Possible Virus - help needed

[sutom]

ok, basically I think I might have a virus, but Norton antivirus doesn't pick it up and its hard to tell exactly what it is....

I have BTopenworld ADSL, and around half the time, certain websites fail to load, whilst others do.
I've had it before where NO sites would load, and its just my connection screwing up, but this isn't that. Now sites like Google.com and Google.co.uk, fail to load again and again, but usually I just reboot my PC and they miraculously load again.
Now things like rllmuk forum and lycos.com aren't working either.

I don't think I'm just being stupid because these sites aren't going down ALL the time.

Has anyone else had this problem?

The reason I think it might be a virus is I remember someone metioning, possibly on here, that a virus targets certain websites so the PC cannot connect to them all the time.....

[marcus]

Are your definitions uptodate? Perhaps it targets the Norton Update site also meaning its hard to update, although that would be incredibly ironic and almost amusing.

First thing Id do is clear out cache, and cookies, goto CMD and type in ipconfig /flushdns, update your definitions and do a full system scan. Also shutdown the pc completely unplug your ADSL modem, including at the plug socket, plug it all back in again and reboot.

[Tom Salter]

http://housecall.antivirus.com/

Check that out,that'll tell you if you have a virus.

[chevkoch]

Get the fantastic free AVG virusscan here:

http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php

Free updates included. Friend of mine had big virus troubles, but his Norton antivirus didn't detect any; AVG did and got rid of them. I've been using it for some months now and can only recommend it fully.

[Vaipon]

Yeah, Norton anti-virus is a horrible bit of software. Pain in the arse to use, doesn't work half the time, and sometimes won't un-install properly. You should definitely go for an alternative.

Sophos
Mcafee
AVG

All good options.

[?pint]

It might just be that some Internet Explorer files have been infected. You can use this tool - http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/junk/CWShredder.exe to detect and remove any 'takeover' effects (such as sites changing your homepage etc.). Might be the problem.

[sutom]

Thanks for all the replies!
I think I still have the problem however....

marcus quote:

First thing Id do is clear out cache, and cookies, goto CMD and type in ipconfig /flushdns, update your definitions and do a full system scan. Also shutdown the pc completely unplug your ADSL modem, including at the plug socket, plug it all back in again and reboot.

Ok I cleared out cookies, and did shut-down, unplugged the adsl modem, re-booted.
Sorry, but I couldn't find the cache, and not sure what CMD is (I'm using Windows 98SE).

Electric Boogaloo quote:

http://housecall.antivirus.com/

Check that out,that'll tell you if you have a virus.

I did that and it couldn't find anything

chevkoch quote:

Get the fantastic free AVG virusscan here:

http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php

Free updates included. Friend of mine had big virus troubles, but his Norton antivirus didn't detect any; AVG did and got rid of them. I've been using it for some months now and can only recommend it fully.

Also downloaded this, installed, scanned system and nothing was found....

Half-pint quote:

It might just be that some Internet Explorer files have been infected. You can use this tool - http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/junk/CWShredder.exe to detect and remove any 'takeover' effects (such as sites changing your homepage etc.). Might be the problem.

And downloaded this and tried but it also found nothing....
And I think the problem is still happening....and since I installed AVG anti-virus I keep getting an error with the blue screen of death
So thanks but are there any more ideas?

[chevkoch]

And I think the problem is still happening....and since I installed AVG anti-virus I keep getting an error with the blue screen of death
So thanks but are there any more ideas?

Sorry to hear that it's gotten worse, but all my experience with AVG up to now has been great. Since you were a Norton user, did you deinstall that? I'm just guessing that there might be conflicts having these 2 antivirus programs running at the same time.

Also you might try Adaware, which is a neat software that lets you remove malicious cookies, data trackers, spyware etc. Very helpful in my opinion. Get it for free here:

http://www.lavasoftusa.com/

Side note: I've seen yashiro comment on PC advice topics frequently and elaborately, he seems very knowledgeable. Wait till he picks up the heat of this thread.