BleepingComputer.com: Odd Behavoir in Connection and IE viewer

Today I had to re-install my windows in hopes of ridding myself with this problem in IE. I cannot see my own forum or log in. I too use IPB and the banner and top of the forum is cut off..so that IE users cannot log in.
Actually this is happening only to me on my computer. So is the next issue.

As of two weeks ago I cannot get to many sites that I could before. I get a time out. Yet on my family's computers they can get there and see the forum. Where do I begin to track down my problem?

Did you say this was a fresh installation of windows we're looking at?

Well I turned off my computer and then placed the CD in there and it asked me to repair.. so no.. not a fresh install. But it completly re-installed my operating system and took 39 minutes and I had to add all the information including the valid id.

This is XP Pro.

Someone told me that I should check my temp. file and see that it is rw ... but it says read only and will not change off that default. Oh yes and I have Malware Pro and ran that and it is clean.

This post has been edited by Starnova: 30 September 2010 - 06:51 PM

You did not perform a repair install you simply reinstalled your OS on your current drive. See if you have a windows.old wor a windows.000 directory.

Malware scanners don't always catch everything. And your system configuration will be preserved when doing a repair install, that includes any network configuration or malware that may be loading.

First check for add-ons or other settings that might be modifying your web page or preventing access to it. Are you using IE7 or 8? You can start either of these in "IE Safe mode". Close IE then click "Start" -> "Run", type "iexplore –extoff" and press Enter.

Then check to see if you have a proxy set. Go to "Internet Options" in your Control Panel. Click the "Connections" tab. Click "Lan settings" button toward the bottom. In the Local Area Network (LAN) Settings dialog window, check to see if "Use a proxy server..." checkbox is checked. If it is, uncheck it and click Ok. Click Ok again and restart your IE.

Then check to see if you have entries in your hosts file. Click "Start" -> "Run" and paste the following into the box:

notepad.exe "%Systemroot%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts"

Then press Enter.

look through the file that pops up for any of the sites you are having problems accessing. If you find them comment out the line by putting a # character in front of the line.

Close the file and save it after making modifications. Reboot the machine and try to access your site again.

cryptodan, on Sep 30 2010, 07:24 PM, said:

I searched my entire system for those files manually and in hidden folders and with the search. Well there is nothing to display oddly enough. When I botted back on windows.. it ran great with everything on. The only thing that reinstalled was my office 2007 and it just reconfigured. I was given the option when I inserted the disc to press R and I did.. but I understand what you are saying. Thank you

Gabrial, on Sep 30 2010, 07:25 PM, said:

I did exactly what you said .. and I thought I did it correctly but I noticed something that tells me something is wrong somehow. The file for the hosts came up right away but it is called IMhosts which I think is correct. However it is a Sam file. Is that correct? Should I just format and start over? I still see the edits I made in there..but I still cannot access even after rebooting my machine.

there are two files within the /etc directory under c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc hosts and lmhosts thats hosts with LM not an IMhosts. The hosts file should have 1 entry in it.

Try this: How do I reset the hosts file back to the default?

If you are comfortable backing up any needed data, formatting the drive and wiping everything out completely, then reinstalling XP and drivers and software, then restoring your backed up data that would be the most sure way of fixing any problems that were caused by your malware infection.

If you are using a router on your network and sharing it with other people, you might check to make sure noone has blocked access to your site on your router using MAC or IP address based filtering options that may be present in the router. I don't know the social dynamic in your place, but that's the other place that could be blocking your access to specific internet sites. Just mentioning it as a possiblity.

cryptodan, on Oct 1 2010, 12:17 AM, said:

Yahoo! That did the trick ...thank you! Also there were many files in the LMhost.SAM file. All kinds of advertisements. thanks again.!

This post has been edited by Starnova: 01 October 2010 - 01:06 AM

Gabrial, on Oct 1 2010, 12:22 AM, said:

Well all is good now and I wish to thank you for everything Gabrial. BTW I have the router here with me.. and it is only my husband and Mom that are the networked right now. No one in my family knows how to even get to the router page. My husband said something else was going on when I was reminded that I did the Malware scan because I was caught in a pop up war a month ago. Some small screen when I went to a photoshop site, that played a "never gunna give you up " that had some guy dancing and when I tried to turn it off it moved all over away from my mouse. I shut down the computer..ran my nod32 three times and looked through every file and could not find it. I fear it is still exploiting somewhere. LOL..
Thank you for your patience .. and I will contribute what I can here.

Starnova, on Oct 1 2010, 06:05 AM, said:

THat would be call a Rick Roll: What is a Rick Roll? Its known as an Internet Meme. Its not malware its what I like to call annoyingware, but i like the song so it doesn't annoy me.

Glad you got your computer running well, and happy bleeping.

This post has been edited by cryptodan: 01 October 2010 - 01:13 AM

Glad to be of help Starnova. Feel free to start a thread in Am I Infected? What do I do? or follow the preparation instructions in Virus, Trojan, Spyware, and Malware Removal Logs to have your system checked out for malware that your scanner might have missed. Let me know if there's anything else I can help you with.

Happy computing.