OH HELP

[charisstoma]

My home computer is seriously messed up. Have been having these 'app can't be found. check your install disk' or something like that. Wasn't too bad before but after the phone call... HP sent me a e-mail a bit back that said, 'sorry, we don't do your Windows updates anymore'. I have an XP.

So I get a phone call that says we've been monitoring your computer and we know how to fix your e-mail. *blink blink* "Go to your computer and I'll tell you what to do." *blink blink*
1. Land line she's calling me on is in a whole other room and it's attached to the wall.
2. Phone connection was difficult to understand.
3. Sure her name is Jane Something.. Doesn't make any difference that her speach sounds like she is a native of India.

Computer now tells me that I don't have the authority to close it.
First time I pushed the button I do have authority over.
Second time I logged myself off and then was able to shut the computer down.

But in the mean time lj commenting gave me a tiny window, dot sized to comment in. I tried to do a post and it wouldn't. Which is why you aren't hearing much from me.

I need to consult my gurus or get a different computer with a newer version of Windows or make a copy of my install disk from the place that it is on my computer and something.
The computer works fine if it's not hooked to the internet. *sighs*

Comments

[saskia399.livejournal.com]

Good luck Charis! You'll need it! *waves WooWoo stick*

[charisstoma.livejournal.com]

*shivering* Wave that baby.

[saskia399.livejournal.com]

Seems like the Woowoo alerted countrygirlxxoo and sent her help your way!

Good luck solving this! *hugs* pc troubles are the worst!

[alice_montrose]

She might be Eastern European and not Indian. Part of the AOL support, for example, is from Romania. I happen to know this for a fact, as I interviewed for their call centre at some point.

Good luck figuring out what the problem is!

You can also try reinstalling Windows, if you can. This usually fixes most issues when I do it, even if it takes forever to tweak the programs to my liking afterwards.

[charisstoma.livejournal.com]

I thought of reinstalling Windows too. That was one of the options I've been considering.

Thank you.

[mee-eep.livejournal.com]

I hope you get it figured and soon, we need our Charis internet-able :( *hug*

[charisstoma.livejournal.com]

YES, internet withdrawl has already started. Can't write because I can't post it and if I reinstall Windows then it'll be *wails* gone.

[saskia399.livejournal.com]

Can't you copy paste to word or something and then at least save that (Wouldn't want to miss out on it! *whines*)...Maybe back up your stories to an external source (like a cd?) in case you have to reformat your whole Hard Drive?

[mee-eep.livejournal.com]

Do you not hav a memory stick/disk to save work on? That's frustrating.

*HUGGLE*

[countrygirlxxoo.livejournal.com]

Don't call this number back. IT IS A SCAM. They will, at some point, have you grant them access to connect to your computer to see what the problem is and will install spyware, etc. and/or keyloggers to get your account numbers/passwords. Sounds like you have spyware/malware/adware on it. First, go to http://www.safer-networking.org/index2.html, choose the language of your choice, and download Spybot Search & Destroy. Install it, and follow the little wizard instructions to get it up and running. Once it's running, click the Immunize button on the left, then click the Immunize button near the top with the green plus sign, and wait until it finishes immunizing. Then click the Search & Destroy button on the left and then click Check For Problems. It might take a while to scan, but if it finds anything, it will list them. Anything it finds will be OK to get rid of. Once it's through scanning and it finds something, it will put a button up at the top that says Fix Problems or something like that. Go ahead and click it, and it will remove the crap it's found. If you have an antivirus program, make sure the virus definitions (the list of things it looks for) is up to date and scan your computer for viruses. If you don't have an antivirus program, or your virus definition subscription has expired and you can't renew it right now, download AVG Free antivirus from this site (download.com).

http://download.cnet.com/AVG-Anti-Virus-Free-Edition-2012/3000-2239_4-10320142.html?part=dl-avg_free_us&subj=dl&tag=button

Install it, and scan your computer for viruses. If these steps don't fix the problem, then you have a persistent program on there and you may have to wipe the hard drive and reinstall everything. Some programs are just that insidious. I hope this helps.

[charisstoma.livejournal.com]

Thank you!
I hung up on the lady but still I've got this problem. So... Thank you thank you.

I went to the AT&T site to see if there was anything they had to say about this. Under password, there was a *pauses to OOOOOOOoooooooh* rare phone number. I figure they can direct me or correct things from their end too since it seems to come in when I access my Yahoo e-mail account. AT&T has McAfee which I never downloaded as I have Norton already installed and it's been auto-updating/auto-scanning, I also frequently run those myself.

I want to know how they were able to get into my computer to mess with it in the first place. *sighs* Haven't changed my password in years for my e-mail *shifty eyes* hmmm.

Thank you. This web-site is going to get a tap when I get home.

[theotherdibbler.livejournal.com]

Well crap. Best of luck getting it fixed! D:

[theskimblishone.livejournal.com]

Seconding the 'it's a scam' phone call thing. Those phone calls have happened a lot here and it's just coincidental timing and they've gotten quite a few people that way, which is really shitty. No computer company or ISP will ever, ever know if you're having trouble with your comp, I promise. That would require way more communication and awareness than they're generally capable of.

Best of luck consulting with your gurus! If you can, reformatting and reinstalling wouldn't be a bad idea to make sure there's nothing bad that's installed itself or been left behind - and upgrading isn't a bad idea if you can afford it, since it's starting to get harder and harder to work with XP, the older/more outdated it becomes.