Has anyone beat about:blank yet? I tried aboutbuster and no dice. 
I use Windows 2000.
What is it, out of curiosity? One of them there “virus” things, from the sound of it. It is, isn’t it?
I never understood why you PC-Windows folk don’t get VirtualPC and use a Linux browser & email program in a Red Hat (or other distro) window, or run Basilisk II and use a Mac browser and email program in a Mac window, and then you wouldn’t be getting all virused up all the damn time?
You understand that what I’m saying is a different thing entirely from saying “Get a Mac” or “Why don’tcha run Linux”, right? You’d still be in Windows for everything but email and web browsing. I understand you have chosen Windows as your OS, no accounting for taste but whatever, if you wanted to be a Linux user you’d be a Linux user, if you wanted a Mac you’d’ve bought a Mac, and so on. But please tell me you aren’t a Windows user specifically so that you can use Outlook and Internet Explorer!?
Not saying there’s no other way you can get y’self infected, but seriously.
I just downloaded a Windows upgrade (patch?) for XP. I can’t recall the name of the upgrade. It was something like “Systems Patch 2” or “Patch System 2”. (How can I find out?) Anyway, it advised me to back up before installing. Well, I did.
Now, after downloading the upgrade and rebooting, the PC won’t reboot! What the hell has Microsoft done to me? You mean, they don’t even know if their upgrades (or patches) are any damn good?
I can’t even boot up in safe mode of Windows or safe mode to the DOS prompt! Am I screwed? Can anyone help me diagnose this problem? And, is this a known problem with this XP upgrade?
Please help! This is brand new machine, too! And, I really don’t feel like going through a reformatting of the hard drive! - Jinx
Please ignore the above post…it was supposed to have been a new thread. Once again, I’ve done this yet again…a good trained rat that remembers the ex-feature of starting a new thread within an existing thread. Now, it’s a very bad habit I can’t seem to break!
Sorry,
Jinx
If you’ve got really tough spyware that you can’t seem to remove, I suggest you give Winpatrol and X-Setup Pro a try. They’re not automatic removal tools, but they should let you regain control of your system and then you can track the offending files down and remove them manually.
I am very happy with Mcafee. I have Virus Scan and the Firewall.
I can’t seem to find any virus issues, and I’ve removed whatever spyware I ciuld detect, but my clock seems to be losing time. On the order of several minutes a day. This leaves me deeply suspicious… Any comments?
This is unlikely to be a virus issue. More probably your CMOS battery is dying out. You’ll have to get a new battery, which is rather cheap, but unless you know where it’s located you’ll have to get some techie to help you with it.
A temporary solution would be to get a time synchronization software. Be careful with which one you choose, 'coz these software are usually loaded with ads and stuff. I’m not familiar with any names, or I would have recommended one to you.
Don’t download anything. Just go to start > run > type in:
net time /setsntp:tock.usno.navy.mil
If that doesn’t seem to fix it you can do start > run > type in:
w32tm /config /syncfromflags:manual /manualpeerlist:tock.usno.navy.mil
And then do:
w32tm /config /update
After that you can just do the last command i showed you to update the clock.
YM will probably V. For alternative time servers see the NIST Internet Time Service.
I thought I might add, if changing out your CMOS battery seems like a pain in the rear, just create a shortcut on your desktop, and for the location put the appropriate command from above, and then put the shortcut in your startup folder. Put it last to make sure your network connections have time to get going.
I’m going to change my answer a bit. Don’t worry about any of that technial mumbo-jumbo, just download this program from boulder.nist.gov and it will take care of you on your Windows box 
(link deleted)
They are updating again! WOO HOO!
AOL is suggesting that a slow running computer can mean the machine has been infected with a virus. I thought a virus does bad stuff, not just slow the computer down.
What’s TSD?
Many viruses do indeed do bad stuff, however, many virus writers are spammers and are not interested in doing actual damage to your computer. Rather, they would rather make money off of you and your internet connection by turning your computer into a “zombie,” sending out spam e-mails and the like for them. Indeed, there is a black market of sorts where hoards of these comprimised PCs are sold from virus writers to spammers and the like.
TIP! If you are running Windows XP and you are frustrated that your folder view settings do not stay the same, press the Control key as you close the window and the entire system will default to that view.
For example, I prefer to have view > details as my default view. So I set this as the view, and press the control key, and either go to file > close, or click the X in the top right hand corner. My settings are saved!
(To above: TSD is “The Straight Dope”)
As far as I’m concerned, slowing my computer down is bad stuff!
For the record, any program that replicates itself and moves from computer to computer is a virus, even if it does nothing malicious at all.
NOTE TO PEDANTS: I know, I’m dramatically oversimplifying, but this probably isn’t the place to get into a discussion of the various breeds of malware. If Blown & Injected is really interested in the difference between viruses, worms, Trojan horses, spyware, and their ilk, Google leads to many wonderful resources.
I am running windows xp home edition. Startup hangs on the Bios screen and asks for an F2 prompt before continuing. If anyone knows how to resolve this problem, please respong.
Ok i’m hoping to get some HTML buffs. How do they get HTML Forms to redirect somewhere after the person clicks the submit button. Thanks in advance.
Use the action attribute. Here is a link to some examples.
Also, it is better to ask this question in its own thread. That way the question and replies can stick together without the other computer help.
OK, I’m getting really pissed. Been using Firefox for quite a while along with AdAware and Spybot. Now I keep getting plenty of popups, starting with MyDietPatches, run Adaware, and restart. Then all I do is go to ESPN, and within minutes they’re back. The ones that keep coming back are:
AdRotator
istbar
Any idea on how to stop getting these things?
M$'s AntiSpyware Beta has just been released. It’s found things on my system that other programs suggested in this thread have missed. Only works with Win2K and XP.