I may as well start a thread because I always have problems.
I just rolled back XP to an earlier save point. Suddenly I get these messages every so often:
"Unable to make an internet connection. WOuld you like to work offline."
Or something to that effect (not a direct quote). This comes every few minutes I am offline until I select "Work Offline". I don't remember having to do this before. Is some program I am unaware of trying to make a connection? I don't know how or if I disabled this last time, but after checking through all the option features, I cannot figure out how to stop this.
It doesn't install properly -- freezing the computer during installation. It even refuses to install in safe mode. However, it seems to run. I did a virus scan and found nothing.
This sucks. The McAfee program sucks. This is just horrible.
Why is my computer constantly requesting internet connection??
I wouldn't trust most antivirus software to find something with both hands and a hunting dog.
There's lots of spyware stuff that gets in under the radar of AV software because it's not a virus as such.
The spywareinfo site doesn't seem to be up but there should be copies of hijackthis.exe available from mirror sites, I've found it invaluable in tracking down the causes of problems like yours.
Also, some spyware is commercially available, and a commercial antivirus or antispyware program can not legally warn or remove those, as it would infringe on another company's product. Freeware software normally doesn't have those worries.
The commercial spywares are meant for your boss to sneak on which emails you send, which credit card numbers you type in on the office computer etc. If there is one type of person in the world I would prefer to genocide (kill), it would be those representing commercial spyware companies. Virus makers, ok - they're doing damage but at least acting like true criminals. They don't bother me half as much.
