Virus, Trojans and spyware progs

callansdad

Hi all,

I recently downloaded the 'Ace Optimizer Utilities' program as reccomended by someone in another thread, i used it to tidy up my registry files etc ..... everything working tip top now .... however ...

I went into the auto startup manager to remove a couple of items that shouldnt be there and i have found this ... I have microsoft antispyware on my machine ... i clicked on this and clicked on 'info' .... this message is displayed ........ 'Item : gcasServ

Name : "gcasserv"
Filename : gcasserv.exe
Database Status : User's choice
Description : "Giant Antipsyware - now superseeded by Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware"

Name : "gcasserv"
Filename : realsched.exe
Database Status : Not required
Description : "Added by a variant of the TACTSLAY.A TROJAN! Note - this is not the legitimate RealOne Player (realsched.exe) application of the same name"


Now obviously its the second part i'm worried about ... i have run avg a few times and even directed it to this folder but it finds nothing ... i have tried searching for the offending files but to no avail ... any ideas folks?

rizla01

O.K. problems with ME are history except that some of the problems that I had then are still evident although I did a complete new install of xp (formatted and installed rather than upgrade). I only formatted 'C' drive and wonder if something has leaked from one of the other drives. I also have d, e, f & g. 40gigs separated into approx 8 Gig each.

Most of your suggestions have helped but the main prob now is retreiving Emails.

I don't know if its an ie problem or yahoo or ISP or computer.

All I know is that they can take 5 mins to download each time. when I delete them it takes another 3-5 mins.

I am going straight to yahoo toolbar and clicking on email to receive them. I think that they are then being d/l from my server to me. Is this right? How can I set up outlook express to gather all of my emails into one place i.e. Outlook. Would this be a quicker method?

BTW yes d/ld all of the microsoft updates.

I don't know what motherboard ive got. I thought that it was the via one that it kept asking for but obviously not.

didn't there used to be a program that looked over your computer for you and downloaded the neccessary driver updates?

StephenB_2

You can find out which motherboard you are using with cpu-z at http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

Is take it that network speed is OK, and you can download biggish files at the sort of speed you would expect for your connection? And you have done the deepest scans you can with your software, in safe mode?

SJB

EDIT sorry, bit short of time. VIA make the chipsets on the motherboard.

rizla01

Ok. This is what I have.


CPU(s) Number of CPUs1NameAMD AthlonCode NameThunderbirdSpecificationAMD Athlon(tm) ProcessorFamily / Model / Stepping6 4 2Extended Family / Model7 4PackageSocket ACore SteppingA4Technology0.18 µSupported Instructions SetsMMX, Extended MMX, 3DNow!, Extended 3DNow!CPU Clock Speed847.1 MHzClock multiplierx 8.5Front Side Bus Frequency99.7 MHzBus Speed199.3 MHzL1 Data Cache64 KBytes, 2-way set associative, 64 Bytes line sizeL1 Instruction Cache64 KBytes, 2-way set associative, 64 Bytes line sizeL2 Cache256 KBytes, 16-way set associative, 64 Bytes line sizeL2 Speed847.1 MHz (Full)L2 LocationOn ChipL2 Data Prefetch LogicnoL2 Bus Width64 bitsMainboard and chipset Motherboard manufacturerMotherboard model8363-686A, BIOS vendorAward Software International, Inc.BIOS revision6.00 PGBIOS release date05/24/2001ChipsetVIA KT133 rev. 02SouthbridgeVIA VT82C686 rev. 22Sensor chipVIA 686A/BGraphic InterfaceAGPAGP Statusenabled, rev. 2.0AGP Data Transfer Rate4xAGP Max Rate4xAGP Side Band Addressingsupported, not enabledAGP Aperture Size64 MBytesMemory DRAM TypeSDRAMDRAM Size384 MBytesDRAM Frequency99.7 MHzFSB:DRAM1:1DRAM Interleave4-wayCAS# Latency3.0 clocksRAS# to CAS#3 clocksRAS# Precharge3 clocksCycle Time (TRAS)6 clocks# of memory modules2Module 0Transcend Information SDRAM PC133 - 256 MBytesModule 1SDRAM PC142 - 128 MBytesSoftware Windows versionMicrosoft Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 (Build 2600) DirectX version9.0c

Hope thats clear.

Would you suggest that my system is out of date and in need of replacing?

I don't use it for games but do surf the 'net' quite a bit.

StephenB_2

It looks like your motherboard is a Biostar M7VKB. I can't find any drivers of any significance beyond those you already have. The RAM timings are conservative, so you might get a small improvement in speed by tweaking, but I wouldn't worry about it. The RAM is SDRAM - slower than DDR - and in two modules of different size, which is not best practice, but not the end of the world. This is never going to be the fastest of machines, but it should be more than adequate for the 'net.

A lot of people complained about Yahoo mail running slow to stop around the middle of November, but that seems to have gone away. Some people have claimed that Firefox is faster, but YMMV. If Yahoo mail is the only thing that's slow, and other web sites are fast, and you've arranged your firewalls and virus checkers as I suggested, then I'm out of ideas.

By and large, you cannot use Outlook to read Yahoo email. There is an application called YPoPs! at http://www.ypopsemail.com/ which claims to

provides a POP3 server interface at o!ne end to talk to email clients and an HTTP client (browser) interface at the other which allows it to talk to Yahoo!

I've never used it.

Sorry rizla, but I don't know anything else that might help.

SJB

rizla01

Like I said before Stephen, You have speeded my sys up tremendously and I am grateful.

Just a few minor anomolies and i'm sure they will heal in time.

Thanks for your time.
Riz