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#266960 - 11/10/2005 13:50 Time to help the spaz again
Heather
addict

Registered: 14/01/2002
Posts: 510
Loc: NY
I have someone's laptop running XP professional with service pack 2 that developed a unique problem after connecting to a hotel's high speed service. On startup, a message comes up Generic Host Process for Win32 Services encountered a problem and needed to close. No matter how many times you click it, it just keeps popping up and doesn't go away. Also, IE will not allow you to go straight to any non-MS site (like, you have to search through MSN and click the link to google, rather than just typing it). Anti virus came up clean, and windows was updated last night. Any suggestions?


PS - Get a mac is not a valid suggestion.
_________________________
Heather

"I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires." -Susan B Anthony

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#266961 - 11/10/2005 14:15 Re: Time to help the spaz again [Re: Heather]
pgrzelak
carpal tunnel

Registered: 15/08/2000
Posts: 4859
Loc: New Jersey, USA
It sounds more like a spyware issue than anything else. Have you tried SpyBot Search and Destroy, or any other anti-spyware software?
_________________________
Paul Grzelak
200GB with 48MB RAM, Illuminated Buttons and Digital Outputs

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#266962 - 11/10/2005 14:40 Re: Time to help the spaz again [Re: pgrzelak]
Heather
addict

Registered: 14/01/2002
Posts: 510
Loc: NY
Tried spybot, as well as an online scanner. nothing showing up. Probably something brokenated with windows. Unless something f'd up happened when the starnet stuff from the hotel internet installed (since uninstalled). Everything else is functioning fine except those two things. Well, except for the owner of the laptop, who's just really embarrassed.
_________________________
Heather

"I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires." -Susan B Anthony

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#266963 - 11/10/2005 14:53 Re: Time to help the spaz again [Re: Heather]
matthew_k
pooh-bah

Registered: 12/02/2002
Posts: 2298
Loc: Berkeley, California
1) Check the IE security zone settings. A lot of spyware messes with them. Just make sure they're all set back to the default level.

2) start -> run -> "sft /scannow". This will take a while, and if it finds anything it'll ask for the windows CD so that it can copy the orginal windows file over the corrupt one.

Doesn't always work, but they're a few good first steps.

Matthew

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#266964 - 11/10/2005 14:55 Re: Time to help the spaz again [Re: matthew_k]
pgrzelak
carpal tunnel

Registered: 15/08/2000
Posts: 4859
Loc: New Jersey, USA
Also, did the hotel's internet connection require any software installations, configurations or other modifications? It might be that your network settings (proxy / firewall) were changed.
_________________________
Paul Grzelak
200GB with 48MB RAM, Illuminated Buttons and Digital Outputs

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#266965 - 11/10/2005 14:57 Re: Time to help the spaz again [Re: Heather]
Mataglap
enthusiast

Registered: 11/06/2003
Posts: 384
There are ways of registering a .dll to "extend" IE and do things like override the default home page and change the spinner graphic I don't remember any details from when I had a similar problem with my cable modem, but google and the =exact= names of the hotel software might help.

Recent Thinkpads have a reasonably cool program called "Access Connections" which is very useful for having different network configurations for multiple locations. There is a section for configuring IE buried in there.

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#266966 - 11/10/2005 16:13 Re: Time to help the spaz again [Re: Mataglap]
lastdan
enthusiast

Registered: 31/05/2002
Posts: 352
Loc: santa cruz,ca
(long shot)
any chance it's a dell?
my dell gave me the same trouble until I did some kind of update (I have a head cold, sorry I can't be more specific).

now that I think about it, mine would only do it when I booted, and I'm not using wireless.

sorry, I'm useless today.

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#266967 - 11/10/2005 16:54 Re: Time to help the spaz again [Re: lastdan]
boxer
pooh-bah

Registered: 16/04/2002
Posts: 2011
Loc: Yorkshire UK
Quote:
my dell gave me the same trouble until I did some kind of update

Me too, but it went away after you click it a few times, It's not often a problem to me, as I don't switch the PC off - I wasn't aware of an update.
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Politics and Ideology: Not my bag

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#266968 - 11/10/2005 17:20 Re: Time to help the spaz again [Re: Heather]
drakino
carpal tunnel

Registered: 08/06/1999
Posts: 7868
Does your computer ask you to send a report to Microsoft when it occurs? If so, go ahead and send it, and it should direct you to a site with a specific patch for this problem. I had this issue on my work PC, and the patch fixed it right up. Otherwise go here to download the patch.

Also, regarding the spyware issue, are you running any programs that run all the time to catch spyware? Newer crap is using tricks like rootkits to install and hide themselves, and unfortulatly the process to stop and clean them up now is to have a resident spyware scanner running, just like a virus scanner. Otherwise, cleanup will be long and painful, usually requiring a boot cd to clean it all up. Having recently found a system in this state, I found it easier to nuke it, then install the Microsoft spyware tool. It is free, and seems to work well. IYour problem may not be spyware, but it is better to be safe if you are going to be connecting your Windows box to the internet.

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#266969 - 11/10/2005 17:25 Re: Time to help the spaz again [Re: drakino]
wfaulk
carpal tunnel

Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
Quote:
the Microsoft spyware tool

This still cracks me up. Imagine this conversation with Ford:

Quote:
You say you have a leak in your fuel line? We know about it. It's a design flaw. But we have a device for you that will collect the runoff from the leak by putting a small bladder around the hole and pump that back into your fuel tank. What if you get another hole, you say? Well, we'll have to look at that when the time comes.
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Bitt Faulk

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#266970 - 11/10/2005 18:32 Re: Time to help the spaz again [Re: Heather]
bonzi
pooh-bah

Registered: 13/09/1999
Posts: 2401
Loc: Croatia
Is the "system restore" enabled on the system, and if so, do you still have a restore point (checkpoint) from the time before the problems started? You might want to try to restore it. It helped me once get rid of some pretty stuborn piece of spyware.
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Dragi "Bonzi" Raos Q#5196 MkII #080000376, 18GB green MkIIa #040103247, 60GB blue

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#266971 - 11/10/2005 19:39 Re: Time to help the spaz again [Re: Heather]
wfaulk
carpal tunnel

Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
Try running WinSock XP Fix.
_________________________
Bitt Faulk

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#266972 - 11/10/2005 22:24 Re: Time to help the spaz again [Re: wfaulk]
shadow45
member

Registered: 19/03/2002
Posts: 144
Loc: Florida, USA
wfaulk, Have you seen this? I laughed so hard..

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/07/22/microsoft_spyware_vb6/


Edited by shadow45 (11/10/2005 22:26)

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