dll -Specified module could not be found

1. Does this mean the registry is damaged?

2. How can I repair the registry and avoid getting these error messages … can you recommend a safe registry repair tool?

It’s good your antivirus picked up the problem and removed the malware. Just to be safe, we’d recommend following our Removing a Trojan instructions as well.

Once you’re happy you’ve cleaned the computer out, you can fix the missing .dll issues. The registry itself isn’t damaged, it’s just trying to find the files the malware installed and told it to run on startup.

The best tool for cleaning out the errant registry entries is CCleaner and running that after making sure you are free of viruses should give your computer a significant performance boost.

I have had my Hotmail account hijacked. My password, secret question and alternate email address have been changed. All of my contacts have been notified allegedly by me that I am stranded in London and require money.

My IT lady has cleaned and updated everything on my computer and we have notiified Windows Live Solutions in order to attain a new password in order to access my contacts. Have notified our bank and Western Union , who are supposedly to receive any money sent to me. I will notify the police on Monday, as they were closed when I went to advise them yesterday. Have not heard back from Windows Live as yet.

Is there anything else I should do? Do you think I could open another Hotmail account ? I am hesitant to do so in case the perpetrators are still linked to this computer. My IT lady says it should be fine, as she has cleaned and updated the computer. Interestingly enough, I culd still access Facebook using my hotmail address and password. I only did this the once, and am not game to get back on to change the password.

Hoping you can be of assistance.

The number one thing you must do is setup a new email address with another service such as Yahoo! or Gmail then change all the password and email addresses on every web service and computer you use. You should do these NOW before the bad guys can do mischief with your other services.

We’ve covered what to do with hijacked Hotmail accounts before and because your IT lady has already cleared your computer it sounds like it is safe to assume your password was cracked.

When you set up a new password, follow our instructions on choosing a secure password which will reduce the risks of this happening again.

Hi, I’m using Windows XP. I’ve been trying to access iTunes store and create an account but every time I try it tells me I’m not connected to the internet which I know I am. I have tried everything Apple have suggested on their website – removed and reinstalled iTunes & Quicktime, and various other things- but I noted today that I should be sure to be logged on as “Administrator” before I download iTunes.

I don’t know what that means and could that be the problem. If that isn’t the problem can you please suggest what I should do to access the store.It’s driving me crazy!!! Thank you.

iTunes is being blocked by a firewall or Windows XP’s security settings. The role of these tools is stop potentially nasty programs from connecting to the Internet. Sometime during iTunes’ installation the system has decided iTunes is untrustworthy shouldn’t be allowed to access the Internet.

To change this, you’ll have to tell the firewall or security program that you want iTunes to access the net. If you are using the built in firewall then Microsoft have instructions on changing the settings on their website.

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.

I have received an email from “New Update to fix Windows File Errors” wanting me to “run a diagnostic test to check for any potentially harmful file errors located in your registry”. There is a link on the email for me to launch this test. Is this a bona fide website or some sort of virus?

It’s a scam. Basically it will run a “diagnostic test” which will then claim you are infected with some malware and you need to buy their product to fix the problem. Even if you do pay, you may well find the “nag alerts” continue with no way of getting rid of them.

Even if they weren’t a scam you should ignore these messages as most registry tools are snake oil anyway, we recommend not bothering with registry cleaners.

If you have opened one of these links, or you find these pop up messages are appearing, then follow our instructions on “Removing a Trojan” to make sure it hasn’t infected your system.

If someone used my computer and logged on to msn messenger, are the log in name and password stored in my computer?

The short answer is “it depends”. If the user ticked the box asking to remember details when they logged in, then yes it is.

If they didn’t, it is still possible relevant files have been saved in the registry, in the user’s profiles or in the temporary file storage. Even if they are encrypted it may be possible to find them.

This is why it’s good practice to wipe a computer after use to make sure data isn’t saved.

Should you be asking in the hope you can find the user’s log in details, be careful as in many places you will be breaking the law should you log onto someone’s account without their permission.

Hi,I received an email, that indicates the receiver’s name in my yahoo email as my mom’s first and last name and it states as the subject xxx xxxxx says you should see this video clip.
xxx xxxxx thinks you will really like this YouTube Video. Check it out! Sender From : xxx xxxxx

I clicked on the “Check it out” button unknowingly thinking it really was from my mom and it led me to some unusual webpage with a cartoon-like picture and didn\’t seem like a YouTube webpage,and I quickly escaped and clicked close. I then realised may after all not be from my mom and and I verified with her and she said she did not send me that email. I am very afraid it is some kind of a scam or virus attack, pls advise what I should do now!

You’re right to be concerned as this is a classic Trojan horse attack which is aimed at infecting your computer and there is a risk you’ve been infected. You should follow our Removing a Trojan instructions and if you are still concerned, call a computer technician.

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.