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Can't open links

G

guibox

Member
I'm not sure what I did to mess with my computer but for the last week, I cannot reply to my webmail links. I am using Telus webmail servece and I can access my e-mail messages to read them and I can delete them but for some reason, I can't reply to them.

Also, there are some links on my homepage that I can't open directly but I can right click it and 'open' it that way.

What settings did I mess with or did I delete something in my program that doesn't allow me to open them?
 
I was listening to teaching from a web based ministry and their player was planting spyware on my computer so I used Windows XP's ability to reset the state of the computer back before when the spyware installed itself because I was no longer able to click on links. It is important that you keep track of the programs installed on your computer. You should have the back up enabled if you are running XP and Windows should make regular backups of your system's state. The only other alternative is to re-install or reset windows unless you have a good program that is able to get rid of the spyware.
 
Good point. Some spyware is written to "hijack' the browser. If you access your email via a web browser like Internet Explorer, this might be the problem. Goto http://www.lavasoft.com/software/adaware/ and download the free version of Ad Aware. Be sure to check for updates after installing it to insure you have the latest spyware definitions.

Or just use Firefox. ;-) http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/ It's also free and there's lots of free add-ons and plug-ins available.

Customize Firefox

Select new button controls for your toolbars, install extensions to add new features, or change the look of your browser with themes - the way Firefox looks and works is under your control.
Click to expand...
 
Sothenes said:
so I used Windows XP's ability to reset the state of the computer back before when the spyware installed itself because I was no longer able to click on links.
Click to expand...

And where do you look for this program in Windows?
 
guibox said:
Sothenes said:
so I used Windows XP's ability to reset the state of the computer back before when the spyware installed itself because I was no longer able to click on links.
Click to expand...

And where do you look for this program in Windows?
Click to expand...

Click on "Start", then click on "Help and Support".

Click on "Undue Changes or Restore Software". There are several options so you want to read carefully. You don't have to completely restore your system to factory defaults if your computer was keeping automatic restore points several times a month. You probably want to click on "System Restore" and then click on "Restore my Computer to an earlier time". What I'm told by the software is that you don't lose files but it just resets the computer to its settings from a specified time as long as you have been making earlier restore points. When you click "Next" a calendar pops up in the window and the days that are in bold are the days that you can restore to. I have my settings set to the max where 12% of my hard drive is reserved for system restore and the system makes copies I can restore to on its own. I hope that helps.

A good policy is to make copies of your files on CD or USB (thumb drives) so that you always have a backup should you be hit by a virus or trojan horse. A virus can't attack a CD that isn't re-writable on your bookshelf because they are write once and read only files. Should you have to take dramatic action, it takes a lot less time to fully reset your computer and it gives you the peace of mind that you are protected. I would caution you to keep backing up your CDs because I have some CDs which have gone bad over the years because making them involves a chemical process.

Someone suggested Adaware. That is a good program. I also recommend "Spybot" which you can download from the internet. One way to tell is if you see code that looks like spaghetti in the Start panel then you are probably infected because programmers write it so that you can't remove it. A computer at work was infected and Spybot removed all of the spyware except one professional spyware and the guy got it from looking at pornography over the internet and another guy at work responded to free movie tickets and got spyware. You have to be really careful as to what you click on and you may want to set your settings high at reducing popups in your browser because they are sent by companies that want to see if you are vulnerable. If you have Cable or DSL, getting a router is also important at protecting your computer.
 
Sothenes said:
Click on "Undue Changes or Restore Software". There are several options so you want to read carefully. You don't have to completely restore your system to factory defaults if your computer was keeping automatic restore points several times a month. You probably want to click on "System Restore" and then click on "Restore my Computer to an earlier time".
Click to expand...

AAAHHHH!!!!

I did this to a few days before I had these problems and when I restarted the computer there was an error that said that I couldn't reset it to the date I had chosen. However, after that could not access Internet Explorer and I don't know what I did wrong!!!

Help!
 
Try this:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=318378

Once you get things in working order, use regedit to export your registry files before doing any "unfamilar" installs. Windows only backs up five or so instances of the registry, so if you have problems and keep rebooting, hoping the system comes back, you eventually overwrite the one good backup. :o
 
vic said:
Try this:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=318378

Once you get things in working order, use regedit to export your registry files before doing any "unfamilar" installs. :o
Click to expand...

