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Archive through August 19, 2010

Reality TVClubHouse Discussions: General Discussions ARCHIVES: May 2010 ~ August 2010: Free Expressions: The return of The Return of the Gripe Thread: Archive through August 19, 2010 users admin

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Biscottiii
Member

05-29-2004

Monday, August 16, 2010 - 12:11 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Biscottiii a private message Print Post    
Last week I got something similar, wanting to force me into buying an anti-virus program I had never heard of. Wouldn't let me do anything, ESPECIALLY log into Malwarebytes or Foxpro, kept trying to force me into MSExplorer to buy their product. I won't use MSExplorer because that's a virus magnet.

OfficeDepot techs said that unsolicited program itself was the problem (can't figure how that Trojan got in there, but it did) but they told me "don't click on it" whatever I do.

Cost $185 for a cleaning job. I run my antivirus and malwarebytes religiously after upgrades constantly, daily or every other day. But at least I'm back in business after being anti-kootied. Good luck!

ETA: "I try to close it, cancel, etc. and it will not stop." Yeah, that's what was happening to me, then I just shut it down and called the techs.

Biscottiii
Member

05-29-2004

Monday, August 16, 2010 - 12:16 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Biscottiii a private message Print Post    
& I bet you all were wondering why 'Chatty Bisc' went so quiet for a couple of days last week, weren't you? lol Admit it.

Mack
Member

07-22-2002

Monday, August 16, 2010 - 4:13 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Mack a private message Print Post    
HP Product Assistant is a pain in the backside but it's not a virus in the typical sense. My wife has an HP and as part of the HP software pre-loaded on her machine she had to deal with basically the same issue. There is a way to disable it. Go to www.hp.com and type in a search for the assistant. One of the articles that comes up will be the steps you need to take to disable the program.

Mack
Member

07-22-2002

Monday, August 16, 2010 - 6:09 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Mack a private message Print Post    
Might add that there are really good, and free, programs out there to catch and remove viruses and malware.On top of Norton I use Ad-Aware. It helped me out a couple of years ago with a trojan I somehow got on my machine. It cleaned that off and I haven't had a problem since then. I use Internet Explorer, I think version 8 now, without any issues. http://www.lavasoft.com/

Colordeagua
Member

10-25-2003

Monday, August 16, 2010 - 6:11 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Colordeagua a private message Print Post    
Or make the switch to Mac. It wouldn't let HP take over like that.

Debra
Member

11-20-2003

Monday, August 16, 2010 - 10:00 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Debra a private message Print Post    
Something similar happened to me and I was able to use System Restore (just went back a couple of days) and it worked.

Costacat
Member

07-15-2000

Monday, August 16, 2010 - 10:07 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Costacat a private message Print Post    
My gripe is... Mondays. Hate 'em. Want 'em to go away. I hate knowing I have a full five days of work, work, work until I can have fun, fun, fun! (To lessen the gripe, at least I have sun! Even if it IS only 66 degrees out at 11am! Which is ANOTHER gripe!)

Juju2bigdog
Member

10-27-2000

Monday, August 16, 2010 - 5:59 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Juju2bigdog a private message Print Post    
Bisc, if you get that trojan again, and you could, I found a way to get rid of it by myself when I got infected. I know exactly what you went through. Malwarebytes "should" kill it if ONLY you could update it, but the trojan will block any and all update attempts, EXCEPT a manual update. I eventually found a discussion board that had a link to a manual updating site for Malwarebytes. I manually downloaded the file (maybe to another computer, don't exactly recall, and maybe put on a USB drive). And then I opened Malwarebytes and figured out a way get the downloaded file into Malwarebytes, and ran it, and it immediately killed the trojan.

This all sounds a bit nebulous, I know, but if you get it again, I know you are not going to want to pay $185 again, knowing you can do it yourself. If you are feeling ambitious, you could go look up now and print out what to do. I think there was some advice about how to get the incessant popups to stop while you are working on the problem. It was something you had to do immediately upon restarting the computer. And no, System Restore did not work either. If you want to Google and print out to be prepared for next time, Google avsoft.

I think I initially got my trojan from looking at .pdf files on various websites. Specifically, I think I got it from looking at an Italian bus schedule. I have ZoneAlarm running on my computer, and when I got the trojan, ZoneAlarm DID alert me, although it did not tell me it was a virus or trojan. It just asked if I wanted to allow some unknown file access to my computer, and I said no, but then it kept asking, and one time I hit yes by mistake, and we were off to a living computer hell. The next time (a couple months later) ZoneAlarm gave me a similar alert, I said no (which kept the trojan from activating, although it was already in my computer) and immediately went and updated Malwarebytes and ran it.

Like you, Bisc, I now try VERY religiously to update Malwarebytes daily. In fact, I am updating it right now. :-)

Biscottiii
Member

05-29-2004

Monday, August 16, 2010 - 9:50 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Biscottiii a private message Print Post    
Thanks Juju!
"And then I opened Malwarebytes"

That was the problem, it wouldn't even LET me open Malwarebytes OR Firefox OR MSSecurity antivirus, nothing but Explorer. I had gotten no alert flags previously (I watch those like a hawk!!!) - it simply showed when I turned the computer on.

