Help!

[DannyM]

Hey gang, any computer bods out there? I was doing some Hebrew-to-English research yesterday. I came across a site called 'babylon'. I registered, thinking I would then be able to get stuck in to some translations proper. Anyway, I've ended up with 'babylon' plastered all over my computer; I mean when I turn the thing on it's right there as my home page, if you please! I can't seem to "translate" at all with this site, and it's also brought loads of little 'extras' to my computer, like Pacman, Smileys, a 'Chinese' option, Games etc. I don't want all of this; I want to get rid of it but can't. I even deleted the icon, and it's still there! If I was at work I'd get somebody to help me, but I'm home and alone right now. Can anyone help? Oh, and I used to love Pacman, so can I get rid of everything else and keep that?

Thanks gang.

[Byblos]

Hey gang, any computer bods out there? I was doing some Hebrew-to-English research yesterday. I came across a site called 'babylon'. I registered, thinking I would then be able to get stuck in to some translations proper. Anyway, I've ended up with 'babylon' plastered all over my computer; I mean when I turn the thing on it's right there as my home page, if you please! I can't seem to "translate" at all with this site, and it's also brought loads of little 'extras' to my computer, like Pacman, Smileys, a 'Chinese' option, Games etc. I don't want all of this; I want to get rid of it but can't. I even deleted the icon, and it's still there! If I was at work I'd get somebody to help me, but I'm home and alone right now. Can anyone help? Oh, and I used to love Pacman, so can I get rid of everything else and keep that?

Thanks gang.

Not sure what you're asking for Danny. If it's your home page you want to change, depending on the browser you're using you can go to tools and change the home page back to what it was before. I use Firefox and mine is under tools/options/main.

If it's a program you installed and would like to remove it then you need to go to the Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs, find the offending program and click remove or uninstall (also depends on what version of Windows you're running).

Let me know if this helps or if you're looking for something else.

[DannyM]

Hey gang, any computer bods out there? I was doing some Hebrew-to-English research yesterday. I came across a site called 'babylon'. I registered, thinking I would then be able to get stuck in to some translations proper. Anyway, I've ended up with 'babylon' plastered all over my computer; I mean when I turn the thing on it's right there as my home page, if you please! I can't seem to "translate" at all with this site, and it's also brought loads of little 'extras' to my computer, like Pacman, Smileys, a 'Chinese' option, Games etc. I don't want all of this; I want to get rid of it but can't. I even deleted the icon, and it's still there! If I was at work I'd get somebody to help me, but I'm home and alone right now. Can anyone help? Oh, and I used to love Pacman, so can I get rid of everything else and keep that?

Thanks gang.

Not sure what you're asking for Danny. If it's your home page you want to change, depending on the browser you're using you can go to tools and change the home page back to what it was before. I use Firefox and mine is under tools/options/main.

If it's a program you installed and would like to remove it then you need to go to the Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs, find the offending program and click remove or uninstall (also depends on what version of Windows you're running).

Let me know if this helps or if you're looking for something else.

Thanks Byblos. I think I am grasping what you are saying, so I'm going to go and try these "moves." I'll hit you back if I get any more probs.

[Gman]

Danny,

It sounds like spyware to me.. Is it a windows box? You can try going back in time with a windows restore point, or going to one of these sites to wipe it off.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/produc ... fault.mspx

http://www.malwarebytes.org/

http://www.safer-networking.org/index2.html

[DannyM]

Let me know if this helps or if you're looking for something else.

Wow. I've done it- I think. I've even managed to find and keep the bit I was really looking for: 'Ancient Hebrew Research Center'. This source seems to be exactly what I was looking for. And I think I managed to get rid of all the nonsense. I followed your advice about going to the Control Panel, and it just all seemed to disappear... I'm a bit edgy about it really being gone for good, but at lest it's not plastered across the top of my screen anymore... Thanks

[DannyM]

Danny,

It sounds like spyware to me.. Is it a windows box? You can try going back in time with a windows restore point, or going to one of these sites to wipe it off.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/produc ... fault.mspx

http://www.malwarebytes.org/

http://www.safer-networking.org/index2.html

Gman,

Nice one...This could be such a timely intervention: I do not have any anti-virus software as yet, and looking at the first link you provided (I'll look at the others next) it seems to me that if I install this product I can stop this happening again...? I went to the "what is spyware?" link/info piece and what it described is very similar to what has happened to me with 'Babylon.' I'm nbot saying 'babylon' was a virus, but with this software it looks like it doubles as an anti-spyware AND an anti-virus kit...? Again, I'm still very ignorant when it comes to computers.

[jlay]

If you downloaded a program, then they've probably tacked on some goodies. Likely it is free software, and one way it is free, is these other goodies pay money to subsidize the software. So, you get more than you bargained for. If this is the case, you should be able to remove those individually. It could also have some spy ware attached, which any decent spy ware program can scan and detect.
If you desire to remove altogether, just go to your control panel and find, "add/remove programs." This will give you a list of what has been loaded, and you can target what you want to get rid of.

