3 dumb problems

neks · Joined: Jul 06, 2008 Posts: 4

1. An aggravating sound- like a laughing clown- "Yah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha"- but artificial, that plays three times after I sign on to AOL.
2. A 1.43 Gigibyte file (\Z00007.tmp) that shows up on Defragmentation, but is not in temp files or found on search.
3. Blocked email from help.lockergnome.com and who knows where else- I have AOL 9.0 and Norton Internet Security 2008, but I don't have any blocks, and lockergnome is Always Allowed on IE7.
MUCH THANKS.

Baby_Tux · Joined: Mar 06, 2007 Posts: 1242

neks wrote:

1. An aggravating sound- like a laughing clown- "Yah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha"- but artificial, that plays three times after I sign on to AOL.
2. A 1.43 Gigibyte file (\Z00007.tmp) that shows up on Defragmentation, but is not in temp files or found on search.
3. Blocked email from help.lockergnome.com and who knows where else- I have AOL 9.0 and Norton Internet Security 2008, but I don't have any blocks, and lockergnome is Always Allowed on IE7.
MUCH THANKS.

Sounds like you may have a virus. Try this:

This may sound bad but if you follow this forum you will see that AOL (AO HELL) & NORTON VIRUS are two BIG no-no's & the very first suggestion is to get rid of them as fast as your computer can allow. Now with that said, on to the MEAT of the post...

First turn off your "RESTORE POINT" this will prevent it from putting the "nasties" back (turn it back on when system is clean)

Then I suggest you throw some scanners at it, try;
Trend Micro online HOUSECALL (antivirus scanner)
Spybot search & destroy
Avast - as it will do a boot time scan, automatically if needed (you don't need to worry about the FREE REGISTRATION KEY to do this - unless you decide to keep it)

That ought to at least tell you if you have any "nasties" lurking. - if you DO, you will need to run the scans until it at least reports clean & then possibly a few more to make sure you got them all. Rotate through the last two. (run one then the other - back & forth) Tell it to DELETE as trying to "fix" will leave "JUNK" behind & without the virus code, usually scanners can't find it again.

Then you may have to do a repair install of your OS to fix any damage. Plus you may have to reinstall some of your apps for the same reason. Be aware of the APPS as you COULD reinstall the virus if it came from one of them.

NOTE, you can only have ONE antivirus running at at a time as they will "KILL" one another.

Please let me know if you need help with any of this.

drwho07 · Joined: Nov 29, 2007 Posts: 2240 Location: Central FL, USA

Sir, (you sort of sound like a sir ???)

You have the two programs that I regularly remove from any PC that I can.
Norton, which is a worthless piece of crap and AOL, which is as good as any Virus, will bring any PC right down to its knees.

AOL runs your computer.....you don't!!!!!!
You'd be miles ahead of the game to delete it and go with a local ISP.
The worse local connection is still better than AOL. Evil or Very Mad

And whatever you do, get rid of Norton as quickly as possible.
They were forced to publish a "Norton Removal Tool" just so people could get it OFF of their PC's. I've always suspected that was by Federal Court Order. Norton Removal Tool:
http://service1.symantec.com/Support/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2005033108162039

Download the first removal tool in the red area. Then run it to remove Norton.
Replace it with AVG 8.0 FREE.
AVG 8.0 FREE, can be downloaded from:
http://free.grisoft.com/ww.download?prd=afe

With those two programs on your PC, there is absolutely Nothing we (I) can do to help you. You've put yourself in a position where those two programs run your computer. For better or worse.

You may have a virus, but Norton is a very poor Anti-Virus program and will probably do you NO good at all.
After removing Norton from a customer's PC one day, I installed AVG and then proceeded to remove 150 viruses that Norton never even saw.

good luck sir,
The Doctor Cool

zlim · Joined: Mar 11, 2005 Posts: 2747

1. You do not have a virus! If you use AIM then the sounds you are hearing is the sounds that your online buddies chose to identify themselves. Get rid of AIM and you won't get those annoying sounds.

2. Where exactly on efragmentation does this file show up? A 1.43 GB file can't hide very well. Are you sure that the name doesn't change when defrag is done? Are you using a defrag program or windows inbuilt program? What version of windows are you running?

