Computer Help!!!!

If you're looking for any other ideas maybe it's time to toss Windows and its anti-viruse software out of a proverbial window and go with Ubuntu (http://www.ubuntu.com/products/whatisubuntu/910features)?

Proud to be Windows free for 7 years.
Ubuntu isn't a bad choice for someone breaking away from Windows. Software keeps me on Windows though; I'll run an alt OS for a few weeks and then once I have to boot back into Windows it's hard to go back to Ubuntu, Fedora, OpenSUSE or whatever I'm running at the time. Emulators are coming along well but not quite what I'd want. Eventually I'll build a comp just for VM purposes.

Here's a new tool that works in conjuction with that and MWB. It's called rkill.exe and it's on the BleepingComputer website and it basically kills all known annoying fake antivirus products and prevents them from running while you run programs to fix them.
I have heard of that one, but haven't used it yet. But it'll definitely make it on my thumb drive. Thanks!

I'm more of brute force kind of IT tech in our school district: folder redirection (My Documents) and re-image.

I have a question which is about my office computer. They are about 7 months old now and I keep getting these up date notices in the bottom right of my screen. If its software I have, should I load the updates? So far I have been just closing them but the other day I started to wonder if that's something I should be loading. I've heard all the updates can really slow down your computer. I guess I could call the suport number as I have hours of free support when I purchased them and I think we have used like 5 minutes. All of my business is done on web based applications so I probably purchased way more computer then I needed. My goal this year was to learn more about computers and so far I have learned how to use the multi function printer, scanner, etc... so we can send stuff out in different ways. Next is to learn how to scane in paper work and save it instead of files for ever customer.

I feel the same way about Linux as I do about Mac, except I like it a little more. It's free and you can do "most" of the things that you can do on both PC or Apple. The reason I still stick with PC is the reason I said above: market leader.

As long as the majority of activities that I do are written with PCs in mind, that's the OS I want to stick with.


And Matty, I would say that's probably true. If you start seeing messages again, I would be a little concerned about a rootkit, but it sounds like it's all clear.

Guess not here's the message I'm getting:

Virus or unwanted program 'BAT/Agent.148 [virus]'
detected in file 'C:\System Volume Information\_restore{202550A8-7A33-4BCA-9586-051D24DDBF8F}\RP957\A0084210.bat.
Action performed: Deny access

I have a question which is about my office computer. They are about 7 months old now and I keep getting these up date notices in the bottom right of my screen. If its software I have, should I load the updates? So far I have been just closing them but the other day I started to wonder if that's something I should be loading. I've heard all the updates can really slow down your computer. I guess I could call the suport number as I have hours of free support when I purchased them and I think we have used like 5 minutes. All of my business is done on web based applications so I probably purchased way more computer then I needed. My goal this year was to learn more about computers and so far I have learned how to use the multi function printer, scanner, etc... so we can send stuff out in different ways. Next is to learn how to scane in paper work and save it instead of files for ever customer.

what updates are we talking about? windows updates? a program that tries to update software to all of your peripherals and programs or what?

updates don't slow down your computer by default, I'm not really sure what's meant by that

what browser do you use since most of your stuff is on web apps? so much of that was done for IE6

Guess not here's the message I'm getting:

Virus or unwanted program 'BAT/Agent.148 [virus]'
detected in file 'C:\System Volume Information\_restore{202550A8-7A33-4BCA-9586-051D24DDBF8F}\RP957\A0084210.bat.
Action performed: Deny access
reminds me of smitfraud, though I won't say that it's that

BleepingComputer.com > Infected With....trojan.winreg.qoologic ...trojan.bat.agent.ak (http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t99715.html)

So I am trying to troubleshoot a windows xp machine over the phone, and my son(12) is telling me that it just keeps rebooting to the screen for going into safe mode. I have had him try to go to each option, safe mode, w/network support, last known good, and regular, but it never gets through to windows. Any ideas out there on why?
My younger son had been playing an old cd game, and when the 12 y.o. tried to escape out of it, the system fritzed.. :(

I really appreciate any and all ideas/suggestions.

edit: none of the function keys are stuck

So I am trying to troubleshoot a windows xp machine over the phone, and my son(12) is telling me that it just keeps rebooting to the screen for going into safe mode. I have had him try to go to each option, safe mode, w/network support, last known good, and regular, but it never gets through to windows. Any ideas out there on why?
My younger son had been playing an old cd game, and when the 12 y.o. tried to escape out of it, the system fritzed.. :(

I really appreciate any and all ideas/suggestions.

edit: none of the function keys are stuck
how far along does it get? to the loading bar screen?

you can do a windows repair if you have the disk or use a boot disk if you don't.. any info on what the computer did when it "fritzed?"

though unlikely due to it messing up after the game exit and not after a restart, make sure that the disk isn't still in, just in case it's set to boot from cd and for some reason isn't moving to the next device

what OS?

Hard drive crash would be my guess if it's not giving a STOP code just before it tries to boot to Windows. The blue screen will flash for just a second, unless you hit F5 and check the "pause during errors message" (or whatever it says). The STOP code will be something like 0x000000024 and then some numbers in parentheses.