Hi all, My girlfriend was having some troubles with Norton not working right so I investigated. Can't get it to open (hangs). Can't get it removed/re-installed (shuts down). More interestingly, can't even navigate into the norton AV directory from explorer/my computer - the screen shuts down right after I open it - while other directories I can peruse without problem. Even stranger - any internet search for "antivirus" or specific antivirus programs (McAfee/Norton/Nod32/Kaspersky - anything) immediately causes that IE window to shut down. But I can search/navigate to other unrelated websites without any problem. I even tried getting onto download.com and grabbing a trial of Nod32 just to scan the system - no luck - the window is shut down as soon as I type in Nod 32 into the text input and press enter. I tried looking through regedit but again as soon as I get the registry open it immediately shuts down. Her and her mom use the computer and they're still on (yes, it's true) dial-up, so they're not doing anything they shouldn't be. No Peer to peer stuff, no website downloads of weird files. Just email. Anyone have any idea of what this might be? I can't even formulate a good search on Google because what's happening is so strange. Hoping for some expert advice. Worse comes to worse I'm just gonna format the thing and start over. BTW her system is an old P3 or P4...running WinXP (probably shouldn't be). Thanks in advance, Matt Shaw

matso< Whatever virus/trojan/malware that computer picked up most probably altered the hosts file (no extension). The hosts file is located in the C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc folder. Between the lines is the generic Windows Xp hosts file. ____________________________________________ # Copyright (c) 1993-1999 Microsoft Corp. # # This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows. # # This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each # entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should # be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name. # The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one # space. # # Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual # lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol. # # For example: # # 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server # 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host 127.0.0.1 localhost ___________________________________________ You can open the hosts file with Notepad and anything below 127.0.0.1 localhost can be removed in Notepad and after you remove it save the changes and close it. DO NOT remove the 127.0.0.1 localhost Some viruses place all the Antivirus sites into the hosts file and that's why you can't reach those sites. Tufenuf

Tufenuf, Thanks for the advice. I'll give it a shot tonight and let you know how it goes. Matt

I can't help with what virus that might be but I do have a couple fixes for you if you want them, but you are going to have to use a friends computer or an open computer at your local library, wherever you can use a computer and download some stuff. You need to go to majorgeeks.com and download Avast virus scanner (make sure you get the free one) and save it to either a jump drive or burn it to a cd. Take it back to your computer and run the setup. Let it do its thing and it will ask if you want to do a boot scan. Allow it to do the boot scan (it will work even if you have to force shut down your computer as long as you allow it) I have used a lot of different virus scanners and have found that Avast works the best and I get into some serious problems sometimes. Damn P2P sharing!!! I have some other ideas but these are a little harder to work with but if you want any additional help get back at me. Big Daddy Dirk

Tufenuf and Big Daddy, An update: The hosts file was totally clean. I fully expected to find what I was looking for there, but there was nothing beyond the 127.0.0.1 local host line. Don't know what to make of this other than maybe there is another file somewhere that is hijacking the normal hosts file and denying access to particular websites. Secondly, I cannot get any antivirus program to load. I tried Avast and it will not progress into the setup wizard. It starts loading, and then just shuts down after a few seconds. Tried this multiple times, both loading from a flash drive and from a CD, in normal mode and in safe mode. I can install non-antivirus programs without difficulty (for example I tried reinstalling some of her camera software and that works fine). At a loss...thinking her system needs to be formatted but I'm so annoyed by this now that I have a need to beat this virus. I'm by no means an expert but I am an advanced user, and I can usually take care of my own problems...but this thing is taxing me and forcing my hand into at least indentifying it!! If you or anyone else have any further suggestions I'd love to give them a try. Thanks for your continued help. matt

matt, Try running your anti-virus program in SAFE mode. How to Start Windows in Safe Mode http://www.pchell.com/support/safemode.shtml Also bring up Task Manager (Alt/Ctrl/Del) and see if there's some oddball process running and end process on it. You could check the processes by doing a google search which may help locating the culprit. Tufenuf

Tufenuf, I've tried running Norton in Safe Mode...can't do it. Shuts down every time. I've also checked the running processes but there's nothing that's definitely abnormal looking...but I'll check again tomorrow and google anything I don't recognize. Matt