Popups/can't connect to various sites.

[chemist]

Norton Security Scan isn't the same as an installed antivirus. It does not integrate with your operating system and only runs when you want it to. Please read here

So it should be safe to keep as an on-demand scanner, however you can always uninstall it if you wish.

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You didn't post the rest of the VirusTotal results that tells us what scanner found what.

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AVG will be your only running antivirus program. All those other programs are antispyware programs. Each one does something the others don't, which gives you extra layers of protection against threats. They are not heavy on system resources, either. We recommend them all. You might want to skip Spybot.

[ScottG489]

Ok, sorry about not posting that, I thought you could just follow the permalink. Here it is though:

http://www.virustotal.com/analisis/4...06ba5481ead309

I will also download and install all of those programs later tonight cuz I'm about to go out.

[chemist]

Only 3 out of 36 hits. Likely a false positive. Sometimes certain files can be used for both good and bad things, so some scanners flag them due to potential.

Let me know if you have trouble.

[ScottG489]

Yea, I sure had trouble. What a pain in the ***. I install zone alarm and then SpywareGuard followed by the HOST file. May I say, holy ****.

So my computer starts, and ZoneAlarm goes crazy asking me if I can allow like every process that is starting. Which makes sense. But it just gets out of hand. Everything is freezing up and getting backed up asking for my approval. I don't know what some processes are so I need to look them up on the internet, but I need to approve my browser, which I do. But I guess I need to approve other things too because when I start Firefox everything still freezes up. So I have restarted my computer like 3-4 times so far. This time everything froze up as usual so I just went through my process list and started ending non-essential processes until my computer frees up. I think I ended up ending DrWatson Postmortem debugger or something like that. That seemed to free up the computer.

Anyways, this is one of the reasons why I never really got a virus program like this. They can just be a huge pain in the ***. But I really want to get this working because you are right, I do need protection.

I'm about to restart my computer again. When you get this post please let me know what you think I should do. Zone alarm is really screwing me up on startup...

[chemist]

Hello again, Scott. Do not fret.

Seems ZoneAlarm is giving you fits. Uninstall it and start over.

You can do one of two things. Try one of the other firewalls. Each one will need some getting use to. Many users experience no problems with these programs.

Or, at the very least, enable your Windows Personal Firewall. It will at least protect you from threats coming in.

Let me know how it goes.

[ScottG489]

Well the only one I had heard of was ZoneAlarm so I decided to get it. I just restarted my computer again and it seemed to work fine. Do you have any tips for using the program? I haven't really configured it at all yet.

[chemist]

See if this helps:

http://www.removingspywareforfree.co..._Tutorial_Page

[ScottG489]

Hey, thanks for that guide its really helpful.

I also was wondering what I should do about any of those things that AVG found. Such as anything in that picture of the scan I showed you:

http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/5349/11093092bo7.jpg

Also, I run a scheduled scan every morning at 3am. I woke up at around 10 today and it had just rounded 7 hours. Is it unusual for it to be that long?

Btw that scheduled scan found a few things too. I don't know if they are just false positives or not though. I would post a screenshot of what it found but my computer just crashed, as usual.

[ScottG489]

Update (couldn't edit sorry):

Just restarted my computer. It froze up again. That DrWatson program is what seems to be freezing my computer.

Also, when my computer starts up, I get those window error messages for you to Send or Don't Send. One is for my ATI cards control panel and also for UltraMod (double monitor interface program). The other is for that DrWatson program. After that happens I open up Task Manager and close out all of the instances of DrWatson that are running. Then my computer frees up. When I tried to run UltraMon twice, DrWatson would open up and freeze up my computer. I ended it and finally on the 3rd time UltraMon started with no problem.

[chemist]

You never mentioned your computer crashing. Two days ago you said it had been running great for a few days?

Just restarted my computer. It froze up again. That DrWatson program is what seems to be freezing my computer.

Also, when my computer starts up, I get those window error messages for you to Send or Don't Send. One is for my ATI cards control panel and also for UltraMod (double monitor interface program). The other is for that DrWatson program. After that happens I open up Task Manager and close out all of the instances of DrWatson that are running. Then my computer frees up. When I tried to run UltraMon twice, DrWatson would open up and freeze up my computer. I ended it and finally on the 3rd time UltraMon started with no problem.

Sorry, but this is beyond my expertise. I could give you instructions for disabling Dr. Watson, but it involves editing your registry.

As this forum is concerned with malware removal, I suggest you seek expert advice in our Windows XP Support Forum or Hardware Support Forum

I also was wondering what I should do about any of those things that AVG found.

In general, if you know they are bad, you can remove them from the vault. If you want barrelmania, move it back.

I can't tell you anything about the recent scan if I can't see the results.

Is it unusual for it to be that long?

Never heard of one taking that long, but it does depend on the amount of files on your system. Could be due to your above problem(s) also.

[ScottG489]

Seems like I have about 1.5 million files at least. And yea I can understand how my other question can be out of your expertise. Thats OK.

I leave my computer on 24/7 and I have been ever since I built it 2 years ago. It has never really been able to stay on for more then 3-5 days max. It isn't that big of a problem for me since it has happened to me on every computer I have ever had. Seems like windows just isn't meant to be kept on straight like that.

Anyways, I think that I will go to another forum like you suggested to fix the problem with Dr. Watson.

Thank you for all of your help!

[chemist]

I also keep mine on 24/7 and find I have to reboot every once in awhile to keep it straight also.

You're very welcome! Good luck with your other issues.