nOOb seeks advice!

["couldbecousin"]

OK, here's my sad story: This morning I could not access any sites on my computer, kept getting IE error messages saying something like "google.ihc is not an item." (Google was my homepage, ya see!) So I called HP tech support (my PC is a Compaq that I've had less than a year; I'll add the model and serial numbers later if that helps).

So the tech guy talked me through the steps of resetting things, so now everything works. Then he told me that he thinks I have a virus that is affecting many computers and causing eventual crashing. He said that for $99 I could have a tech guy at HP remote-access and tune up my computer to rid it of this virus and make it run faster. 

Does this sound legit? $99 is 1/4 to 1/3 of what I paid for the entire PC! I mentioned that I don't have a credit card, so the tech guy just told me to call later, dunno how I would pay for this tune-up. What do you guys think? I am suspicious, maybe rightly so, maybe not. 

['andersom']

Are you running any virus-scans on your PC?

(One n00b asking the other) 

["couldbecousin"]

Are you running any virus-scans on your PC?

(One n00b asking the other) 

I have Trend Micro installed, it's supposed to be complete security software.
One of the young geeks at the electronics store recommended it! 

['andersom']

OK, here's my sad story: This morning I could not access any sites on my computer, kept getting IE error messages saying something like "google.ihc is not an item." (Google was my homepage, ya see!) So I called HP tech support (my PC is a Compaq that I've had less than a year; I'll add the model and serial numbers later if that helps).

So the tech guy talked me through the steps of resetting things, so now everything works. Then he told me that he thinks I have a virus that is affecting many computers and causing eventual crashing. He said that for $99 I could have a tech guy at HP remote-access and tune up my computer to rid it of this virus and make it run faster. 

Does this sound legit? $99 is 1/4 to 1/3 of what I paid for the entire PC! I mentioned that I don't have a credit card, so the tech guy just told me to call later, dunno how I would pay for this tune-up. What do you guys think? I am suspicious, maybe rightly so, maybe not. 

My BS radar is ringing loudly, but, I am a n00b, just like you.

["couldbecousin"]

OK, here's my sad story: This morning I could not access any sites on my computer, kept getting IE error messages saying something like "google.ihc is not an item." (Google was my homepage, ya see!) So I called HP tech support (my PC is a Compaq that I've had less than a year; I'll add the model and serial numbers later if that helps).

So the tech guy talked me through the steps of resetting things, so now everything works. Then he told me that he thinks I have a virus that is affecting many computers and causing eventual crashing. He said that for $99 I could have a tech guy at HP remote-access and tune up my computer to rid it of this virus and make it run faster. 

Does this sound legit? $99 is 1/4 to 1/3 of what I paid for the entire PC! I mentioned that I don't have a credit card, so the tech guy just told me to call later, dunno how I would pay for this tune-up. What do you guys think? I am suspicious, maybe rightly so, maybe not. 

My BS radar is ringing loudly, but, I am a n00b, just like you.

*nods* Just as well I didn't get the tune-up done today. Soon the geeks will weigh in! 

[Icequeen]

Holy fuck! 

And to think I do this for free for the neighbors.

What anti-virus are you running? AVG is a good free one.

Try runnig Malwarebytes anti-malware (free version) you can download it here.

http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php

I normally start with that and go from there.

[Icequeen]

Are you running any virus-scans on your PC?

(One n00b asking the other) 

I have Trend Micro installed, it's supposed to be complete security software.
One of the young geeks at the electronics store recommended it! 

Didn't see this, doesn't matter, alot of them just won't pick up some of the rougue programs, adware, & trojans you run across now.

["couldbecousin"]

Holy fuck! 

And to think I do this for free for the neighbors.

What anti-virus are you running? AVG is a good free one.

Try runnig Malwarebytes anti-malware (free version) you can download it here.

http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php

I normally start with that and go from there.

Thank you very much! FWIW, I have Trend Micro, and a geek friend elsewhere just linked me to the Trend Micro community forums,
and the exact error message I received is mentioned there. The resetting done by the tech guy at HP seems to have fixed things for the time being,
but I will definitely try everyone's suggestions from here before agreeing to a $99 tune-up!

Also,  for helping your neighbors, maybe you should charge!

["couldbecousin"]

Are you running any virus-scans on your PC?

(One n00b asking the other) 

I have Trend Micro installed, it's supposed to be complete security software.
One of the young geeks at the electronics store recommended it! 

Didn't see this, doesn't matter, alot of them just won't pick up some of the rougue programs, adware, & trojans you run across now.

Will running the Malwarebytes disrupt the Trend Micro stuff?

[Icequeen]

Malwarebytes is a good program to run every once in awhile, just make sure to update it after you install. I normally select full system scan and walk away (it will take awhile), it shows the infected files after it's finished and gives you an option to remove.


It shouldn't bother Trend Micro, you may have to give it permission to run depending on your settings.

["couldbecousin"]

Malwarebytes is a good program to run every once in awhile, just make sure to update it after you install. I normally select full system scan and walk away (it will take awhile), it shows the infected files after it's finished and gives you an option to remove.


It shouldn't bother Trend Micro, you may have to give it permission to run depending on your settings.