Still, I'm going to check out your advice and have it printed out, in case anything similar happens in the future! Thanks Folks for the comments! Much appreciated.

Sia
Member

03-10-2002

Tuesday, August 17, 2010 - 8:11 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Sia a private message Print Post    
New gripe: my sister has been brainwashed by her big-city California new boyfriend into thinking that $39 bottles of bitter, nasty fruit juice will save the lives of people and cure their physical ills. OMG, help me!

Backstory: several days ago she brought me what looked like a wine bottle, opened it, and FORCED me to drink 2 ounces of horrible-tasting liquid. Company claims that acai & other fruits distilled into this horrid swill will cure arthritis, immune deficiency problems, etc. I DID NOT ASK FOR THIS STUFF. She didn't say anything about the price, never let on that she is now a DISTRIBUTOR OF THE STUFF and that she intended me to become her next customer.

Last evening I'd done research on the 'net, finding that this company's products have no medicinal value, have no approval, less nutrition than Welch's grape juice, e.g. Also, head honcho of company folded his last health-juice biz after lawsuits. This co. is in trouble, too, with lawsuits, etc.

They're making money on hideously overpriced snake oil, but also by charging their distributors to attend seminars--which she is signed up for.

It's bad enough that my sis has no job & has plunked down her money for this nonsense, but she got angry & sent her 8-yr-old right over to take the bottle out of my fridge when I told her that I wanted her to read the Wikipedia article on the company/product. It's described as MLM (pyramid scheme, basically) and nearly worthless as a nutritional/medicinal supplement.

I didn't say that I think it's a scam (although I do); I asked her if she'd read some of the negative press on the 'net about the product. That is all I asked.

Worst part is that she has my 92-yr-old grandmother and 75-yr-old Dad drinking this stuff. My grandmother's yearly social security income is less than $3K. My Dad is retired & makes very little. He's smart enough to figure this out for himself, but I haven't talked with him yet. Man, I'm amazed how people can be taken by a sales pitch!!! My head is still spinning.

Here's the topper: after nephew picked up the bottle, her message was, "I don't want you drinking the product if you think it's a scam. It's too expensive for that and I can't afford that."

I asked, "How much do I owe you for the _______ that I drank?"

She answered, "Nothing. It was an attempt to help turn your life around and possibly save it."

Oh, man! I'm screwed now! I just threw away the only life preserver that's been handed to me in a long time. What ever will I do? I'm likely to be stricken by a dread disease tomorrow because I didn't choose to buy a $39 bottle of liquid horror that is supposed to last only six days--not including the canned carbonated "energy drinks" which are exorbitantly priced, too.

Has anyone here tried a similar product? What were your results, please? Knowing my sister, she will cut me off emotionally for life. She is really angry, and I honestly did nothing wrong.

Mameblanche
Member

08-24-2002

Tuesday, August 17, 2010 - 8:20 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Mameblanche a private message Print Post    
(((Sia))) if she really cares about you and your health, which includes your emotional wellbeing, then she should respect your opinion/decision.

Trust me, chances are she'll (pardon the pun) SOUR on this product eventually, when she realizes you aren't the only one who isn't interested and she has trouble keeping her sales going. These are usually pyramid schemes and if she's smart, she'll smarten up and lose interest in this miracle (LOL) product eventually. And if by some miracle, her sales explode and she does well, then wish her continued good success and hopefully she'll realize that you are her sister regardless of whether or not you are another customer.

BTW, even if it does have medicinal properties, your buying it or not shouldn't be a deal-breaker in your family. And she's also strong-arming your poor grandma-on-a-pension? Yeesh! If that's the kind of person she is, I hate to sound callous, but who needs that kind of emotional crap? Let her do her thing, and just hope she smartens up sooner rather than later.

Kitt
Member

09-06-2000

Tuesday, August 17, 2010 - 8:37 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Kitt a private message Print Post    
She's probably put a lot of money into it already, as these are the sort of things you buy into. She might already be realising it's not going anywhere and is panicking because of the money she's lost, and doesn't want to hear someone close to her reinforce her doubts.

I would make sure your gran isn't paying for it, then leave your sister to it. She will find out soon enough, and I very much doubt she's getting any money back for stuff she's bought that doesn't sell. Unless there's something bad in it, it's probably not going to do anyone harm except to their bank balances, and sometimes all you can do is say your piece and then let people make their own mistakes.

Juju2bigdog
Member

10-27-2000

Tuesday, August 17, 2010 - 2:05 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Juju2bigdog a private message Print Post    
Sia, stick with your instincts. You are not wrong.

