I’m getting some unusual activity in my computer and I wondering if it’s a sign I’ve downloaded a virus.
I use aol mail. I’m always logged into it on my regular computer. But in the last day or two I’ve had a couple of occasions where I’ve gone to check my mail and there will be a notice telling me I need to log in with my password.
I don’t enter my password. I just click the screen off and try again. On the second attempt I am able to get my mail normally without being asked for my password.
So is this just a bug in aol’s mail program or is it somebody trying to steal my password?
If you are still using AoL mail, it could just be that your computer is 20 years old and on its last legs.
My technique to find viruses is:
Do a full scan with any free antivirus software plus spybot search and destroy. Takes a few hours but you only need to really do it once.
After you know the computer is as clean as it can be, look at task manager and get an idea about which processes you normally use. From then on, if you suspect you have a virus, check there again and if you see an unusual program or company name, google it to see if it’s been reported as malware.
If you are having a lot of problems, get firefox and install the adblock and no-script extensions. Many pages won’t work properly, but this protects you from virii in banner ads.
Watch porn on apple products. I use an ipad but sound is terrible.
What in the hell does sound have to do with…NM.
Run the virus checker in safe mode, F8 while booting. Windows will load minimal drivers, just enough to run. It is easier to find viruses if stuff isn’t running.
Oh one other thing, I have found quasi-viruses where programs I installed replaced an important driver in the Windows directory, and uninstalling the program will not replace the original driver. Whenever I do a major installation, I always do a rollback point as well, and keep track of any programs that are installed into the windows directory.
Side note: most AOL users are not aware that they have a password at all. Which makes me giggle inside when those Americans come here and want to use our Internet Cafe and ask: Do you have AOL?
I don’t see why that’s true. AOL Mail is just an online website I use. Do you assume everyone using Google is doing so on computers using Windows 98? If somebody tells you they were watching an episode of Star Trek, do you assume they must have a fifty year old television?
How exactly do you use AOL? Is the AOL software (which is actually still around, I just looked it up) running on your computer or do you open www.aol.com or mail.aol.com in your browser?
AOL definitely has an image problem. Most savvy computer users associate it with the Age of the Dinosaurs. Probably terribly unfair but AOL brings to mind dial-up, archaic interfaces and Bill Gates looking like he was in high school.
I associate AOL with constantly receiving unsolicited installation disks in the mail, many years ago. I think I tried it once, but as time went on, I could come up with fewer and fewer reasons to use it. At that time I read the Straight Dope column in print only.
You just haven’t been in IT long enough. What is unsaid speaks volumes. Addressing your Star Trek analogy, if you picked say the Star Wars Christmas Special, which is usually only available on bootlegged VHS, yes, you couldn’t watch it.
I took a bunch of those and made an ancient polynesian drill for a college course.
I barely use AOL nowadays. I used AOL as my web access back in the early nineties and part of that was having an email account. Back then I used AOL software because it was generally as good as anything else (I believe the web browser was a version of Netscape).
I haven’t been a subscriber with AOL since some time in the nineties but you can have an email account with them for free. So I’ve kept the same email address for over twenty years now. But it’s my only remaining connection with AOL.
Hey, don’t worry - keep using your AOL email address, there is absolutely nothing wrong with it.
Just be aware, that AOL users, at least to IT people, are the same as basement-dwelling-star-trek-geeks , before Star Trek became cool again …and don’t get me wrong, I’m a Star Trek fan since I’m a kid.
This stems from (some/many) AOL users believing things like, that the Internet is installed from the AOL CD and/or is located on their AOL CD…and that there is NO internet without the AOL software.
I had literally US tourists leaving, because they said, that since we don’t have AOL on our Internet Cafe PC’s we are not having the REAL Internet or not the right Internet.
Some are puzzled that AOL.com didn’t remember their password - since they have NO password - yes, for some odd reason they think, that my PC’s knows their password - but only when they want to use it. :smack:
As I said, its maybe not a fair representation of reality, but if I said 2005 that I’m a Star Trek fan, people assumed that I would get Klingons themed wedding or getting my ears surgically altered.