3. I can't help with locked emails. You are running two programs I wouldn't considering installing on any of my computers: AOL and anything Norton/Symantec.

Baby_Tux · Joined: Mar 06, 2007 Posts: 1242

I wondered about that too, But went with the virus as a precaution as that "hidden" file had me wondering. - I think I'd still scan for viruses & trogan if nothing more than maintenance.

FYI, if nothing else:
You can try scanning for the file by SIZE & see if that doesn't show it as the name COULD be changing. A 1.5G file has to be SOMEWHERE. Of course, there too (just a thought) since it IS a tmp file, it COULD be part of a process & thus only there for a short duration & nothing to worry about.

If you have your computer set to show "hidden" files you will see files appear & disappear that have a "ghostly" translucent look to them. Some have a ~ (tilde) at there beginning.

drwho07 · Joined: Nov 29, 2007 Posts: 2240 Location: Central FL, USA

Cleaning up a problem computer is NOT an easy task.
I've been in this business for years and every day I learn some new trick or find some new program to find and remove the baddies.

It's nearly impossible to clean up a PC with either AOL or Norton running.
I know some folks are totally hung up on AOL and wouldn't stop using it if their life depended on it.
I can respect that, even though I don't agree with it.

But Norton is not so un-replaceable. On most PC's it's easily removed and also easily replaced by AVG 8.0 FREE.

I carry the latest version of AVG with me on every call, on my Utilities CD and a 4 gig flash drive. The install takes only a few seconds.

I also carry the very latest versions of several other titles of malware detection and removal software. With the software I carry with me, I can de-bug the very worse infected PC's.

But, this is not a job for beginners. Even if they had my CD, disinfecting a PC can be a grueling and time consuming task.
It's important to know what programs to run and how to run them and in what order to be most effective. All this comes with experience.....lots of experience. Wink

So, no problem is unimportant. A laughing PC? That would drive me nuts!

I'm glad that zlim had some insight into that problem.
I won't allow any AOL product, anywhere near my PC so I have NO experience with it's idiosyncrasies.

Thanks Z!

Doc Cool

pasquanel · Joined: Jun 20, 2005 Posts: 517 Location: Maine

Download Windirstat and the location of that 1.43 gig file will jump out at you Very Happy

neks · Joined: Jul 06, 2008 Posts: 4

Gentlemen, much thanks for all the helpful responses:
1. I must've listened to a thousand AIM sounds (expressions) plus all the Windows sounds- no match, but I agree it must be from AOL or IM. I may try to call tech support, but I doubt the guys in India or Pakistan will be able to help, although I enjoy asking them about their religion, culture, or politics, and getting them to tell me their real name (not Mike).
2.Still curious about that 1.43 GB file, but not as worried, will try that Windirstat download ASAP.
3.I'm stuck with AOL for lots of reasons: email contacts, programs I've subscribed to (midi libraries), continuing education websites, etc. I do use Firefox as well. Norton only until my subscription expires. I do use Spybot S&D, and nothing significant shows up; Adaware identifies many of my shortcuts as problems; will try one the suggested anti-virus programs, if I can shut down Norton.
Very nice to be able to get help with these questions.

drwho07 · Joined: Nov 29, 2007 Posts: 2240 Location: Central FL, USA

Neks,
Your three problems were certainly not dumb. They were valid problems and I'm very glad if we can help you with them.

To find things like a temporary file, use your "Search" feature built into windows.

It works great and simple in XP, not so friendly in Vista.
In XP go to search and "All Files and Folders" and put in *.tmp and set it to check hidden and system files then click the Search button.

If there are any temp files anywhere in your PC, Search will find them.
Then all you have to do is select all the temp files and delete them.
End of problem.

In years past, I would have thought that maybe a temp file that started with a Z might have been created by "ZoneAlarm" the firewall program.

Finally, as for keeping Norton till the subscription runs out is fruitless to say the very least.
Exchanging a bad program that you paid for, for a GOOD program that's also FREE is a 100% gain in any language.
You've lost nothing in the process and gained everything. Wink

Norton will usually uninstall from windows "Add/Remove Programs" app in the Control Panel.
Even if it uninstalls OK, I still like to use the "Norton Removal Tool" to do some cleanup.

Good Luck and Happy Computing!
The Doctor Cool