Computer Help, Stumped

[CherBear]

My laptop became infected with the "Vista Antivirus 2011" malware. It is one of those fake antivirus products that claims you have x number of infections, pay us for the license fee and we will fix it type deal. Anyways, I removed it with malwarebytes software. How ever, one of the "symptoms" of this particular malware is that it redirects all web traffic to a webpage claiming that your computer is infected blah blah, all fake.

I suspected it did this through rerouting all web traffic through a local proxy server it created.

Anyways, after I removed it, all Firefox and Opera work fine. All requests work fine. How ever, Chrome and Iexplorer just fail to load any pages at all.

(Chrome and Iexplorer are dependent on Windows connection setting for proxy use, Opera and Firefox are not)

So my first though was to check the windows connection settings. No proxy settings found. It looked just as it should.
I re checked to see if Iexplorer worked, and now it does fine, Chrome however, remains inoperable.

Aaand this is where I am stumped. I have no other problems remaining, except this. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

:windows::tear:

 

[Mesh]

When you checked your proxy settings in IE did you go to Tools->Internet Options->Connections->LAN Settings-> I assume Use a proxy server for your LAN was checked with a blank address you removed it and it started working. Google Chrome uses these same settings but also a switch can also be added to the Chrome shortcut. Right click your Google Chrome shortcut go to properties under target check for the switch -proxy-server= and remove it. If this still does not work completely remove Google Chrome delete the shortcuts and reinstall.

Also install some form of Linux I don't know what it is but I’ve been told it cures everything.

 

[AIbandit]

Also install some form of Linux I don't know what it is but I’ve been told it cures everything.

Lol!

Linux and Mac users have one common problem that windows users do not.



they can't stfu about their os

 

[casm]

I suspected it did this through rerouting all web traffic through a local proxy server it created.

Possibly, but it could also be doing a couple of other things in the easy-to-check category.

- Screwing with the hosts file. See this link for info on how to reset it to its default.

- Screwing with DNS settings. Give this a shot first and see what happens.

- If the above doesn't work, take a look at here and make sure everything's set to automatic. Under advanced, make sure that 'DNS' is clear of any entries.

So my first though was to check the windows connection settings. No proxy settings found. It looked just as it should.
I re checked to see if Iexplorer worked, and now it does fine, Chrome however, remains inoperable.

This is why I think it may be DNS-related, but am not yet 100% sure of that. More:

Aaand this is where I am stumped. I have no other problems remaining, except this. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Chrome's a PITA for DNS problems. This is a couple years old, but should work in the current version IIRC.

Lol!

Linux and Mac users have one common problem that windows users do not.



they can't stfu about their os

Yes, but at least when we're failing to STFU it's not about the malware o' the week!

 

[CherBear]

Good call on the DNS, I went through those steps and nothing changed.

Just through googling various terms, it seems that the version of Spyware doctor I had was interfering with Chrome. The newest version solves this bug.

 

[AIbandit]

Yes, but at least when we're failing to STFU it's not about the malware o' the week!

Made me laugh but not always true, windows users just range from inept to adept. Windows gets a bad rap because of the operators.

Linux users tend to be a bit more skilled

Always wear protection and don't take it places it doesn't belong.

I don't usually have issues

 

[casm]

Made me laugh but not always true, windows users just range from inept to adept. Windows gets a bad rap because of the operators.

Partly But I get where you're coming from on that one. Mostly I just felt compelled to defend my Mac-desktop-loving ass

Linux users tend to be a bit more skilled

For people who don't use FreeBSD, sure

Always wear protection and don't take it places it doesn't belong.

Words to live by. Don't care who it is or what they use; I just wish they'd cop on to that concept.

I don't usually have issues

Yeah, but you get it. I build and support Windows stuff as well, and don't have problems either... But it all comes back to smarts in the first place.

Honestly, I could give a flying f*** as to what people use; the important thing is that it works for them. A little more attention to detail across the board would be helpful, though.

 

[CherBear]

My personal opinion:

Windows: bloated, vulnerable, easy to use. Pricey.
Mac: Slim, secure, Very pricey. Very easy to use.
Linux: Slim, secure, FREE. Difficult to use. (I know somebody is going to moan about this. No, console commands are not what an average user would describe as easy)

The main reason I use Windows is because I like to game on my PC. (Dont get me started about Wine). I have a partition for Xubuntu, its nice to have in recovery situations, but doesnt get much use.

 

[casm]

My personal opinion:

Windows: bloated, vulnerable, easy to use. Pricey.
Mac: Slim, secure, Very pricey. Very easy to use.
Linux: Slim, secure, FREE. Difficult to use. (I know somebody is going to moan about this. No, console commands are not what an average user would describe as easy)

That nails it it exactly.

Where Apple triumphed with OS X was to make Unix / Linux / FreeBSD usable by humans. No Linux distro has come even remotely close to that same level of desktop usability in the 20 years that Linux has been in existence - and I say this as a NeXT/OpenStep bigot, and neither of those interfaces were exactly user-friendly

OS X is not the answer to Windows issues anymore than Linux (or FreeBSD, or any other derivative of the two) is. Just use what fits the task at hand; OS holy wars are as stupid now as they were back when I was hearing the same Atari vs. Commodore vs. Apple crap.

Especially if you were in the Commodore or Apple camps at the time

 

[AIbandit]

Lol

Honestly, I could give a flying f*** as to what people use

Me too I just like messing with Mac users

 

[casm]

Me too I just like messing with Mac users

Totally understood. If there's one person that I am more than happy to see wet their pants and cry uncontrollably over their choice of computer or OS, it's Mac or Linux zealots. Both are appallingly obnoxious, and (typically) horribly technically-ignorant yet willing to entrench themselves in their camp for reasons that they're not even near understanding.

For f***'s sake, it's just a bloody computer. Use what works for you and be done with it.

 

[CherBear]

Totally understood. If there's one person that I am more than happy to see wet their pants and cry uncontrollably over their choice of computer or OS, it's Mac or Linux zealots. Both are appallingly obnoxious, and (typically) horribly technically-ignorant yet willing to entrench themselves in their camp for reasons that they're not even near understanding.

For f***'s sake, it's just a bloody computer. Use what works for you and be done with it.

/thread

Its kind of like cheering for your favorite sports team. One year they might really suck, but you sure as heck better cheer for them anyways. :gee: