Problems with logins on hotmail and some web forums. :-(

[CanadianZ]

I have been having a problem for about 4 days. It seems that everytime I try to login to check my Hotmail account it doesn seem to work.

I get a login screen and put in my username and password and when I click "sign in" one of three things happen; either I get the same login screen without my username there anymore or it logs in and as soon as I click to look at my inbox it takes me back to the login screen or I get a "cannot find server" error.

Also, I noticed that when I tried to run "windows update" it opens a new window and then I get a "cannot find server" error.

Another problem is when I am logged into a web forum that I visit regularly I cannot view any posts or reply to any. You must be logged in on this forum to view posts within sub catergories. I am able to view post topics but as soon as I try to click on the topic to look at the post itself I get a login screen.

I feel that all of these problems are related. If anyone has any suggestions I am willing to try anything. Pretty much all other functions on my computer are working. I have run a virus scan twice with NAV and also ran spy sweeper twice hoping that would solve my problems. THanks for the help.

CanadianZ

[daamon]

Hi CanadianZ,

As this is primarily a video help site (the computer forum is more for stuff relating to computers in regards to video), you are likely to have more luck here: http://computercops.biz - I've used them a few times and have always got useful and prompt replies.

Be sure to quote your browser type and version. It might be worth you downloading HijackThis and posting a log from that.

Good luck.

[CanadianZ]

THanks for the link. Looks like an interesting website and forum. I tried to log into the forums but again was having trouble.

My GF was trying to log into her Yahoo email account and got a "timed out" error. I believe the problem might be cookie related.

If anyone has any suggestions I would sure appreciate it. THanks.

CanadianZ

[glockjs]

time ta clean the ol' puter. delete all files and cookies. clean out all temp files. run spyware proggy, anti virus proggy, clean your registry, and defrag your harddrive. what browser you usin anyways??

[tag]

Try this one and see if it helps at all:

http://www.ccleaner.com/

[daamon]

No problem.

I hate to say it, but it sounds worse than cookie related. I recently got a new PC and got a firewall package (PC-Cillin 2002) with the mobo. I had to log on to update the profiles. I also upgraded to SP2 for XP. During those minutes where my firewall wasn't up to date and I was downloading SP2, I got a fair few nasties that took a whole weekend to remove. One of the symptoms was what you describe...

The advice the guys at Computer Cops will give will be along the lines of (all freeware or trialware):

1. Go to http://homecall.trendmicro.com/ to get a free (and very thorough) scan of your PC.
2. Download and scan with HijackThis and post the log o their site.
3. Download and scan with Ad-Aware SE
4. Download and scan with Spybot Search and Destroy.
5. Download and scan with Trojan Hunter.
6. Download and scan with Spyware Guard.

If you want a complete list of what I use for my PCs online protection, let me know and I'll post back when I'm at home.

Good luck...

[CanadianZ]

Okay, I took your suggestions and here is a list of the programs I ran in order:

1. Trend Micro - Free Online scan
2. CCleaner
3. SpyBot Search and Destroy - Found 5 DSO exploits in the registry. It said it fixed the problem.
4. Trojan Hunter
5. Spy Sweeper
6. NAV 2004

Also, I have spy sweeper, trajan hunter gaurd, zone alarm and spyware gaurd running right now so as to not get any more problems while surfing.

I update all definition files for these programs before I ran them. I ran them back to back. Spy bot was the only program able to find anything wrong. When I checked out what it found it was registry entries all dealing with Internet Explorer.

I was trying to post this on some other web forums I visit to get a few more opinions, but cannot get into anywhere else. I still believe the problem is cookie related as I am able to log in but when I try to look at posts or post myself a log in screen is brought up again.

I am currently using IE 6 with SP2 installed. Any suggestions of what to try or settings I could check are much appreciated. Thanks again for your help.

CanadianZ

[CanadianZ]

I dl'd ad-aware but could not get it to update it's definitions for some reason. I ran it as I dl'd it but it did not find any problems.

CanadianZ

[glockjs]

a quick fix--> www.mozilla.org

[daamon]

@ CanadianZ - If the 5 DSO Exploits were: "HKEY_USERS\ ... \1004!=W=3" then ignore it as it's a false negative - i.e. it's being reported but it's not actually a problem.

Well, at least you know that you're PC is clean and is now better guarded.

The best way I've found to clear out windows is a program called Windows Washer, from Webroot. It thoroughly cleans all the places where all sorts of crap accumulates and is highly configurable. I have mine to do a thorough clean every time I close the last remaining browser.

Currently supports IE and AOL, and Netscape to a lesser degree. Doesn't do much with Mozilla's Firefox.

@ glockjs - Sound advice. But, to all potential converts, at the time of writing there's a major conflict with PC-Cillin's firewall / antivirus software. See here for details of problem, and a link to the solution I found.