[Byblos]

Danny,

It sounds like spyware to me.. Is it a windows box? You can try going back in time with a windows restore point, or going to one of these sites to wipe it off.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/produc ... fault.mspx

http://www.malwarebytes.org/

http://www.safer-networking.org/index2.html

Gman,

Nice one...This could be such a timely intervention: I do not have any anti-virus software as yet, and looking at the first link you provided (I'll look at the others next) it seems to me that if I install this product I can stop this happening again...? I went to the "what is spyware?" link/info piece and what it described is very similar to what has happened to me with 'Babylon.' I'm nbot saying 'babylon' was a virus, but with this software it looks like it doubles as an anti-spyware AND an anti-virus kit...? Again, I'm still very ignorant when it comes to computers.

You definitely need to install some type of anti-virus and anti-spyware if you don't have one. I use AVG (the free version should be enough). Be careful where you download it from though, only go here http://free.avg.com/us-en/homepage.

[DannyM]

Danny,

It sounds like spyware to me.. Is it a windows box? You can try going back in time with a windows restore point, or going to one of these sites to wipe it off.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/produc ... fault.mspx

http://www.malwarebytes.org/

http://www.safer-networking.org/index2.html

Gman,

Nice one...This could be such a timely intervention: I do not have any anti-virus software as yet, and looking at the first link you provided (I'll look at the others next) it seems to me that if I install this product I can stop this happening again...? I went to the "what is spyware?" link/info piece and what it described is very similar to what has happened to me with 'Babylon.' I'm nbot saying 'babylon' was a virus, but with this software it looks like it doubles as an anti-spyware AND an anti-virus kit...? Again, I'm still very ignorant when it comes to computers.

You definitely need to install some type of anti-virus and anti-spyware if you don't have one. I use AVG (the free version should be enough). Be careful where you download it from though, only go here http://free.avg.com/us-en/homepage.

Yes, I tried to download Gman's Windows Defender but I got blocked from doing so. So I guess your link will help me download this without any problem? Thanks Byblos.

Thanks Jlay, there did appear to be more than I bargained for. But it was very intrusive in that it just appeared everywhere, even as my home page; I certainly did not sanction this. Just felt a bit overwhelming for a minimalist such as myself

[August]

Just a reminder, don't do any online banking or give any personal information online until you are rid of the spyware.

[DannyM]

You definitely need to install some type of anti-virus and anti-spyware if you don't have one. I use AVG (the free version should be enough). Be careful where you download it from though, only go here http://free.avg.com/us-en/homepage.

Byblos, I installed the AVG program from your link; so I'm now protected, yes? Thanks for the link up. I had been meaning to do this, was just waiting for my computer bod from work to come around and do it; but it seems I have what he was coming 'round to do... I'm over the moon. Thanks again

August...I hear ya; I think I've done all of that okay- thanks.

[Byblos]

You definitely need to install some type of anti-virus and anti-spyware if you don't have one. I use AVG (the free version should be enough). Be careful where you download it from though, only go here http://free.avg.com/us-en/homepage.

Byblos, I installed the AVG program from your link; so I'm now protected, yes? Thanks for the link up. I had been meaning to do this, was just waiting for my computer bod from work to come around and do it; but it seems I have what he was coming 'round to do... I'm over the moon. Thanks again

August...I hear ya; I think I've done all of that okay- thanks.

Did you take the option the scan your PC? If not, you can set it up to run late at night or early morning but you will have to leave it on. Once it is scanned and no viruses or spyware are detected, then you can say you're protected.

[DannyM]

You definitely need to install some type of anti-virus and anti-spyware if you don't have one. I use AVG (the free version should be enough). Be careful where you download it from though, only go here http://free.avg.com/us-en/homepage.

Byblos, I installed the AVG program from your link; so I'm now protected, yes? Thanks for the link up. I had been meaning to do this, was just waiting for my computer bod from work to come around and do it; but it seems I have what he was coming 'round to do... I'm over the moon. Thanks again

August...I hear ya; I think I've done all of that okay- thanks.

Did you take the option the scan your PC? If not, you can set it up to run late at night or early morning but you will have to leave it on. Once it is scanned and no viruses or spyware are detected, then you can say you're protected.

Yes, I did that. It lasted the best part of an hour, then it scanned files, and apparently everything is now okay; there are green ticks in all departments. I now have AVG as a home page, though, and suddenly have Yahoo search, but this is okay I guess.

[Gman]

Main things are this..

1. Always have a good virus scanner on your machine.
2. Always have a good spyware scanner on your machine.
3. Make sure your computer is behind some kind of firewall, whether it be a windows firewall or a hardware firewall (such as a router).
4. Do not use Windows Internet Explorer (IE) for web browsing. Use a browser like Firefox.
5. Make sure your computer is always up-to-date with the latest updates from Windows or whatever app you are using.
6. If you can manage it, get your server behind some kind of proxy server.
7. If you don't trust it, never download anything suspicious on your computer.

[Gman]

Yes, I did that. It lasted the best part of an hour, then it scanned files, and apparently everything is now okay; there are green ticks in all departments. I now have AVG as a home page, though, and suddenly have Yahoo search, but this is okay I guess.

It's how they get their advertisements in..

The free ones are ok.. AVG is pretty good, but you get what you pay for. For me I don't take chances like this and always pay for a good one like McAfee.