Thank you very much, will do that when I get home. 

[Icequeen]

How to on reseting your browser settings (should you ever need it again).

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923737

[SBI_Patience]

Are you running any virus-scans on your PC?

(One n00b asking the other) 

I have Trend Micro installed, it's supposed to be complete security software.
One of the young geeks at the electronics store recommended it! 

Didn't see this, doesn't matter, alot of them just won't pick up some of the rougue programs, adware, & trojans you run across now.

Will running the Malwarebytes disrupt the Trend Micro stuff?

No, not at all. However this is the best software there is that can actually get rid of malwares and spywares (and adwares) and actually is most affective at actually killing thee viruses, and its free to download as Icequeen said.

[odeon]

OK, here's my sad story: This morning I could not access any sites on my computer, kept getting IE error messages saying something like "google.ihc is not an item." (Google was my homepage, ya see!) So I called HP tech support (my PC is a Compaq that I've had less than a year; I'll add the model and serial numbers later if that helps).

So the tech guy talked me through the steps of resetting things, so now everything works. Then he told me that he thinks I have a virus that is affecting many computers and causing eventual crashing. He said that for $99 I could have a tech guy at HP remote-access and tune up my computer to rid it of this virus and make it run faster. 

Does this sound legit? $99 is 1/4 to 1/3 of what I paid for the entire PC! I mentioned that I don't have a credit card, so the tech guy just told me to call later, dunno how I would pay for this tune-up. What do you guys think? I am suspicious, maybe rightly so, maybe not. 

I think this is a script problem, basically something that causes IE to stop running scripts, one way or another. An update could have caused this. Did you update any part of Windows or IE right before this started happening?

I had a look and found this. Here's what you should try:

We tried some isolations of the plugins that had to do with Trend Micro and Guarded ID.  By disabling the following, we were able to get this script error to go away.
"Trend Micro Toolbar" and "TSToolbar BHO"

This is a variation of the same thing:

It seems to be the Trend Micro "Page Rating" feature!!
 
I had three computers that suffered the problem this morning!!  After much head-scratching I found that when I moved the mouse pointer over the desired Google search site, that I would get the IE script error, and not have access to the site.  However, if I went to a sub-catagory and clicked on it, I could access that site.  Working with the three computers, I pin-pointed the page rating feature as the problem.  It can be disabled on the Trend Micro toolbar.

This would indicate that it's a problem caused directly or indirectly by TrendMicro. If you continue to have problems, it might be wise to replace TrendMicro with AVG. Also, do NOT install toolbars and other additions by TrendMicro, AVG or others.

And also, it might be wise to give Firefox a try. It's less sensitive to this kind of thing.

And no, you shouldn't pay HP money because they should have known that this is a scripting problem, not a virus. If you continue to have problems or need help, just give me a shout and I'll do what I can to help you fix this.

["couldbecousin"]

OK, here's my sad story: This morning I could not access any sites on my computer, kept getting IE error messages saying something like "google.ihc is not an item." (Google was my homepage, ya see!) So I called HP tech support (my PC is a Compaq that I've had less than a year; I'll add the model and serial numbers later if that helps).

So the tech guy talked me through the steps of resetting things, so now everything works. Then he told me that he thinks I have a virus that is affecting many computers and causing eventual crashing. He said that for $99 I could have a tech guy at HP remote-access and tune up my computer to rid it of this virus and make it run faster. 

Does this sound legit? $99 is 1/4 to 1/3 of what I paid for the entire PC! I mentioned that I don't have a credit card, so the tech guy just told me to call later, dunno how I would pay for this tune-up. What do you guys think? I am suspicious, maybe rightly so, maybe not. 

I think this is a script problem, basically something that causes IE to stop running scripts, one way or another. An update could have caused this. Did you update any part of Windows or IE right before this started happening?

I had a look and found this. Here's what you should try:

We tried some isolations of the plugins that had to do with Trend Micro and Guarded ID.  By disabling the following, we were able to get this script error to go away.
"Trend Micro Toolbar" and "TSToolbar BHO"

This is a variation of the same thing:

It seems to be the Trend Micro "Page Rating" feature!!
 
I had three computers that suffered the problem this morning!!  After much head-scratching I found that when I moved the mouse pointer over the desired Google search site, that I would get the IE script error, and not have access to the site.  However, if I went to a sub-catagory and clicked on it, I could access that site.  Working with the three computers, I pin-pointed the page rating feature as the problem.  It can be disabled on the Trend Micro toolbar.

This would indicate that it's a problem caused directly or indirectly by TrendMicro. If you continue to have problems, it might be wise to replace TrendMicro with AVG. Also, do NOT install toolbars and other additions by TrendMicro, AVG or others.

And also, it might be wise to give Firefox a try. It's less sensitive to this kind of thing.

And no, you shouldn't pay HP money because they should have known that this is a scripting problem, not a virus. If you continue to have problems or need help, just give me a shout and I'll do what I can to help you fix this.

Thank you very much! I think I did update Windows, possibly IE as well, but I didn't take notice of when I did that in relation to when the trouble started.
What about the Trend Micro updates that are regularly offered? Should I accept those?