PC help needed

[JustSkye]

my friend is trying to reset and restart his firewall, but windows isn't showing or letting him and we've tried everything I can think of to open it's just not letting us.
TIA

Help

 

[EJFan]

what firewall and what version of windows?

 

[JustSkye]

what firewall and what version of windows?

windows XP professional and windows firewall

 

[EJFan]

it should appear right in the control panel window... is it not showing up there?

 

[JustSkye]

it should appear right in the control panel window... is it not showing up there?

I got him into 'Network connections' And his settings and we went into 'change settings' and it didn't give us a box to check or uncheck for the firewall and just had the settings tabs. He's fighting trojans on the laptop as well.

 

[EJFan]

if he has a virus it could limit his ability to access to the firewall, depending on what virus/trojan he has. at times like this i usually resort to the microsoft site and their knowledge base pages for help.

my suggestion would be to rebuild the OS... but i'm not as well versed on these things as most people are. if he has an antivirus program (and i hope he does) he may be able to get a virus removal tool from the antivirus writer's site.

if he can get into the control panel there should be an icon for the windows firewall and the "on/off" switch is in its general tab. if he can't access the control panel or there's no firewall icon then he may have to resintall windows or find a removal tool for whatever bug got ahold of him.

 

[JustSkye]

if he has a virus it could limit his ability to access to the firewall, depending on what virus/trojan he has. at times like this i usually resort to the microsoft site and their knowledge base pages for help.

my suggestion would be to rebuild the OS... but i'm not as well versed on these things as most people are. if he has an antivirus program (and i hope he does) he may be able to get a virus removal tool from the antivirus writer's site.

if he can get into the control panel there should be an icon for the windows firewall and the "on/off" switch is in its general tab. if he can't access the control panel or there's no firewall icon then he may have to resintall windows or find a removal tool for whatever bug got ahold of him.

I'm actually on geeks to go...

he has 4 or 5 things most of them trojans tool2.exe tool3.exe, and harnig trojans.

 

[Quoll]

I'm actually on geeks to go...

he has 4 or 5 things most of them trojans tool2.exe tool3.exe, and harnig trojans.

Looks like they have it covered, I see he uses IE, my sympathies.

 

[JustSkye]

Looks like they have it covered, I see he uses IE, my sympathies.

LOL...

I told him to go to Opera. He will once this is cleared up.

 

[SubNebGuy]

Windows XP doesn't have a built in firewall UNLESS you've got service pack 2 installed. Without sp2, his machine is vulnerable.

Firewall config is in Control Panel, near the botom, bluntly listed as Windows Firewall.

He'll need to be logged in with Admin rights (Local 'Administrator' ideally) to ensure he has the ability to configure the firewall.

but it sounds to me like he doesn't have sp2 installed yet.

 

[JustSkye]

Windows XP doesn't have a built in firewall UNLESS you've got service pack 2 installed. Without sp2, his machine is vulnerable.

Firewall config is in Control Panel, near the botom, bluntly listed as Windows Firewall.

He'll need to be logged in with Admin rights (Local 'Administrator' ideally) to ensure he has the ability to configure the firewall.

but it sounds to me like he doesn't have sp2 installed yet.

I know that, but thank you. It seems the trojans he had wreaking havoc on his pc caused many things to be disabled.

 

[RagingWillard]

Download Security Task Manager, its a freeware program that shows ALL running processes and allows you to quarantine and shut them off so you can go in and safely delete them. Here's the link, if you have any more questions post away.
http://www.neuber.com/taskmanager/download.html

Also I would recommend getting Ad-Aware SE Personal, its a spyware protection program. Run it at least once a week and definately after looking at porn.

http://www.lavasoft.de/software/adaware/

Another good one to have is Spybot Search and Destroy, works well in conjunction with Ad-Aware.

http://www.spybot.info/en/download/index.html

Note: These last two programs are NOT anti-virus but anti-spyware. Spyware can lead to viruses so its always good to have these two and a working firewall.

Hope this helps.

-Will

 

[JustSkye]

Download Security Task Manager, its a freeware program that shows ALL running processes and allows you to quarantine and shut them off so you can go in and safely delete them. Here's the link, if you have any more questions post away.
http://www.neuber.com/taskmanager/download.html

Also I would recommend getting Ad-Aware SE Personal, its a spyware protection program. Run it at least once a week and definately after looking at porn.

http://www.lavasoft.de/software/adaware/

Another good one to have is Spybot Search and Destroy, works well in conjunction with Ad-Aware.

http://www.spybot.info/en/download/index.html

Note: These last two programs are NOT anti-virus but anti-spyware. Spyware can lead to viruses so its always good to have these two and a working firewall.

Hope this helps.

-Will

Thank you.

Those were two of the first things I recommended when he told me what happened. As well as using AVG.

 

[SubNebGuy]

Ok, well I was just assuming neither of you knew much

man, at that point, if Windows components are being hidden in the GUI, I'd suggest backing up all important data and program settings (don't forget outlook files) and just reformat and re-install.

its hard to say how stable the OS will be even if he does get everything enabled again.

plus, its WinXP. 2-3 hours to reformat and reinstall most major apps, restore settings....vs. how many days of trouble shooting and hoping the band-aid holds?

 

[JustSkye]

Ok, well I was just assuming neither of you knew much

man, at that point, if Windows components are being hidden in the GUI, I'd suggest backing up all important data and program settings (don't forget outlook files) and just reformat and re-install.

its hard to say how stable the OS will be even if he does get everything enabled again.

plus, its WinXP. 2-3 hours to reformat and reinstall most major apps, restore settings....vs. how many days of trouble shooting and hoping the band-aid holds?

He got rid of everything and we'll work on the firewall tonight. Hopefully with a new browser and the new tools given, shouldn't have a problem.

 

[Quoll]

He got rid of everything and we'll work on the firewall tonight. Hopefully with a new browser and the new tools given, shouldn't have a problem.

You got good geek.
Btw, opera is now completely free and ad free as well, they also have a beta version out, no problems with it at all as yet.

 

[JustSkye]

You got good geek.
Btw, opera is now completely free and ad free as well, they also have a beta version out, no problems with it at all as yet.

I love being geeky. Gotta get better at it, though.
Thank you for turning me on...

to Opera