So if I do what it says...

"Click Start, and then click Run.
In the Open box, type sfc /scannow, and then click OK."

...I'm not going to encounter anything that is going to hose me for good? It mentions about the Windows XP CD but I don't think I have the software installation as we inherited this computer.

What are the risks here?

Now I know why I stick to Macs... :crying:
 
guibox said:
Sothenes said:
Now look. If you can't boot your computer, you can download a "Bootdisk". It will allow you to use your computer. Get them while they are free because this site charged for use before:

http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm
Click to expand...

No, my computer can boot up I just lost IE access after trying what you suggested. Why would that happen?
Click to expand...

Well, you can do two things. You can mess with the system restore program again setting it to a different date (either backwards to an earlier date or to the original state before we messed with it).

We can troubleshoot it by pressing on Control, Alt and Delete (use one time and not twice) to get the task manager. If you happen to press them twice you will reset your computer. You want to click on processes and applications. You want to write down what is running in the background to give us an idea if there is something like spyware running there.

Then we can go from there. Windows wasn't written in a day.
 
Well, I contacted Telus and after walking through trying to repair the LAN connection which didn't work, they informed me that I would have to take it in because the drivers would have to be reinstalled through the network card.

I don't have any of the software package that came with this computer as we inherited it.

Can somebody tell me what I have to tell the tech based on what is happening to me and what has to be done about it?
 
The Troubleshooting Process

List all pertinent information about your machine.
Describe in great detail what is wrong.
Tell us when you first noticed the problem and what you were doing that may have caused it.
Get help right a way. The longer you wait, the more difficult it may be to help you fix your problem.
Tell us what you've done (if anything) to troubleshoot the problem.
Many times, if you can remember what changes you made prior to the problem, changing it back will most likely fix it.

They might want some basic information to start with:

Email Support Form

Supported items at 5 Star Support.
Supported Items America Online CD-R/CD-RW Dialup Networking DOS DVD Hard Drives FrontPage Internet Explorer MS Access Modems Monitors MS Image Composer MS Office MS Configuration Netscape Navigator Outlook Express Printers Scanners Web Authoring Windows ME Windows NT Windows 95 Windows 98 Windows 3.1 Windows 2000 Windows XP Windows Registry
Problem Title: [max. 5 words] (Required)

Please choose one team you would like to submit your question too:
Windows Operating Systems
Hardware (Scanners, Printers, Monitors...etc.)
Software (Office, FrontPage, Browsers...etc.)
Networking

Please check your experience level to better help you.
Beginner Intermediate Advanced Expert

What platform are you running? ( IE: Windows 95, Windows XP...etc.)

Make of computer (IE: Compaq, Dell, Hewlett Packard...etc.)

Provide as much information here as you can (if it pertains to your problem).
Memory (RAM) in MB
Processor type
Processor speed (MHz)
Hard Drive Capacity

Describe in great detail the problem you're having: (Required)

Additional computer/device information related to your problem:

What have you done to troubleshoot/diagnose this problem?:

Tell us how to reach you: (Required)
 
guibox said:
Well, I contacted Telus and after walking through trying to repair the LAN connection which didn't work, they informed me that I would have to take it in because the drivers would have to be reinstalled through the network card.

I don't have any of the software package that came with this computer as we inherited it.

Can somebody tell me what I have to tell the tech based on what is happening to me and what has to be done about it?
Click to expand...

You could be able to look your computer information up on the internet and download the drivers.

When you boot your computer, you hit one of the F keys at the top and hold them down and the computer usually starts in safe mode. Knowing how that works will allow you to install the drivers yourself.
 
vic said:
Try this:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=318378

Once you get things in working order, use regedit to export your registry files before doing any "unfamilar" installs. Windows only backs up five or so instances of the registry, so if you have problems and keep rebooting, hoping the system comes back, you eventually overwrite the one good backup. :o
Click to expand...

I called Microsoft for helps years ago because my system registry was having the hickups constantly. He gave me some code to compact and clean the registry. He also told me how to change the code in Windows so that there would be more than 5 backups so I changed it to 50 (registry backups) on my old computer.

It turned out that I had to take the battery out of my computer which is dangerous because if there isn't enough of a charge in that battery then you have to find a specially made new battery. Doing that reset the CMOS settings and it wasn't fun trying to get the machine to boot back up because I had to play with it.
 
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