Rons Posted December 21, 2003 Share Posted December 21, 2003 I STILL like the first option - run away! Serious note - good luck Jeber. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nlinecomputers Posted December 21, 2003 Share Posted December 21, 2003 I STILL like the first option - run away! Serious note - good luck Jeber. Me too on the first option. Some times when it comes to clueless relatives you've got to walk away and let them take the D*** thing into a computer repair shop. When they have to part with cold hard cash as a penalty for their screw ups they may think twice before downloading every porn site they find. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zlim Posted December 21, 2003 Share Posted December 21, 2003 You can't ignore your brother but you can teach him responsibility for his own actions. As long as you always fix things for him, he won't worry about what he does/where he goes/updates and so on.At some point, you'll have to say (whether true or not), "I can't fix this. You need to take it somewhere and let a pro work on it." Believe me, he'll start thinking twice especially when he is without a computer for a few days or a week and it will hit him in the wallet too.I help (free) senior citizens with their computer problems. One that I helped is not a friend just an aquaintance and yet he was more trouble than all my other people combined! I call him my clueless user. He called over the 2002 Christmas holidays while we were entertaining and was annoyed because my husband would not drag me to the phone to listen to his latest problems! He needed computer help and right then!In spring, I brought his computer here and removed all the virii, porn, dialers, stuff quarantined in his AV and did all the possible updates. When I delivered his computer, I told him, "I'm not doing this any more! I will answer questions by email only - don't phone me. If your computer gets a virus, you will have to take it somewhere (I gave him the name of a reputable mom&pop type shop) and pay to get it cleaned." Let him learn that they won't save files. They'll do a clean install and he'll have whatever they give him.It was amazing how he wanted to learn how the AV works, what he had to do to update windows, and what malware is! I spent time showing him what he had to do. I wrote out a notecard with directions of what he should do once a week, once every two weeks and about once a month. Then he tried what I had written out and added instructions of his own. He has only called once since spring - and only because he couldn't get on the internet with the ISP I signed him up for. I found out the problem was different access numbers. I called him up, gave him the new numbers over the phone and told him how to replace the numbers in the shortcuts I created on his desktop.Jeber, save your sanity! Tell your clueless user, who happens to be related, that you can't fix this problem! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siebkens Posted December 21, 2003 Share Posted December 21, 2003 The easist way to make sure the CD is available is to use a Win98 Startup disk (choose start with CD support). ;)I am not totally sure whether refresh will work as well when started outside of the GUI. I have not tried that ... or at least it was so long ago, I can't remember!Anyone else know for sure whether refresh only works if started from within the gui (normal/safemode)?You should be able to boot to a start up floppy with cd-rom support. At command prompt (A:\) type D: (enter) assuming that is your cd-rom drivetype setup (enter) & it should go right into the setup (while using the Win 98 cd, not his reinstall disk).Is this what LilBambi is asking?BTW - I've never lost any data when reinstalling Win98. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeber Posted December 21, 2003 Author Share Posted December 21, 2003 I just tried to enter normal safe mode on his machine. I had been using command prompt only. In safe mode, nothing works except the wallpaper, and trying to use the Windows key brings up that same "Kernal32 has committed an illegal operation..." error I got before. C-A-D causes a reboot. does this safe mode problem add any info that's useful?Sieb, I'm going to give that a try. If I don't repost for a day or two, it will be because I lost all his files and I'm opting to run away. I'll take my laptop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeber Posted December 21, 2003 Author Share Posted December 21, 2003 THANK YOUTHANK YOUTHANK YOUTHANK YOU!!!It worked! He's back up and running, nothing got lost, I'm a hero and all you guys have earned the amazed gratitude of my bro.Tons of adult dialers, .exe's, hidden files...cleaned out as many as I could for now, but I've got to get ready for work, so I'll have to search for and destroy the rest later.Thanks again, all of you. Joining this forum has made all those books I bought nearly useless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nlinecomputers Posted December 21, 2003 Share Posted December 21, 2003 Jeber,your might want to look at Spywareblaster. It is a very good spyware blocker that can prevent alot of that crap from being loaded in the first place.http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rons Posted December 21, 2003 Share Posted December 21, 2003 Yeah Jeber!I'm glad you got it fixed. Unpack your bags - you don't need to run away any longer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LilBambi Posted December 21, 2003 Share Posted December 21, 2003 Awesome Jeber! You done IT! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havnblast Posted December 22, 2003 Share Posted December 22, 2003 We never lost faith in ya Jeber Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siebkens Posted December 22, 2003 Share Posted December 22, 2003 Hooray!! It's fun when we get one right!