[tuppy26]

Hello, my ikle beauties, long time no see

Right just had my O/H sisters Dell Inspirion Mini Notebook down here checking for virus's as was playing up, NO Virus's..........but it keeps kicking you out of say Gumtree/Facebook, straight back to desktop, she is running XP (160Ghz and 1gb Ram), and on IE8, tried to stick Chrome on it earlier and that was being tempremental so stuck it back to IE8, yet even when Chrome worked it still kicks you out, then when you can get it to work keeps coming up clickan.org (have to then refresh for proper page to load), and then within minutes kicks you back out to desktop, now I havent got the notebook in front of me but any idea's?

Thanks Guys and Girlies xx

Jo x

(Ive taken AVG off and Installed MSE, done Malwarebytes and Superanti)

[max99]

These ones can be tricky to diagnose. There could be some serious malware on there, or it could just be Windows screwing up. You might even find there are numerous other issues going on, but browser problems are always the ones which people notice the most. You can check through the Event Viewer logs to get an idea of what is going on (Start / Run / eventvwr).

If it's a netbook, chances are there won't be too much data or additional software on there, so consider backing up and restoring to factory settings. The trouble with diagnosing other people's machines is that you have no idea what they've been doing or what other problems and errors have been occurring. Restoring the machine to factory settings, updating it and installing the basics (use Ninite for this) can often be a lot easier, quicker and more reliable than running malware scans, diagnosing problems and finding the solution(s). That said, if it is malware related, running ComboFix in Safe Mode might be enough to fix it - although it still won't be a guarantee that the machine is now 100% clean and working correctly.

Also, remember you can use software like Teamviewer to access her machine remotely. All she has to do is run a small program and tell you the ID number and password. It's a lot easier than giving instructions over the phone or having to go around there in person.

[tuppy26]

Thanks Max knew I could rely on you lot..........I have noticed she has teamviewer on there so will make my life alot easier, I'm going to try and get the net/notebook back down here as be alot easier for me, as she does not want to lose all her music so I can stick it on mine and then put it back over and reset it...........I will update, mind you her attitude the other day was oh well I will just go buy another one, so sometimes I wonder why I bother lol

[max99]

It can be a thankless task fixing someone else's computer. So, always take the easiest option for you. Sometimes, a reinstall is the easiest option. Sometimes, it's the last resort. If you do go for the reinstall, always decide quickly, as what you don't want to happen is to spend hours running scans and then decide you need to reinstall after all.

Be careful if you're going to use a USB stick or external drive to backup her data, as certain malware can infect them and spread to your PC. You can disable AutoPlay on your PC to safeguard against this. Plus, you can use a tool like Bitdefender's USB Immunizer to prevent your USB sticks from getting infected in the first place.

Also, if Teamviewer is installed and she doesn't know how it got there (i.e. it wasn't installed by a family member or friend), it may be as a result of a dodgy Tech Support scam phone call. Check to ensure she hasn't fallen for one.

[Maxatoria]

i'd wipe it and start again as its probably been through virus and cleaning up more times than a pr0n star so theres probably a ton of crap left behind and its alot quicker to assume the worst (as usually it is)

just backup data and nuke/reinstall having made sure you have all the required drivers on a disk ready

make sure the anti virus is the first thing installed and updated then start the thankless task of updates/reboots for the next 2-3 hours

and when its done the first thing she'll do is to disable the AV due to a popup message and go visiting some dodgy sites and you'll be back at square 1 so if possible image the machine when you are finished so you can just pop in a disk and be back to life pre 101 viruses/malware

[alanwarwic]

XP really needs 2GB these days though have a feeling the Mini might be the one with the GMA 500. 720p screen and a strange maximum 1GB of Ram.
Am sure autoplay is disabled by default these days.
A reinstall is recommended but I'd first check those GMA 500 drivers have no been updated of recent.
There is a fair chance that graphics acceleration is the culprit if it is the weird GMA. Its a fair bet it has very limited support being the same graphics chip as in the iPad 1 and never meant for PCs.

[alanwarwic]

If it is that GMA 500 I'd certainly remove Flash.

It's Intel's worst GPU by far.