Tedious Gameplay, Probably Adware related

[gilmore]

On my other computer, the one (conveniently) without internet access, I have found that playing any sort of game (or running any program for that matter) tedious at best.

I'll be playing a game, let's say Diablo II, and I'll have no other programs running, and at seemingly random points the game will minimize itself, leaving me to stare at the desktop.

Sometimes it does it once, sometimes I have to ALT-Tab it a few times before it stays open again.

This happens several times, regardless of how long I play, and seems fairly erratic.

The one thing I've noticed which might help is that sometimes, if I hit ALT-Tab at the right time, it won't automatically go to the game like you'd expect, since it is the only program running.

It will give me a choice of switching to the game I've been playing, or this suspicious Internet Explorer window that is invisible otherwise.

I virus scanned, but all my virus scanners are out of date, I also tried disabling IE by moving the program file, and putting the .dll in a seperate directory (which i wasn't sure would work) because I figured if there was no internet explorer, it couldn't try to open itself.

I was wrong.

I dunno how to fix it, and the afflicted PC has no internet connection, but if there's something I can download, burn onto a CD, and put on that computer that could fix it, I would greatly appreciate any help someone could offer, though the likelihood of my Disc drive reading a cd is about 50%.

The computer is question is currently running Windows XP, which I can't honestly remember whether it was bootlegged or not as I didn't install it, the PC also has two 20gig hard drives with limited space, and outdated spyware, adware, and virus protections. If further specs are required, I'll get out a pen and pad and start writing them down.

This isn't a crippling computer issue, but I'd sure like to be able to play Roller Coaster Tycoon without having to become intimate with ALT-Tab.

[unlovedwarrior]

hello and welcome    
    
hi    
    
first im guessing your os is xp home.. if so is it fully updated??    
    
    
go here    
    
http://www.computerhope.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?num=1134123580    
    
    
dl      
ewido(avg anti-spyware)  
    
AVG Free(if you dont already have an antivirus)  
 
stinger(good for catching certain infections, but its updated daily so you need to redl it each time you want to use it )  
 
adaware    
    
spybot    
    
Ccleaner    
    
windows defender    
    
update them      
    
use Ccleaner to empty your junk from temp files just open and run scan, also run the issues scan it cleans your register up a bit. make sure to back up when it asks you to  
    
then do full scans with ewido adaware spybot windows defender and your antivirus  in safe mode (rapidly tap f8 before windows loads go to safe mode the very top one) and with system restore turned off ( right click my computer go to properties click system restore tab check box that says turn off system restore)    
    
then reboot back into normal and report back    
    
if you dont have a firewall already then dl zonalarm free from the site i gave    
    
if your having pop up problems and this might be good to dl and install anyway    
    
(for the pop up problem go here    
http://www.computerhope.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?num=1147665297
    
 and dl host secure)




when did it start happening??

what protections do you have??

when was the last time it was connnected to the net??

can you connect ti to the internet??

what did you do before this started happening?? install something?? dl something??

unlovedwarrior

[GX1_Man]

A machine with a probable bootleg XP, not updated and having problems is not surprising at all. This needs to be remedied first.

If you can't remember if it was a bootleg copy, your chances are 100% that it is. You can take it to a friends house that has internet and hook it up and go to Microsoft update. You'll find out soon enough.

If it works, you need the updates and functional programs and their updates to solve any malware issues.

[Raptor]

I virus scanned, but all my virus scanners are out of date, I also tried disabling IE by moving the program file, and putting the .dll in a seperate directory (which i wasn't sure would work) because I figured if there was no internet explorer, it couldn't try to open itself.

What did you hope to achieve by doing that?

You should update ALL your drivers and also install Service pack 2 with the latest updates.

Ofcourse, updating your virus scanners must be done as well.