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeber Posted December 22, 2003 Author Share Posted December 22, 2003 As LilBambi reminded me, I should at least post what worked for those who may someday have a similar problem...or relative.I did exactly as Siebkins posted: You should be able to boot to a start up floppy with cd-rom support.At command prompt (A:\)type D: (enter) assuming that is your cd-rom drivetype setup (enter) & it should go right into the setup (while using the Win 98 cd, not his reinstall disk).based on Fran's original advice. Since it presented a different interface than the regular installation routine from the W98 CD, calling on "setup" is what is needed to reinstall the OS without reformatting the disk. I suspect if I'd have done a regular installation from the CD, it would have reformatted the drive first. Perhaps not. But at least the way you guys suggested did it right.I have yet to go back in and remove all the leftovers of his imprudent surfing. I have loaded spy-bot and ad-aware on his machine, and will run both as soon as I can. And I think this scared him enough to get his attention, finally.Again, thanks everyone. I really appreciated the support. Even Bro appreciates the help you gave me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nlinecomputers Posted December 22, 2003 Share Posted December 22, 2003 Jeber,Did you see my post upthread about spywareblaster. It is a spyware blocker and a tool I install on my clients that I judge are too dangerous for their own good(sounds just like your brother IMHO). Might prevent some grief in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LilBambi Posted December 22, 2003 Share Posted December 22, 2003 (edited) Hey Jeber that's great!Be sure to get the latest updates on BOTH Ad-aware and SpyBot S&D BEFORE running them! Very important. There are several things in the last updates that you will probably end up needed.The very latest tool for SpyBot S&D appears to have been the LSPFIx for TCP/IP settings.But just in case TCP/IP settings get hosed, you might want to have some tools from here on hand:http://forums.scotsnewsletter.com/index.ph...t=0entry55641 :thumbsup:EDIT: That SpywareBlaster is great. Using it here and recommend it highly thanks to Nathan's recommendation of it. Doesn't run all the time, just update it about once a week following the instructions. Very easy.It is the final step I do after cleaning up a client's computer these days. Edited December 22, 2003 by LilBambi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corrine Posted December 23, 2003 Share Posted December 23, 2003 Agreed -- Spyware Blaster is a fantastic security tool. Its currently keeping 997 items off any computer its installed on! Since your brother may forget to check consider signing him up for Lavasoft's Reference File Notification newsletter. The newsletter will contain new reference file information, and will only be sent in plain text. Signup page: http://www.lavasoftnews.com/cgi-bin/mojo/m...?f=s&l=rfnotifyGreat job Jeber! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LilBambi Posted December 23, 2003 Share Posted December 23, 2003 Great idea about the Lavasoft notify Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LilBambi Posted December 23, 2003 Share Posted December 23, 2003 Hey and Lavasoft is using Mojo mailing list (that has a new name now due to MediaPlex's obnoxious behavior). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corrine Posted December 23, 2003 Share Posted December 23, 2003 Great idea about the Lavasoft notify Definitely! Much easier than trying to remember to check all the time & they've been updating very regularly lately.I just burned a CD with Zone Alarm, Spybot S&D, Ad-aware & Spyware Blaster for my son who bought his first a computer. He's getting cable on Monday and I promised him I'd get him set up security-wise before he got in trouble. I'll get him signed up for the AAW updates and show him www.grc.com, close Messenger, and make sure he knows about Windows Updates. I'm hoping I can get him to use Mozilla 1.5 instead of IE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeber Posted December 23, 2003 Author Share Posted December 23, 2003 Get him signed up in the forums...we'll help convince him. Maybe he'll pick up a few other good computing habits hanging around here, too...if we're not too dull and uncool, that is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zlim Posted December 23, 2003 Share Posted December 23, 2003 I installed this program Spyware Guard http://www.wilderssecurity.net/spywareguard.htmlon my clueless user's computer. It is similar to SpywareBlaster BUT I set it to auto update in the background! I am pretty sure that he won't think to update a spyware protector tool.Personally, I'd rather check for updates - I don't like anything loading behind my back. I use SpywareBlaster and check about once a week for updates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Paracelsus Posted December 23, 2003 Share Posted December 23, 2003 Get him signed up in the forums...we'll help convince him. Maybe he'll pick up a few other good computing habits hanging around here, tooJebs!!...Give me a Heads-Up, first. OK??Wanna make sure I delete my post from the AOL9.0 Thread, if your Bro's gonna be reading here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LilBambi Posted December 23, 2003 Share Posted December 23, 2003 Me too and I think Jeber himself too LOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeber Posted December 23, 2003 Author Share Posted December 23, 2003 No, No, No guys...don't panic. I was referring to Corrine's son (see post previous to the one you quoted). Then again, should you hear a weather report calling for 30 degree days in perdition, start deleting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Paracelsus Posted December 23, 2003 Share Posted December 23, 2003 No, No, No guys...don't panic. I was referring to Corrine's son (see post previous to the one you quoted). Then again, should you hear a weather report calling for 30 degree days in perdition, start deleting. Ah!!... Now I understand the "Dull & Uncool" part (In my best Rosanne Rosannadana voice)... Never Mind Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LilBambi Posted December 23, 2003 Share Posted December 23, 2003 LOL! OK, carry on ... at least till we hear a weather report calling for 30 degree days in perdition, that is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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