As retired law enforcement, I consider ALL multi-level merchandising plans to be scams, including the Big One. The only people who make money are the people at the top. The reason they are rarely prosecuted is because all the levels of sellers are part and parcel of the scam. They are all hoping to recruit some other suckers so they can at least get their money back. So everybody has a vested interest in keeping the scam going.

I agree with Kitt's advice. You stay out of it, and keep your other relatives out of it if you can possibly do so. You will not talk your sis out of being involved until she learns a bitter (heh, irony intended, I guess) lesson for herself.

Escapee
Member

06-15-2004

Wednesday, August 18, 2010 - 7:37 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Escapee a private message Print Post    
Is it GAK juice distributed by Pharmanex? My Whackadoo aunt is all about that stuff. Be careful, some of the 'ingredients' in it can react with medications, especially one's that older people take. Sometimes fruit juices can't be taken with heart and blood pressure medication.

My aunt acted the same way when we were NOT interested. She got all bitter and crazy about it because we also researched the company and the products which are NOT FDA approved, nor are they even manufactured here in the US.

Costacat
Member

07-15-2000

Thursday, August 19, 2010 - 5:06 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Costacat a private message Print Post    
So yesterday I went to the dentist. I made this appt a couple of months ago because the dentist thought I needed a root canal. I didn't have a toothache before I went in. Now? I have a major toothache, am taking Amoxycillin, Motrin, and Percocet to manage the pain, and am royally ticked off. I'm sure a root canal would've been necessary but next time I think I'll wait till the tooth starts to hurt.

No offense to any here, but dang, I hate dentists!

Happymom
Member

01-20-2003

Thursday, August 19, 2010 - 8:17 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Happymom a private message Print Post    
Costa, so sorry! I hope the pain subsides soon.

Costacat
Member

07-15-2000

Thursday, August 19, 2010 - 8:36 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Costacat a private message Print Post    
Yeah, me, too!

Sia
Member

03-10-2002

Thursday, August 19, 2010 - 9:07 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Sia a private message Print Post    
I'm with you on that, Costa. I went to the dentist a week or so ago to get an old filling drilled out and replaced; there was decay underneath it. I'd thought the pain I'd had in my lower left molar was a popcorn kernel stuck under the gum. It had been painful to chew, was heat- and cold-sensitive, etc.

Took forever to drill out the filling, then she used the low-speed drill to remove the decay. That part was painful because despite the inordinate amount of lidocaine she used to numb my mouth, the blasts of air and the water used to rinse my mouth were hideously painful. I was close to tears. I was sent home with nothing at all for pain.

Sia
Member

03-10-2002

Thursday, August 19, 2010 - 9:13 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Sia a private message Print Post    
Escapee, what Sis is hawking is some swill called MonaVie. Just the most basic internet research showed me that it was not all it's cracked up to be. And this "health juice" is also said to have serious (some fatal) contraindications with certain meds, like heart meds.

Surprisingly, Sis actually spoke to me night before last when our Mom invited us over to dinner. She must have been playing peacemaker, because Mom knows that the longer something like this would go unresolved, the more likely it would have stayed a bad situation.

Oh, we didn't discuss the health juice biz. We talked about everything but that!

Escapee
Member

06-15-2004

Thursday, August 19, 2010 - 9:15 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Escapee a private message Print Post    
I've heard of Mona Vie.

The way I see these "miracle" juices is that if they were really so GREAT for you, doctors would be hawking them, not bottom tier pyramid sales people.

Mameblanche
Member

08-24-2002

Thursday, August 19, 2010 - 9:31 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Mameblanche a private message Print Post    
Sia, kudos to your mom and her peacemaking! :-) I think it's great that you guys talked about all kinds of other things and NOT about Mona Vie, since you are both clear on where you each stand on THAT topic, and it need never be broached again.

Maplsyrp
Member

02-10-2009

Thursday, August 19, 2010 - 11:08 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Maplsyrp a private message Print Post    
Costa and Sia, so sorry for your dental pain. I hate going to the dentist.

Costacat
Member

07-15-2000

Thursday, August 19, 2010 - 12:25 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Costacat a private message Print Post    
I think my dentist learned her lesson. About six months ago I went in for a toothache. We thought we solved the problem. But then the pain came back with a vengeance. I called my dentist and she dropped off a script for major pain meds at my pharmacy for me. Turns out she was heading out of town and turned around to do that (she was only about 10 miles away but still...). Anyways, I think she was taking pre-emptive measures this time so she wouldn't get a call at midnight! LOL.

Pamy
Member

01-02-2002

Thursday, August 19, 2010 - 8:31 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Pamy a private message Print Post    
keep in mind that sometimes if you wait too long and the tooth abseses it is very hard to get numb..I had a root canal done (3 roots) and I felt all of it...it was worse than my csection..

i just finished getting my 3rd front bridge,,,finally got it right after 9mo and 1700

Mameblanche
Member

08-24-2002

Thursday, August 19, 2010 - 8:50 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Mameblanche a private message Print Post    
Pamy why didn't you let them put you under for those root canals!??